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Justice: Do Not Become Weary in Well Doing
We know that right now, everyone is dealing with emotional fatigue.
And with so many conflicting voices, we desperately need God’s perspective found in his Word.
We want to continue to ask the question, how do we move from a place of simply observing the problem of injustice to being part of the solution?
Focus:
To participate in true Biblical justice, we must not become weary, we must continue to do good and we must continue to preach the gospel.
We hope to provide you with resources during this time to help accomplish these directives, so please keep out something with which you can take notes.
Do Not Become Weary
To realize Biblical justice, we can not become weary in doing good.
Galatians 6:7-10
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Biblical justice is a part of sound theology.
You see it in the character of God and represented as a focus point throughout Scripture.
Deuteronomy 16:18-20
“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”
God’s mandate of justice deals not just with the heart condition of partiality, but also with inequality.
Injustice is inequality on display when rewards and judgments are distorted by our sin expressed towards others.
This does not just apply to racism.
It includes sexism.
It includes agism.
It includes xenophobia (defined by the New Oxford American Dictionary as the intense or irrational dislike of people from other countries).
It includes all of the sinful biases maintained in the human heart.
Though there are plenty of people within societal structures who are trying to do what is Biblically just, the issue is people with sin in their hearts within these structures who perpetuate dominant narratives that need to be uprooted.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
In an hour like this, you should be as proactive to understand justice as you would be going to a work meeting where you had to give a presentation to a live audience.
Do it like your job depended on it, because someone’s quality of life, or life, actually does.
Educate yourself about the statistics regarding the history of ongoing systemic inequality within our culture that brought us to this boiling point today.
Here are some suggested resources as a starting place:
Your BIBLE to understand the nature of humanity and God’s solution to its fallen state
13th on Netflix regarding the penal system in America
Time: The Kalief Browder Story on Netflix
or
Just Mercy on Amazon Video
to see a modern example of the cracks in our U.S. justice systemWoke Church by Dr. Eric Mason to have a foundational Biblical response to these issues
Biblical justice results in the godly, fair and discerning treatment of individuals.
It is an outward expression of righteousness - not as a condition, but as an action.
“Justice points to the extrinsic execution of the heart of God, and righteousness means intrinsic impact by the heart of God.”
-Dr. Eric Mason
We see God’s mandate to execute justice in Scriptures such as:
Exodus 23:6-7
“You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked.
and
Leviticus 19:15
“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.
Again, the recent movie Just Mercy was based on the true story of Walter McMillian, who was falsely accused of the 1986 murder of Ronda Morrison in Alabama.
The manner in which the proceedings took place was an example of these injustices to which the Bible speak.
Being educated about these things and moving as communities to act justly on these issues can lead to things like the June 12th repeal of 50-A in NYC. This is an example of reform that can take place in regards to police misconduct within affected communities.
What we must see is that this is a kairos moment where the God of heaven and earth is opening a door for change.
Yet where will our interests be in a year?
Some people are acting like they just watched a movie and this issue should already be over.
We need to beware of the “Fashionate” ideals to which social commentator Tim Elmore speaks, only taking up causes because they’re fashionable.
We need to instead ground our convictions in the heart and Word of God, which are eternal.
When we do so, we see that Biblical justice is achieved through the Holy Spirit fruit of faithfulness reflected in prolonged empathy.
Proverbs 3:3-4
Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.
If you say that you’re tired of talking about injustice, think about how tired people are of experiencing the discrimination, unjust killings and fear that haunts their families on a daily basis.
Someone recently said: “It’s a privilege to educate yourself about racism rather than experience it.”
Jeremiah 6:14
They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.
We have a tendency to just want a quick fix.
Yet we can not just “move on” from this.
If you try to move on and walk on an injury too quickly, the wound won’t heal.
The problem can persist and get worse.
Societal change takes time.
Think about the history of injustice in our country.
Legalized American slavery lasted 246 years.
Legalized segregation lasted 89 years.
We’ve been living in a post-segregation society for only 56 years.
That means most of your grandparents were living as a part of a legalized ethnically biased society and what has been on display recently shows we have a long way to go.
How do we expect to move past this issue so quickly when it has been so deeply entrenched in our society?
It has been what was presented to our parents as norms, and what’s been created as subconscious, validated expectations.
Think about the efforts made in the civil rights movement of the twentieth century:
The Birmingham movement lasted 37 days.
The Greensboro sit-ins lasted six months.
The Freedom Rides lasted seven months.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted 382 days.
Let’s reject fashionable activism and instead choose to take up our prophetic voice for Biblical justice.
Continue to Do Good
To realize Biblical justice, we must speak with God’s prophetic voice which leads to godly action.
We’ve spoken previously about becoming a voice - but it needs to be a prophetic voice.
When we speak of becoming a prophetic voice, it means, at its base, being a mouthpiece for what God has already said and will always say in regards to justice.
We must be GOD’S prophetic voice to our culture, not simply our own.
This begins with Biblical character.
It leads to godly action.
If we live, respond and sound like the rest of the world, we lose our place in shaping society in the love, wisdom and eternal purposes of Christ.
This is resonate of Jesus saying that the salt can lose its saltiness.
Matthew 5:13-16
13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
As the people of God, we should be Christ’s prophetic voice of justice and reconciliation, not merely a cultural echo chamber of anger.
