Jesus Unfiltered (Apr 11, 2021)

Matthew 13:53-14:2

Introduction: One thing this past year has shown us is the reality and power of the filters we all have. How is it that the exact same facts or events (a virus, masks, a vaccine, an election, a killing that causes racial tension) can cause wildly divergent reactions? How can we all look at the exact same thing and see something totally different? There are a few ways we could answer these questions but there is one answer that now seems undeniable. We all have filters that we use to see, understand, and interpret the world.

Jesus Message = Proclaim Justice, Jesus Mission = Lead Justice to Victory

In this series on the Gospel of Matthew 13-20, we will explore how these filters work to get in the way of us seeing Jesus for who He is. In this section of Matthew, two things happen simultaneously – 1) Jesus more clearly reveals who He is & what He came to do and 2) People (even his own disciples) more blatantly misunderstand and misinterpret Him. How does this happen? How might it be happening with us?

1. We All Have Filters - These stories show us the reality and power of our filters in two different settings.

1) Jesus Hometown – In 13:53-55, Jesus is blowing away his hometown with his teaching. They all seem to know he has also done miraculous and unexplainable things. But that’s not what they are seeing. They say, “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t this Mary’s son? Don’t we know his brothers and sisters?” In other words, they are saying, “We cannot believe that someone from this town, from this ordinary family, with an ordinary human occupation, with brothers and sisters that we know could do these things - so we can’t believe it.” Why? Not because of the evidence, or what they were hearing or seeing. It was because of the filter they had. He didn’t fit their categories for a Messiah, so they didn’t believe. They wanted a Messiah on their terms. What Jesus was doing and saying couldn’t get through.

2) Herod – In 14:1-2, we see a totally different filter at work than the people of Nazareth. Herod the tetrarch (a term for a ruler of a territory) heard about all the same things that the town of Nazareth was seeing. He concluded it was John the Baptist raised from the dead. This was a pretty outlandish thing to believe. Why did he believe this? Was it because of the evidence or what he had heard about Jesus or the sources he was hearing it from? No – it was because of the filter he had. Having put John to death earlier (as told in 14:3-12), he saw Jesus through the filter own fears, paranoia and guilt.

The point of putting these two stories side by side is to show us that people did not look at or listen to Jesus honestly or reasonably. Why? Because of their filters. This passage is one of the clearest places in the Bible that shows us the power of the filters we have in our thinking and beliefs. The question for us is not – do you have a filter? It’s do you know yours? Do you know how you filter out things about Jesus you don’t want to see or hear?

2. Jesus and Our Filters

How do we know when Jesus is challenging our filters? How can we be better able to see ours? This passage shows us how. When one or both of the two things happen in us that happened in Jesus’ hometown - astonishment and offense.

• Astonishment - In 13:54, we read that the people in Jesus’ hometown were “astonished”. The word means to strike out with a blow; to strike out of one's senses; to be dumbfounded. This is what happens when you meet the real Jesus and consider Him as He is. The Jesus we meet in the New Testament is unlike any person anyone has ever encountered. If you haven’t been astonished by Jesus. You have a filter. When you find yourself saying, “It’s too good to be true”; “He’s too good to be true” you know Jesus is bumping up against your filter..

• Offense - In 13:57, we read that the people of Nazareth were also offended by Jesus. They (and likely Herod too) were scandalized at Jesus demand for total loyalty and allegiance to Him. Isn’t this Mary’s son. How can he be saying these things? Who is Jesus to speak with authority over us? Herod likely thought, “Another prophet come to call me out? Who is he to say anything about how I live my life, what is right/wrong for me?” If you have not been offended or scandalized, by Jesus. You have a filter. The Jesus of the New Testament is more demanding than any person anyone has ever encountered. When you find yourself saying, “It’s too hard to be true, “He’s asking too much to be true”, you know Jesus is bumping up against your filter.

