Justice

This morning I was reading from Timothy Kellers book, 'Generous Justice'. I was struck again about 'doing justice' ... living it each and every day. I think that Serge and I do strive to 'do justice' most all the time but it's always a challenge to read and ponder and wonder .... what am I missing? What is it about justice that I yet do not understand.

My mind went through people in our life of ministry here in Rwanda. One that stood out was a man and his son that Serge told me about the other day. He's the guy who is leveling our front yard at the house we're building and going to plant the grass. (BTW.. planting grass here is done by hand. ie. blades of grass are planted not seed) Serge told me that he brings his 18 month old son with him to work.

 

You see, a few months ago, this little boy was about dead. The mother thought that he was dying and ran away. The boy, Mugisha is his name, meaning 'blessing' has fully recovered and the husband / father has tried to find her ever since. They can't find her so, he is obligated to take the boy with him everywhere he goes. Mugisha runs around our yard, playing in the dirt as his fathers toils.

 

In typical Rwandan fashion, most everything is bartered. One would never pay the asking price for anything. This includes the labour and materials for preparing and planting grass. As I listened to Serge discuss with Papa Mugisha, I knew what we had to do. I told Serge that I needed to talk to him. I told him about what I had been reading and the conviction in my heart. We were to pay whatever the man asked and not to barter. Just to tell him that we wanted to do our part in helping him look after his son. 

 

This is what the Lord Almighty says;

Administer true justice, show mercy and compassion to one another. Do  not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the immigrant or the poor.

Zechariah 7:10-11

 

I'm praying that we did some justice today ...