A People of Justice and Mercy

8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Isaiah 58:6–11 ESV

6 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? 8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, 10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. 11 And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Matthew 25:31–46 ESV

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 23:23 ESV

23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

Flow Ideas

Introduction

Read Primary Scripture

Focus: God’s concern for justice

Exegete key aspects of text

Supplemental texts as a tour de force

Judgement for how we do this — clearly it matters that we do justice and love kindness

Clarity: Biblical justice vs. social justice

Compare and contrast. Think vinn diagram. Overlap in some ways. But two very different starting points and systems of thought.

Biblical justice...

Is the fruit of authentic faith

Begins in the family

Emanates out in society

Social justice...

Is the fruit of the fear of man

Begins in society

Deconstructs the family

God’s concern is that we love our neighbor well in practical, tangible ways

What does it look like to be a person of justice and mercy?

Good Samaritan story

Who is my neighbor?

Proximity

Passions

You are not called to carry the weight of all the justice issues on earth

You are called to carry the weight of your neighbor’s burdens.

The church has done this incredibly well throughout its history

Examples...

Intro

The black eye of the church? Paint the popular picture

Reality: God and His people have always led the way in works of justice and mercy

We are called to continue that concern.

Plan: show God’s heart for true justice and mercy, and to invite our people to walk in it.

Quotes

WE DENY that political or social activism should be viewed as integral components of the gospel or primary to the mission of the church. Though believers can and should utilize all lawful means that God has providentially established to have some effect on the laws of a society, we deny that these activities are either evidence of saving faith or constitute a central part of the church’s mission given to her by Jesus Christ, her head. We deny that laws or regulations possess any inherent power to change sinful hearts. (“The Dallas Statement”)

Baucham Jr., Voddie. Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe (p. 240). Salem Books. Kindle Edition.

Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (1) A Divine Covenant Lawsuit (6:1–8)

As the Lord said to Shallum, King Josiah’s son, “Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” (Jer 22:15b–16). Two applications of this passage are offered by Stuart:

1. Faithful participation in worship is not enough. It must be accompanied by faithful, proper living.

2. A good look at the past reminds us of God’s loyalty, and of our responsibility to be loyal to him in return.29

Introduction

The last six weeks we’ve been looking at the characteristics of a disciple of Jesus — the vital signs of someone who has truly believed the Gospel and is living in an abiding relationship with the Triune God.

These vital signs should be descriptive of your life if you are a Christian. For any area where you’re lacking, they should at least be aspirational. You should be able to say, “Yes, I want that.”

So we’ve looked at worship, community, intimacy with God, generosity, and living on mission with the Gospel.

Today, we end the series by looking at one final vital sign of dynamic life in Christ. It is this:

Dynamic disciples of Jesus are people of justice and mercy.

What is Justice?

But what is justice?

My guess is, for some in this room, me just saying the word from the pulpit makes you squirm a little bit. You can’t hear justice without thinking we’re about to run this thing into the ditch of political ideology.

For some of you, “justice” conjures the idea of “law and order,” absolute standards of truth, equal opportunity, and Blue Lives Matter.

For others of you, “justice” is more about “voting blue” than “backing the blue,” political activism, deconstructing oppression, and Black Lives Matter.