PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Give us ears to hear your Word, O God, minds to comprehend your message for each of us today, and hearts full of compassion to carry out your will.
THEME VERSE FOR TODAY Acts 17:31, NCV
God has set a day that he will judge all the world with fairness, by the man he chose long ago. And God has proved this to everyone by raising that man from the dead!”
OLD TESTAMENT READING Jeremiah 12:1-3a, MEV
Righteous are You, O Lord,
that I plead with You.
Indeed, let me talk with You about matters of justice.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why are all those happy who deal very treacherously?
2 You have planted them; indeed, they have taken root;
they grow; indeed, they bring forth fruit.
You are near in their mouth,
but far from their mind.
3 But You, O Lord, know me;
You have seen me and tested my heart toward You.
NEW TESTAMENT READING Luke 18:1-8, CEB
Jesus was telling them a parable about their need to pray continuously and not to be discouraged. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. 3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him, asking, ‘Give me justice in this case against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused but finally said to himself, I don’t fear God or respect people, 5 but I will give this widow justice because she keeps bothering me. Otherwise, there will be no end to her coming here and embarrassing me.” 6 The Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 Won’t God provide justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he be slow to help them? 8 I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Human One comes, will he find faithfulness on earth?”
Revelation 20:7-12, GNT
7 After the thousand years are over, Satan will be set loose from his prison, 8 and he will go out to deceive the nations scattered over the whole world, that is, Gog and Magog. Satan will bring them all together for battle, as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. 9 They spread out over the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people and the city that he loves. But fire came down from heaven and destroyed them. 10 Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sits on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence and were seen no more. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small alike, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and then another book was opened, the book of the living. The dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.
SERMON Justice
Justice pairs so well with so many words. It doesn’t often stand alone.
My ex-husband and his favorite professor used to debate the pairing of justice and peace. David insisted justice had to come first for there to be peace. Since David grew up as a third world tribal that makes perfect sense from his background. Dale Brown, a pastor and professor in the Church of the Brethren, expected peace to bring justice. This also makes sense coming from one of the three traditional peace denominations. My United Methodist tradition has a Peace and Justice special Sunday about the same time of year as your Presbyterian Peace and Global Witness offering. Whichever comes first, I believe they do belong hand in hand. I think it would be difficult to experience peace without justice. I long for justice and peace to be the daily truth in every land.
Many times, we think of justice as fairness. If someone cheats at a game or anything else, we say it isn’t fair. We see it as unjust. When I hear someone assume that God chooses or favors one people over another, I see that as unfair. I think it’s an injustice to them and to God. We want life to be fair, though it isn’t always. We expect God to be fair, though life’s circumstances sometimes seem unjust. The laws in Leviticus call for fair justice, not to treat anyone differently based on status or economics. Paul told the Colossians to be “just and fair” to their servants. (4:1) Psalm 9 assures us that God will establish justice and judge all people fairly. If we are to live in God’s justice, then we must do the same.
The pairing I have engraved in my mind from Hebrew studies is justice and righteousness, since mishpat and tzedeqah are often side by side in Hebrew scriptures of the Old Testament. They are joined 41 times in the Common English Bible translation. David was said to rule with justice and righteousness. We know that when he did sin, he sincerely repented striving then to do what was right. Psalm 97 says God’s “throne is built on righteousness and justice.” I like this Proverb (16:8) “Better a little with righteousness than great profits without justice.” Isaiah declares that God wants justice and righteousness from us. “I will make justice a measuring line and righteousness a plumb line. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and floodwaters will wash away your hiding place.” (28:17) The prophet Amos was adamant as well. “Doom to you who turn justice into poison and throw righteousness to the ground!... But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (5:7,24) God takes the combination of justice and righteousness very seriously.
Many of us would put law and justice together meaning that in our judicial system we expect justice in the verdict made by the jury and the sentence pronounced by the judge. That determination is symbolized by the statue of Lady Justice holding her scales, measuring the weight of each argument and the facts of the case.
