Justice Over Complacency

Quick Welcome

Welcome to Prairie Lakes Church I’m glad that you’re here we’re live across Iowa and we’re smack dab in the middle of a sermon series on Amos and I really just want to ask you a question so here it is:

The Question

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What do you think when you think of the word justice?

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What do you think when you think of the word “justice?”

(Some of you are thinking right now: “Oh no. Where is this going? And will Jesse still have a job at the end of this message?” Stay tuned and find out.)

The reason I’m asking you is that this word “justice” appears 4 times in the section of Amos we’ll be looking at this weekend. Four times between chapter 5, verse 7 and chapter 6, verse 12. And: justice is a theme of the whole book itself.

So what I’m asking you to do, right here at the top, is to think about what you’re bringing to that word before you read it.

And that’s a very important principle, by the way, when you go to read and interpret Scripture: learning to identify what pre-understandings, or biases, or baggage am I bringing as a reader—and am I willing or unwilling to create some space to discover that? (In fact, if more of us did that in more areas of our lives, the world would be a better place. But I digress…)

What do you think | when you think of the word | justice?

Three Images of Justice

This word “justice” is well-traveled in our world these days. It’s used often, it’s used widely, and it’s used in ways that are pretty divisive.

I want to show you a few images that I think illustrate this. Here’s the first:

SHOW COURTHOUSE PICTURE

(Some of you just exhaled a bit. “Ok. Whew. Wasn’t quite sure what I was gonna see there, but… this is ok.)

This is a picture of the entrance to the Blackhawk County courthouse in Waterloo where I live. It’s kinda hard to see—but embedded in the architecture there above the door is a scale. The middle pillar is a fulcrum, and suspended on either side is a pan, perfectly balanced.

The ancient Egyptians were the first to use a balanced scale as a metaphor for justice. You do the crime, you do the time. You want something that I’m selling? Pay me a fair price for what it’s worth.

Justice is balance. It’s fairness. It’s equity.

But what happens when we don’t always agree on what “balance” or “fairness” or “equity” is?

What happens when the “scale” seems like it tilts in the favor of some | but not everyone | equally?

(Pause.)

You get 2020.

SHOW GEORGE FLOYD PICTURE

Five years ago now we lived through one of the most tumultuous years of our lives. And one of the events fueling that occured just a few hours north of us as we watched the video of a man detained and pinned under the knee of a police officer until he suffocated and ultimately died.

Then we saw the signs and the cries for “justice for George Floyd.”

And the biggest question a nation was asking was this:

When this goes to court—when it goes into a building emblazoned with the scales of justice—how will those scales tip?

And you saw the deep divide that exists in our country on full display. Clashing rallying cries of “defund the police” and “back the Blue.” “Black lives matter” and “all lives matter.” Each side very confident that they were on the side of justice—

But everyone worried that, however those scales ultimately tipped, the result would be even more destructive than the crime itself.

It’s difficult to overestimate the impact that the video, the trial, and the result of George Floyd’s murder had on our country’s understanding of and approach to justice. It’s difficult to overestimate.

I was just reading an article in the Wall Street Journal last weekend that in part reflected on this.

The author, like so many these days from journalistic institutions just trying to get down to the bottom of things, was talking about the current culture war that bleeds into just about every headline right now: the war on the so-called DEI initiatives that we’ve seen a wild swing into and now a wild swing away from during these past few years.

And what the article (I think correctly) identified was that while the seeds of that movement can be traced back over a couple of decades now, it was the murder of George Floyd that really exponentiated it. Groups well outside and far away from the events of that day in the Twin Cities saw in George Floyd an opportunity for their corner of diversity, equity, and inclusion to get a platform—uniting under this broader term of “social justice.”

SHOW SOCIAL JUSTICE PICTURE

And that’s another way this term justice is used today: it gets attached to the word “social.”

There’s this idea of social justice in our culture today that usually gets attached to a bunch of other ideas—ideas on race, or human sexuality, or socio-economics. It’s this big umbrella of philosophies and worldviews and initiatives and policies that all purport or present themselves as being justice-oriented… as ensuring that everyone gets treated equally or doesn’t get treated unfairly.

Transition

But we’re a church. Right? We’re a church. So why are we talking about any of this?

