A Heart for Justice: Luke 18:1-8
Continuing our Heart of the King series, we turned this week to explore God's heart for justice. Pastor Dave reminded us that justice isn’t just something God enacts—justice is who God is. In a world that often distorts justice into power, revenge, or convenience, God calls us to a justice rooted in His character: compassionate, restorative, and true.
Opening with a story about a heated moment at a restaurant, Pastor Dave reflected on how easily we confuse justice with personal satisfaction. True justice, however, isn’t about getting what we want or fixing things to our liking. True justice flows from the very heart of God, who sees beyond the surface, who knows every hidden motive, and who acts not for selfish gain but for real restoration.
In Luke 18, Jesus tells the parable of the persistent widow—a vulnerable woman who refuses to stop seeking justice from a corrupt judge. The judge, who neither fears God nor cares for people, ultimately grants her request simply to get her to stop bothering him. Jesus uses this story to contrast human justice with divine justice. If even a heartless judge responds eventually, how much more will our God—who is perfect in righteousness—answer the cries of His people?
God’s justice, Pastor Dave emphasized, is active, compassionate, and restorative. It bends toward the broken, lifts up the oppressed, and heals what the world has shattered. Referencing Isaiah 58, we were reminded that God's vision of justice isn't about distant judgment; it’s about setting the oppressed free, feeding the hungry, and sheltering the wanderer. His justice moves outward into real, tangible action—and He calls us to join Him.
This parable also speaks to those moments when justice feels delayed. Like the widow, we are invited to persist in prayer, trust in God’s timing, and remember that His work is unfolding even when we cannot see it. God's justice is not absent; it is present, working in us, around us, and through us.
As we continue this season of Lent, Pastor Dave challenged us to reflect: Where is God calling us to step into the work of justice? Where are we being asked to speak for the voiceless, to act with compassion, to persist in hope? Justice is not something distant or theoretical—it is lived out daily in how we love our neighbors, defend the vulnerable, and reflect the heart of our King.
The invitation before us is clear: not just to wait for God’s justice to come, but to be part of it here and now—trusting that He will, in His perfect way and time, make all things new.
