Act Justly

Introduction

Our role and identity should determine the way that we live.

But what if our actions do not line up with the identity we claim to possess?

Imagine if you met someone who claimed to be an American who could not speak one word of English.

What if you met someone who claimed to be a Muslim but they believed that Jesus was God and the only way of salvation and went to church every week?

Now. . . lets flip that. . . what if you met someone who said they were a Christian, but worshipped money, fame, and worldly pleasures. . . they stole from the poor, testified falsely in court, and constantly cut people down with their words.

Would you believe that they were a Christian by their words and their “religious acts” of going to church each week?

If we are in Christ, our actions must be aligned with our confession.

As Christians, we are children of God and called to imitate our Father in Heaven. . . to be holy as God is holy.

But, if we examine our lives, we often live more like the world than like Christ.

We may be religious by attending church, getting baptized, having a daily quiet time, memorizing Scripture. . . but when it comes to the way we treat and speak to others. . . they way we use our time. . . and the things that we do. . . we are really just hypocrites.

If we examine the lives of Israel. . . they were in the same boat.

God had constantly reminded Israel how they should live as his people over and over again.

Yet, Israel rejected God’s word and went after the gods of the surrounding nations, participating in their festivals and customs. They looked more like the gods of Asheroth and Baal than Yahweh!

God had instituted a sacrificial system with Moses as a way for Israel’s sins to be forgiven and was meant to be an outward act of repentance that symbolized an inward act of repentance of the heart.

But. . . Israel had taken these animal sacrifices and treated them like a Catholic confession box or “get of jail free card.”

They were missing the point. . .

God was extremely angry with Israel’s actions.

He did not just want their religious sacrifices. . . he wanted their hearts.

He wants his people to love him and obey his holy will. . . not just go through the religious motions and continue to live like the world.

Since the Israelites were still not getting it. . . God in his grace. . . sent Micah to call Israel and Judah to repent and to be reminded how God wanted them to live as his people.

Micah prophesied during 8th century BC and his 16 year ministry overlaps other 8th century prophets like Hosea and Isaiah.

Micah is unique because he prophesies God’s judgment to both the northern kingdom in Israel and the southern kingdom in Judah.

The main themes of the book are judgment and forgiveness.

The Lord righteously judges his people for their sins, rebellion, and idolatry. The people of Israel and Judah had rebelled against the Lord and his covenant kindness and had gone after the gods of pagan nations.

But God is also the shepherd-king who keeps his covenant and remains faithful to his people, forgiving them and drawing them back to himself according to his mercy.

The main call that God gives to his people is to turn from their idolatry and respond to his love, not with mere sacrifices, but with a heart of obedience that acts justly, loves mercy, and walks humbly (faithfully) with him.

Tonight, we are going to focus on that first command. . . to “act justly.”

First, we will define justice

Second, we will define injustice.

Third, we will then figure out how we can actually practice justice and do what God requires of us.

Key Point: If we are going to practice justice, then we must die to ourselves and have the mind of Christ so that we can put the needs of others above our own.

1. Defining Justice

Micah 6:1–5 ESV

1 Hear what the Lord says: Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. 2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the Lord has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel. 3 “O my people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me! 4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 5 O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

God had shown abundant grace to his people and constantly delivered them from their enemies.

He has only shown love to his people, yet they have continued to spurn and reject him.

Micah 6:6–7 ESV

6 “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

Micah 6:8 ESV

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?

The Bible defines justice as fulfilling mutual obligations in a manner consistent with God’s moral law.

Essentially, it means doing the right thing, and the word normally is associated with helping someone in need and being an advocate for one who’s rights are being violated.

Justice originates and flows from God because God, in his very nature, is just.

Deuteronomy 32:4 ESV

4 “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

Psalm 146:7 ESV

7 who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free;

Since Justice is equated with caring for others and doing what is right, the word justice is often associated with righteousness.

Psalm 33:5 ESV

5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

Thus, to do justice, we must be committed to helping those in need.

Doing justice is built upon the great two commandments. . . loving God and loving our neighbor. . .

Matthew 22:36–39 ESV

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

God’s model for Justice: Love God and Love Neighbor.

World’s model that leads to injustice: Love yourself and Idols.

**Put slides from Christ-Centered Exposition above (p. 89 and 91)**

2. Defining Injustice

Another way we can understand what it means to “do justice” is observing what it looks like to “do injustice.”

The prophet Micah actually gave us several examples of unjust people throughout his writing, so we can see how horrible their consequences can be.

He shows us just how easy it is for our actions to slide from just to unjust. Let’s look through a few of those examples.

As we talk about each one, think about how these unjust actions could be turned into just actions by thinking more about other people than about ourselves.

A. Tearing Others Down

Before Micah gave the command for Israel to do justice in Micah 6:8, a few chapters earlier, Micah took the time to describe some leaders who were unjust. . . . specifically by the way they tore others down.

Micah 3:1–4 ESV

1 And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?— 2 you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people and their flesh from off their bones, 3 who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones in pieces and chop them up like meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron. 4 Then they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil.

Micah describes these unjust leaders like butchers!

They cared for the people they led no more than a butcher cares about a carcass. Micah isn’t just describing unjust people who physically harmed others.

He’s also talking about leaders who saw other people as commodities, only good for what they could get out of them.

They used other people without any thought for their welfare, and it broke those people down like a butcher cutting apart meat.

