I had the privilege yesterday to visit International Justice Mission’s headquarters in the Washington DC area. I attended the daily staff prayer meeting, and for the first couple of minutes I sat in appreciation of an organization that believes enough in the power of prayer that the whole staff is called together each day to pray for the work of the ministry. The president of IJM opened the meeting by reading a Psalm that spoke of justice, and then the staff prayed for just that – justice. Only it wasn’t some sort of distant, nebulous prayer. They prayed for specific people, men and women they knew. One by one they interceded before the throne for those suffering from cruel injustices including forced prostitution and other types of slavery and those endangering their own lives to work toward justice for both victim and oppressor. As I listened to their prayers, I thought of Blaise Pascal, who once said, “Justice and power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just.”  IJM is but one example of an organization striving to do precisely that.

As I continue to learn more about all types of suffering and injustice in our world, many other issues don’t seem quite as important as they once did. In this week’s Newsweek, N.T. Wright is asked about gay unions and clergy, a contentious and indeed a truly significant issue in the church today. He replies:

“We have to address it. At the same time, I wish we could prioritize so that we were actually talking about issues of global justice and debt remission and global warming and so on. I mean, there’s something very bizarre about the rich arguing about sex while the poor are clamoring for justice.”*

I pray that God will find us faithful to seeking first his kingdom of justice and righteousness. May he help us straighten our priorities as the poor clamor for justice. And may the just become powerful and the powerful just.

* Lisa Miller, “Everything Old is New Again” Newsweek (May 5, 2008), 20.