Reflection - Justice

By Steve Hall

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/080820.cfm
Habakkuk 1:12-2:4
Matthew 17:14-20

Habakkuk has not been a prophet whose writings particularly interested me. I knew his name but little more. He doesn’t have the poetry of Isaiah. Neither does he have the drama of Jeremiah, nor the intensity of Hosea. His “Book” consists of a mere three chapters; and scholars tell us that, judging from the brief text he has left us, he was probably the most skilled in writing of all the prophets, demonstrating great literary talent. But, other than the Biblical text, we know little about the man — less than what we know about any other Old Testament prophet. All things considered, that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.

Nevertheless, certain words of Habakkuk have both fascinated and puzzled me for a long time. Why? Because those particular words made a regular showing in the Divine Office of the Advent season. For that same verse to show up now is sort of like Christmas in August. It makes its appearance towards the end of our current reading; and in the midst of our current chaos it recalls truths worth remembering.

“The vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
If it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.”

The Church has exercised a bit of poetic license while including Habakkuk’s verse in the text of the Advent Office. The obscure meaning of the words in the original are presented with a more readily understood reference to the Messiah.

“Behold the Lord will come and will not disappoint; if he delays, wait for him for he will surely come and will not be late, alleluia.” (Advent Divine Office) sort of hard to miss when we hear it during Advent.

While the connection to the Messiah was made more obvious in the Church’s re-wording, the overall import of both the Advent version and the original remained cryptic. The first part is clear enough: “Behold the Lord will come and will not disappoint. . . “ but what about the second part?: “if he delays, wait for him for he will surely come and will not be late, alleluia.” How can he delay and yet not be late? For that we must go back to Habakkuk.

At the opening of Habakkuk’s brief book the prophet makes his complaint to God, observing the conditions of the times: “So the law is slacked [i.e., heeded selectively or carelessly] and justice never goes forth. [Sound familiar?] For the wicked surround the righteous, so justice goes forth perverted.” (Habakkuk 1:4) Following which he makes specific accusations: “Dread and fearsome are they; their justice and dignity proceed from themselves.” (Habakkuk 1:7) [What! Was he writing yesterday?]

The challenge is placed before God, “You who are of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on wrong. . . .” And the challenge is the age old question of how God can allow injustice: “ . . . why do you look on faithless men, and are silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?” (Habakkuk 1:13)

We can see that, in the full context of the verse, the concern is with justice or a lack thereof. That also explains why the promise is so appropriately interjected into the Advent season. After all, justice was frequently associated with the coming Messiah. Consider just this one verse from Jeremiah. “In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring forth for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” (Jeremiah 33:15) Thus it is that both the imminent coming and the potential for delay can be meaningful. Justice came with the arrival of and in the person of the Christ. The full realization of justice on earth will come with him when he returns. Thus the promise with which our selection from Habakkuk concludes. “Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail, but the righteous shall live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4)

We deceive ourselves, however, if, in our complaints, we think we understand justice. Still, we toss the word around as if we have personally seized a depth of comprehension that most others miss. That’s probably why justice so frequently eludes us. Let’s just list a few issues which deceive us into thinking we are addressing justice.

• Justice is not about whose lives matter.
  
• It is not about equal pay for equal work.
  
• It is not about my personal possession of my own body.
  
• It is not about the distribution of wealth.
  
• It is not about obeying civil laws.
  
• It is not about democracy or dictatorships.
  
• It is not about getting ‘my fair share.’
  
• It is not about all persons being equal under the law.
  
• And most important, it certainly has little to do with the “justice” that comes from men.
  

None of these, along with ten thousand other protested issues, are inherently matters of justice. Yet, we give them prominence and pay them homage. Justice may well be part of the resolution of these matters; but we tend to view each and every one from the customs and regulations and agreements and laws of men.

If we begin our search for justice in the human realm, we will never find it and we will never achieve it. Just as Love is most properly defined by knowing who God is, so too is justice most appropriately defined in the context of who God is. This is not a matter of asking ‘what would Jesus do?’ Rather it is the most fundamental of all issues: knowing the Father and what he has done.