(08-01-27) Justice - Isaiah 1.10-20

Justice as Worship – Isaiah 1:10-20

· 1:18 – the promise that epitomises our hope in Jesus

· “…reason together…” – reason?!

if it were reason we would be destroyed but this is God’s reasoning, not ours – His* love, not ours

· The wonder of forgiveness

Miroslav Volf – Free of Charge, p.130.

· Tension in the Church between forgiveness and guilt

Picture

· Conviction, not guilt!

· Holding conviction and forgiveness together, in balance, we read 1:10-20

· Reassuring trait for a trainee minister:

I’d never noticed the context of 1:18 before * compare with two passages being widely read at the moment

· God is calling us to rediscover the inextricable link between worship and justice

we cannot separate the two to ignore one is to ignore the other (explain*)
have we misunderstood the scope of worship?

· Often left feeling ‘guilty’ after sermons on justice

· Lesotho in the summer

orphans, street children, poverty etc. * speaking to myself as much as anyone else

· Romans 8:1 – Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (niv)

no doubt that we can be complicit in western society whatever we may have done or still be doing wrong in terms of justice is now white as snow or wool*
and as we hear that, we hear the call to worship…

· What issues of injustice are there around the world?

· What issues of injustice are there in the UK?

· What issues of injustice are there in our communities?

· Isaiah, Amos and Micah (amongst others) present us with an opportunity to see worship in a new way

to see issues of justice in a new context opportunities to worship through seeking justice* without condemnation and guilt

· Mission before justice?

· How do we feel about that?