Where justice and peace kiss
Dear workers towards justice and peace!
“Love and faithfulness meet together; justice and peace kiss each other.” (Psalm 85:10)
Whenever I hear this verse, I think of Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss”. Not sure why, to be honest. Maybe, because it’s one of my favorite drawings (and I got to see the original in Vienna). And maybe, because that verse is one of favorite sentences from the Bible. It expresses my deepest hope and desire that one day, one hopefully not too distant day, there will be justice and peace in this world. That one day “Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and justice looks down from heaven. The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. Justice goes before him and prepares the way for his steps.” (Psalm 85:11-13)
Now, if you are an overachiever and just got out your bible to check whether I used the right translation, you will have noticed a slight difference. While all the common English versions talk about “righteousness”, I translated “justice”. Not because I want to change the bible, don’t worry. But because I want you to hear what the Hebrew word tzedakah actually means here in our today’s concept.
“Tzedakah is seen as a form of social justice […]. It cannot be done to someone – rather, it must be done with someone.” [1] Tzedakah does not mean patronizing help, but real work towards social justice.
And what about peace in the Hebrew Bible? In English, ‘peace’ is generally used to mean an absence of (or freedom from) conflict. However, peace (shalom) is deeper than this freedom from conflict – it also involves people living in good relationships with those around them, with creation and with God. Experiencing shalom means experiencing balance, well-being, wholeness, prosperity, security and justice. No justice, no peace. It’s the most biblical chant during protests. I love it.
Peace, like justice, is an act. We are required to do justice and to make peace. As long as there is no justice and peace for all we are required to act. And we at Christ the King do.
We are excited to announce our upcoming Racial Justice Activation Circle to start in September 2020. It will be 8 weeks of learning, reading, listening. 8 weeks of meeting in small groups once a week on Zoom to reflect what we’ve learned and to share our stories. 8 weeks of coming up with ideas how to intentionally thrive for racial justice in our deeply hurt country. How to fight the original sin of us humans: To be better than others, even if it’s God himself. Even if the cost of this challenge is to leave paradise.
To one day return to paradise is God’s wish for us. That we one day will live in peace, that justice will be served, and that love will reign. Doing this work means that we uphold or affirmation of baptism where we promised to “strive for justice and peace in all the earth”. Do you want to be a part of this work? Great! More information will follow soon on our NEW (!) website.
Wishing you a peaceful month, Pr Tia!
