Do you need God?
When the prophet Zephaniah
exhorts the people to seek justice, seek
humility, he is offering them a path to finding God. For, in order to seek justice, we must first
make room for God in our lives, embracing humility; justice flows from our
willingness to be in right relationship with God, to be a people humble and lowly who take refuge in the Lord, recognizing
that it is only through God that any human action is possible. And, after all, Psalm 146 reminds us that it
is precisely the humble – the oppressed,
the hungry, captives, the blind, those who were bowed down – who receive
help from the Lord, and who can then, in turn, bring life-giving justice to
others, God’s justice, born of right relationship.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus
elaborates on the promise of Psalm 146, beginning with a blessing for the poor in spirit and the meek, those who know they need God,
who seek not control but a measure of God’s love in their lives. From beginning to end, the Beatitudes invite
all of us to live in a way that demonstrates that we do need God, for God is
necessary to the fullness of life; without God, after all, what depth of meaning
can we find in human existence? In the
epistle, the Corinthians seem to have forgotten this lesson; Paul reminds them that
God chose the foolish of the world – the
humble of heart, the poor in spirit – to shame
the wise, for God can only work through humble hearts open to God’s action
in their lives. In that kingdom of
inversion, the only kingdom in which true justice is possible, we seek the Lord, struggling to hold him,
rather than worldly distractions, at the center of our lives. Isn’t this why we come to church each week,
to recognize our need for God, the fact that God has a place in our everyday
existence? Yes, we need God: we need God’s presence; we need God’s love. To walk the path of justice can only mean a
self-emptying humility that recognizes this imperative need, and opens to it.
This post is based on Fr.
Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: Wordle
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