Justice, Mercy, and Faith

Matthew 23:23 – “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, for you tithe mint and dill and cumin, but have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy and faith; these you ought to have done without neglecting the others.”

Jesus continues in prophet mode, calling out those who strictly follow the law without justice, mercy, or faith in their hearts. It’s clear what his message is and it’s not just for the scribes and the Pharisees. It’s for all of us. Merely following the law (tithing) isn’t enough. The law needs to be tempered with justice, mercy, and faith. Because the law without justice is tyranny. The law without mercy is tyranny. The law without faith is tyranny. To the extent that we lack any of these in creating or applying laws, or even just how we think about the law, to that extent will we be tyrants.

I wanted to write about how tithing, serving the church, or worshiping are not enough. We must also include service to our neighbors, near and far. We must practice justice, mercy, and faith individually as well as communally as a church. I wanted to write about how Jesus can transform our minds, hearts, spirits, viewpoint, when we turn our lives over to justice, mercy, and faith. I wanted to write about how Jesus wants all of us: our hearts, our minds, our bodies, our strength, our weaknesses, our failures, our gifts. All of us. I wanted to write about how the more we give to Jesus, the more our lives will be transformed, resurrected even.

I wanted to write that resurrection is the transformation of our minds and our lives. Instead of seeing the world as competition between “us” and “them,” we will be given a new vision. A vision of community as superior to competition. There is no difference between “us” and “them” to Jesus; we are all one in Christ. I wanted to write about how this can be a scary thought if we have been taught our entire lives that “they” are dangerous.

I wanted to talk about how resurrection works in our lives as we begin to act with more justice, mercy, and faith. I wanted the point to be that merely going to worship, serving the local church, or tithing, are not enough if our lives away from the church are not centered on God. I wanted to focus on that rather than on this administration.

However, I have just learned that Pence quoted Micah 6:8 at leaders from Guatemala, claiming that the United States can “do justice and love kindness” by reuniting the families that the United States (ie Pence) separated at the border. What hubris! (Not to mention cognitive dissonance!) So, first, let me remind people that our leaders should not be spouting any scripture to justify anything they do. We are not a Christian nation. We are not a Muslim nation. We are not a Jewish nation. We are a pluralist nation; we contain multitudes.

Second, because Pence is nominally a Christian, I would like to remind everyone that separating the families at the border was neither justice nor kindness: it was tyranny. It was a deliberate execution of the law in order to cause the maximum amount of pain and trauma for all involved. It was cruel, inhumane, and an intentional degradation of those who bear Christ’s spirit within them. Rather than bragging about justice and kindness, maybe Pence needs to look up those words in a dictionary. And then repent.

Yes, a perfect illustration of what I wanted to write and what Jesus is saying. The law without love, mercy, or justice is tyranny.