What's Just?
Notes
Transcript
What’s Just
What’s Just
Describe God
What words do you use?
Warm and fuzzy - like everyone’s favorite grandfather?
What is your least favorite attribute of God?
Last week we were reminded of God’s providence and protection as He interacts with us - not as the God above us or over us or outside of our vision or view - He is the God who is with us. He is the God who is with us who:
Is a light in the darkness
is a source of joy, brought about by His stunning victory over Satan - breaking the yoke of sin and death on our behalf..
we saw an example of this in a woman at Jesus’ feet in the home of Simon, the Pharisee ing the filth from Jesus’ feet with her tears and her hair as she is overcome by the joy of salvation and forgiveness that Jesus extends like an olive branch to her and to you.
An olive branch that is extended because Jesus has defeated Satan and darkness through His death and resurrection. We who were enslaved and anguished by our choices and the fear of death have been released to serve God in joy.
He is the Surprising Conqueror
Why was HE surprising - because he came as a baby.
He isn’t just any child. He isn’t just any son. He is the Child, the Son upon whom the weight of authority would rest upon. He is the final authority and all government will rest upon His shoulders and He will not buckle.
We have the promise of a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
All of which pointed toward the of God which was established by the Birth of the Christ and which will never end.
So in spite of that, or, in spite of all the zeal that the Father has to see the Son glorified - the very thing that motivates His love - God is not a God to be trifled with.
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
We like that, it fits our warm fuzzy...
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
The rest of Chapter 9 is basically a synopsis of Jonathan Edwards classic sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God.”
Judgment 1: Stubborn Pride results in Invasion
The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
and it will fall on Israel;
and all the people will know,
Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
“The bricks have fallen,
but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
but we will put cedars in their place.”
But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,
and stirs up his enemies.
The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west
devour Israel with open mouth.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
God has repeatedly warned Israel and they refused to listen so He allowed allowed Israel to be devastated - for buildings to be leveled and trees uprooted and the response of the people was - nothing.
In their pride and arrogance they ignored the prophets that came to warn them.
In their pride and arrogance they ignored the judgment of God and looked to themselves for the solutions of their problems.
In their arrogance and pride, they hardened their heart which led to -
Judgment 2: Unrepentance Results in Leaders Removal
The people did not turn to him who struck them,
nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.
So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail,
palm branch and reed in one day—
the elder and honored man is the head,
and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,
and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for everyone is godless and an evildoer,
and every mouth speaks folly.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
See, when God reveals to us something that is wrong with our heart - the response God is looking for is a repentant and contrite heart.
Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
In Israel’s case, there was none of that so God removed the leaders who led the nation astray and did not lead them in repentance.
He also removed the prophets who were to speak truth to the situation.
Without leaders, the people have no vision.
Without vision, the people perish, because
Judgment 3: Sin Results in Self-Destruction
For wickedness burns like a fire;
it consumes briers and thorns;
it kindles the thickets of the forest,
and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
the land is scorched,
and the people are like fuel for the fire;
no one spares another.
They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,
and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
each devours the flesh of his own arm,
Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
together they are against Judah.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
This is nothing new. Sin spreads:
Genesis 3 - Adam and Eve
Genesis 4: Cain
Genesis 4: Lamech
Who is Lamech
So hardened to sin that he doesn’t show remorse for killing someone...
By Genesis 6 we see this:
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
The wickedness of Israel, and of every nation is revealed in how justly people live, by how people chase after justice.
Here the leaders were making laws that stripped property, pride and protections away from the most vulnerable in their society - the widows, the orphans, and the poor.
This injustice will be answered by the wrath of a just and righteous king.
Judgment 4: Social Injustice Results in Conquest
Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees,
and the writers who keep writing oppression,
to turn aside the needy from justice
and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil,
and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
What will you do on the day of punishment,
in the ruin that will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth?
Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
Justice is neither liberal or conservative. It becomes one or the other based upon the lens we view it through.
Social justice is neither liberal or conservative, however, the word social has come to mean a more liberal perspective as it relates to issues of justice - a view that some consider to be devoid of a real gospel emphasis.
The opposing view has been considered to be to heavenly minded to be any earthly good as the emphasis on the gospel comes without any perceived basis of love.
Understanding that these are extremes and lacking nuance, we recognize that social issues are biblical issues and therefore, social issues have biblical solutions.
VBS this week focused on Matthew 25:31-40. The theme was: Serving Others is Serving God.
So what is justice for the hungry?
The thirsty?
The stranger?
The naked?
The sick?
the imprisoned?
The homeless?
The oppressed?
The unborn?
The child who through the circumstances of his birth lacks access to schools that empower and encourage him or her to fulfill their God-ordained identity and destiny.
Tim Keller suggests, in a white paper entitled: A Biblical Critique of Secular Justice and Critical Theory that there are 5 facets of Biblical Justice.
Community - Others have a claim on my wealth, so I must give voluntarily. In other words, as Bruce Waltke is quoted in this article: “The righteous are willing to disadvantage themselves to advantage the community. An example of this would be the gleaning laws of the OT.
Equity: Everyone must be treated equally and with dignity
He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
who despises the gain of oppressions,
who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed
and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,
Bribery does not treat the poor and the rich the same… why?
So what becomes the basis by which decisions and judgments are made?
Today that might be, which lawyer can you afford...
Corporate responsibility: I am sometimes responsible for and involved in other peoples sin
A Stumbling block
How does our sin impact the people around us?
How does institutionalized sin favor the powerful and marginalize the less powerful?
“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.
“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
Individual Responsibility: I am responsible for all my sins, but not for all my outcomes.
We need to repent for our sins, however, we cannot escape teh fact that we are not in complete control of our life outcomes.
Advocacy: We must have special concern fro the poor and marganilized.
Open your mouth for the mute,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
defend the rights of the poor and needy.
The playing field is not level - so we must advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves:
Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.
We will only begin to understand justice when we understand our need to take refuge in the Cross of Christ.
The Only Refuge: Christ of the Cross
What will you do on the day of punishment,
in the ruin that will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth?
This question should burn in all our hearts. This question should cause all of us to consider where we find refuge.
For those of us who are followers of Jesus, then Christ is our refuge.
As such, I want to suggest that there are 4 legs to this stool that we call Christian Witness… Take any one of these legs away and we lose balance and perspective on our identity and purpose - we cannot be a just peopl e representing a just God.
The four legs are:
The Great Requirement (Micah 6:8)
The Great Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40)
The Great Commission (Matthew 29:18-20)
The Great Vision (Revelation 7:9)
These four, when lived out together, provide us with an authentic witness, rooted in teh righteousness, justice, mercy and love of God - compelling us to remember where we came from and celebrating where we are going.
I know tht I may have left you with more questions… I have them myselves, chief among them is this:
What is ourt response?
How do we live as a community that is willing to disadvantage itself for the sake of others within and outside our community?
How are we doing as a group of people who treat everyone equally and with dignity?
Do we take corporate responsibility for the sin of the past?
Do we take individual responsibility? Are we a confessing people?
Will we stand up and seek to give more social, financial, and cultural capital to those with less? What will we do to protect the person who is being cheated and mistreated fromt eh one who is mistreating?
As Connections Gatherings take place, seek to answer those questioins, and we hope to take some of your thoughts, your ideas , and give feet to them so we can truly be a group of people who Love Justice, Do Mercy, and Walk Humbly.