3. Jesus Unfiltered

How do we put our filters down and see Jesus for who He is? The answer given here is faith. It was because of “their unbelief” that Jesus did not do many miracles in Nazareth (v58). The power of Jesus is withheld when people keep their filters up in unbelief. But faith sounds like an overly simplistic and very pious answer, “Just have faith!” Note that faith, according to this passage, is not opposed to reason, evidence and thinking. It is in line with reason and evidence. The unreasonable and unthinking people in the passage are those who refuse to see Jesus for who He is. Their faith in their filters was too strong to see and consider Jesus for who He really was.

Here is what we need to admit – the thing holding up our filters is faith. It’s our faith or trust in the categories we have, our understanding of the world, the things we believe we must to have to be happy, the things we believe give us status. We must be willing to examine and question our faith in these things when we experience Jesus “bumping up against them”. Faith begins and grows when we look to Jesus – not through the filters of own preference, culture, politics or desires – but as He is in all his astonishing and offensive fullness.

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What about this sermon most impacted you or left you with questions? Do you agree that this past year has shown us the reality and power of the filters we all have? How have you seen this?

2. A Filter is something that lets what you want in and keeps what you don’t want out. This isn’t always a bad thing but can be if we are keeping parts of Jesus out of our lives. What filter(s) do you have? (A few mentioned in the sermon were the conservative filter, the progressive filter and the American filter – just to suggest some non-controversial ones 😉.

3. When were you last astonished by Jesus (blown away, dumbfounded)? When were you last offended by Jesus (scandalized)? If it’s been a while, why do you think this is?

4. How have you seen God remove and change the filters you have used to see and listen to Him and His word?

5. While it seems like a tragic ending for Jesus’ hometown and own household, this isn’t the end of the story. We know from history that two of his brothers did end up believing and becoming leaders in the early church (James, Jude). Even when we resist Him with our filters, Jesus doesn’t give up on us. How does this give you hope for yourself? for the church? for others (whose filters you can see)?

BONUS – FOR REFLECTION & PRAYER

The scariest part of this passage for Christians is that Jesus was least appreciated where he was best known. In “his hometown, his household”. There is a message here for us today. A message for the church. To those who are most familiar with Jesus.

At this point in the story of Jesus there is a major transition that is a sober warning to people who think they know Jesus. Jesus never went back to a synagogue after this. This is pretty fascinating and extremely significant. Why is it a big deal? Synagogues were the official place for Jewish people to gather, hear teaching, worship. After this, Jesus decided to work outside the normal religious structures of his day. If you wanted to find Jesus, you had to be willing to put down your filters and meet Him, see Him for who He was, on his terms. He wouldn’t be found in a synagogue.

There are many dead churches throughout history and around the world. Churches that end up becoming museums. There are many vibrant and thriving churches throughout history and around the world. Churches that experience the presence of Jesus and live in the power of His kingdom. What’s the difference? Those willing to put down their filters and meet the full and true Jesus for who He is – those are the churches that are alive with his presence and power.

One significant reason we and our churches drift into unhealth is that we neglect or under-emphasize or even turn away from aspects of Christ himself that we find confusing or threatening. ... We get healthy again when we stop miniaturizing Christ and rediscover his actual grandeur and we allow him, in our churches, to be all that in fact he is. -Ray Ortlund

Spend time as a group praying for each person and for our church to put down our filters to see Jesus for all of who He is.

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The Victory of Justice (Apr 4, 2021) Easter Sunday

Matthew 12:9-21

Introduction: As we close our series on justice during the Lent and Easter season we reflect on the premise: there is no true justice without Jesus, and there is no true Jesus without justice. Justice is a concept that is being debated in many of our current cultural/political conversations. It is entirely possible for us to err in two directions in seeking a biblical application of justice to our present culture. One, we might settle for a cultural version of justice without reference to Jesus. Two, we might seek to uphold a version of justice in the name of Jesus that ignores the legitimate plights of others. As we have seen in this series, both of these versions of justice are incomplete. Jesus shows us the way to full and comprehensive justice.

