Living Justice
Notes
Transcript
I must admit that this sermon has not taken me where I thought I was going to be going this morning. It was my belief that we would be talking about justice in the light of recent events and current social conversation. Along those lines I began my study with the thoughts of the prophet Micah and his words in “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8, NASB95) While some of that is still present, I have found that this passage and my study has brought me to internal matters of the church more than our interaction with society, though I am convinced that they two cannot be separated.
Before we dig into the scripture, I think some painting of the scene is vital for us this morning, otherwise it will be too easy for us to pain the picture with our situation and not make appropriate conclusions from the situation. We must understand a bit about the early church and the practice of the Lord’s Supper; for it was not what we are familiar with. The supper was just that, a meal that would be served for the community of believers. A host would allow the church to gather at their home and would set a table for the guests to gather around. The church would gather from different social strata and varying ethnic backgrounds to study the Apostles teachings, join in prayer and gather around a table for a common meal that included a portion reserved for remembering the Lord’s death until He returns. Festal meals of this type would include the arranging of guests according to social norms this is why James can say “Don’t sit the rich man highly or the poor man lowly.” This is also why Jesus told a parable about choosing seats at a feast in Luke 14:8-11. Both of these illustrations are based upon perceived order of importance; both are part of the normal way of doing things at a meal. Imagine trying to decide between the importance of Billy Graham and Mother Theresa based upon looks alone.
How we are to live in light of our baptism though this is not James’ verbal argument becomes the basis for his argument if we look at the early church for the definition of a follower of Christ; baptism plays a central role in becoming a follower of Christ, so James, in speaking to followers of Christ, is grounding his argument in the understanding of baptized people, thus his argument issues out of baptism. Thus, Living Justice is a root of the church, and a root that we must take seriously. Let’s read James 1:26 – 2:10. Now we must see James’ message about living justice.
If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.
For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes,
and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,”
have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?
Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?
If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
I. How not to act
I. How not to act
A. Judgmentally
1. Judging other people’s
a. Actions
b. Motives
c. Beliefs
i. Religious
ii. Political
2. Distinctives
a. Social class
b. Ethnicity
c. Health or disease
Stephen Mott and Ronald Sider write “Human rights specify minimal demands for how we should treat people to whom God has given such dignity and worth. Human institutions cannot create human rights. They can only recognize and protect the inestimable value of every person which flows from the central truths of the Biblical story: every person is made in the image of God; every person is a child of the Heavenly Father; every person is loved so much by God that the eternal Son suffers crucifixion because God does not desire that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9); every person who accepts Christ, regardless of race, gender, or class, is justified on exactly the same basis: unmerited favor through the cross. Since that is the way we should treat each other.” (Economic Justice: A Biblical Paradigm in Toward a Just and Caring Society ed. David Gushee p.19)
B. Separately
1. Independently
2. In clicks
a. Socially
b. Ethnically
c. Ones I agree with
II. How to act – sandwiches the negative
II. How to act – sandwiches the negative
A. Serving – itself one of the roots of Christian living.
1. “If you imitate Christ, you will serve others, and your petty disputes will seem insignificant.” Jack R Reese The Body Broken p.66
2. Together with the root of giving.
a. Widows and Orphans
b. Marginalized and vulnerable of society
B. Lovingly
1 John 13:34 – 35
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
2. Love your neighbor
C. Communally
1 Jesus; High Priestly Prayer – John 17:20 – 21
“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;
that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
2 “Pursuing Peace is not an optional matter for Christians.” Reese The Body Broken p.47
3. Mott and Sider note: “As social beings, we are physically, emotionally, and rationally interdependent and have inherent duties of care and responsibility for each other.” (Economic Justice: A Biblical Paradigm in Toward a Just and Caring Society ed. David Gushee p.19)
Jack Reese sums up these three ways we should act very concisely when he writes “We ought to love each other so profoundly, serve each other so aggressively, listen to each other so passionately, and respond to each other so humbly, that the kingdom of God breaks in among us.” (The Body Broken, p 4)
Conclusion: When we come together as a church we must remember that we are not in a social club for the one who have made it or have it together. Rather we are a community of the saved: we were sick and dying, now we’ve been made whole; we were rotten, filthy sinners, now we are cleaned saints; what we were was put to death in the waters of baptism, what we are has been created by the Holy Spirit and is being nurtured through His power and work within us. Each one of us comes to this gathering with the same righteousness, that given to us by God. No one of us is of any more value than any other, none of us is of any less worth than anyone else, we all come as Children who have been purified by the same blood – the BLOOD OF CHRIST!