During the lesson, the information for you to know is written in regular type, and what we suggest speaking or reading aloud to children is in bold. All resources for this lesson, including the Teacher Guide and Student Page, can be downloaded in a ZIP file by clicking on the following link:
In some lessons you will find "resource articles." These are articles written by experts from around the world to help equip you for your work with children and adolescents. Share them with parents or guardians if you consider it appropriate.
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
God is the champion of the orphan, the widow, and the foreigner (Deuteronomy 10:18), and He defends the poor and needy (Psalm 140:12). He stands against oppression and gives refuge to the needy and vulnerable. He cares for those who have been treated unjustly, and He calls us to do the same.
How can you do what the Lord requires of you—to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God? Start by looking at God’s character and choose to view the world as He does. Consider the injustices you have seen and experienced. Ask Him to show you how to bring justice in the way He knows is best, even if it is not what you expected or desired. Then act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God, allowing His justice to reign in your life
Encourage the students to ask their family members, “What is 1 way to show justice to someone who is not treated justly?” They can then share that God loves justice and defends those who are treated unjustly.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
As the students arrive, greet them warmly and invite them to share situations where there were able to see justice in their families and communities. When you are ready to begin class, gather the group in a large circle.
Lead the class in a discussion about injustices they have seen in your community or nation. Tell them to share the situations only, not the names of the people involved. Remind them to be respectful of those involved in the situations and others in the class.
Divide the students into groups of 3–4. The students will remain in their groups for the entire class.
Optional: If you have the optional newspapers available, give each group a section of newspaper. The students will look for stories of injustice in your community or nation. Each group will pick 1 story to discuss.
Each group will choose a situation to discuss. If more than 1 group discusses the same situation, that is okay. Ask the groups to discuss the following questions:
Give the groups about 5 minutes to talk about their answers to the questions. Then ask the questions again of the entire class. Allow 2–3 different groups to share their answers to each question. After the discussion, share the following:
Justice is an important part of who God is. It is part of His character and part of His relationship with us. The Bible tells us that God is always just, good, and loving. His justice is for everyone. It does not matter if that person is a well-known leader or an unknown orphan. His standard of justice is the same for everyone. When we think about how to treat others, we should try to treat them as God would.
Have a student read Micah 6:8 aloud from the Bible. If that is not possible, the verse is printed here for you.
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
Allow 2–3 students to share their thoughts. If necessary, remind them that God’s justice seeks to restore and bring healing to the people and the situation. Acting justly means treating all people with kindness and respect and giving compassion, comfort, and caring to those in need.
“Justice” means doing what is morally right based on God’s standards. God alone is good and right, and justice is one of His character qualities. We have talked about the first part of God’s justice—vengeance. Now we will discuss the second part—restoration. “Restoration” means returning a situation to the way God intended for it to be. Acting justly means treating people the way God would treat them—caring for those who do not have anyone to care for them and respecting everyone around us.
Justice is not just an attitude. It is an action. When we do justice, we are acting on the kindness, mercy, and compassion that God puts in our hearts. When our hearts are transformed by His love and we begin to see others as He does, we will begin to treat them as He would—with kindness, love, mercy, and compassion.
Listen to what the Bible teaches us about doing justice and bringing restoration.
Have 3 different students read the verses below.
Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.
Isaiah 1:17
He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.
Deuteronomy 10:18
If you are using the Memory Verse Poster, show it to the students.
I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.
Psalm 140:12
He cares for everyone, including those who have no one else to care for them.
God cares deeply about justice for all people. But He particularly emphasises justice for people who may be overlooked or considered less valuable by others.
Teens may answer the poor; orphans; those from other classes, tribes, or castes; those with disabilities.
Jesus showed us and taught us how to bring justice to all people, even those who may be considered less valuable or less important. When He was sharing with His followers about how to treat others, He told this parable. As I read it, think about what it teaches about justice.
