JUSTICE AND MERCY

JUSTICE AND MERCY 2 Chronicles 28:1-15 January 18, 2009 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction Albert Tomei is a justice of the New York State Supreme Court. A young defendant was convicted in Judge Tomei's court of gunning down another person execution style. The murderer was no stranger to the legal system, had a bad record, and while the jury returned the guilty verdict only stared in heartless anger. The victim's family had attended every day of the two-week trial. On the day of sentencing, the victim's mother and grandmother addressed the court. When they spoke, neither addressed the jury. Both spoke directly to the murderer. They both forgave him. "You broke the Golden Rule—loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind. You broke the law—loving your neighbor as yourself. I am your neighbor," the older of the two women told him, "and you have my address. If you want to write, I'll write you back. I sat in this trial for two weeks, and for the last sixteen months I tried to hate you. But you know what? I could not hate you. I feel sorry for you because you made a wrong choice." Judge Tomei writes: "For the first time since the trial began, the defendant's eyes lost their laser force and seemed to surrender to the tenderness that only a mother can generate: unconditional love. After the grandmother finished, I looked at the defendant. His head was hanging low. There was no more swagger, no more stare. The destructive and evil forces within him had collapsed helplessly before this remarkable display of humaneness." That reminds me of the words of James 2:13 – Mercy triumphs over judgment! Because of the character of God, the economy of His kingdom always blends these two seeming opposites in a beautiful way. Mercy brings beauty to justice and justice brings balance to mercy. We see the two again at Micah 6:8 where God calls His people to live out this wonderful blend in the world. He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Our message this morning rises out of another Old Testament text, 2 Chronicles 28:1-15. While you turn to that reference in your Bible, would you personally and privately ask God for this simple favor? Ask Him to open your heart to His message and His ministry of Justice and Mercy in and through your life READ TEXT . . . God’s Response to Sin There are actually a couple of examples of specific sins against God in our text. The first one had to do with Ahaz, who is at the time the spiritually bankrupt King of the southern kingdom of Judah. This is the period of history known as the time of the Divided Kingdom when the larger nation of Israel was divided in two. Two tribes made up the southern kingdom, or Judah, under King Ahaz, and the other tribes associated under the northern kingdom of Israel, whose king at this time was Pekah. There was political unrest all around the two nations and between them. We have preserved for us a very sad and clear picture of what Ahaz was like. His reign was sandwiched between two of the greatest spiritual revivals in Israel’s history, but Ahaz was anything but a revivalist king. He led the people into idolatry, overt worship of foreign gods and disgraceful practices that mimicked the pagans around them. Under Ahaz the nation drifted farther than ever from God by worshiping the god Molech. Not like other less demanding gods, the worship of Molech called for the sacrifice of the worshipers’ children. A giant icon of Molech would be constructed, including brazen arms held out in a beckoning fashion, and then set afire. Worshipers would come and show their loyalty by laying their babies in the arms of Molech directly under the red hot flames of the fire. To drown out the cries of the babies who were literally being barbecued, the people would dance around playing flutes. It was a scandalous and loathsome practice, an indication of just how low the nation had sunk, and bad king Ahaz led them into it. Could there be a more revolting evidence of the spiritual demise of a culture than killing their own infant children? For 36 years as of this week, United States couples have been legally allowed to snuff out the lives of their unborn or partially born children, exulting before the modern Molech gods of convenience and freedom from responsibility. Playing flutes of rationalization to drown out the voices of millions of legally executed babies, for an estimated 80% of whom the reason was convenience. A guilty nation continues to dance as the band plays on, reprising those familiar tunes of women’s rights and freedom of choice. But can anything really muffle the perturbations of conscience in our reflective moments of intendment that real hearts stop beating and real lives are being malevolently terminated with our premeditated nods? There are many forms of injustice in our world, acts that go directly against the character and will of God. But the worst of them are those acts of malevolence or deprivation perpetrated on the