[stephenkhoo]

SEEKING JUSTICE WITHIN THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 COR 6:1-11; LK 6:12-19
http://www.universalis.com/20140909/mass.htm

The Church, like Israel in the Old Testament, is called to be a perfect community of love on earth. God had chosen Israel to be His own, so Jesus too, has chosen us. This election of God is described in the responsorial psalm when the psalmist says, “The Lord takes delight in his people. Let Israel be glad in their maker, let the children of Zion rejoice in their king. For the Lord loves his people, and he adorns the lowly with victory.” In the Old Testament, God gave the Laws to the people through Moses, so that by observance of these laws, the people could stay united in love. In the New Covenant, to enable the Church, the New People of God to live harmoniously, God provides the Church with leaders in the apostles, and He also provides us the Holy Spirit so that we can live the New Covenant of love and unity. In this way the Church becomes the sacrament of unity and love.

In contrast, St Paul said that unbelievers, “people who do wrong will not inherit the kingdom of God: people of immoral lives, idolaters, adulterers, catamites, sodomites, thieves, usurers, drunkards, slanderers and swindlers will never inherit the kingdom of God.” Although the Church is called to be ideally the perfect community on earth, yet the truth is that the Church, although holy, is comprised of sinners as well. So what happens when there are differences among Christians? Of course, as Christians following Jesus, we must practice forgiveness and compassion. Still, one cannot ignore the need to render justice as well.

Where then do Christians seek justice when differences arise over an issue? The irony is that in the face of differences, Christians were turning to the secular courts to render justice. St Paul opined that to turn to a secular court for judgment is to deny our belief that we have the truth and wisdom of God. He asked, “How dare one of your members take up a complaint against another in the lawcourts of the unjust instead of before the saints? As you know, it is the saints who are to ‘judge the world’; and if the world is to be judged by you, how can you be unfit to judge trifling cases? Since we are also to judge angels, it follows that we can judge matters of everyday life; but when you have had cases of that kind, the people you appointed to try them were not even respected in the Church. “

To be ruled by secular judges is to trust that their justice, which is that of the world, is greater than the justice given to us in the gospel. Hence to accept the standards of justice in the world, which is based on revenge, is to lower the standards of the gospel. Thus when disputes arise between believers, such as disagreements, they should be settled within the Christian community through dialogue and mutual understanding, if necessary, mediated by some respectable members or leaders of the community. This does not mean that Christians cannot turn to a secular court for judgment, especially when it is a serious case that involves with non-believers.

Furthermore, when dealing with fellow sinners, we are called to exercise compassion and be non-judgmental. As Christians, St Paul urges us that we do not wrongly judge our brothers. St Paul cautions us to make a distinction between sinners who refuse to repent and those who are sincerely struggling to overcome their sinfulness. At the same time, St Paul is not asking us to tolerate sin in the community. St Paul reprimanded them saying, “It is bad enough for you to have lawsuits at all against one another: oughtn’t you to let yourselves be wronged, and let yourselves be cheated? But you are doing the wronging and the cheating, and to your own brothers.” The Church cannot allow fellow members to abuse each other, and this is where Church discipline and Canon Laws are instituted to help to regulate relationships among members. Living a life of sin would prevent us from entering the kingdom of God.

Compassion is the Christian response to the sins of our fellow brothers and sisters. At any rate, St Paul reminded the Christians that they were once sinners themselves. “These are the sort of people some of you were once, but how you have been washed clean, and sanctified, and justified through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and through the Spirit of our God.” Yes, we must have faith in the power of God’s salvation and the grace of sanctification, after all, St Paul says we were once sinners ourselves and if God could change us, He can change them.

At any rate, Christians should not always seek for justice. On the contrary, sometimes Christians are called to suffer innocently like their master. St Paul himself wrote in today’s first reading, “To this day, we go without food and drink and clothes; we are beaten and have no homes; we work for our living with our own hands. When we are cursed, we answer with a blessing; when we are hounded, we put up with it; we are insulted and we answer politely. We are treated as the offal of the world, still to this day, the scum of the earth.” Indeed, St Paul willingly suffered with Christ and for Christ without taking revenge.

In the final analysis, when Christians have to fight out in the civil courts, there are negative consequences for the Church. It destroys the credibility of the church as the sacrament of unity and love. It is a counter witness to the gospel of forgiveness and tolerance that we proclaim. Secondly, it shows we are unenlightened ourselves, therefore no better than the world. Most of all, when we wash our dirty linen in public, the world, instead of focusing on our message of salvation, will focus on the scandals and quarrels. So who is the loser at the end? The whole Church, and most of all, the gospel is compromised and discredited! It will be a sad day indeed for all, including the world, because the Church can no longer present herself as hope for a world that seeks genuine unity and love.

However, this fraternal way of settling disputes is only possible when we are dealing with real Christians who are passionate for Christ and His Church. For the love of the Church, such Christians will seek dialogue and mutual understanding by sincerely searching the will of God together through prayer and the Word of God, and if necessary, seek a mature fellow Christian to mediate. The work of unity cannot be achieved by man alone. Christ Himself spent long hours at prayer when choosing His apostles. So before we take action of any sort, let us bring our grievances to Him and beg His counsel. In whatever we do, the virtue of justice must be tampered by charity, compassion and forgiveness.
- See more at: http://www.csctr.net/reflections/#sthash.QX4vuJDp.dpuf