Who cares what a court says about justice, or what a protest sign says about it, or what a pundit or social justice warrior says about it? Shouldn’t we be talking about what God says about it in the Bible?

Yes. And we’re going to. But I wanna give you a couple of words of caution before we do.

Liability Waiver

Think of these words of caution like a “liability waiver” so to speak—you know, those things that you sign without thinking about them that basically say “You can’t blame us for you getting injured bungee jumping.” This one’s on you, buddy.

If you want to embark on a thoroughly Biblical journey of justice, here’s what you need to know and agree to beforehand:

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Biblical Justice’s “Liability Waiver:” We Agree That…

God does not have to care about our politics.

God does not have to care about offending us.

God himself is the standard and definition of justice, not us, our country, our party, or our preferences.

God is merciful to us—and so we have to be merciful as well.

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(Explain. #1: If we read something in his Word that doesn’t really fit with our party’s platform or policies… #2: We should expect to be offended, because God’s not trying to win our vote. We don’t get a vote. He’s the judge and jury, because… #3)

Now, listen:

I have to care about your politics. I do. Because I am your pastor, and it’s my privilege and sacred responsibility to shepherd you. And for some of you, these political convictions of yours are held pretty deeply. So I recognize that.

But I’ll be honest with you: I don’t want to. I don’t want to care about your politics. I want us all to set our politics aside and start from some kind of blank slate that allows God to write his ways on our hearts and minds.

But also, in my heart, I need you to know:

I’m not trying to disrespect whatever your position is nor advocate for some sort of policy, period.

Here’s a phrase that I’ve been kicking around that I think captures this sentiment well:

When it comes to most of the problems that we’re facing today, there’s not usually a simple policy solution. Because it’s usually pretty complicated.

Immigration is complicated. Economics is complicated. Society is complicated.

Sometimes there’s not a clear policy solution. But our posture should be clear.

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Even when we disagree on policy, as citizens in Jesus’ kingdom, we should be unified in our posture.

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So:

I’m not coming into this weekend with the goal of offending you. In fact, quite the opposite:

I don’t want to put anything in the way of you hearing, understanding, and accepting what God’s Word says on this matter of justice. I don’t want to unnecessarily offend anyone in such a way that makes it harder to receive what I believe is a faithfully Biblical message.

But in the same breath, let me say this to you:

While I’m not setting out to deliberately offend you, I’m not going to deliberately avoid it, either.

And there’s a difference. There’s a difference.

There’s preaching messages that deliberately offend (which isn’t good. I think it’s a great way to get popular and grow a platform with some, but I think it’s ultimately prideful and deceptive). There’s preaching messages that deliberately offend—

And then there’s preaching in such a way that doesn’t deliberately avoid it… because maybe we need to be offended by the truth. Maybe we need that. Maybe we need to be confronted about the ways that we think we’re on God’s side, but aren’t.

So that’s what we’re going to this weekend. We’re gonna try and get down what God’s standards of justice are. How does he define it?

And when he gets righteously angry over injustice, what does that look like?

And do I frame it up like he does, or not?

But as we do that—and this is probably the most important line in the whole waiver. This is the large print, not the small print:

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Biblical Justice’s “Liability Waiver:” I Agree That…

God does not have to care about my politics.

God does not have to care about offending me.

God himself is the standard and definition of justice, not me, my country, my party, or my preference.

God is merciful to me—and so I have to be merciful as well.

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God is merciful.

He’s been merciful to me. And he’s been merciful to you.

This is from Psalm 130, verses 3 and 4. And I’m gonna put “The Message” translation of the Bible up on the screen here, because I think it captures the spirit of what the Psalmist says:

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Psalm 130:3-4 “If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance? As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that’s why you’re worshiped.”

Matthew 7:1–2 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

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I guarantee | you won’t like something about what I’m saying this weekend. I guarantee it.

And listen: I might not get it all right. You might have some really valid points of criticism that I should consider. I’m not above that. At all.

But what I’m asking you to do is this:

Remember that the only side that matters in this conversation is God’s side.

And in his equation, all of us—you and me—we are nothing more than objects of his mercy.

And since that is true, we are obligated to treat each other mercifully—even in areas where we might sharply disagree.