helpless. I pose the question: is there anything more helpless than an innocent infant? Millions of liberal thinkers who cry Foul! every time someone who is underprivileged in some way gets mistreated by anyone better off than they, apparently have never stopped to consider that a heart-beating, thinking, emotion-feeling, pain-experiencing, reactive, communicative fetus is the most vulnerable, innocent, helpless, dependent, and endangered person in our world. I pray that one day soon reason will finally win out, and the champions of the under trodden will have a change of heart and come running to the rescue of unborn children. The entire nation seems to be in an uproar over the murder of Kaylee Anthony, everyone shaking their heads over how a mother, still only a suspect, could possibly do such a thing to her own child. Look around. The very same thing is happening at your local abortion clinic. Only, sadly, they need no secrecy, wood or duct tape. This evening in St. Louis “Stars to the Rescue” is being held at the Chaifetz Arena. Huey Lewis, Vince Gill, REO Speedwagon and dozens of other performers are donating their services to raise millions for lost & abandoned animals. All under the banner of Tony LaRussa and his Animal Rescue Foundation. They are attempting to raise millions of dollars to sponsor animal rescue and adoption agencies and Humane Societies. I have no problem with taking care of animals, but it just seems we might have forgotten something more important. A line from the web site of ARF reads: What do dogs and cats dream about? Just napping in the sun and eating tasty tidbits? What about humane treatment for human beings who really DO dream? Years ago a man broke into a large, upscale department store in Anaheim, CA. He didn’t steal anything, apparently, but he still cost the store thousands of dollars, because he switched price tags. The next morning high end purses were selling for $7.99 and Armani suits went for twenty dollars. In our culture, somebody has switched the price tags. As a result a giant shift in values has gone on seemingly unnoticed. The Gray Wolf, and the Giant Armadillo, the Chinese Paddlefish, the Wild Common Carp and the Hawaiian Crow all made the top 50 most endangered species. Multiple millions of dollars and multiple millions of hours of deliberation in board rooms are given to all these critters. But the wanton, deliberate destruction of human life goes on without a raised eyebrow. Trouble for the sinner - A culture morally adrift and spiritually bereft confuses values and falls inevitably into gross injustice. Ahaz did. Soon God moved against Ahaz. Verse 5 says, Therefore, the Lord his God handed him over to his enemies. The first of two responses of God to people who sin against His justice is that He arranges trouble for them. God promises to those who walk in His ways strength and protection. Chapter 27 records of Jotham that he grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the LORD his God. Of Ahaz: the LORD his God handed him over to the king of Aram. For many years the southern kingdom had stood against the threat of the Philistines to their west and the Arameans to their east, but because of the gross sins of idolatry and child sacrifice, God weakened the defenses of the nation that He had kept strong by His own arm, and they were instantly vulnerable to the attack of not only Aram, but also the northern Israelites. It is so easy for people and nations to stray from the ways of God. How powerful is our enemy and how weak our sin-scarred souls. If it weren’t for the Lord’s defense in our lives we would be toast—burnt toast. So when He lifts His protection, and allows the enemy to eat our lunch, we understand His help by its absence. As soon as you sense you have lost God’s protection, look around for the sin you committed against Him and repent. That was probably the only way He could get your attention. Let me rehearse with you an important principle. God is not a tease, and He is not an insecure friend of yours who, when He feels threatened by your lack of affection or attention, He strikes out at you to hurt you. No, every act of God, whether blessing or trouble, is His loving effort to win you to a closer relationship with Him. Both His kindness and His discipline are redemptive in our lives and designed for our good. When you feel the joy and security of His blessing lean into Him even more. When you feel the sting of His relaxed protection and permissive trouble, repent. As soon as you do, you can know His mercy and forgiveness, because of what Christ has done for you. Let me be clear before I move on: the mere existence of a law allowing abortion on demand is an abomination to the Lord. And all indications point to it getting worse, not better, as all three branches of federal government are poised. If God’s revealed pattern is any indicator, we should not be surprised when our defenses weaken, our finances shrink, and when the prophet rails against injustice. Church, you