Jesus Message = Proclaim Justice, Jesus Mission = Lead Justice to Victory

Our series has shown us that justice is not a side issue. It is not an optional concern relegated only to those who have the gift of mercy and compassion. Justice is a theme central to both Testaments of the Bible, and this passages clearly shows us – it is a critical component of the Gospel message. In the Old Testament, we have observed God’s call for justice in the prophets like Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Malachi, and Amos. In the New Testament we find that Jesus aims to carry out justice, albeit in a way that no one could comprehend. Despite the long history of injustice in the world, this passage in Matthew proclaims that Jesus will lead justice to victory. How can we know that things will get better? How can we know that justice will one day prevail? The bible teaches we can know because Easter is true. The risen Jesus is our only hope for the victory of justice. This passage tells us how and why we can believe this.

1. The Apparent Absence of Jesus

It is no surprise that Jesus drew in large crowds. His message was viral for all kinds of people looking for justice, hope, and peace in a broken world. In verse 9, a man with a shriveled hand comes to Jesus in his brokenness and need for healing. Jesus saw the man and felt compassion, but the Pharisees saw an opportunity to win an argument. Jesus responds by healing the man and indicating that the Law of God is not an excuse to ignore the cause of broken people. Even this small interaction is a good lesson for us today.

The Pharisees did not take Jesus’ remarks lightly, but plotted to kill him. We should expect Jesus to valiantly stand in their way and condemn them, right? Wrong. Verse 15 indicates that Jesus “withdrew” and even warned people “not to make him known.” Why would he do that in the midst of peoples’ pain and desire to meet with him? With so much injustice in the world?! Perhaps we too have felt this way about Jesus. One of the most difficult parts about being a Christian is that Jesus often seems absent when we feel like he should be near. That’s why Matthew quoted this text from Isaiah. There is something deeper going on here, there is a bigger picture. We must remember that an apparent absence of Jesus does not mean that he is not working.

2. The Baffling Strategy of Jesus

So if Jesus is not absent, then what is he doing? What is the big picture? Here is where we need to take a closer look at this long passage from Isaiah. This is the longest quote in his gospel. In this beautiful prophecy, Isaiah claims that this chosen servant “will not argue or shout. You will not hear his voice in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed, and he will not put out a smoldering wick.” Here is the strategy: Quiet and gentle. When we see injustice in the world, we sometimes want Jesus to reign down fire. We sometimes want him to confront his opponents and stand proud and bold. We want King Kong to rise up and fight against Godzilla! But Jesus has a very different strategy. He doesn’t withdraw from a broken world of injustice, He withdraws from using certain strategies like arguing, shouting, publicity, power, or political force as the primary method in his fight for justice. Among all the brokenness, injustice, and division in the world, Jesus chooses a rather baffling strategy. He finds a way to enact full justice and to embrace broken people in loving gentleness. He takes it all upon himself. If Jesus used our strategies to lead justice to victory - there would be no one left! Only Jesus would stand guiltless and safe if God’s perfect justice would be led to victory. But Jesus chose to be broken on our behalf, and take upon himself the wrath of God against all injustice. As we peruse the landscape of today wondering how all the injustice in the world will be finally quelled, let us never forget the ultimate example of our mighty but gently Jesus. He is the reason we can have hope in a future where justice is victorious.

3. The Certain Victory of Jesus

Jesus identifies himself as the chosen servant in Isaiah, and this is incredible news. For it reads that he will not stop “until he has led justice to victory.” What this means for us is that we don’t have to be merely optimistic about Jesus’ future victory, but certain. How can this be possible? The future victory of justice finds its ground in the resurrection, and so we can be certain that He is working. Even when we can’t make sense of what He is doing.

If the Easter story is true, then the absence of Jesus is only apparent, and the baffling strategy is the best strategy, and the victory is certain. This is the joy of every Christian on Easter Sunday, because Jesus did rise from the dead. The Father affirmed his work on the cross to save sinners and his mission to “proclaim justice to the nations.” Do you really believe that? Will you look back to the certain victory of the Cross and look forward to the certain victory of his coming?

