Injustice

A travesty of justice occured on the weekend.

Wales are trailing by 3 points having just conceded a try with 2 minutes to go. The referee blows for a penalty. Wales have a chance to draw level, but the players want the win. 'Have we time?' they ask. 'Yes' is the response. Young Hook kicks to touch. Ref blows final whistle. The Italians have won the game. How could the ref do that? How can he abuse his power like that?

I can assure you, I was shouting a few other things at the TV at that point. In my view it was more of an injustice that the guy who scored the winning try had punched our captain in the face in the first half. I punched the floor. My face red with rage. This was wrong. Very wrong. This feeling carried with me through the rest of the evening and into the next day. It was only when I calmed down a bit that I heard God whisper,

'Why don't you get this passionate about the real injustices of this World?'

D'oh! God's done it again!

I had got myself so worked up and incensed about an incident that in a couple of weeks will be forgotten about. Yes, it does affect lives, but certainly not as much as people trafficking, pollution, debt, poverty, etc etc.

Where is my passion for this? Why do these issues not affect me as much?

It has troubled me. Lord, I need more compassion. Have mercy on us! There is so much junk in the World today and I don't want to become numb to it.

In a lot of ways, who cares if the ref misled the players and blew his whistle. What's more of an injustice is a woman being promised a job in Britain, having her passport taken off her and then finding herself trapped in prostitution. That happens on a regular basis in this country as does so many other acts of injustice. It has to stop!

The greatest injustice, however, is someone dieing without hearing that Jesus loves them and died for them.

'How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!' Romans 10:14-15

I pray that God would open our eyes to the World around us and that he would break our hearts with the things that break his. Amen.