The Best of Our Family
Desmond M. Tutu

The world seems so unfair. Everywhere there are contrasts between rich and poor, well and sick, happy and unhappy, good and bad, and we would plead with God that if he is in charge, as we fervently believe, perhaps he could make this a little more obvious? But it is this imbalance that seems to be so necessary to our lives. Would we really be happier if God had made a world in which everyone enjoyed perfect health? If everyone were rich? If we were perfectly happy all the time? It sounds idyllic. There is, however, something wrong with the vision of God creating a perfect world. It would be fair to everyone, but would we not all be like self-satisfied zombies?

What did God have in mind in creating such a seemingly contrary and pain-full world. I believe he has given us, his children, a wonderful and challenging ministry exemplified by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is our job to make our community, our society, our nation, our world, a place where fairness and justice flourish. It is our responsibility as part of God's creation to participate with God in that creation by rectifying the imbalances we see all around us. In Matthew 2 5:35 we read: "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me."

We are called to be actively involved in leveling up the playing field. And this ministry is not just to those near at hand. It is particularly to those as described in verse 45 who are "...the least of these...." Those who lack most, who are at the bottom of the heap, for whom there seems to be no justice at all; the poor, the widow, the children, the sick and the outcast. It was our Lord who favored them the most because their need was greatest. It is for us who have much, to ensure that all God's children have a fair share of God's gifts with which we have been blessed. It is a ministry of giving, not taking, of sharing and caring.

But justice is not a case of the "haves" giving to the "have nets." That is far too unworthy and shallow an interpretation of God's intent for us. We must recognize that all people are our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all members of God's family. We would want the best for our family. We would want good education and health care for them and we would willingly help in any way possible for that to happen. If they are being victimized and oppressed we would move heaven and earth to speak out against such evil. If dictators do not respect their rights, we will not stand by and say it is not our business. It is our business to be where there is pain and suffering and to oppose injustice with all our strength. Our brothers and sisters are in trouble and we cannot enjoy peace of mind and make peace with God if we do nothing. It is our responsibility as part of being God's children to actively try to make God's Kingdom come on earth. To bring about that idyllic perfection he would wish, as an offering to him, the source of all perfection.

How imperative is this ideal to our relationship with God? Amos 5:2-24 has the answer:

"I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and cereal offerings, I will not accept them, and the peace offerings of your fatted beast I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

It is an imperative that we ignore at our peril.

Desmond M. Tutu is the Anglican Archbishop of Capetown, South Africa.