The Pursuit of Perfect Justice Is Meaningless

The Pursuit of Perfect Justice Is Meaningless

(Ecclesiastes 3:16-17; 4:1-3)

3:16 And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment—wickedness was there, in the place of justice—wickedness was there. 17 I thought in my heart, “God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed.”

4:1Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed—and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors—and they have no comforter. 2 And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. 3 But better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.

As a child I lost track of how often my mother told me, "Life's not fair!" and I have since repeated this mantra to my own children countless times. All one needs to do is watch the nightly news or scroll through a newsfeed to see enough injustice, abuse, oppression, and neglect to make your heart sink and your blood boil. Perhaps most disgusting of all is when the obviously guilty are released on a technicality or the rich and famous get a slap on the wrist for what would send the rest of us to the slammer. At times the justice system is so slow, uneven, and corrupt that we may want to go vigilante and take matters into our own hands Robinhood style. It’s so bad that Solomon declares that the dead are better off than the living and best of all are those not yet been born because they haven’t seen all the terribly inventive ways that people have devised for hurting each other.

But like a wise and patient parent reigning in the righteous indignation of a ranting teenager, Solomon advises us to remain calm and remember that “life’s not fair.” We should not be surprised that the cancer of wickedness coexists alongside judgment and justice, nor that the powerful oppress the weak, nor when one’s rights are denied. Solomon saw the very same things in his day.

However, by imploring self-restraint Solomon is not condoning evil, nor asking us to stifle our compassion, or dismiss our indignation, or sit on our hands and do nothing at all. He’s simply observing, “This is what it is really like under the sun, and this is how it will always be.” Despite all our best efforts, we ought never imagine that we will somehow eradicate ALL injustice and inequality because those evils are not merely functions of our politics, our economics, our court systems, or our education; contrary to our perceptions, injustice and inequality do not come to us from the outside in, they come from the inside out. The selfish sinful hearts of people are naturally inclined to excuse evil in ourselves and to be blind to our own faults and biases. On a subconscious level we automatically cast ourselves and our motivations in a favorable light and are lenient towards others like us or loyal to us.

We live at a time when social justice and the quest for equity are running high in our society, and there are many who would be most displeased and passionately opposed to Solomon's assertion that injustice and inequalities of power, wealth, and status will always persist in this world. They insist that if only the right policies or safeguards would be put in place, then a perfectly fair and equitable utopia could be achieved. Undoubtedly, they have a noble goal in mind, but I would humbly ask who then gets to make the call on exactly what qualifies as injustice or inequality, about who is considered “disadvantaged” or discriminated against? And not only pointing out that these evils are present, but also having the power to systematically raise some and hold back others? What would be their infallible and incorruptible standard? …But if someone or some group had such power over society, wouldn't they be operating contrary to their own aims by becoming the biggest power brokers of them all? Again, with Solomon, I'm not saying, “Everything’s fine!”—it's a toxic mess, but one we will never be able to clean up on this side of the sun.

King Solomon himself had the opportunity to do this very thing—to overhaul and fix it all, but he didn’t. He was smart enough to see that even with his supreme, God-given wisdom, he wasn’t wise enough to sort out this mess. Doing so would require being perfect oneself and being able to perfectly assess the right and wrong of every situation, even going down to the motives and attitudes of the heart. Solmon realized that there is only One who is up to that task: the almighty God, who will at last assemble all people who have ever lived before his throne and subject them all to his perfect justice through Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:11-15).  

When our hearts ache from seeing the poor and the victimized having no one on their side and no comforter, that is our opportunity to put our faith and love into action by coming to their aid, by standing up and speaking up for them, but most importantly of all, we can point the downtrodden to Jesus Christ, God With Us, who came to be our comfort, peace, and salvation. Through Jesus God hears our every prayer, sees our every tear, and is concerned about our suffering. And in his good time he will avenge our cause and see justice done. He will make all things right, and through the merits of Jesus he will bring us to his heavenly kingdom where we will enjoy equal status and perpetual plenty as God's forgiven sons and daughters for all eternity.

For your self-reflection:

1. Change starts with us each examining our own hearts and confessing our personal stereotypes, biases, and bigotry to the Lord. All people are equally created in God’s image and equally loved and redeemed in Jesus Christ. Ask God to show you your hidden faults and pray for the power to live in the all-embracing love of the gospel.

2. When we witness oppression and injustice, our gut reaction is to wish that God would instantly respond with divine retribution, but why would that not be the best procedure in a sin-broken world, where we ourselves are often the perpetrator as much as the victim? Ponder how in showing patience with evil the holy God is leaving room for repentance and mercy.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, you see all the pain, injustice, and oppression that takes place under the sun and it saddens your heart more than we can ever know. Dry our tears; defend the weak and downtrodden; and point us to the Day when perfectly fair and everlasting justice will be rendered on behalf of your people, and we will reign with you in peace and joy through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.