I have had justice on my mind. Right now I am teaching a 6-part class titled "Justice: God's Passion; Our Calling." I was thinking about it for a long time after class last night. There are so many difficult questions regarding how to do justice. How can I help? Is it really worth all the trouble? Nothing is perfect, so who am I to pretend to know what's right?

These are good questions with which to wrestle deeply and intensely. And in the process they sometimes knock the wind out of us. But as we studied what the Bible has to say about God and justice I was left with an overwhelming conviction. That our part in seeking justice is not an option. It may be painfully complex, difficult and unsure. But it is not optional. Seeking to create systems and communities and individuals (beginning with ourselves) that promote human flourishing is not a special calling for certain Christians. It is for each and everyone of us if we are to call ourselves followers of God.

Martin Luther King, Jr. sought justice. Mother Theresa sought  justice. They did it in completely different ways - one through organized and systemic change to promote equality and liberty under the law, the other through mercy and comfort for the outcast and dying. This struck me last night as a stunning example that our quest for joining God in doing justice may take many different forms. It will be as individual as each believer. But it will be there. Let us pray that it will be there.