This would also fit how justice is used in the Bible. In some verses as I looked at multiple translations words like judgement or decision were used interchangeably with the word justice. The Bible has courtroom scenarios picturing God’s justice. Job fearfully imagines going to court with God and wishes for a mediator to come between them. (Job 9) In the prophet Jeremiah, God declares in Chapter 2 that he will take his people to court for turning away from him. In Chapter 12 as we read earlier, Jeremiah is pleading with God about matters of justice. Another translation simply says, God, if I take you to court, you will win.
What does God’s justice look like? Max Lucado gives three interesting aspects in his chapter on Justice as part of our Unshakable Hope. First, that God will pardon his people. (p.146) Second, that God will praise his servants. (p.148) Third, that God will honor the wishes of the wicked. (p. 150) That’s not what you expected? Me, either, so let me share a little more of what Max says about each of these.
As Paul so bluntly reminds us in Romans 3, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” In other words, if God’s justice is like a courtroom, every one of us would be indicted and take our turn as defendant. It may be for seemingly little things, little white lies or stretching the truth, being jealous of what someone else has or how someone else is treated, complaining all the time rather than giving thanks for what is good, or it might be imagining what it would be like if…you fill in the blank with your favorite temptation…, and dwelling on that in your mind even though you would never act on it. All of these can be sin.
But if we believe that Jesus is indeed our Savior, then our courtroom scene goes like this. Jesus is the advocate standing beside us, and for every charge that is made against us, Jesus doesn’t deny what we did, but states what he has already done to deal with it. The price, the punishment, and our forgiveness were already accomplished at the cross. So, when the case concludes, and the verdict is read, we will hear “Not guilty!” for every charge. This is where I believe mercy is best paired with justice. Thanks to Christ, God’s justice is tempered with mercy, and Jesus has become the Mediator Job requested.
Another aspect of God’s justice according to Max Lucado, isn’t about punishment, it’s about rewards. We are called to be God’s people, to serve God to the best of our abilities. When we have done that, even though we will have had bad days, tough times, and not always lived up to our fullest potential perhaps, if we have always returned to serve God, we hope to hear what the Bible proclaims, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (from Matthew 25:23)
The point Max made that may have surprised you the most is God honoring the wishes of the wicked. But here is what he means by that. Picture again the courtroom scene. You know in our judicial system, that if someone cannot afford an attorney one will be provided. But you also know that the defendant has the right to refuse council and present his case alone. What Max is saying as part of God’s justice is about those who reject God, who don’t accept Christ, who have chosen to stand alone without an advocate by their side. When they come before God for judgement, God will accept that choice and allow them to stand alone without his Son to help them. For each charge read against them there will be no response in their defense. What then do you think their verdict will be? I find that very sad, but I get that it is fair and just.
There are many times in life when it seems like that final justice never comes. We wonder today as Jeremiah did millennia ago why the wicked seem to prosper. Will justice ever come? For some this question churns inside until they begin to think they ought to take matters into their own hands. They can’t trust the human legal system to get it right, so they go out on their own for revenge. That’s a dangerous pairing, justice and revenge. It has a high risk of the innocent being in harms way, of the wrong person being punished, of not hearing with compassion the whole story, of perpetuating a feud that needs to end. The Bible is very clear that vengeance is God’s privilege and God’s only. In Romans 12, Paul quotes it from Deuteronomy 32. “Don’t try to get revenge for yourselves, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath. It is written, Revenge belongs to me; I will pay it back, says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19) Thus, when humans seek revenge, they become guilty as well. Rather than taking justice into our own hands to that extent, our theme verse for today is the promise that God has set a date for the whole world to be judged. Leave justice in God’s hands.
That doesn’t mean to give up or ignore injustice. While we are not judge or jury, warden or executioner, it is our place to speak up, to witness, to tell the truth, to bring the situation to light, and to plead for justice within our human legal systems and with God through prayer. That’s what Max is suggesting by sharing the story of the widow and the judge, a parable Jesus told his disciples to encourage them to never give up. The judge may be tired and want to ignore the widow’s problems, but as she continues to bang on his door, he will in the end grant her justice if for no other reason than to get some peace and rest. Don’t you think advocates and modern-day prophets speaking out for various justice issues feel like that widow banging on the judge’s door? But because of their persistence, someone will eventually listen to the case and hopefully do what is right. A lot of news stories feel like that to me.
