Justice: God at work (Part 2) 公義：上帝在工作（下）
Learning
It was a long time after I recognised the work of Muller as God’s work of justice through him and his community of believers that I began to see that the foundations of what we often call ‘social justice’ are deeply rooted in God. We often recall the biblical verses from God that call us to ‘do justice’ (Mic 6:8), but maybe don't see so readily the verses that tell us that God ‘loves justice’ (Is 61:8) and that He ‘is just’ (Ps 9:16).
His heart for justice and concern for those most likely to suffer injustice is well demonstrated by His reminders to Israel to look after the poor and marginalised, and to make sure that they were protected and provided for. These references to care for the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the foreigner (eg. Zech 7:10) are so frequent that theologians sometimes refer to this group as ‘the quartet of the vulnerable’. They are so clearly on God’s heart that some have even talked about ‘God’s preferential concern’ for this group.
The interesting thing about this emphasis from God is that He expects us as His people to carry the same concern that He has for the vulnerable and to respond to them on His behalf. So in Job 5:15-16, we read ‘He (ie God) saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; He saves them from the clutches of the powerful. So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.’, but Proverbs 19:17 then goes on to say ‘Whoever (ie us) is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and He will reward them for what they have done’. There is an implied partnership between God and His people to do the work of justice for this vulnerable group.
Deuteronomy 15 goes on to further suggest that this work of justice for the vulnerable is not going to fix the problem with a final social solution that will make it a non-issue. Intriguingly, while it suggests that ‘there need be no poor people among you’ (v4), it also says ‘there will always be poor people in the land’ (v11). The implication is that this ongoing work of justice will not eradicate poverty in the world completely, but nevertheless, the ongoing work of justice must continue. The reason for this, I believe, is that this ongoing work of justice by the people of God is an ongoing demonstration to the world of God’s concern for the world: that He is a God of justice and compassion, and yes, He does care for the ‘quartet of the vulnerable’ through the work of His people. The work of justice exercised by the people of God thus becomes a very important witness to the goodness of God.
During the time of the exile, the prophets began to identify this work of justice with the expected Messiah who would come and save Israel. Isaiah 11,14, 25, 58, and 61 all give voice to this hope and of course, when Jesus came, He identified Himself strongly with this calling as His personal manifesto from Isaiah 61 at the synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4). And so it was that in proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God, Jesus lived out the work of justice going first to the poor, sick and marginalised, living in the villages and countryside around Galilee and Judea, rather than going to the larger urban areas. This was where the ‘quartet of the vulnerable’ was mostly found, on the margins of society.
It is notable that when Roman or Jewish historians encountered the early New Testament communities of faith (the early church!), there is often comment about the way they cared for and embraced the poor and destitute, in contrast to the surrounding Graeco-Roman culture which practically abandoned them. This work of justice was a defining characteristic of what constituted the church.
Today we seem to have lost something in our church life if our primary purpose is to be a worshipping and evangelising community without also being a community of justice. When John the Baptist sent his disciples to enquire if Jesus was indeed the one from God that they were all expecting would bring His kingdom, Jesus invited them to see the works of justice as evidence that the Messiah had come. The church is better known by the things it does than by the words it speaks. A lamp set on a stand needs no introduction. A city on a hill is evident for all to see.
學習
後來我才終於明白，原來慕勒的工作，其實就是神公義的工作，是祂透過慕勒和信徒群體所行出來的。我終於明白到我們稱之為「社會公義」的理論原來深深植根於神。我們常常會想起上帝叫我們「行公義」（彌六8）的經文，卻不常看到神說祂「喜愛公平」（賽六十一8）和「施行審判」（詩九16）的經文。
祂有一顆公義的心，特別關注那些受到不公對待的人。祂吩咐以色列人要照顧窮人和弱勢群體，確保這些人受到保護，有人供應。這些叫人關懷寡婦、孤兒、貧窮人、寄居者的吩咐（例如亞七10）很常見，甚至有神學家把這個組合稱為「弱勢群體四重奏」（‘the quartet of the vulnerable’）。這群人很明顯的被放在上帝的心上，甚至也有人稱其為「神特別偏愛的一群」。
上帝這樣強調其心意，是期待著我們作為祂的子民，帶著同樣的心對待弱勢群體，作為祂的代表回應他們的需要。約伯記五章15-16節寫道：「神拯救窮乏人脫離他們口中的刀和強暴人的手。這樣，貧寒的人有指望，罪孽之輩必塞口無言。」然而，箴言十九章17節卻說：「憐憫貧窮的〔即我們〕，就是借給耶和華；他的善行，耶和華必償還。」這裏顯示出，神和祂的子民攜手合作，向這弱勢群體踐行公義。
申命記十五章卻進一步說，對弱勢群體行公義並不會最終解決這個社會問題。有趣的是，雖然經文一方面提到「在你們中間沒有窮人了」（4節），但另一方面也提到「地上的窮人永不斷絕」（11節）。這就是說，持續的行公義並不會徹底解決世界的貧窮問題，然後我們還是得繼續行公義。原因是，我深信神的子民持續的踐行公義，就是持續地向世界彰顯神對世界的關注，告訴世界祂是有公義有憐憫的神，祂的的確確透過子民的作工來關懷「弱勢社群四重奏」。因此，神子民所行的公義，是對神美善的重要見證。
在被擄時期，先知開始將這些公義的工作與那將要來拯救以色列的彌賽亞連上關係。以賽亞書十一、十四、二十五、五十八和六十一章都宣講著這樣的盼望。當然，後來耶穌來到，在拿撒勒的會堂裏（路四章）也明顯地以賽亞書六十一章的內容為他個人的宣言。因此，當耶穌沒有先選那些更大的城鎮，而決意首先向那些加利利和猶大地鄉村和城郊的貧窮人、患病者和弱勢社群宣講福音，祂就活出了公義，因為「弱勢群體四重奏」通常都在那些地方，在社會的邊緣處。
值得留意的是，當羅馬或猶太歷史學家談論到初期的新約信仰群體（初期教會！），他們通常都會指出教會關懷和擁抱窮人，跟當時的希羅文化很不一樣，因為後者只會厭棄窮人。這公義的踐行確實是一個別樹一幟的行徑，是當時教會的關鍵特色。
今天，假如教會的初衷是要成為一個敬拜和傳福音的群體，而我們卻沒有行公義，我們的教會生活是否欠缺了點什麼？當施洗約翰差派門徒詢問耶穌，問祂是否從神而來、眾人所期待的那一位時，耶穌邀請他們來看祂公義的工作，這就是彌賽亞降臨的證據。要人認識教會，所靠的是教會所行的事，而不是它所說的話。燈放到燈台上，便不證自明。城造在山上，所有人都能看見。