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. Have you struggled recently with the feeling that Jesus is absent - either in your life or the needs of the world? How does this affect you (doubt, apathy, anger, anxiety)?

2. When it appears that Jesus is absent how can it help to remember the big picture as “painted” for us in this passage (ie, This broken world is not the end! Jesus is not finished with his mission)? What about the picture of Jesus here is most encouraging to you?

3. Jesus’ strategy was baffling to everyone - including those closest to him. Sometimes we are able to believe that Jesus is there - but we are so baffled by what he is doing. Can you identify with this? How so?

4. What about Jesus quiet and gentle strategy is hardest for you (in a broken world filled with injustice?)

5. What about Jesus quiet and gentle strategy is most appealing to you (in your own brokenness and/or guilt and complicity in injustice toward the poor, needy and marginalized)?

6. How does the gospel show us how God can be unswervingly committed to justice and unswervingly committed to gentleness for people broken by a world of sin (even those guilty of injustice, which is all of us at some level)?

7. If the resurrection is true, how does this give us certainty about a final victory for justice? What difference does this make in our lives now? in working for justice now?

8. It was said in the sermon that people who really believe the resurrection is true, have the greatest reason and hope to work for justice now? Do you agree? What would this look like? What would it look like for you?

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Justice and Lament (Mar 28, 2021)

Malachi 2:17-36

Introduction: During this season of Lent we are focusing on this premise: there is no true justice without Jesus, and there is no true Jesus without justice. Justice has become a controversial word in our culture, triggering all kinds of reactions. We have already seen that justice is also a central theme of the Bible – learning who God is, what God does, and what God commands us to do. Amos 5 shows us the connection between justice & lament and how God actually feels about injustice.

1. When God Laments

Scholars tell us that verses 1-3 are patterned after a funeral song or lament. God is lamenting where his people are in their present “fallen” state, that they cannot rise up, and where they are headed if they do not radically repent and respond to what God is saying through Amos.

This funeral lament also signified something else: that their relationship with God was not just in need of some adjustment or correction, but that it had actually died! Given the context of the book of Amos, this would have been an absolute shock to the people to whom it was addressed. During the time of King Jeroboam II, Israel was experiencing a time of economic prosperity and success, in which people thought that God was blessing them. However, Amos tells the people, “Prepare to meet your God”. And when He comes, it as a God who is singing a lament.

But why is God singing this song of lament? God’s desire is for us to seek Him! The obvious implication is: “You think you are seeking me, but you are not. If you were really seeking me, you would live; but you are not and that is why I sing a funeral lament.” That the people are not seeking God is a clear sign that their relationship with God is dead.

Verses 10-12 show us how this looked in Amos’ time. We see that the powerful and privileged people (who say they know Him and believe they are blessed by Him) mistreat the poor and weak members of their society by “tramp[ling] on [them].” This was borne out in their judicial system, with oppressive taxes and usury (resulting in induced slavery or the relinquishing of land to wealthy landowners). The Old Testament observation of the year of Jubilee (cancelling debts, returning ancestral land, giving to the poor resources to re-start for free) was also being completely ignored.

When does God lament? God laments when people “who claim to know him” (as v14 says) live in comfort while people are trampled/oppressed/deprived of justice. And when that happens, it is time to sing a funeral song.

2. When We Should Lament

So when should WE lament? We should lament for the same reasons that God laments – when we see justice turned to wormwood [bitterness] and righteousness cast to the ground (5:7). We should especially lament when we have believed that we can seek the Lord and not love good, seek to establish justice or care for the poor in our midst; when we see a “faith without works is dead” kind of faith in us.

Justice is incomplete without the following three things:

• Orthodoxy – a sound theology of justice; not from culture but Scripture

• Orthopraxis – to do good, to perform acts of mercy and justice

• Orthopathos – (which we see in Amos) to experience the right affections and emotions, a broken heart

The experience of lament is something that many modern-day Christians have little to no knowledge of, but about which we must learn! Fully 1/3 of the Psalms are forms of lament, and an entire book of the Bible is called Lamentations. People who are hurting and suffering need other people who can lament with them. One writer reminds us that the Bible calls us to weep with those who weep; it doesn’t tell us to judge whether they should be weeping. (H. B. Charles Jr.)