Jeremiah 1:9-10
Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
A civilization can not be repaired or build while living in a determined state of faction.
Demonstrations are meant to bring awareness and highlight necessary conversations.
If done God’s way, they will pluck up culturally rooted evils, break down divisions, overthrow demonic ideologies and destroy the barriers of sin between God and man, and man and man.
The end goal is the termination of the injustices that have been systemic within our society to create an equal playing field, before God, for all humanity.
Yet what do we do once the conversation begins?
We need to build and plant the truth.
In attempting to assume a prophetic voice:
Don’t burn bridges in your anger or discomfort where Jesus is trying to build them through the cross.
The venue of discussion needs to be a bridge strong enough to carry the weight of the topic and connection that is trying to cross it.
To bring people gracefully to the truth, you’ll need to consider body language, misunderstandings, offense, etc.
We must be living epistles, not just talking heads.
2 Corinthians 3:2-3
You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Who we are needs to be able to seen and read by everyone.
Our lives are to be as a work of art with God’s gospel wisdom on display.
We are called to be living epistles of God’s justice and reconciliation.
We are to look to the Shalom of all mankind within our cities.
Jeremiah 29:7
But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
This doesn’t just mean our neighborhood or part of the city.
The city of Chicago, for example, has at least 59 distinct neighborhoods.
We are called to seek the welfare of all of them to obey this command.
Start small and build.
In his book Woke Church, Dr. Eric Mason speaks about three levels of engagement in society that help promote Biblical justice:
Intervening justice
Preventative justice
Systemic justice
These three means of doing the good works to which God has called his people (Ephesians 2:10) are particularly useful for helping to upend issues such as the school to prison pipeline within our cities.
Defined by Dr. Mason:
Intervening Justice is helping to meet the current needs of individuals who may be suffering
Preventative Justice is getting ahead of the issues that confront our communities through proactive Biblical education and training.
Systemic Justice is bringing the gospel to systems within our city to seek their renewal
Things we’ve mentioned before that you can still do to help along with others in the church are found in each of these categories:
Examples of Intervening Justice:
Volunteer with organizations such as Safe Families or Foster Care to minister to families in the city of Chicago
Examples of Preventative Justice:
Support ministries like A House in Austin
Tutor children with Together Chicago education initiatives or through programs like the Jesse White Foundation
Bring Financial Peace education and investing courses to at risk communities
Examples of Systemic Justice:
The Justice Centers spearheaded by the Together Chicago interdenominational ministry
Please visit: Togetherchicago.com for more information.
Finally, remember that a prophetic voice continually reminds people of God’s Word and his eschatological ends.
It is the mandate of the church to contextualize present human suffering with a preview of the end of the historic screenplay in which God will have the final word.
This provides both hope and a necessary check to all of our attitudes, activities and judgments with the fear of the Lord.
Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
This helps us discover what to do and how to do it.
Revelation 7:9-12
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
This is how the script ends, with the redeemed from every nation, tribe, people group and language worshiping in unity before the throne of God.
This is God’s ambition and pervading program.
It is where his zeal is placed to act as an umbrella for all temporal efforts.
While speaking on behalf of present day justice, remember that you are first ambassadors of the only thing that is truly eternal, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Continue to Preach the Gospel
To realize Biblical justice, we must continually preach the gospel.
We are called to be ambassadors of God’s gospel as central to the solution of finding justice.
This means that our understanding of the centrality of the gospel as God’s foundational solution must be in all of our efforts for reform.
It is because as people are changed by God, so are the systems that they govern.
So are the people who need to rise out of those unjust systems.
When talking about the gospel:
As a practical note, you can join our outreach rhythms as a church.
We hope to begin in every place we have people or community groups in the city and then expand.
You can also be trained even during the modified shelter in place utilizing free apps like GODS NOT DEAD.
We encourage each of you to download it.
What is that gospel?
It is at least three things:
The gospel is God’s good news that is of first importance.
It is Christ’s life declaring that even in death, a new day is possible.
I Corinthians 15:1-8
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
2. The gospel is God’s statement that he understands injustice and suffering.
Jesus endured unjust, criminal treatment at the cross.
The gospel is also God’s statement of justice that he will deal with all things, even as we look to conform all things to his righteousness.
2 Corinthians 5:6-10
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
3. The gospel is Christ’s statement of hope.
It is God’s divine invitation to new beginnings.
2 Corinthians 5:13-21
For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Jesus came to the world that he created, which belonged to him, yet rejected him.
There was an injustice in the crucifixion of Jesus that we will never fully comprehend.
Being God incarnate, living sinlessly, and loving extravagantly, Jesus was crucified precisely because of who he was.
His crime was not what he said or what he had done, but it was his admission of his being the only begotten Son of God.
And therein we find our Savior.
One who experienced the injustices of our world, yet never tired in doing what was good.
One who spoke as the promised prophet of God who would point the world to its true salvation.
One who was the gospel embodied, a living epistle that brings freedom to our hearts, freedom in our minds, freedom in our spirits and freedom in our souls as we turn to him for true justice.
He died on the cross, satisfying God’s justice for our sins and offering forgiveness to us.
By Christ’s resurrection, we have the offer of new life as we turn to him in repentance and faith.
Let’s do so today even as we look for a new day in our land.
Study
Click HERE to download our study guide
Second City Church - Justice - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020