That’s a pretty extreme image, isn’t it? But when we ignore the ways our actions affect others, that’s exactly what we do.

And notice the result in verse 4. . . God refuses to answer their prayers because of their evil hearts and actions.

Do we ever tear people down with our words or our posts on social media?

When we compete (for student government, sports, or a music competition), are we willing to do whatever it takes to win, no matter the consequences?

It’s easy to mix our just actions with a little bit of careless manipulation and a see-what-we-can-get-away-with attitude.

Small, careless actions will start to unjustly tear down the people around us.

After feeling prompted by the Spirit of God, a student named Shawn McKenzie began a ministry called InstaGOD on Instagram. He sends inspirational pictures and words from Scripture to his nearly 200,000 followers. After these words went viral, one person sent a message back: “I’m so thankful that the Lord has heard my prayer, he has heard my cry. And just know that you saved my life because I was about to commit suicide.”

Acting justly doesn’t leave room for the tearing down or disregarding others. That’s how a butcher treats a carcass, not how God’s people treat other people God loves.

B. Jealousy and Power

Micah describes another set of unjust leaders in an earlier chapter.

These guys spent their time plotting against others because they wanted what others had.

Their unjust actions started with coveting and jealousy (the 10 Commandments warn us against this). And simply because they had the power, they stole from and lied to the people they were supposed to help.

Micah 2:1–2 ESV

1 Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand. 2 They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.

The more power we have, the more potential we have to act justly or unjustly. But we can’t decide to use our power in the right way if we don’t know what power we have. We need to start by seeing the areas of power in our lives.

You may feel like, as a student, you don’t have any real power. But you have more power than you know. Think of power this way: any time you influence someone, you wield a little bit of power.

What kinds of power do you have? How do you influence other people (like being an older brother or having a friend who listens to your advice)?

Have you ever convinced a teacher to let you out early or your parents to extend a curfew? Have you ever had a little brother or sister try and copy you? Have you ever put a video or a picture up on the Internet and gotten views, shares, or likes. Have you ever purchased something? Have you ever prayed for someone? Each of these is a time you have wielded some power. You convinced someone of something, you got a message out to the world, and you changed another person, even if just in a tiny way.

Spider-Man: with great power, comes great responsibility.

We must use the power and influence God has given us, not for selfish gain, but for the benefit and service of others. That is an example of what it means to “do justice.”

C. Just Words

One of the most telling signs of whether or not we are acting justly is how we use our words. Just a few verses after Micah tells us to act justly, he writes about the people who have used their words to lie to others.

Micah 6:11–12 ESV

11 Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights? 12 Your rich men are full of violence; your inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

These people hid the truth for their own personal gain.

God calls them liars and brings this up as proof that they aren’t acting justly.

Most of us wouldn’t describe ourselves as liars. But if we think about it closely, do we ever weigh the scales a little to make ourselves look better or to get out of something?

Do we ever one-up someone in a conversation with a story that’s just a tiny bit exaggerated?

Do we tell white lies that we assume won’t hurt anyone?

Or do we tell half-truths to our parents in order to convince them a movie or a concert is okay?

Does the “about me” section of your social media account describe the true you or the person you want others to think you are?

Illustration: Think about the descriptions people put on dating websites. Most people are willing to bend the truth in order to attract the right guy or girl. But sometimes it’s not hard to tell what a person’s description really says about him or her. Here are a few examples of how some people might describe themselves and what those descriptions actually mean.

>> A simple guy who loves to cook for others at home. (Can’t afford to take you out to a nice restaurant.)

>> Hoping to meet a strong man with a big truck who loves to help those in need. (Just wants someone to help her move a couch.)

>> Just looking for the right person. (Unfortunately, the right person must look exactly like Ryan Gosling.)

Our world is so used to half-truths that sometimes we tell them without thinking.

We’ve trained ourselves to respond to ads by asking, “What’s the catch?”

While this might be culturally acceptable, it’s not just.

Dishonesty and deceitfulness only protect ourselves. Honesty and authenticity exist to help others.

Response

God does not want our religious practices. . . he wants our hearts.

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.

Proverbs 21:3 ESV

3 To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

We must stop being religious hypocrites.

We must have the mind of Christ to consider others as more important than ourselves.

Philippians 2:3–8 ESV

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

We must die to ourselves and trust in Jesus

Israel and Judah failed to exhibit God’s justice to the nations and rightly represent God.

We have also failed to exhibit God’s justice as well.

We all need a savior and substitute who exhibited perfect justice as a human in our place.

Jesus, the Lord’s chosen servant, the true Israel, will bring justice.

Isaiah 42:1–4 ESV

1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; 3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. 4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.

Jesus also took the justice that we deserved for our sin on the cross. . . so that God could be both just in righteously punishing our sin. . . but also make us righteous through Jesus dying for us when we put our faith in him.

The only way we can “do justice” that imitates God is by taking off our old self of sin and putting on the righteousness of Jesus Christ by faith.

When we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit, we will be able to love God and love others. . . we will be able to consider others more important than ourselves. . . and when we treat others act justly toward others. . . we will stand out in the world.

Because in a world that’s okay with power trips, sketchy scales, and half-truths, your ability to act justly will make you stand out. And when people notice how differently you’re living, they’ll be drawn to the reason you act justly: God.

Acting justly is a radical way to live. It’s an adventure that connects us to God and compels people to come along for the ride.

Let’s Pray