We may not see justice on all issues in our lifetimes. We may never know how God chooses to work in the lives of those who strive so hard against all that God intends. But there is an ultimate promise of justice that we cling to as Christians, that Jesus wins the final battle against evil, that the harm caused in this world will ultimately be healed in the next. The imagery in Revelation symbolizes that final battle and Christ’s victory defeating the beast. Daniel already hinted at it in the Old Testament. Both Daniel in Chapter 7 and Revelation in Chapter 20 then show God on his throne in judgement of the world. In that courtroom scene, those who come against God’s people will receive their sentence, and those who have put their hope in God and chosen to serve God will receive their reward. I like that Revelation goes even beyond that to deal with the hurt and the pain that evil has caused. In Chapter 22 we are shown the Tree of Life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.
It is very hard to watch someone you love being hurt or to know a life has been taken away by criminal action. We abhor the violence in our world stirred up by hatred. We want justice! But as I read these scriptures and others, I am reminded that it is our job to witness, to pray, to reach out to victims, and when we are able, to reach out with God’s grace even to perpetrators. We are called to forgive those who hurt us, and those who hurt our family or friends. If for no other reason, perhaps we can do this in gratitude for the mercy Christ has shown to us in forgiving our sin. We are to take a stand and speak up for justice and to live our lives as justly and rightly as we are able with God’s help! But it is not our job to judge humankind. It is not our job to take revenge. Only God can finally fully balance the scales of justice, and we must respectfully let God do what it is God’s work to do. For that we can give thanks, and wait with hope, for the fulfillment of God’s plan to redeem and restore this world that God loves so much. The best pairing for the word justice, I realize I have used often as I write this message; the best pairing for the word justice is that it belongs to God.
Give us ears to hear your Word, O God, minds to comprehend your message for each of us today, and hearts full of compassion to carry out your will.
THEME VERSE FOR TODAY Acts 17:31, NCV
God has set a day that he will judge all the world with fairness, by the man he chose long ago. And God has proved this to everyone by raising that man from the dead!”
OLD TESTAMENT READING Jeremiah 12:1-3a, MEV
Righteous are You, O Lord,
that I plead with You.
Indeed, let me talk with You about matters of justice.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why are all those happy who deal very treacherously?
2 You have planted them; indeed, they have taken root;
they grow; indeed, they bring forth fruit.
You are near in their mouth,
but far from their mind.
3 But You, O Lord, know me;
You have seen me and tested my heart toward You.
NEW TESTAMENT READING Luke 18:1-8, CEB
Jesus was telling them a parable about their need to pray continuously and not to be discouraged. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. 3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him, asking, ‘Give me justice in this case against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused but finally said to himself, I don’t fear God or respect people, 5 but I will give this widow justice because she keeps bothering me. Otherwise, there will be no end to her coming here and embarrassing me.” 6 The Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 Won’t God provide justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he be slow to help them? 8 I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Human One comes, will he find faithfulness on earth?”
Revelation 20:7-12, GNT
7 After the thousand years are over, Satan will be set loose from his prison, 8 and he will go out to deceive the nations scattered over the whole world, that is, Gog and Magog. Satan will bring them all together for battle, as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. 9 They spread out over the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people and the city that he loves. But fire came down from heaven and destroyed them. 10 Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sits on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence and were seen no more. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small alike, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and then another book was opened, the book of the living. The dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.
SERMON Justice
Justice pairs so well with so many words. It doesn’t often stand alone.
