We Have probably come this morning feeling very sorry for ourselves. We have been knocked around by nasty storms, nasty terrorists, and maybe by lots of other nasty things. (This exhortation was given just after the passage of hurricane Isidore and before the arrival of hurricane Lili, which was worse, and in the midst of political violence. Ed.) We are probably feeling like the Israelites in Ezekiel 18:2: The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
But do you remember the man with the banana? He complained bitterly that all he had left was one banana. He ate the banana and tossed the skin on the ground. Another man came, picked up the skin and ate it. Then the first man realized that there were others less fortunate than he. We may complain because our shoes hurt, but that doesn’t impress a man who has no shoes.
Ezekiel 18:5-8 describes a just man. Notice that the prophet is describing the kind of righteousness that is constant, regardless of storm or terror. Ezekiel explains that the righteousness God demands of us concerns the most intimate of personal relationships and experiences — our worship, respect for neighbours, deep respect for women and their bodies, a heartfelt sense of fairness and justice, hatred of oppression of all kinds, mercy to the disadvantaged, care for the poor and the afflicted, “true judgment between man and man,” and an inclination to “deal truly” in every circumstance.
A believer who exploits or uses someone else is not “just.” Someone may know all the answers to the questions in Bible Basics yet still needs to “repent.”
Only if he is generous and caring can he be considered “just” or righteous. Such a man shall “surely live.”
In Luke 15 the Lord Jesus expounds further on repentance. He says that heaven’s hosts rejoice when even one individual human being “repents” and grasps God’s salvation. He tells us by parable that uncaring self-love is not being “just.” A just man is one who runs into the arms of the Father’s love, and then in turn extends his own in gladness to others.
At this table we can be uplifted, and gain strength to be truly just, after the example of our ever-caring and truly righteous Saviour.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One