The Vanity of Social Justice
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Introduction
Introduction
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave his most famous one-liner: “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” He went on in the next sentence to say, “My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
The same sentiment of working together for the common good of all is found in Ecclesiastes 4, in which Solomon is writing about oppression and injustice. Read vv. 1-3.
Oppression and injustice existed in Solomon’s day, and they still exist in our day. How are we handling injustice? What are we doing about oppression, social justice, racism, inequality, and poverty? Is what we’re doing working?
Is there any hope for social justice in the world today? Yes.
Body
Body
Oppression inevitable because of the way we live and the things we value.
Exposition
Envy (v. 4)
Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Laziness (v. 5)
The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.
Materialism (comes at the expense of peace) (v. 6)
Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.
“In pursuing out of envy the neighbor above us on the ladder, we inevitably step on the head of the neighbor below us” (Provan, NIVAC, 105).
Individualism (vv. 7-8)
Again, I saw vanity under the sun: one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business.
Vain ambition (vv. 13-16)
Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice. For he went from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor. I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that youth who was to stand in the king’s place. There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Application
There is no hope of social justice in a society that rejects God and lives for self. Oppression exists not because we don’t tweet about it enough but because we live oppressive lives. Injustice is inevitable because we are not a just people—we are sinners, and sin always creates oppression and injustice.
So what do we do? We can talk about social justice, tweet about it, hashtag it, but what are we actually going to do about it?
“Reading the menu doesn't fill you up; eating the food does.” – Wayne Cordeiro
But God calls us to live a different way and value different things.
Exposition
Live in harmony with God
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing.
The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ.
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Live in community with others (Ecc 4:9-12)
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
“The Bible is about persons-in-community, whether in the Godhead of Father, Son, and Spirit, or in the church, or in the world at large. The proper goal of the Christian is not an individualistic heaven but is to be found in right relationship with God, neighbor, and God’s world now and in the future, which will include by God’s grace a future stretching beyond death” (Provan, NIVAC, 113).
Value… Mutual success instead of envy
Value… Working hard together instead of laziness (often disguised as self-care)
Value… Contentment with peace instead of getting more stuff with strife
Value… True friendship instead of more money
Value… The common good instead of self-advancement
Illustration: God’s way works
Public hospitals… 40% of healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa is provided by Christian organizations.
Ending slavery… William Wilberforce, Harriet Tubman
The Salvation Army… founded in 1865 by William Booth
Modern-day statistics (from Barna, Pew, CAFO)
Christians donate to charity more than 3x the % of their income compared to unbelievers—that includes both religious and non-religious charitable organizations.
Christians volunteer more than non-Christians.
Christians are more likely to donate blood.
Christians are more than twice as likely to adopt as the general population.
Christians are more likely to adopt older children, children with special needs, and children considered “hard to place.”
Christians are 3x more likely to serve as foster parents compared to non-Christians.
Christians make up 65% of non-kin foster parents.
In Arkansas, more than 40% of foster homes are recruited by a single Christian organization called The CALL of Arkansas.
Esperanza y Futuro… Followers of Jesus were committed to doing everything they could to alleviate the poverty and suffering in the world around them.
Application: Oppression is inevitable in a society that rejects God and lives for self. But God calls us to live a different way—the way of Jesus.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Living life God’s way begins by coming to Jesus.