On a societal level, the first reaction from Christians toward people experiencing pain, poverty, racism has often been a desire to judge whether or not they should be weeping! Rather than this form of evaluation or judgment, lamenting requires listening to those who are bitter or feel they have been cast to the ground. Consider the words Amos used to describe people like this: “trampled, oppressed, deprived, obstructed”. When Christians encounter people who are experiencing these things, we are called to lament.

3. Where Lament Will Lead Us

Lament will lead us to Jesus Christ. This sermon is from Palm Sunday – the start of Holy Week. In Luke 19, we see the palms, the praises, the hosannas! But we often miss the lament of Palm Sunday in vv. 41-42. Why is Jesus weeping? He knew that for most of those gathered on the road, it was not real. They acted like they were seeking God, but they were spiritually dead like the people in Amos’ day. Amos the prophet told the people to prepare to meet their God. But Amos lamented over their rejection of God and the coming judgment. In Luke 19, Jesus (God in the flesh) comes into Jerusalem but laments their rejection of him.

In Jesus, God had come to meet us – not to bring judgment on us for all our injustice but to take the just judgment of God in our place. Jesus lamented and cried over the unwillingness of people to come to him for forgiveness and real spiritual life. If the warnings of Jesus about our own sins of injustice don’t move us to seek Him in repentance, may we let the tears of Jesus move us to run to him in our own tearful repentance.

Having heard the warning of God in Isaiah, the delight of God in Jeremiah, the requirement of God in Micah, the confrontation of God in Malachi to do justice and show mercy to the poor; now let the tears of God in Amos – fulfilled in Jesus Christ – lead us to repentance and change. Though we deserve judgment, death and a funeral, we receive by faith in Jesus forgiveness, a song of resurrection and new life. Jesus can take those who truly repent and lament and turn them into a person whose life flows with the streams of justice.

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What about this sermon most impacted you or left you with questions about the justice of God?

2. What are the signs of a “dead faith” according to this chapter in Amos 5? What is the role of works of justice in a life of genuine faith? How does this challenge/encourage you personally?

3. Look above at the 3 aspects of biblical justice. Why is orthopathos so important? What might it look like for us to lament injustice?

4. H. B. Charles Jr. said, “The Bible calls us to weep with those who weep; it doesn’t tell us to judge whether they should be weeping.” Why do we judge whether others should be weeping instead of weeping with others? Has this been true of you?

5. How can lament people a part of reconciliation – even in our divided and tense time? Consider the quote below.
   As it turns out, our all-wise and all-loving God has given us in the Bible just such a technology, a way of talking with a built-in procedure and potential to help us express our feelings, empathize with others, turn to God in faith, and, by the Father’s grace, inch toward a deeper experience of reconciliation. That way, that technology, that language is lament. Oh, that we would use this universal translator to commune with each other across our ethnic differences! (Thabiti Anyabwile, Weep with Me)

6. How might the lament of Jesus change us if our hearts our indifferent to injustice or we are inactive in doing anything for those affected by injustice?

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Where is the God of Justice? (Mar 14, 2021)

Malachi 2:17-36

Introduction: During this season of Lent we are focusing on this premise: there is no true justice without Jesus, and there is no true Jesus without justice. Justice is a concept that is being actively debated in many of our cultural/political conversations these days. What does the Bible say? The prophet Malachi gives voice to a question that is at the heart of our struggles and experience in a world of injustice - “Where is the God of Justice?” There are three important ways we can understand this question and God’s response to it.

1. A Cry God Hears

Where is the God of Justice?  For a Christian, this is a natural, unavoidable question, particularly when the following two things happen (spoiler alert: they should happen!):

1. When you learn more about the place of justice in the Bible, how it is the foundation of God’s throne, how God loves justice and that God delights in doing justice and righteousness on the earth.

2. The more you learn about and see injustice in our world, and come to know the stories of people who suffer from injustice.

