IMPARTIAL JUSTICE (46 OF 52)
Scripture: Leviticus 19:1-2, Leviticus 19:9-18
This content is part of a series.
Impartial Justice (46 of 52)
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18
We don't generally think of Leviticus as a place where we will discover Yahweh's norms for impartial justice. We don't think of Leviticus as a text about proper economic practices. We don't think about the Bible as a whole as giving appropriate guidance for structuring our social, economic, and political lives, and yet at the heart of books like Leviticus lies Yahweh's pattern for structuring the social, economic, and political framework for life in Israel.
No, it is not about politics as we know. It is not about democracy, monarchy, communism, or other forms of government we have seen established along the course of human history. Leviticus does not lay out a system of wielding power by governing officials over the rest of the populace, because it does not envision any such political structure. Its concerns are not about wielding power and control. Its concerns are about a very different concept of justice than what so often passes for justice in the power structures of governments and societies the world over. Justice in the eyes of Leviticus and other writers and prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures is about establishing a society in which Yahweh's provision is made available to one and all without distinction. Where there is true impartiality and full equality, there does justice reside.
Politics, economics, justice, equality, and impartiality don't sound like spiritual topics to us. They may not be the kinds of things we expect to come up in our creeds, our hymns, our prayers, our Sunday school lessons, or sermons. After all, what passes for Christian radio is consumed with questions of the afterlife, evangelism, prayers for health and prosperity, sentimentality, condemning sin, heaven, hell, demonic forces, and emotional experiences of God's presence. There is not a lot of bandwidth left over to address gospel concerns that might make us feel uncomf ...
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18
We don't generally think of Leviticus as a place where we will discover Yahweh's norms for impartial justice. We don't think of Leviticus as a text about proper economic practices. We don't think about the Bible as a whole as giving appropriate guidance for structuring our social, economic, and political lives, and yet at the heart of books like Leviticus lies Yahweh's pattern for structuring the social, economic, and political framework for life in Israel.
No, it is not about politics as we know. It is not about democracy, monarchy, communism, or other forms of government we have seen established along the course of human history. Leviticus does not lay out a system of wielding power by governing officials over the rest of the populace, because it does not envision any such political structure. Its concerns are not about wielding power and control. Its concerns are about a very different concept of justice than what so often passes for justice in the power structures of governments and societies the world over. Justice in the eyes of Leviticus and other writers and prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures is about establishing a society in which Yahweh's provision is made available to one and all without distinction. Where there is true impartiality and full equality, there does justice reside.
Politics, economics, justice, equality, and impartiality don't sound like spiritual topics to us. They may not be the kinds of things we expect to come up in our creeds, our hymns, our prayers, our Sunday school lessons, or sermons. After all, what passes for Christian radio is consumed with questions of the afterlife, evangelism, prayers for health and prosperity, sentimentality, condemning sin, heaven, hell, demonic forces, and emotional experiences of God's presence. There is not a lot of bandwidth left over to address gospel concerns that might make us feel uncomf ...
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