Eph 4:22,24 - Put away your former conduct, your old nature, corrupted by its deceitful desires, ... and put on the new nature, created according to God's image for true justice and holiness.
Just before these verses, Paul has been discussing the corruption of Roman society. When we think of Rome, we don't always think about the corruption; we think of the buildings, the roads, the aqueducts, the statues. Yet Roman slavery was every bit as brutal as American slavery. Roman men were free to rape their slaves - men and women - and anyone else they could get away with, i.e. poor people with no recourse. There was no safety net and wealth inequality was just as bad if not worse than here in America. There was no OSHA. Elite women were freed from the dangers of childbirth after they bore him three children. Women were generally thought of as children and had very few rights. Not to mention the blood lust of the shows at the Colosseum.
This is what Paul is talking about when he urges us to put away our old nature corrupted by deceitful desires. This is our old nature, the one that runs to and fro after our deceitful desires. Deceitful because they do not satisfy and degrade ourselves or others. Paul did not just mean sexual desires but also lust for blood, violence, wealth, power, or entertainment. Our society is not that different from then because these are human traits. Sex is used to sell anything and everything. Entertainment is a daily goal for many and is available 24 hours a day on our TV sets. The conspicuous consumption of the wealthy highlights the deceitful lusts of their hearts. Powerful men are being called to account for their sexual harassment of women and men; but it is only a drop in the bucket. The biggest gang in some cities is the police force.
But Paul wanted, even demanded us to be better than that, he wanted Christ's church to be better - as Christ did. The new nature, the nature of Christ, is ours and we are not to corrupt it with petty desires and lusts that do not satisfy or may even harm us or others. No. We are to put on true justice. In this context, justice is not criminal or penal justice, but rather the justice that says all men and women are precious. All are to be treated fairly and humanely because all are equally valuable.
True justice is justice for African-Americans who are being killed by police and whose voting rights are being challenged all over the US. True justice is justice for women who have been sexually harassed. It's justice for LGBTQ people that they not be at risk of assault just for being who they are. It's justice for Dreamers, who are at risk of being deported from the only home they've ever known because 45 undid President Obama's executive order. It's justice for the 9 million children who may lose their health insurance because our senators and representatives were too busy trying to take away people's health insurance to reauthorize CHIP. True justice is justice for all those whose taxes will go up under this new bill in order to pay for the massive tax breaks for the very wealthy and corporations. It's justice for people experiencing homelessness that they be treated like people and helped to find housing. It's justice for people experiencing mental illness, that they be cared for rather than left to fend for themselves on meager government funds. True justice for Muslims who bear the brunt of white people's fear of terrorism. It's justice for Native Americans whose land was stolen by Europeans. True justice is justice for all those whom we oppress here in American and around the world.
We as Christians are called to work for that justice in every way we can. As the Rev. Dr. William Barber said in a recent sermon, "Silence is not an option." Well said, Dr. Barber, well said.
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