Justice Like a River

What makes a young girl with an MBA from a good American university with a great future and career ahead of her in working for top corporates give it all up and return to Bangalore, India to work with poor migrant laborer communities and educate their kids? The answer to this lies in this young girl wanting to see justice and righteousness restored in the world and be part of God’s overall story of bringing restoration and renewal of all things. This post is a tribute to my friend Sachu (Saraswathi Padmanabhan) for her work with Diya Ghar in India to bring about social justice by educating underprivileged children who would otherwise never get an education in response to God’s call on her life.

When we turn on the news, we cannot escape seeing the various injustices in our world. Do you like me feel disheartened to see the inequalities and systemic oppression of the poor, marginalised and vulnerable? Do you sometimes think whether there is an answer and hope for justice? The Bible has much to say about social justice. Humanity straying away from God has led to so much pain, brokenness and injustice. There is hope as the vision of justice restored is very much part of the Gospel. God throughout history has been pricking the conscience of His people to stand up for justice. God is calling us all to not give up but to do our part in ensuring there is justice and be part of His grand plan in the restoration of all things.

The prophet Amos lived in a time of gross injustice against the poor and impoverished in 8th century BC. Though God had given laws to Israel to protect the poor and vulnerable in their midst to ensure that they were not exploited and instead shown mercy and compassion, the rich and wealthy in Israel chose to ignore these. They oppressed the poor by taking their lands, directing that vineyards and olive groves be planted instead of subsistence crops and introduced systemic injustices that led to their further subjugation and oppression. They also condemned the poor to slavery and took their collaterals for loan when they could not repay the small amounts that they had borrowed for just their survival.

The wealthy continued to worship God and offer sacrifices not realizing that their worship was abhorrent to God while the poor suffered. Amos spoke strongly into these social injustices and cried that “justice has turned into poison” and “the fruit of righteousness into bitterness” (Amos 6:12). Amos calls instead for “justice to roll like a river and righteousness like a never-failing stream”.
Amos 5:22-24
²² Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.
²³ Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
²⁴ But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!

Justice and righteousness go together, hand in hand, two sides of the same coin. Justice is making things right that are unfair in society, while righteousness is doing right by people who are vulnerable and in need. Justice often involves dealing with legal and systemic problems while righteousness is going about doing good and being compassionate and generous to those in need. Justice and righteousness are not to remain stagnant like water in a pool but it needs to flow on like a river or never failing stream from our lives and into the world through Christ in us! Justice and righteousness are not optional for the believer but should characterize the way we live in this world reflecting our Savior and Redeemer if our worship is to remain acceptable to our Lord!
Psalm 33:5
⁵ The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of his unfailing love.
James 1:27
²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

The ministry of Jesus was to restore freedom, justice and righteousness back into the world. The Holy Spirit is with us too enabling and empowering us to do His work of restoration and renewal in this world! My friend Sachu is a great example of sacrificially living her life in responding to God’s call to bring about His restoration and justice in this world in the lives of underprivileged children and their families. She could have turned a blind eye to their problems but instead she choose to act – walking humbly, loving mercy and doing justly (Micah 6:8).
Isaiah 61:1
¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.

Following Jesus is to join His work of restoring all of creation as God intends and of seeing justice roll on like a river and righteousness like a never ending stream! Yes, we cannot fix everything we see but we can do our part and every little bit we do counts. God may be calling you to start an NGO, a not-for-profit organisation that actively seeks to restore social justice like my friend Sachu did. For some of us, God is calling us to volunteer our time, skills and resources for organizations that right what is wrong and being kind and generous to the people in our lives who are doing it tough. So, let’s continue to press forward in all the big and little ways so that our lives and stories bring hope and restoration in this world!
Jeremiah 9:23-24
²³ This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches,
²⁴ but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.

If you are interested in Sachu’s work and would like to partner with her, go to https://www.diyaghar.org/