1. Defining God’s Heart of Justice
Aim
To teach young people that justice is huge part of who God is and that He wants them to use them to be vessels of justice in their neighbourhoods, schools, and world.
Preparation
Bible, PowerPoint (found at www.ijmuk.org under Youth Resources) white board, markers, Oxford dictionary and thesaurus, copies of the Magna Carta.
Defining Justice
Draw a line down the middle of the white board and label one side: OURS and the other side: BIBLE. Split the youth into groups of 5 and have them come up with 5 meanings or synonyms for the word: justice. Have a representative from each group write the definitions their group created on the OURS side. Read aloud the Oxford definition and see if the words the youth created agree with the dictionary Under the side BIBLE, write the Hebrew word for justice, tseh’-dek. Have the youth try to pronounce it for fun. Under tseh’-dek, write the words: rightness, virtue (innocence, value, honour) , prosperity (well being, happiness), equity (fairness, honesty, uprightness), the exercise of power, legal, moral, natural rights. Compare OURS side with the BIBLE side. How much do we know about justice? What do all these words really mean?
Explain: At the core, justice means the exercise of power. To say that God is a God of justice means that He is a God who cares about the right exercise of power and authority. God is the ultimate authority in the universe, so justice occurs when power is exercised in conformity with his standards. In fact, in the Old Testament the Hebrew words for justice and righteousness are almost interchangeable. Justice occurs when power and authority between people occurs together with God’s high moral standards.
Discussion Questions
- Who is this God of justice? Isaiah 30:19: “The Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for Him!” Psalm 89:14 says “Justice and judgment are the habitation of His throne.” Job in the midst of suffering and pain declared: ‘Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice; he will not afflict.’ (Job 37:23). Justice is also a part of God’s holiness. Isaiah 61:8a says: “For I the Lord love justice.
- Why is justice important to Him? Because God so loved the world (John 3:16) which includes those who suffer under the evilness of others. Many times these people are the poor, the widowed, the lonely, the afflicted and the oppressed. God longs for all men to be treated equally and for the evil men of the world who bring destruction to the weak to be given their due sentence. God’s love for His people is so big that He allowed His only Son to endure injustice on the cross that we His people might find rightness (aka justice) with God and spend eternity with Him. Justice is a core part of our Christian faith. The Bible references justice over 200 times.
- What are some of the natural, moral and legal rights that we enjoy in the Western world?
Discuss the Magna Carta, 1689 Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement 1701. What rights do these documents give us? How do the freedoms upheld by our government help to ensure we can live in a just society? - What does ‘doing justice’ look like in our world? Use the Power Point slide show found at www.ijmuk.org to help guide this section. Ask the youth to call out names of both famous and ordinary people that they know who have been advocates of justice. Show them the pictures of Wilberforce, MLK and Mother Teresa. What do they know about them? Why did they give their lives to defending justice and in what ways did they do this? Share a bit on each of them and their impact.
- Why does justice involve me? First because God wants you to know Him: Jeremiah 22:15-15 says: “Did not your father…do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; then it was well. Is not that what it means to know me?” Secondly Because God chose you and He needs you. One of the craziest decisions God ever made was His decision to use us as his instruments of justice. Micah 6:8 says: ‘He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.’ We are actually His plan for seeing justice in our world and He doesn’t have a plan B. Psalms 82:3 says: ‘Defend the poor and fatherless. Do justice to the afflicted and needy.’ We are blessed to live in a nation where justice functions properly. Luke 12: 48 reminds us that “to whom much is given, much is required.” It is our responsibility to stand for those without justice.
- I’m just an ordinary person: How can God use me? A few, simple ideas are:
• Pray for the oppressed, widowed and orphaned.
• Purchase Fair Trade products.
• Write letters to your MPs.
• Support local and international justice causes
For help with these ideas: Visit www.ijmuk.org and click under the link: Youth Resources
Hand On
Game: Back to Back
Have two students sit back to back. They have to stand straight up without using their hands. Add one person every time they stand up successfully. The students will be amazed at how it works. It’s been done with up to ten students.
The Point: This is a great game for showing students what teamwork can do. It would be nearly impossible to accomplish this alone. Just as William Wilberforce needed the support of Parliament, just as MLK Jr. needed other Americans, just as Mother Teresa needed other nuns, we need to work together to bring justice. Oppression will not end because one person stands for justice, but because we all stand together.
Story
Elizabeth was a 13 year old girl brought up in a devoted Christian family. As a custom in South East Asia, many teenagers work during the summer break from school to earn money for the family. A relative had arranged for Elizabeth to work in a bakery some two days train ride away in another country, assuring her mother that there would be good accommodation and wages.
En route Elizabeth saw the person taking charge of her changed at certain points and she noticed money being given. Eventually, she arrived in the city where she expected to work at a bakery, only to discover she was trafficked into a brothel. At first she refused, but the brothel owner said until she paid back the equivalent of £150 she would not be free to go. She was starved for 3 months until she agreed to service between 8 and 15 customers every day.
She prayed she would be released before her first anniversary of arrival. As a Christian, she talked to the other girls there about praying together. They laughed saying “God would not hear us in here!” On the room wall, a cell, she scribed the verses of Psalm 27 to remind her of the God who sets the captives free.
An IJM investigator heard about Elizabeth and took the first picture of her in the brothel, recorded her story and assured her he would be back to rescue her. Following the investigator’s visit, IJM lawyers prepared the papers for the local police in order to do a raid. IJM with the police rescued Elizabeth before her first anniversary and received medical care and support and soon returned to her family.
Questions to follow the story:
- How did God do justice in this story?
- How did people do justice in this story?
- How do you think Elisabeth felt when she realised she had been tricked by her aunt?
- How would you respond to God if you took Elisabeth’s place? Would you feel angry? Alone?
Additional resources
- Injustice quiz (word document)