There were many stories like this in Malachi’s day, people who cried out in their souls, “Where is the God of justice?”.  Though they may not have seen deliverance in their day (see 3:5), does this mean that they were not heard?  Certainly not!  God heard their cries, he did not ignore them.  This is an important part of growing in our knowledge of God and in caring about a broken world in which injustice and evil do happen. God tells the prophet Habbakuk: I haven’t forgotten. I hear your cries; to Malachi he says: I will come to set things right.

 When we become aware of terrible, heartbreaking injustice throughout history, in our world, our nation, in the church AND as we become more aware of God’s heart for justice, we should expect deep struggle, doubts and dissonance to happen. But what do we do? We definitely should not hold it in or feel afraid to experience those emotions. It does not distance us from God – rather, it can draw us nearer to God, and in a way that does not question or violate God’s sovereignty in any way.  These cries move God to action (see Ex 22:22, 23), so cry out!

BUT there is also a very different way that this same question can be asked. There is a way to ask this question that does not move us closer to God, but that wearies God and moves us farther away from Him and from justice, when the question is a complaint, rather than a cry – which is what God is confronting through Malachi in our passage.

2. A Complaint God Confronts

Verse 17 says that “You have wearied the Lord with your words”. What does it mean for God to be wearied? This usage carries the sense of being “weary with grief”. God is saddened/grieved by this complaint, and his patience is tested to the utmost.

 This complaint comes from a cynicism directed towards God because of the evil of those who claim to be His people.  In Malachi’s day (which was perhaps not so different to our own) there was good reason to have this attitude – priests were corrupt, sacrifices were halfhearted, injustice was widespread. The complaint can also be understood like this: God how can you let people who say they believe in you do these things? How are you ok with this!?

 God says two things to this in response in 3:1-5: 1) “I am not OK with this – I will come in judgment”; and 2) “I have not changed”. God is letting us know that everyone – especially those who profess to believe in Him – will be held accountable. His standard and requirement for good/justice has not and will never change.

 Sidenote: Struggling to hold on to belief in God because of the existence of injustice is also not a logically justifiable position.  Questioning God about evil and injustice requires there to be an actual God of justice. To protest, to complain about the reality of evil and injustice in the world depends on the existence of a fixed standard of good and evil. To do away with God is to do away with the opportunity for justice.

There is also another more insidious aspect to this complaint. Sometimes it comes from a place of smugness and self-righteousness. An attitude of “What is really wrong with the world is those people/the other side/people who are guilty of such-and-such sin”, and standing over them in judgment. All the while, God states that if his judgment were to come now, we would not be ready and we definitely would not be safe. Perhaps it can also be stated like this:

 It is hard to make sense of the disconnect (compromise) in faith we see in others – but it is even harder to see our own disconnects (compromise). Malachi cautions us about questioning God’s justice while we have done nothing about injustice ourselves.

3. A Question God Answers

Finally, there is a third way that we can understand this question, which is as a question that God does answer. God hears the question, God confronts the question, but our hearts want more: we want an answer to the problem of evil and injustice. Where is the God of Justice?  In Matthew 11, Jesus quotes Malachi and tells us who the messenger is who will clear the way: John the Baptist. Which clearly implies that Jesus is the Lord who comes to his temple/people to refine and cleanse them. God answers the question by saying Behold Me, I am coming.

Christianity says that the only answer that will satisfy the heart and that it is literally historically true is that God did come, and hung from the cross. Christianity does not try to avoid the question of Where is the God of Justice? Rather, it encourages us to ask the question and discover that He hung on the cross for all, bore injustice with the poor and oppressed, and suffered as a victim of injustice, bearing his own judgment for all the unjust who come to him in repentance and faith.

God says in v5, “Because I don’t change you have not been destroyed.” In Jesus Christ alone we see unchanging justice meet unchanging mercy and grace. In what Jesus did, we see that: 1) God’s justice has not changed and 2) His grace/mercy has not changed either. The cross shows us how much God is committed to justice - every act of injustice, and all inaction in the face of injustice, must (and will!) be dealt with – either in the cross or at the final judgment. And – (here is the power for change) The cross shows us how much God is committed to us, every person who admits their sin and need and believes in Jesus is given the unchanging love of God.

