I was probably 9 or 10 when the doorbell rang one day, and answering the door, I recognized the man holding a clipboard as a neighbor, father of a friend of mine. He asked if my dad was home, and in a few moments, Dad came to the door. After exchanging pleasantries, the gentleman informed Dad of the reason for his visit. He was circulating a petition, asking neighbors to sign in opposition to apartment buildings scheduled to go up nearby and so, our terminally-Caucasian community would no doubt be integrated, and, well, we just couldn't have that. I will never forget how my Dad—my hero—gently explained that he could not sign the petition, said goodbye, and calmly closed the door. What does it mean to “do justice” when a neighbor rings the doorbell? This is our Scripture today:
Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Last week, we laid the foundation of Micah's words in 6:8; here were a people who had some of the outward trappings of religiosity, but who turned a blind eye to the many injustices taking place all around them. It’s interesting how regularly this very scenario shows up in the prophets. Amos prophesied 100 years earlier than Micah, to the northern kingdom of Israel rather than the southern kingdom of Judah; listen to God's words, as recorded in Amos 5:
“I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
"Let justice roll down" came from the lips of Martin Luther King one warm summer day in 1963, as his plaintive words became the rallying cry for a movement of justice for people of color all across this country, and today, we can both rejoice in the fact that to a significant degree, Dr. King's wonderful dream has come true, on the one hand, and lament, on the other, that there remain parts of that dream that are still only that: a dream. Let justice roll down!
We said last week that the foundations of justice were an understanding of our Creator God’s holy and just nature, His sovereignty over all, His special creation of man as God’s image-bearer, though marred by sin, and finally of the Bible, God’s standard for conduct, for what it looks like to do justice. That’s today’s theme: how do we “do justice”? Do we hop on the “social justice” train and become “SJWs”—social justice warriors? I’m not so sure...Google “social justice” (later, not now!) and some of the organizations that pop up just to the right are ones which many of us would believe represent the opposite of justice. “Social justice”? Maybe not. “Biblical justice”, though, is the call for Christ-followers.
Justice means giving every person what they are due, impartially, fairly, equitably. Often in the Bible, there is a quartet of individuals who are mentioned in connection with doing justice: widows, orphans, immigrants, and the poor. The brunt of injustice was often borne by these four groups of individuals. Often, individuals in these groups were only days from starvation, in the event of some social disruption. In some ways, not much has changed in all these millennia, has it? Prejudice and injustice are still often directed toward those who "don't look like us" or those whose socio-economic condition is lower than that of middle-class America. In other parts of the world, injustice is even worse. Sub-Saharan Africa today has 11 million AIDS orphans, children whose lives are up for grabs. In many parts of Asia, when a woman’s husband dies, it is the widow who carries the blame and shame. In her time of need, she is often declared cursed and is rejected by her neighbors, her community and even her family. Human trafficking is rampant all over the world, including here at home; you are probably sadly aware that Atlanta is a hotbed of it. One indispensable part of seeing that justice is done, then, involves propagating the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ to people the world over. Jesus transforms people such that they want to do what is right, to stop such abuse. The Bible has good news for these marginalized individuals and groups; the gospel promises forgiveness of sin, reconciliation with a holy God, acceptance in the beloved. The gospel is for the oppressed of all types. God is for the forgotten, the beat-down, the shut-out and the left-behind. But the question for today is, in addition to gospel proclamation, what do the people of God do to defend the cause of the oppressed?
I want to introduce you to two Hebrew words today. The first of these is the word “mishpat”. Mishpat is a word that refers to what we might call “rectifying justice”; it refers (in part) to the things that a just government does. God instituted government as a means to a just society, to do justice for everyone created in his image. Things like
• "Equality before the law" – This involves ensuring genuine fairness regardless of status. It means acquitting or punishing every person on the merits of the case, regardless of race. social situation, etc.
