Justice and Love Collide

April 13, 2011
Paul Loewen |

Yesterday evening I asked the Junior Youth to picture a world in which God's one and only characteristic was love. "Chaos," "Hectic," "Covered in foam" were some of the answers. Okay, so that last one is a little confusing. But I compared it to Jeanette and I letting them into the church, giving them massive doses of sugar, and saying that there were no rules. One of them said there would be at least one fire somewhere, and another said that we'd all be covered in fire extinguisher foam. But their guesses were similar to what I had anticipated - you have only grace, and the world falls apart. People abuse the grace. People sin over and over again while God just keeps handing them blessing after blessing. 

That's not a world I want to live in, nor is it the world we live in. 

Then I asked them to picture a world in which God's one and only characteristic was justice. Because as much as we love love, when someone cuts us off in our cars we demand justice (and when other, far more serious crimes against humanity are perpetrated). We have that justice inside of us because God does. "We'd live in fear," "We'd all be dead," they said. And while we all agreed that people would, generally, live far more "in line" lives, the motivation wouldn't be right.

That's not a world I want to live in, nor is it the world we live in. 

On the cross, something dramatic happened. The Justice world and the Love world met. No, not just met. They collided. Because justice was served, but love was also doled out. Justice was served in that the penalty (death) was paid. Love was splashed about in that the person serving the penalty wasn't the guilty one. It's why Jesus had to die. It's why we celebrate the cross. 

It's where Justice and Love collide.

Taking Heart,

Paul

Author Name: 
Paul Loewen
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