are God’s prophetic voice to this culture of death. As Israel, curiously, did not detect the seriousness of their behavior, America is oddly blind to the seriousness of abortion on demand. When the time comes and we as a church are threatened with the loss of favored tax exempt status if we continue to speak in support of life, or against the sin of homosexual behavior, or any of a growing list of issues that are getting hotter by the day, will you continue faithful? If and when, worse yet, you face financial or reputational consequences, will you still be a faithful voice for the Gospel, the justice and the mercy of God? Warning from the Prophet - God moved against wicked Ahaz by weakening his defenses and allowing him to be overrun by the Arameans and the northern kingdom of Israel. Pekah’s northern armies killed 120,000 Judean soldiers, verse six tells us, and then they took the women and children, along with most of their valuables. Off they marched back home, and as you read the passage you get the picture of a large group of soldiers, sweaty but happy, carrying their weapons, giddy with wine, singing songs of conquest. But their prisoners aren’t foreigners. They had taken these prisoners as slaves from among their own kinsmen, as verse 8 put it. The Law of God did not allow God’s people to capture and enslave their own Israelite brothers (Leviticus 15:39-43). Enter, the prophet. We don’t know really anything about Oded, but that he is a prophet of God, and evidently an authorized “walk-on” in this drama we know as the Syro-Ephraimite War. He courageously confronts His fellow-Israelites. Both love for God and love for people demands not only that you are nice, but also a defender of what is right. We often assume that the only Christ-like virtues we are called to emulate are kindness, gentleness and peace-keeping. But when Jesus fills you with His love He also makes you bold on behalf of truth and righteousness. Oded and the other Old Testament prophets didn’t say anything new; they just reminded the people what God had already said (a practice that more modern, would-be prophets would do well to imitate). He was there to tell the armies of God that they knew better—excessive violence in war regularly met with God’s dis- approval, and enslaving fellow Israelites was nine kinds of wrong. In other words, speaking on behalf of God, Oded told them, “You can’t say you love me and are serving me and then inflict pain on people. It would be a lot better if you would stop pretending to be my loyal people if your worship of me does not flow into justice and mercy for the most vulnerable people of society.” For God’s people, all justice is based on God’s justice. When Cain murdered his brother Abel, God said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” The excessive rage, the gluttonous amount of plunder and the overdone end zone antics on the part of the Israelite soldiers were sure evidence that their hearts were not right before God. And Oded the prophet had come to remind them of just that. More than just confronting them with their shortcoming, Oded had a strong exhortation: Repent! Now hear this—this is important for you in your own prophetic role in culture. It is a piece of advice I lifted second hand from a Mary Kay cosmetics sales training session. “Some will; some won’t; so what?” That ought to be a mantra for Christians as they faithfully witness to God among their contacts. People’s Response to God Don’t worry about whether or not the person you’re speaking to will fully receive what you are telling them. That’s between them and God, and you’re about more than just getting notches on your Bible. You’re a prophet for God. You stand in places where others shudder. You’re faithful to speak for Him no matter what scary opportunity He gives you. That’s the way Oded faced this challenge—and don’t think it wasn’t a challenge. He was walking into a champagne-soaked locker room where the winning team was celebrating, and he was going to tell them they made a big mistake! As he approached the place where he would begin to shout his message he probably said to himself, “They shoot prophets, you know, Oded!” Always remember, people will respond to God in one of two ways. And, by the way, it IS to God they are responding—not to you… They will either resist, or they will repent. You can be sure of it. When you prophesy (and don’t be afraid of that term—I’m not calling you a prophet. I’m just reminding you of our prophetic role in culture.) When you prophesy the Word of God to someone he or she may resist you – like Ahaz resisted God. Who knows how many prophets had come to him to get him to repent? We do know this, though: he kept on resisting and even under threat of God stripping his defenses and bringing his enemies against him he kept saying no. Listen, that was not Oded’s fault, nor the fault of any other prophet. I’m sure the Arameans and northern Israelites didn’t feel guilty. They all knew, at least anyone with any