This is the unchanging heart of God for the poor, oppressed, needy and helpless. If Jesus Christ does this for me despite how poor, needy, powerless I am – how can I not extend mercy and do justice for the poor, needy and powerless in the world?

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What about this sermon most impacted you or left you with questions about the justice of God?

2. Has this question, “Where is the God of justice?” come up in your own mind/heart? How have you sought to resolve or address it?

3. Why should this question be an expected part of the spiritual journey for those who grow in knowing God and in knowing the stories of injustice in our world? What does this mean for us if this question has never bothered us?  

4. What comfort does it give us that God knows we struggle with this question, that tells us that we can voice and that He shows us how to pray this cry to Him? (See Psalm 10 and/or Habakkuk 1:1-4 for other examples)?

5. What happens to our protest against injustice if we reject God because of injustice? (See sidenote above)

6. How does this passage help you deal with inconsistencies you have seen in people who claim to be Christians? What about the inconsistencies in yourself (especially in areas where you have self-righteously condemned others)?

7. How is Jesus Himself the ultimate answer to this question? How does Jesus’ life, death and resurrection move us to also do what we can to address this question?

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Knowing God = Doing Justice (Mar 7, 2021)

Jer. 9:23-24; 22:1-5, 13-17

Introduction: During this season of Lent we are focusing on this premise: there is no true justice without Jesus, and there is no true Jesus without justice. Justice is a concept that is being actively debated in many of our cultural/political conversations these days. It is entirely possible for us to err in two ways in seeking a biblical application of justice to our present culture. One, we might observe what we see around us and demand for a version of justice without reference to Jesus. Two, we might seek to uphold a version of justice in the name of Jesus that ignores the legitimate plights of others. As we will observe in this series, both of these versions of justice are extra-biblical conceptions that deter us from seeking a comprehensive view of justice as communicated by God in the Old Testament, affirmed by Jesus of Nazareth, and upheld by the early church.

What about Righteousness?
The word justice has become quite a controversial word in our culture for many reasons. The biblical definition is much more comprehensive. Each week we are unpacking the concept of justice from different portions of Scripture - mostly the prophets. This will help us broaden our understanding of justice in a biblical sense. One of the unique ways we see justice used in Jeremiah is in its connection to righteousness. The reason the two terms are mentioned in this way has to do with how well they blend together. Bruce Waltke defines righteousness by distinguishing two kinds of people. “The righteous person is the one who disadvantages themselves for the advantage of the community, and the wicked advantage themselves by disadvantaging others.” The connection to justice is quite interesting: the righteous person is willing to disadvantage themselves for the sake of justice. But just who is the person called to be righteous, and what reason do they have? Jeremiah records God’s directive to his people that is strikingly relevant.

1. The Responsibility of Justice: Who Should do Justice?

On one level, what God says through the prophet Jeremiah about justice is for everyone. Of course, God holds us accountable to do justice and righteousness in whatever setting we find ourselves. Still, the context in Jeremiah can tell us more about the types of people God spoke to through Jeremiah.  

 A) Jer. 9:23 - The wise man, the strong man, and the wealthy man in this passage represent people who are educated, successful, and affluent.

B) Jer. 22:1-2 - The king of Judah, officers, and “people who enter these gates” represent not only leaders, but people with some level of influence, success, or power.

C) Jer. 22:14 - Those who say “I will build myself a massive palace…” represents wealthy people who have adequate resources to adorn themselves.

 One of the most important things we can take from this is that there are people God speaks to directly in by His word that have a special responsibility to do justice. In application, if you are a Christian who has a good education, a measure of success, comfort, the ability to do home improvement projects, and a degree of wealth in savings and investments, then you are one of these people. You and I have a special responsibility to understand and apply biblical justice in our lives because God has blessed us with many things including our ability to help others.

