For Advent we are going to write about the justice the birth of Jesus brings into the world, reflecting on Jesus’ justice through the themes of Advent: hope, peace, joy, and love.
One of the least discussed gifts we receive in Advent season is justice, which comes to us through the birth of Jesus. The prophet Isaiah speaks of the coming of the Messiah as the one who “will bring forth justice to the nations.” (42:1) Isaiah continues to prophecy, saying, “he will faithfully bring forth justice” (42:3) and that “he will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth.” (42:4) Of course, given how we in the United States have been trained to view justice as solely a means of punishing wrongdoers, justice seems to be an odd theme to mention when we are in the Advent season.
The four candles associated with Advent represent hope, peace, joy, and love. With justice being assigned the role of exacting societal, if not individual, vengeance, it naturally becomes challenging to associate justice with Advent. I doubt you will see a Hallmark Christmas movie this season with the theme centered on justice! But yet, the coming of Jesus the Messiah is also the time when we should be celebrating Jesus’ justice as much as we celebrate hope, peace, joy, and love, for when Jesus comes into the world he comes to establish justice for all the nations.
This week we will focus on Jesus’ justice and peace.
One of my favorite hymns is Canticle of the Turning.
My heart shall sing of the day you bring
Let the fires of your justice burn
Wipe away all tears for the dawn draws near
And the world is about to turn!
This hymn, which I adamantly argue is an Advent hymn, speaks of the ways that Christ (through His birth) brings forth justice and flips the ways of the world upside down creating a way for peace on the earth.
On the second Sunday of Advent, we light the candle of peace, a reminder that as we anticipate the birth of the Christ child, we remember the angel’s proclamation that through Christ there will be peace on earth (Luke 2:14).
We can’t talk about justice without talking about peace. Our call for justice is a call for peace on earth. A call for all to be seen and treated as the Imago Dei—the image of God. This call is a reminder to see the ways that the Christ child appears among us today—in our neighbors, in strangers, in the outcast, in those persecuted in the halls of power.
Peace on earth is a call to seek justice. It is a call to speak truth to power, fight with the oppressed, and stand in solidarity with those who seek to dismantle systems of oppression that prevent all from experiencing peace on earth.
From the halls of power to the fortress tower
Not a stone will be left on stone
Let the king beware for your
Justice tears ev’ry tyrant from his throne
The hungry poor shall weep no more
For the food they can never earn
There are tables spread, ev’ry
Mouth be fed
For the world is about to turn
This advent season we are reminded of the ways the birth of Christ brings forth justice among the nation and calls us to seek peace on earth for all.
