When justice just isn’t enough

“Justice is human, but magnanimity is divine.”[1] -Dr. John Sentamu, the Most Reverend and Rt Hon The Lord Archbishop of York (2005- )

Christianity is much more than the law. The Archbishop of York states very clearly the fact that there are often times when decisions are made in accordance with the law, but the moral right is transgressed, and that is not love. And very often the world and so-called Christians do this.

The Archbishop puts it this way:

“The apostle Paul is saying to his Philippian (sic) friends: ‘May your moderation, patient mind, gentleness, magnanimity, meekness, goodness, tolerant spirit be known to all. The Lord is near.'[2]

“Put it another way, ‘Let everyone know you’re going to meet someone halfway.'”[3]

The key word in the previous verse, epiieikes/epieikeia (Greek), means “fit, proper, reasonable, just. When applied to authorities it denotes… clemency. It also denotes a humble and patient steadfastness, capable of submitting to injustice, misfortune, and mistreatment without hate nor malice, trusting in God despite [what is happening].”[4]

God’s intelligence is required for us to discern when moral evil would be accomplished by serving legal good. We know this when we ‘do the right thing’ but run out of inspiration and when we really hurt people in the process; in other words, there is a win/lose outcome. Win/lose results seen through the eyes of epiieikes/epieikeia is actually lose/lose. In fact, the owner of epiieikes/epieikeia prefer lose so another can win, if that’s the only way, now that’s love.

Justice is sometimes bravery. Take for example the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8; Jesus went beyond the law to not only acquit the woman in the light of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, but also to restore her… and her reaction? She was fascinated by the grace that she saw in Christ. Compassion and an exhortation to leave a life of sin, not condemnation, was what she received. Justice would have seen her stoned to her death. The radical action of forgiving the guilty act of a penitent woman brought her miraculous life.

There is also the example of what the archbishop calls ‘the parable of the loving father’, commonly known as ‘the parable of the prodigal/lost son’. The real hero of this story is the father. I believe, along with the Archbishop, that the father exemplified the Father’s heart of watching and waiting in positive anticipation, eager to forgive and forget; for the wasteful son is praise to return, not to condemnation. And there is a glorious lesson in this for us and our relationships where people transgress us. Aren’t there numerous opportunities to actively forgive and forget every day? And do we get trampled when we issue God’s grace abundantly in this way? Hardly. The forgiven are eager to make amends and return favors (not that we need them) and their joy cannot be estimated. And even when we receive nothing in return, God can fill our hearts to overflowing through the Holy Spirit (see Romans 5:3-5, The message paraphrase). So if they don’t feel joy, we do!—by being obedient.

graceful magnanimity, as the archbishop says, is a subjective love rich in wisdom, which adapts to the subtle nuances of the current situation, sensitive to the creative and innovative loving solutions that are possible. It is the great corrective to legalism and Pharisaic custom. It is the property of grace and the mighty kingdom of the Most High, God. He is far above us, but through the Son we can claim him in his glorious name. To practice the graceful magnanimity of epiieikes/epieikeia it is to approach the throne of God and know salvation in the name of the living God. Surely salvation cannot come any other way?

Coincidentally, the secular world views the display of epiieikes/epieikeia in either of two ways: either it’s totally absurd or it’s a wonderful coup of courageous leadership. Go figure.

Copyright © 2008, SJ Wickham. All rights reserved throughout the world.

Also note that the keyword to epieikes is the adjective and epieikeia is the noun

GRADES:

[1] Go to the site: archbishopofyork.org/242 to view the full sermon, Epieikes and Epieikeia: More than justice

[2] Philippians 4:5 (paraphrased).

[3] ibid. to the footnote (1).

[4] Fritz Rienecker and Cleon Rogers (ed.), Linguistic key to the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1976, 1980), p. 485.