• Deterrence – This is the idea of restraining evil, of providing real reasons for evildoers to think twice prior to committing crime in the first place. May I make one brief editorial comment here? Whatever reforms need to be made in order to ensure that our police are doing what should be done—and there likely are some—let us say loud and clear that, with an understanding of the desperately sinful heart of fallen man, there will always be the need for police forces, and this is one big reason: the presence of law enforcement is a deterrent.
• Retributive justice – This involves the punishment of those who break our laws. The crimes of some justify incarceration, for instance.
• Restorative justice – This involves bringing wholeness to those who are victims of crimes. Prison Fellowship, a wonderful Christian ministry, has accomplished a lot of good by partnering with law enforcement and prison officials to do restorative justice.
In our polarized society, wherein the temptation to view everything through a partisan political lens is strong, we can so easily silo ourselves into seeing part of the real story and missing other parts. One side may focus on the whole "punish evildoers" side of the equation, while the other might focus more on lifting up those who suffer injustice. There is a place for both, and we see this clearly in Psalm 72:2,4: “May [the king] judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice…May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!” As a follower of Jesus, I want just judgment to be handed down, and oppressors punished, and I also want the cause of the needy and poor to be defended, and I want them delivered from oppression.
And so mishpat has to do with things that a just government might do, but does this mean that we as individuals have no role to play in this rectifying justice, this mishpat? Not at all! I have an incredible privilege as an American, a privilege that we often take for granted, but that many in this world lack: I can vote. Do you take the time to do that very simple, yet essential, task? Do you make your voice for justice heard in the voting booth? Please take that responsibility seriously.
I can be involved in mishpat in other ways as well. Now I get that “social media” can be a morass, a sounding board for people sharing ugliness and ignorance. I have Facebook friends of just about every stripe imaginable religiously, ethnically, politically…you name it. And it can be ugly…but social media can also be a means whereby we as believers speak the truth in love, and sometimes, that involves making injustice known. Sometimes it means speaking truth to power. For all its warts, social media enables us to be influencers on a personal level, often toward those with whom regular personal contact is limited. If you use social media, use it to promote mishpat. Use your voice to promote justice.
Sometimes injustice can become imbedded in our societal systems. Since humans are involved in developing systems--and since humans are sinful-- human beings develop systems of behavior that are unjust, that harm individuals, and that may even operate in ways and produce results that aren't readily seen to the naked eye. As such, it's possible for us to simply overlook the existence of these systems. We see this in Scripture, in Acts 6; Greek-speaking Jewish widows weren't being treated justly, and the apostles, busy as they were with studying the Scriptures and shepherding the burgeoning church in Jerusalem, were unaware of this injustice, just as we may, in the busyness of our lives, also be unaware of systemic injustices today. We know that it was a complaint by these widows that caused the apostles to appoint 7 men (whom we might refer to as "deacons") to attend to this matter and ensure equity. Without wading into controversies of where and to what degree these systems may operate today, we should all agree that as believers who care about justice, we should want to listen and learn from those who believe themselves to be on the short end of the stick, much as the leaders in the early church listened to--and then acted upon--the concerns brought to light by the Hellenists regarding their widows. The Jerusalem elders were engaging in mishpat, rectifying justice!
There is a second Hebrew word that relates closely to this biblical idea of justice, and it is the second word you see on your notes (pronounce it with me!): “tzadeqah”. We aren’t used to words that begin with “tz”, nor words that have a “q” without a “u” following, so let me help you: anyone remember Neil Sedaka, the singer? “Laughter in the Rain”? That reference is lost on people under 45, I bet…“Sedaka”: that’s pretty much it. More important than the correct pronunciation, though, is the definition. Tzadeqah refers to living in right relationships, both with God and with each other. Jesus’ Great Commandment comes to mind: “love God with all you’ve got, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Tzadeqah is what might be termed “primary justice”, because it is the kind of living that, if prevalent in this world, would render mishpat unnecessary. It’s daily living and acting justly toward other people; it’s what Dad—a new Christian—was doing when he refused to sign that racist petition. Tzadeqah.
