Justice and Mercy are the Path to Resolution in Kavanaugh Hearings

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." - Micah 6:8 NIV

In the midst of controversy over the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, we would do well to remember the prophet Micah's instruction to the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. God's chosen people had lost their way, holding up unrighteous men and women as pillars of society and worshipping the false gods of the Canaanite people. As we enter the third week of #ConfirmationGate, we resemble the lost and misguided nations of Israel more than the constitutional republic of America.

We are not seeking justice; if we were then accusations of wrongdoing would be made publicly and hearings would be held to derive the truth. Instead, we have secret accusations, public posturing, myriad denials, and the delay of hearings. Justice isn't in the punishment, but in the process: the Lord administers justice perfectly, for he "[does] not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great," but judges all fairly. We must strive to do the same. 

Our society doesn't love mercy, for if we did, the sins of a person's distant past would not be drudged up to condemn him now. Likewise, we would not rush to condemn a woman's account of assault as false or malicious. This doesn't mean that "time heals all wounds." In fact, time has no such power. Only forgiveness, through the loving sacrifice of one's right to restitution, can heal those wounds. Instead, we have partisans drawing arbitrary lines in the sand that demand retribution for our enemies and absolution for ourselves.

Finally, we are most certainly not walking humbly with the Lord. If we were, then we would not create such high stakes for a Supreme Court nomination. We would not place our hopes in the outcome of judicial decisions or elections. And we would not drape ourselves in the faux patriotism of a flag or the cultural security blanket that our skin color provides.

Walking humbly with the Lord means recognizing that He is the creator and giver of all life. When we admit that God is everything, it resets our metric for what is important in life. We stop looking elsewhere for fulfillment and gratification. And because we bear His image, He is the source of all our dignity. We shouldn't need the approval of another, let alone the highest court in the land, to make us feel accepted. Finally, His faithfulness through the ages reveals that all hope resides in His promise of redemption, fulfilled through the life of Jesus Christ on earth, His death on the cross, and the resurrection.

Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord. This is what a hurting nation must do.