2. The Reason for Doing Justice: A Theological Basis

What is the basis and grounds for justice? The answer is much deeper than because God commands it. Jeremiah 9:24 grounds the reason for justice in knowing God. To know God is to know what He does and what He delights in. He tells us He delights in justice. To say we know God and not care about doing justice is like a situation in which someone claimed to know you intimately, but did not know anything about where you work, what you love, or what makes you happy. If that were true, then you would have every reason to doubt that they knew you, right?

Jeremiah 22:15-16 says it even more starkly and plainly. In speaking of administering justice and righteousness, especially in the case of the poor and needy, God says, “Is this not what it means to know me?” This is one of the most powerful declarations in the Bible. If we drafted an equation it would be Knowing God = Doing justice and righteousness + Taking up the case of the poor and needy. God equates the two, and it is not a matter of propositional knowledge, but intimate, relational knowledge. Two challenges that arise from this equation are equally shocking. One, you cannot know God and not have a concern for justice. In God’s view, there is no possible world in which you can sit comfortably at church without any concern for justice. Two, you cannot have justice without God. Different cultures and times may help us understand different aspects of justice, but it still needs a foundation. It is important to note that people can act justly without belief in God, but that is not the same as having a strong grounds or reason for justice without God.

3. The Motivation for Justice

Even If we claim to be a Christian, we need more than an equation or a logical argument to do justice and righteousness. How does knowing God lead us to doing justice by disadvantaging ourselves for the sake of others? Jeremiah 9:23-24 provides clarity by distinguishing two types of people and their motivations. There are those who boast in their own wisdom, might, and wealth, and those who boast in faithful love, justice, and righteousness because they know God. If you continually boast in the first three, you will never boast in the second three. The former type of boasting will cause you to fault others if they lack the same qualities that you attribute to your own doing. Even if you try to help them, it would be out of superiority/pity rather than love.

To boast in the second three means that you have been broken by divine grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us that we have been saved by grace through Christ that “no one may boast.” Elsewhere, Paul writes, “let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” If we have any reason for boasting, it is not in ourselves but because of God’s grace. This does not mean that wisdom, might, and wealth are bad, just that we remember where these gifts come from. In this way, we agree with the Gospel, and the Gospel motivates us to act in justice and righteousness toward others in humility, as Christ did with us.

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What about this sermon most impacted you or left you with questions about justice and righteousness?

2. Do you agree with the definition given by Bruce Waltke that “the righteous person is the one who disadvantages themselves for the advantage of the community, and the wicked advantage themselves by disadvantaging others?” How does this challenge you or change the way you view what the Bible says about the righteous life?

3. Do you recognize yourself as having a “special responsibility” to do justice? In what ways would you consider yourself blessed? What are the ways you try to avoid or excuse yourself from this special responsibility?

4. Why do you think God speaks so highly of doing justice and righteousness especially in the context of helping the poor and needy? How does this challenge you to consider your relationship with God and with others?

5. Is it possible to have justice without God? What about people who do not believe in God that fight for justice and equality?

6. Read Jeremiah 9:23-24. In what ways are you tempted to boast in these things? How does boasting in these things close our hearts off to the poor and doing justice for the oppressed?

7. How does the gospel of the grace of God brake all our boasting? See Eph 2:1-10 and 1 Cor. 1:26-31.  How has God’s grace done this breaking in your life? In what ways do you sense a need for more breaking (and less boasting)? What does it look like to boast in “knowing” God?

8. Let’s get practical. How do we do justice when we live comfortable lives filled with the pursuit of education, success and wealth for ourselves and our families? Discuss these 3 suggestions:

   1. Availability – A middle class spirit sees its time as its own. How can you surrender your time to God and make yourself available to obedience to his command to do justice?

   2. Proximity - A middle class spirit feels like it has earned a right to be isolated from poverty and need. How can you get closer to actual people who are at the margins/affected by injustice?

   3. Community – A middle class spirit feels like it can do it alone. How can you partner in community to follow God’s call to do justice.

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