Biblical Justice

I spent considerable time in the sermon on Sunday to discuss the issue of doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God. As I mentioned, there are a lot of words flying around in our culture right now regarding “social justice.” It’s unfortunate that this term has been co-opted to mean a certain set of beliefs and actions in our culture. That is, “social justice” is too often pigeon-holed into a form of favoritism for a certain group of people and a certain set of actions that seek to “level the playing field”. This is unfortunate because the Church has largely abdicated its role of being integrally involved in not overlooking the poor and outcast. We have typically given money to ministries to take care of the poor (which is a worthy way to invest your money), but it is only a part of the solution.

Example of the Early Church

The beauty and power present in our early church brothers and sisters is because they lived lives emulating the Good Samaritan. They took Jesus’ words of taking the lower place at the table seriously. They took the Lord’s words to take care of the orphan, widow, sojourner, and outcast as Law…because it was! The reason why these “quartet of the vulnerable” (as explained by Nicholas Wolterstorff) were highlighted was because they were easily overlooked. It is no less the case in our society. We subtly give people our time if we can benefit from them. We would never say this explicitly, as we know it sounds horrible. But consider if a multi-millionaire asked you to coffee and a homeless man asks for your company over a cup of coffee. We would surely scrap everything for the former while finding excuses for the latter.

What we must be careful of is not to show favoritism in either direction. We must definitely draw near to the vulnerable, as our Lord has done, but we ought not neglect the wealthy in showing another kind of favoritism. The beauty of the Gospel is that all people everywhere regardless of creed, sex, or ethnicity have been made in the image of God and are worthy of honor as such.

Right Thinking Leads to Right Action

While we want to have right thinking about the things of God…true and right thinking will always manifest itself in true and righteous action. Put another way, the righteousness of God is made manifest in changed lives as they live in obedience to King Jesus. This is Paul’s great charge throughout the book of Romans. Often called the summit of biblical theology, Romans definitely parses out the doctrinal issues of sin, salvation, righteousness, justice. But it is through the examples of Abraham and Adam and Jesus, that the rich chapter (chapter 8) turns to us and says,

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Note that last clause. It bears repeating: In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. And then God turns to us again in chapter 12 and tells us to live sacrificial lives as a display of the freedom and sufficiency and worth of our New Master (Rom 12.1).

The Minor Prophets are glaringly clear. Israel and Judah went into Exile because of their lack of justice for the vulnerable. They promoted themselves at the expense of their fellow man and woman. They believed that their bank accounts were worth more than the eternal souls of their neighbors. They used people to get what they wanted to spend on themselves (Oh! I wish I could say more about the clear relationship of what we have been hearing from James during our times of worship and the overtures from the Minor Prophets. I will leave it to you to read James right after read Amos and Micah. So enjoyable!).

The Gospel and Biblical Justice

There does need to be a word about the relationship of what the Gospel is and what Biblical Justice is. They are not the same thing. They are integrally tied together. But they are distinct. The Gospel is the proclamation that the Kingdom of God has come in the Person and work of King Jesus. Biblical Justice is a natural outworking of what it means to have our hearts and hands and minds ruled by this King. In other words, you cannot have a Gospel that does not work out into the everyday brokenness of the world. And you cannot have true and biblical justice without the necessary reconciling work of humans to their Maker. But it must be underlined and bolded, lest we forget! Our works are integrally tied to our faith. What we really believe will be seen in our words and works. As James wrote, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” (James 2.14; please read the entirety of James 2…well, actually, all of James!).

We ought not be surprised that there is brokenness in the world. There are evil institutions. There have been evil laws in the history of our country. We ought to grieve these things. And we ought to be involved in our own corner of the earth to make sure that such favoritism does not persist. This means getting involved in your local government. This means giving piano lessons to those who would not be able to afford it. This means sitting down each week with someone who is struggling with an addiction to administer a word of love and grace. This means Remembering our Redeemer and understanding his plan to Repair the broken world through his people (the Remnant).

Here are some ways to be pro-active:

Switch — Child trafficking ministry

Pendleton Place — Recovery place for women and families who have undergone domestic abuse

Piedmont Women’s Center — Pregnancy support center

Celebrate Recovery — Support groups for those working through addictions

Contact Aaron Higgs — Our Deacon of Mercy & Mission

What amazing opportunities we have to be knit into the fabric of others’ lives. Let’s be participants in each others’ joy and sorrows.