My ex-husband and his favorite professor used to debate the pairing of justice and peace. David insisted justice had to come first for there to be peace. Since David grew up as a third world tribal that makes perfect sense from his background. Dale Brown, a pastor and professor in the Church of the Brethren, expected peace to bring justice. This also makes sense coming from one of the three traditional peace denominations. My United Methodist tradition has a Peace and Justice special Sunday about the same time of year as your Presbyterian Peace and Global Witness offering. Whichever comes first, I believe they do belong hand in hand. I think it would be difficult to experience peace without justice. I long for justice and peace to be the daily truth in every land.
Many times, we think of justice as fairness. If someone cheats at a game or anything else, we say it isn’t fair. We see it as unjust. When I hear someone assume that God chooses or favors one people over another, I see that as unfair. I think it’s an injustice to them and to God. We want life to be fair, though it isn’t always. We expect God to be fair, though life’s circumstances sometimes seem unjust. The laws in Leviticus call for fair justice, not to treat anyone differently based on status or economics. Paul told the Colossians to be “just and fair” to their servants. (4:1) Psalm 9 assures us that God will establish justice and judge all people fairly. If we are to live in God’s justice, then we must do the same.
The pairing I have engraved in my mind from Hebrew studies is justice and righteousness, since mishpat and tzedeqah are often side by side in Hebrew scriptures of the Old Testament. They are joined 41 times in the Common English Bible translation. David was said to rule with justice and righteousness. We know that when he did sin, he sincerely repented striving then to do what was right. Psalm 97 says God’s “throne is built on righteousness and justice.” I like this Proverb (16:8) “Better a little with righteousness than great profits without justice.” Isaiah declares that God wants justice and righteousness from us. “I will make justice a measuring line and righteousness a plumb line. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and floodwaters will wash away your hiding place.” (28:17) The prophet Amos was adamant as well. “Doom to you who turn justice into poison and throw righteousness to the ground!... But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (5:7,24) God takes the combination of justice and righteousness very seriously.
Many of us would put law and justice together meaning that in our judicial system we expect justice in the verdict made by the jury and the sentence pronounced by the judge. That determination is symbolized by the statue of Lady Justice holding her scales, measuring the weight of each argument and the facts of the case.
This would also fit how justice is used in the Bible. In some verses as I looked at multiple translations words like judgement or decision were used interchangeably with the word justice. The Bible has courtroom scenarios picturing God’s justice. Job fearfully imagines going to court with God and wishes for a mediator to come between them. (Job 9) In the prophet Jeremiah, God declares in Chapter 2 that he will take his people to court for turning away from him. In Chapter 12 as we read earlier, Jeremiah is pleading with God about matters of justice. Another translation simply says, God, if I take you to court, you will win.
What does God’s justice look like? Max Lucado gives three interesting aspects in his chapter on Justice as part of our Unshakable Hope. First, that God will pardon his people. (p.146) Second, that God will praise his servants. (p.148) Third, that God will honor the wishes of the wicked. (p. 150) That’s not what you expected? Me, either, so let me share a little more of what Max says about each of these.
As Paul so bluntly reminds us in Romans 3, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” In other words, if God’s justice is like a courtroom, every one of us would be indicted and take our turn as defendant. It may be for seemingly little things, little white lies or stretching the truth, being jealous of what someone else has or how someone else is treated, complaining all the time rather than giving thanks for what is good, or it might be imagining what it would be like if…you fill in the blank with your favorite temptation…, and dwelling on that in your mind even though you would never act on it. All of these can be sin.
But if we believe that Jesus is indeed our Savior, then our courtroom scene goes like this. Jesus is the advocate standing beside us, and for every charge that is made against us, Jesus doesn’t deny what we did, but states what he has already done to deal with it. The price, the punishment, and our forgiveness were already accomplished at the cross. So, when the case concludes, and the verdict is read, we will hear “Not guilty!” for every charge. This is where I believe mercy is best paired with justice. Thanks to Christ, God’s justice is tempered with mercy, and Jesus has become the Mediator Job requested.
