From Despair To Hope

2 O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you "Violence!" and you will not save? 3 Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. 4 So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous-- therefore judgment comes forth perverted. (Habakkuk 1:2-4)

The book of Habakkuk opens with a lament that could easily be uttered today. We see injustice, violence and destruction all around us - and it seems unending. The prophet, Habakkuk, boldly spoke to God with all of his questions and frustrations. And then he waited for God to answer. God's answer first recounts the sins of the people of Israel - implying that they don't deserve to be saved - before declaring that God does see the hardships of God's people and does intend to act on their behalf. But God doesn't say how or when. By the end of the book Habakkuk praises God in prayer, not because the situation has changed, but because he knows he and his people have been seen and heard.

16b Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity

to come on the nation invading us.

17 Though the fig tree does not bud

and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen

and no cattle in the stalls,

18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will be joyful in God my Savior. (Habakkuk 3:16b-18)

In the person of Jesus, salvation came to God's people through the back door. Changing the hearts and minds of those who had been enemies and outsiders. When Jesus invited himself to the home of Zacchaeus - a wealthy chief tax collector - people were quick to complain and point out the seeming disparity. But this enemy had sought out the salvation he didn't even know he needed by climbing a tree to get a look at Jesus. Conversely, Jesus noticed Zacchaeus, and called him down from his self-inflated position. Zacchaeus was seen, the cry of his heart was heard, and he responded by reversing the injustices he had perpetrated. We are all seen, we are all heard, we are all known. Justice comes when we each respond to Jesus' desire to come in.

7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." 8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." 9 Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost." (Luke 19:7-10)