And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien that is with him. You shall not be partial in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike; you shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s;

Deuteronomy 1:16-17a

Do you believe you are worth fighting for?

Those that know me know that I have a great love for musical theatre, both as a spectator and as a performer. A good show stays with you not only because of the sheer ‘wow’ of the spectacle and the catchy songs but also because it carries with it a deep and poignant meaning. This is probably why ‘Les Miserable’ is the favourite musical of many, including myself, because it has it all. At first glance the musical ‘Chicago’ may not seem to carry within it earth shattering wisdom or poignant morality but it has much to dwell on and is definitely up there among my favourites. Based on actual reported cases of female criminals in the 1920’s, it is a satire on corruption in the justice system and of the emergence of the “celebrity criminal.” The character Roxy Hart murders her lover when he tries to break up with her, after promising her a career in show business and not delivering. She coxes her husband, the hapless Amos, to cover for her by saying that he shot a burglar. He later discovers that the random murdered ‘burglar’ is a salesman that sold them furniture. Amos knows that something is fishy but still covers for Roxy and nearly bankrupts himself by hiring the most expensive lawyer to defend her. When eventually she is acquitted Amos is summarily dumped so that Roxy can pursue her new found celebrity status.
Billy Swan is the celebrity defence lawyer. He is articulate and passionate and will do anything to get his client off the hook – for a price! The 2002 film version has a brilliant scene whereby Billy Swan is summing up his case to the judge. This is juxtaposed with clips of him performing a tap dance on stage. Roxy Hart dresses and acts as a demure housewife and even feigns a pregnancy to impress the jury and get an aquittal.
So why am I reflecting on all this? Can we truly feign innocence and get an acquittal in Roxy Hart style? If justice demands that a price be paid it will eventually catch up with us. Victor Hugo’s powerful poem Conscience illustrates this using the biblical character Cain. He tries to run and hide from the murder of his brother but an all-seeing eye is ever upon him. His family (his descendants) try to hide their father from the eye by building man-made structures, so that God cannot enter. When this fails Cain demands that they build him a tomb under the earth and seal him in it alone – but still the eye is there.

They set strong granite for the canvas wall,
And every block was clamped with iron chains.
It seemed a city made for hell. Its towers,
With their huge masses made night in the land.
The walls were thick as mountains. On the door
They graved: “Let not God enter here.” This done,
And having finished to cement and build
In a stone tower, they set him in the midst.
To him, still dark and haggard, “Oh, my sire,
Is the Eye gone?” quoth Zillah tremblingly.
But Cain replied: “Nay, it is even there.”
Then added: “I will live beneath the earth,
As a lone man within his sepulchre.
I will see nothing; will be seen of none.”
They digged a trench, and Cain said: “‘Tis enow,”
As he went down alone into the vault;
But when he sat, so ghost-like, in his chair,
And they had closed the dungeon o’er his head,
The Eye was in the tomb and fixed on Cain.

‘Conscience’ by Victor Hugo

The brilliance of Hugo’s novel ‘Les Miserable’ (and subsequent musical) lies in its treatment of the themes of ‘Justice’ and ‘Mercy’. These themes become the characters ‘Javert’ and ‘Jean Valjean’ one in constant pursuit of the other. ‘Mercy’ wins out in the end because Jean Valjean experiences the forgiveness of the bishop from whom he steals valuable items. A forgiveness so incomprehensible, that Javert cannot accept it, yet so powerful that it causes contrition in Jean Valjean, an amendment of life and a subsequent life lived in charity.
The guilt of humanity turning away from goodness could only be pardoned by its creator taking human form and surrendering to death…death on a cross. ‘Father, forgive them, they know not what they do’ (Luke 23:34) Those powerful words of forgiveness are for all of us. Justice demands a price, and that price was paid by God himself. That radical forgiveness can be truly life amending if we can accept it, knowing that a ‘humble contrite heart’ will not be spurned (psalm 51:17) and allowing God to guide our amended life.
Allowing God to guide our amended life is trusting that God is indeed on our side – God is our advocate – but he is the total opposite of Billy Swan. His price is not money but only that we speak what is true. Do we really believe that God is our advocate? The Holy Spirit (God in form of the third person of the Trinity) is described in scripture as the ‘Paraclete’ (someone who speaks on our behalf, who ‘advocates’ for us)

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
John 14:16–17

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
1 John 2:1

We need the Roxy like trust in our advocate combined with the transparency of Amos…but not with the conniving dishonesty of Roxy or the self negation of Amos. The character of Amos is cleverly illustrated by the song ‘Mr. Cellophane.’ “You can walk right by me, see right through me,” go the lyrics. Any negation of self in that sense goes against what God created…we are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ (psalm 139:14-16). But that’s a whole different topic. Not being Mr. Cellophane makes us wonderfully made and worth fighting for! And God does indeed fight for us!
If the unrepentant Roxy can get off scot-free by the brilliance of her corrupt lawyer, how much more will God come to our cause and stand by us if we are humble and genuinely repentant? It reminds me of the parable Jesus taught about the persistent widow and the unjust judge in Luke 18…

He said ‘In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, “Grant me justice against my adversary.”
‘For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, “Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!”’
And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?’

Luke 18:2-8

There will be justice for his chosen ones…It just takes a bit of persistence and a lot of faith. Our lives here on earth are a reflection of that battle between good and evil. The eternal courtroom drama plays out in all our lives and is ultimately what forms our conscience.

But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be a time for you to bear testimony. Settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death; you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.

Luke 21:12-19

With the Holy Spirit as our advocate we are able to stand up for ourselves and others and to believe that God’s justice will ultimately be served, even if it is not to our timeline. Or will He find a lack of faith on earth?
Life is full of conflict and judgements – we cannot avoid that. But do we really believe that God is on our side? If we are trying our best to live by his teaching why should this not be the case? When we fail to live by his teaching the Accuser is quick to condemn us. It is easy to listen to this voice and get disheartened. But God sees the bigger picture. If our heart is in the right place God will be a fierce advocate for us in the eternal courtroom drama…do we believe him to be so?

Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly people;
from deceitful and unjust men
deliver me!
For thou art the God in whom I take refuge;

Psalm 43