Another aspect of God’s justice according to Max Lucado, isn’t about punishment, it’s about rewards. We are called to be God’s people, to serve God to the best of our abilities. When we have done that, even though we will have had bad days, tough times, and not always lived up to our fullest potential perhaps, if we have always returned to serve God, we hope to hear what the Bible proclaims, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (from Matthew 25:23)
The point Max made that may have surprised you the most is God honoring the wishes of the wicked. But here is what he means by that. Picture again the courtroom scene. You know in our judicial system, that if someone cannot afford an attorney one will be provided. But you also know that the defendant has the right to refuse council and present his case alone. What Max is saying as part of God’s justice is about those who reject God, who don’t accept Christ, who have chosen to stand alone without an advocate by their side. When they come before God for judgement, God will accept that choice and allow them to stand alone without his Son to help them. For each charge read against them there will be no response in their defense. What then do you think their verdict will be? I find that very sad, but I get that it is fair and just.
There are many times in life when it seems like that final justice never comes. We wonder today as Jeremiah did millennia ago why the wicked seem to prosper. Will justice ever come? For some this question churns inside until they begin to think they ought to take matters into their own hands. They can’t trust the human legal system to get it right, so they go out on their own for revenge. That’s a dangerous pairing, justice and revenge. It has a high risk of the innocent being in harms way, of the wrong person being punished, of not hearing with compassion the whole story, of perpetuating a feud that needs to end. The Bible is very clear that vengeance is God’s privilege and God’s only. In Romans 12, Paul quotes it from Deuteronomy 32. “Don’t try to get revenge for yourselves, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath. It is written, Revenge belongs to me; I will pay it back, says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19) Thus, when humans seek revenge, they become guilty as well. Rather than taking justice into our own hands to that extent, our theme verse for today is the promise that God has set a date for the whole world to be judged. Leave justice in God’s hands.
That doesn’t mean to give up or ignore injustice. While we are not judge or jury, warden or executioner, it is our place to speak up, to witness, to tell the truth, to bring the situation to light, and to plead for justice within our human legal systems and with God through prayer. That’s what Max is suggesting by sharing the story of the widow and the judge, a parable Jesus told his disciples to encourage them to never give up. The judge may be tired and want to ignore the widow’s problems, but as she continues to bang on his door, he will in the end grant her justice if for no other reason than to get some peace and rest. Don’t you think advocates and modern-day prophets speaking out for various justice issues feel like that widow banging on the judge’s door? But because of their persistence, someone will eventually listen to the case and hopefully do what is right. A lot of news stories feel like that to me.
We may not see justice on all issues in our lifetimes. We may never know how God chooses to work in the lives of those who strive so hard against all that God intends. But there is an ultimate promise of justice that we cling to as Christians, that Jesus wins the final battle against evil, that the harm caused in this world will ultimately be healed in the next. The imagery in Revelation symbolizes that final battle and Christ’s victory defeating the beast. Daniel already hinted at it in the Old Testament. Both Daniel in Chapter 7 and Revelation in Chapter 20 then show God on his throne in judgement of the world. In that courtroom scene, those who come against God’s people will receive their sentence, and those who have put their hope in God and chosen to serve God will receive their reward. I like that Revelation goes even beyond that to deal with the hurt and the pain that evil has caused. In Chapter 22 we are shown the Tree of Life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.
It is very hard to watch someone you love being hurt or to know a life has been taken away by criminal action. We abhor the violence in our world stirred up by hatred. We want justice! But as I read these scriptures and others, I am reminded that it is our job to witness, to pray, to reach out to victims, and when we are able, to reach out with God’s grace even to perpetrators. We are called to forgive those who hurt us, and those who hurt our family or friends. If for no other reason, perhaps we can do this in gratitude for the mercy Christ has shown to us in forgiving our sin. We are to take a stand and speak up for justice and to live our lives as justly and rightly as we are able with God’s help! But it is not our job to judge humankind. It is not our job to take revenge. Only God can finally fully balance the scales of justice, and we must respectfully let God do what it is God’s work to do. For that we can give thanks, and wait with hope, for the fulfillment of God’s plan to redeem and restore this world that God loves so much. The best pairing for the word justice, I realize I have used often as I write this message; the best pairing for the word justice is that it belongs to God.
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