by Wayne Schwab

This week’s post is a recent podcast featured on The Member Mission Network website:

Welcome to another adventure in love and justice.  I’m Wayne Schwab of the Member Mission Network.  We help people to live better every day.  This time two stories about justice – one from the present, one from the past.

The present day story is about lawyer, Alicia.  She defends criminals.  Each client wants a miracle.  That result is usually unavailable.  So she is under great pressure.  Yet, she never yells or raises her voice with clients or staff.  How does she do it her colleagues and staff ask.  And so do we.  For the answer, a story from the past.

Jesus loved to dine with people who were social outcasts.  Some religious leaders of the Jews were shocked and angry.  In their mind, good Jews were supposed to avoid outcasts.  “Why does he eat with those people! (They were wrong-doers and tax collectors working for the Roman oppressors.)  He’s breaking our laws!”  The religious law governing Israel could be applied unfairly and outcasts could be treated unjustly as a result.  Jesus corrects the injustice by eating with the outcasts over and over.  Jesus says those leaders interpret wrongly.  He is not against the law itself.

Jesus is living God’s justice.  When people’s customs are unfair and abusive, Jesus breaks those customs and laws – even when he angers others so much they want to kill him.

Where does he get the power to befriend social outcasts in the face of threats to his life?  From the Holy Spirit – from God’s power at work in him.

The good news is that the Holy Spirit, God’s power for justice, works in us too!  That’s Alicia’s story.   Criminals are outcasts and Alicia befriends them by taking their cases.  How does she keep her cool?  She says, “God helps me to be patient.  I’ll keep asking God to help me to be patient.”  God supports Alicia’s patience and her clients get a decent defense.  Regardless of the outcome, she has done what she could for justice – with God’s help.

So that’s today’s adventure in justice.

For more, see membermission.org.