Our covenant this year is composed of a series of questions focusing on love, justice, hope, humility, and presence. Two questions in particular have been swimming around in my mind since our written covenant was completed:
How does mercy envelop justice? How does mercy shape justice in light of the coming kingdom?
Let me start with a story:
In Matthew 20, Jesus tells the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. The owner goes out to the marketplace early in the morning to hire workers. He agrees to pay them a certain amount for their work. He hires more workers in the middle of the day for the same wage, and he hires more workers in the evening, again for the same wage. At the end of the day, as all the workers are receiving their wages, the workers hired in the morning begin to complain that the workers hired later in the day are receiving the same wage as they even though they worked for longer. The owner of the vineyard says this: "I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?"
I throw around the term justice a lot, partly because I think the theoretical idea of justice is such a beautiful ideal. However, I also recognize the need to think about what true justice means for Christians, for non-Christians, for the world.
My priest talked about justice a couple Sundays ago, and I found his thoughts insightful and surprisingly poignant. In human terms justice, or fairness, he said, comes in three types: the justice of common rules we follow, the justice of inclusion, and the justice of distribution. Common rules and distribution are familiar to us. We have a judicial system that, in its own way, attempts to ensure that wrongs are righted or at least that some form of payment is made for a breach of law. We hear all the time about distribution of wealth and the failures of distributive utopias.
As kids we probably all threw at least one fit saying, "It's not fair! She won't let me play!" As adults, injustice concerning inclusion holds more serious social consequences, so again we have laws with varying degrees of efficiency prohibiting discrimination. I think it's worth thinking about the justice of inclusion as it relates to Christians, though. The Christianity I was familiar with while growing up played by the rules of inclusion/exclusion. If I was "saved" I would be permitted to enter the pearly gates. However, if I refused God's free gift of grace, I would be separated from God forever in a very, very bad place. That was it. Yes or no. One choice. Boom. I have found this concept increasingly hard to swallow as I've met people of different faiths earnestly trying to live well in the world while seeking truth.
At this point some of you are probably thinking of Love Wins, but I hope you'll hear me out. How does mercy envelop justice? Is God not a loving and merciful, as well as just, God? Is this inclusion/exclusion rule what we mean when we say justice will roll down like waters? Call me an universalist, but I have a hunch that true justice means more than that wronged "good" people receive the satisfaction of knowing that those who trespassed against them were punished thoroughly or even that we "were elected" or said a certain prayer. True justice, perhaps, can be tempered with mercy.
How does mercy shape justice in light of the coming kingdom? Well, back to what my priest said. According to him, Jesus' parable of the vineyard workers may shed some light on the topic at hand. The owner of the vineyard chose to give the workers the same pay regardless of the time they spent working, and then he said, "Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?" God sees much that we cannot. Perhaps, our place is not in telling God what he can do with his own money, if you will; but rather to live well in love with the knowledge and wisdom we have been given.
I'll be the first to admit that I don't know nearly enough to speak conclusively on this topic, but I hope I can speak from my own experiences and internal tousles with these questions of justice and faith. My intent was not to step on toes but to communicate the heart of openness to questioning with which we composed our covenant.
Peace,
Anna
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