Exegesis: Amos 5-6

Alright. Let’s get into it. We’re going to be in Amos, focusing mainly on a few verses in chapters 5 &6.

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Amos 5-6

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(Talk about how to find Amos.)

There’s (3) different places in chapters 5 & 6 that link two really important ideas:

Justice. And righteousness. Justice. And righteousness.

Look at chapter 5, verse 7 with me:

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Amos 5:7 “There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground.”

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Now jump down to verse 24:

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Amos 5:24 “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”

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And then turn over to chapter 6, verse 12:

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Amos 6:12 “Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness—”

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Justice. And righteousness.

Let’s unpack these two terms so we can see what God’s talking about through Amos here:

SHOW JUSTICE/RIGHTEOUSNESS PICTURE - BUILD #1

Here are these two terms: justice and righteousness. Let’s unpack “justice” first:

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court/legal term

judge rendering a just judgment (justice)

God’s concern in Amos (and throughout Scripture): impartiality

In other words: God wants his people to be concerned about everyone equally.

There’s about ten references in the Old Testament and another ten in the New Testament that talk about this specifically—but let me just show you one that kinda sums it all up:

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Leviticus 19:15 “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.”

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No partiality either way. No special standing because you are poor or because you are rich. Everyone should be treated fairly.

But what is “fairly?”

Well, that gets us to the “righteousness” side of the equation:

SHOW JUSTICE/RIGHTEOUSNESS PICTURE - BUILD #3

legal term - but also relational

right standing with God and others

God’s concern: treat everyone according to his standards

that’s what “fairly” means—treating people how God would treat them.

Now, the Israelites were screwing this up—and screwing it up in a particular direction. (And, spoiler alert: it wasn’t the rich who were getting the raw end of the deal.)

Here’s what we’ve already seen in Amos—and Pastor John talked about this last week:

Remember the “cows of Bashan” passage he talked about?

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Amos 4:1 “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!”

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It wasn’t the poor who were being shown partiality. In fact, quite the opposite:

Nobody cared about them at all.

While rich Israelites lived in their secure and safe neighborhoods, lived busy lives and cut loose every now and again—

They took absolutely no concern whatsoever for what life was like “across the tracks.”

Here’s how chapter 6, verse 1 describes it:

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Amos 6:1 “Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!”

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And remember now: Zion and Samaria are places where God’s people believed that God dwelt with them. They’d point to those places as evidence that he was on their side and that they were on his. They went to those places and worshiped at those places so that they could tell themselves a story—

A story where they were righteous—in right standing with God—while neglecting their brothers and sisters who were in real need.

What a sweet deal. God’s cool with me because I believe all the right things but don’t have to do any of the things that God tells me to do for those people.

ButhHere’s the deal:

SHOW JUSTICE/RIGHTEOUSNESS PICTURE, BUILD #4

God says, “I’m sick of your complacency.”

“I’m sick of you not caring.”

I’m sick of you making yourselves first.

I’m sick of you looking at others who aren’t safe like you, secure like you, fed like you, educated like you, looking at those who have none of what you have with contempt—

Or even worse:

Using your legal system to justify your complacency towards them—while you protect yourself and your own interests! Because that’s exactly what they were doing.

And this is where it gets really scary—because:

On the one side you’ve got this group of well-to-do Israelites who not only think they are in right standing with God, but also think that God’s gonna judge their enemies.

But on the other side you’ve got this God who says:

“When I come back, I’m coming back to judge…”

You.

Behold, one of the most terrifying passages of Scripture in the whole Bible:

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Amos 5:14–20 “Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:

“There will be wailing in all the streets and cries of anguish in every public square. The farmers will be summoned to weep and the mourners to wail. There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord. Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light.

It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light— pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?”

Amos 5:21–24 “I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”

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Closing Thoughts

So…

So what?

So now that we know what this means, what does this mean…

For us?

I actually just want to leave you with some questions to wrestle with. Maybe even discuss these in your groups this week:

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Does my definition of justice and righteousness match up with God’s? How is it the same? How is it different?

Does my political party’s definition of justice and righteousness match up with God’s? How is it the same? How is it different?

What would God say about my approach to justice and righteousness? How would he describe it?

Is God warning me today like he warned his people back then? If so, what is my next step in living differently?

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(End with poverty simulation story.)