by Suzie Lind

Advent is a season of waiting, preparing, and remembering. It’s a season less about religious observance and more about the practices we embody as we live between two Advents: the once and future coming of Jesus Christ. While liturgies and decorations display the themes of hope, peace, and joy, Advent also carries a powerful message of justice. The arrival of Jesus into the world was itself a profound act of divine justice—a living proclamation that in Christ, God liberates, restores, heals, and makes things right.

Throughout Scripture, justice and the coming of Christ are deeply connected. Old Testament prophets foretold the coming of a Messiah who would establish justice and righteousness. Isaiah declared, “He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness” (Isaiah 9:7). This vision of justice is not about power in the way the world understands it. It’s not about dominance, punishment, or retribution but about restoring what is broken, lifting the oppressed, and bringing equity to a world rife with inequality.

The birth of Christ occurred in a time of social and political oppression. Jesus came into the world in the most unexpected way. Not as a conquering king but as a helpless baby, born to an unwed teenage mother from an obscure village in Galilee. From the moment the angel Gabriel approached Mary, God showed us through Jesus his justice would turn the world order upside down. His life and ministry made it clear that justice is about restoring dignity and giving a voice to those who are often silenced. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, and challenged the systems that kept people bound up in literal and spiritual chains.

Advent invites us to embody this way of justice as we go about living, moving, and having our being in Christ. It reminds us that while prayer and reflection are important and necessary, we don’t stop at prayer and become complacent in our waiting for Jesus to return and make everything right. We actively participate with God by living as agents of His Kingdom and do the work of justice in practical and tangible ways. It looks like standing up for the oppressed, naming the powers and principalities that perpetuate inequality and dehumanization, and creating communities that work to resist them. In this work, we care for the poor and create spaces where everyone belongs. We regularly examine how we live and ask hard questions about whether our lives reflect the values of the Kingdom or the values of empire.

Advent reminds us that justice is not merely an ideal but a reality breaking into the world through Christ. It’s about believing that the work we do to restore and reconcile matters because the story isn’t over. Jesus is coming again, and when He does, justice will roll like a river and righteousness like an unending stream.

There is an organization based in our highly affluent city that vets and trains women to share the hope and love of Jesus with women in the adult entertainment industry. They show up each week with dinner, pay the entrance fee, and sit in the dark corners of the clubs, creating safe spaces for women who are often trafficked or have little to no options for a way to provide for their families. It takes an average of two years before the women are willing to trust and share their stories with the “church ladies.” There is also a young father in our community who has worked relentlessly to stand up to our local government, gathering committees, studying history, and talking with those who oppose him to have the Confederate flag removed from our county seal.

These are a few examples of people who embody the message and spirit of Advent and who are motivated by the belief that Christ’s Kingdom is here and now, even as we await its fullness. Their work is a visible and deeply felt reminder that God’s justice and righteousness are both a present pursuit and a future promise.

So, this Advent season, how are we participating in God’s redemptive justice? How are we embodying His heart for the vulnerable, the marginalized, and the forgotten? As we light the Advent candles, let us also be light in the darkness, carrying the hope of God’s justice into a world longing for restoration. The work of justice is Advent work: preparing the way for the Lord and proclaiming His Kingdom of peace, wholeness, and love.

This is the second of three in our Advent series. To listen to the accompanying PEACE TALKS episode, click HERE. To read the first article on formation, click HERE.