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
Luke 10:30–35
Now, let’s identify the people in this story. We do not know anything about the man who was robbed. We just know that he was hurt and in need of help. Both the priest and the Levite were Jews who served in the temple. The Samaritan belonged to a group of people that the Jews hated and considered worthless.
The man who was robbed and beaten.
Allow 2–3 students to share their thoughts. Then guide them to understand that both the priest and the Levite would have understood God’s justice and should have treated the injured man justly.
The Samaritan man treated the injured man justly. This was surprising because the Samaritans were hated by the Jews, so the Jews would not have expected just treatment from a Samaritan.
He cared for a man whom others mistreated and overlooked. He tried to bring restoration to the situation by providing for the physical needs of the injured man.
Now we will read some situations. After each, we will talk about how God’s justice applies in that situation. Remember that God’s justice brings restoration to the person or situation.
Situation: King Herod wanted to marry his brother’s wife, whose name was Herodias. John the Baptist told the king that marrying Herodias was wrong. As a result, the king had John tied up and put in prison. Then Herod married Herodias.
On Herod’s birthday, Herodias’ daughter danced for the king. The dance pleased him so much that he promised to give her whatever she wanted. So she asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Herod did not want to kill John, but because he had made a promise in front of all of his guests, he did as he had promised. He sent soldiers to the prison. They cut off John’s head and brought it on a platter to Herodias’ daughter, who gave it to her mother.
Herod could have chosen to do what was right even though he felt pressured to keep his promise because he had made it in front of others.
If there is a situation of injustice from your community that you can use in place of this story from Rwanda that follows, feel free to use it.
Situation: In 1994, war broke out in the African nation of Rwanda between 2 groups: the Hutus and Tutsis. More than 800,000 people were killed over a 100-day period across the country. Neighbours killed neighbours, and people who had once lived peacefully together now hated and feared one another.
A 17-year-old woman named Jacqueline fled to Burundi when her family was killed. A neighbour named Matthias had killed her family. Matthias was arrested, as were many people who had mistreated and killed others in their communities.
About 5 years later, the president of Rwanda decided to begin releasing those in jail who had confessed to their parts in the killings. He knew his nation needed deep healing. As those who had participated in the violence returned to their communities, the Christian church helped to lead the way toward reconciliation and forgiveness.
Today Jacqueline and Matthias are again neighbours. He confessed to his part in the killing and asked for forgiveness. Though it was a difficult process, Jacqueline chose to forgive, though the healing has taken a long time.
Jacqueline responded to injustice by acting justly. She forgave Matthias, who had treated her unjustly.
Jacqueline acted justly by forgiving. Matthias acted justly by confessing and asking for forgiveness. The president acted justly by seeking restoration for his nation.
Justice is part of God’s character, and His standard of justice is the same for everyone. It does not matter if that person is a well-known leader or an unknown orphan. God promises to bring justice for everyone, and He calls us to do the same. And every one of us has the opportunity to bring justice to others in our lives.
Because our world is filled with sin and evil, it is also filled with injustice. People all over the world are treated unjustly. Listen again to how we are to seek justice:
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
Often we do not see others as God does. But God calls us to care about justice for everyone in every situation.
In your groups, think back to the situations of injustice that your groups discussed at the beginning of class. In your groups, answer these questions:
Remember sometimes justice is doing practical things, such as caring for someone’s needs, as the Samaritan did. Sometimes it is helping people forgive and reconcile, as we heard about in the story from Rwanda. God can use each of us to help bring justice.
Give the groups about 5 minutes to talk about how to bring justice. Allow each group to briefly share their ideas.
Optional: If you are using the Student Pages, give the teens time to complete the activity on their pages.
Close class with this blessing based on Proverbs 28:5.
Blessing: May you begin to understand God’s heart for justice. May you learn to see injustice around you and to show justice to others.
Lead the children in singing this quarter’s song, if possible.
Life on Life ©2020 David C Cook. Reproducible for home or classroom use only. All other uses require written permission from David C Cook [email protected]. All rights reserved.
