Oct 30-31, 2021
From the Pastor’s Desk: Rev. Simon Lee
Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,
Do you get frustrated and depressed, even angry, when you hear or see all the injustice around you and around the world? I do, especially because daily I follow closely the news near and far, the systemic and social racism, institutional injustice, political hypocrisy, the plight of the poor, disadvantaged and oppressed, and even “Christian” hypocrisy in the name of God. We long for freedom, peace, and justice.
This is the 4th and last article in the Series: In His time, reflections from Ecclesiastes 3. We have reflected on “Appointed time vs appropriate time,” Life’s certainties and our response,” and “Life’s ultimate purpose.” Now we conclude with a reflection on “A time for justice.”
- Beginning with the sovereignty of God (14-15)
We must however start from “the sovereignty of God.” It occurs to me that when we talked about “In His time,” we often mean that while things are not what we want or expect them to be for the time being, that we as Christians who believe in the sovereignty of God, believe that “in his time” things will eventually be fine as “He makes all things beautiful in His time,” that is, “beautiful” for us in the end.
As we have reflected, we know that “He makes all things beautiful in His time” is indeed true, because our God is a God of love. Paul has also taught us, “all things work together for good for them that love God…” (Romans 8:28) However we often take the verse out of context as the rest of the verse reads “to them who are the called according to his purpose.” In other words, those who claim this promise are also those who are called to be under the grand purpose of God, which means the “good” must also be in line with God’s “good” and the overall sovereign will of God.
In our text in Ecclesiastes Solomon states it this way: “Whatever exists now has already been, and whatever will has already been; for God will seek to do again what has occurred in the past.” (3:15) In other words, God is sovereign in the cycle of life. Before this, he also states that the continuity and finality of life all serve the purpose of ensuring “that man (human beings) may fear (revere) God. (3:14) We have been created by God in His image so we can relate to Him, with reverence as His creation.
Old Testament scholar, Franz Delitzsch, wisely puts it: “The government of God… does not change; His creative as well as His moral ordering of the world produces with the same laws the same phenomena … His government remains always, and brings … up again that whish hath been.” The response God wants people to have to His immutable, inscrutable plan is one of fear, reverence, and humble submission: so men will revere Him.
- Facing the reality of injustice (16)
Solomon’s realistic reckoning and assessment of life with all its injustice and oppression is sobering. He says, “I saw something else on earth: In the place of justice, there was wickedness, and in the place of fairness, there was wickedness.” (3:16)
The hardest thing Christians face in submitting to the sovereignty of God is to also accept the evil reality of injustice and oppression. We all ask the question, “if the sovereign God is good and almighty, how come there is still so much injustice and oppression in the world God Himself has created and is ruling over?” We cannot reconcile the problem of pain and suffering in our Christian faith. So, often we try hard to do what we can to right the wrongs, to bring justice to those who suffer injustice, and do our best to liberate those who are oppressed. Indeed, these are honorable and crucial things that all Christians should attempt to do, and indeed we should do much more than what we are doing. For isn’t this exactly what the prophet Micah reminds us to do: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness…? “(6:8a) We do have a just God who hate the sin of injustice and oppression. But again, the rest of the verse is important and should not be left out: “…and to walk humbly with your God?” (6:8b) The NET Bible puts it as “…and to live obediently before your God.” While doing justice and showing kindness are required of us from God, we also need to, in fact required to, walk humbly and live obediently. In context this means also that when faced with injustice, we must try our best but leave the rest to God, to submit to the sovereignty of God.
As said, I daily am abhorred at all the socio-political injustice and oppression we see in Canada and all around the world. We naturally get indignant and frustrated because we feel so helpless against the powers and political authorities of this world. We have all wanted to live in a better place, hence this is why we or our parents have chosen to live in Canada, and why there are the ceaseless migrations in human history till now. In the end, the sad reality is there is no “utopia” on earth, and everywhere we go, there is still injustice and oppression.
When facing a world of injustice and persecution, Paul’s words are still so relevant today when he says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Eph. 6:10-12) No wonder we are in constant conflicts and struggles, because we are fighting an ongoing spiritual battle, lest we forget that and try to “play God!” We therefore need to put on the whole armor of God. Onward Christian Soldiers, Marching as to War! (To be continued)
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Simon