spiritual sense at all, this was between Ahaz and God. Even if all the visible evidence suggests the person you share God’s truth with is resistant, you don’t know what good your planted seed of truth will do. It may germinate that night as he lay in bed reflecting on the guy who talked to him about abortion or salvation that day. It may remain latent for even years, but be at work subliminally in his life, only to spring to life at some church service somewhere. Trust God and His Word that it will not return void. But, what you share as God’s prophetic spokesperson may inspire instant response—like the repentance of the Israelite army. In that case, rejoice and remember, that, too, was God’s work, and not your own. God’s Response to People’s Response I love this about Father God. He is responsive to our responses. It really matters to Him how we respond to Him. If He calls us to repent, and we repent, He is not only pleased with that, but will somehow communicate that pleasure to us. Just one illustration here. Philippians 4 teaches us to pray instead of being anxious. When we are obedient to pray, God responds to that obedience and gives us what? Peace that passes understanding. He responds to our response. Of course it is also true that if we resist He will respond with increasing discipline until we repent. We have talked around the subject of Justice quite a bit, but I’ve not said much about Mercy. Here’s where that subject comes in: Conclusion Don’t miss the wonderful truth that when the soldiers repented, they not only began to act justly and mercifully in the strength of God and obedience to Him, but guess what DIDN’T happen to them? That’s right! They were spared the judgment of God on their earlier unjust behavior. That is always true with God. Even though we have sinned, at any time in the process of our hearing His truth and His call to repentance, we humble ourselves and repent, He extends mercy and forgiveness. Every time! Even if we hold out for a long time and go through wave after wave of His punitive discipline to get us to understand and we finally repent, He mercifully receives us. Do you know why that is true? Because Jesus has paid the debt for us, and it remains paid for us, stored up for any and every moment we humble ourselves and repent before Him. Romans 3:26 reminds us that the very One we offended with our injustice and mercilessness, though He is just to punish the unrepentant, He is merciful to forgive and renew the repentant. He is both JUST and JUSTIFIER! The affair had been going on for years. The attraction and eventual surrender to unfaithfulness had actually surprised both people. They thought of themselves as honorable. The woman was happily married, living in enviable circumstances with a truly great man. Her lover was an achiever at the highest level. He was a most trusted friend and compatriot of her husband. If they were ever discovered, what would the husband do? The laws of the land required capital punishment in the case of unfaithfulness. And now you know that the situation I'm describing happened a long time ago. This is the story of Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot in T. H. White's novel The Once and Future King, better known as the basis for the famous movie musical, Camelot. In the book, Arthur's illegitimate son, Mordred, exposes the affair, forcing Arthur to confront the incredible dilemma of bringing justice to bear on those he loves the most. Before the affair was exposed, Arthur had explained the need for justice to Guinevere and Lancelot. "You will find," Arthur said, "that when kings are bullies who believe in force, the people are bullies too. If I don't stand for law, I won't have law among my people. You see, Lance, I have to be absolutely just. Far from being willing to [only] execute his enemies, a real king must be willing to execute his friends." That dilemma of the king's justice pitted against the king's love is captured in the musical Camelot when Mordred sings, "Arthur, what a magnificent dilemma. Let her die and your life is over; let her live and your life's a fraud. Which will it be, Arthur? Do you kill the queen or kill the law?" We could actually say this is God's dilemma also, because God created us. God loves us. God cherishes us. God formed us in the dust of the earth in his own image, and then he breathed into us the breath of life. You can't get any more intimate, any more personal, any more caring than that. And yet, we have gone our own way. We deliberately defy his commands and also refuse his overtures of love and reconciliation. But He is just and justifier. Closing Prayer. For a closing prayer, I want to speak over us an old Franciscan blessing I recently read in an article by Gordon MacDonald. God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships so that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may wish for justice, freedom, and peace. May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.     [Back to Top]