Listen to what Scripture says of Abraham in Genesis 18; the Lord says, “I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” Did you hear the wording? "That he may command his children and his household to (do) righteousness and justice." The Christian home should be a microcosm of tzadeqah. Parents, do we model that just, right living daily before our kids? Dads, don’t provoke the kids to wrath, Scripture urges. Daily tzadeqah.
The prophet Isaiah addressed almost the identical issues as Micah and Amos: a people who look religious on the outside, but who are content to propagate, defend, and benefit from injustice. In the first verses of Isaiah 1—I’d encourage you to turn there and take a look at it with me—the prophet rehearses the current condition of the situation on the ground and then, in language almost identical to what we read earlier in Amos, Isaiah voices God’s attitude toward their “worship”; He’s utterly sick and tired of it. Then we come to the solution in verses 16-17; we’ll use :17 as an outline of how we might “do justice”:
16 Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
17 Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.
I want to use some key words from this passage to challenge us today; first,
1. My posture toward my ignorance of justice: Learn
We said last week we should "calibrate our consciences" to the Word of God: what does the Bible say with regard to the importance of justice, the definition of justice, the pursuit of justice? Paul spoke of being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12). But this isn't all the learning that we need to do. The Bible teaches me to love my wife; to do so, I need to know what loving her means as she wants to be loved. Her “love language” may differ from others. Similarly, to do justice, we need to know the Word and the facts on the ground.
James Blake was just doing his job one day. Said Blake, "I wasn't trying to do anything to that...woman, except do my job. She was in violation of the city codes, so what was I supposed to do? I had my orders...So the bus filled up and a white man got on, and she had his seat and I told her to move back, and she wouldn't do it." By now, you know I am speaking of Rosa Parks, who one Birmingham morning decided that she had had enough. Of what? Of a racist system that was in place. The bus driver's defense was, "look, lady, I'm just doing my job"--but his job, as dictated by the law--involved systemic discrimination. Maybe you've heard of "black codes" or "redlining", two other forms of systemic racism that were in widespread use in this country in the past. Thankfully, all of these are outlawed; does this mean that American society is free from any and all systems of ongoing discrimination, even if our laws have been scrubbed of such? That's a good question to get answers to! And if we are the people of God. charged to "let justice roll down like waters", should we not want to learn rather than assume? And if I learn about injustice, I have the opportunity to play my part in correcting it, so that people made in the image of God are treated with the respect, dignity, and fairness they deserve.
I'd like to learn how my perceptions and experience differ from people who immigrate to this country. Maybe it'd be a good thing to try to understand what poverty is like, if I don’t know. Empathy is a Christlike behavior, and surely we must learn something of the injustices people experience, if we would put ourselves in their shoes and do justice. At the intersection of Scriptural truth and the realities of human existence, we have the opportunity to do justice. Consciences calibrated to the Bible, let us learn to do right. Next,
2. My attitude toward the goal of justice: Seek
Alec Motyer suggests that this word "seek" involves "setting new objectives and priorities". Philippians 2:4 tells us that we should not look only to our own interests, but to the interests of others. Again, this is more than a passive nodding of the head; it is a determination to be part of the solution, to do what is within my power to see that justice rolls down like water. The word "seek" is not passive; no bystanders allowed; no indifference tolerated. As justice-loving followers of Jesus, we are bound to pursue the just treatment of others. My aim, my goal, my prayer, is that God's will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven. That is what it means to seek justice.
3. My position toward the victims of injustice: Defend
If my attitude is truly one of seeking justice, then this follows next in line: when I learn of those who are experiencing oppression, I will come to their defense. I will use my mouth and my written words and my time and maybe my physical body; I will take the resources God has given me and, when I see people being treated unjustly, I will defend them. My common humanity and my commitment to Christ lead me to this.
4. My action toward injustice: Take up/Plead
The old sports saying is, "sometimes the best offense is a good defense"; the opposite may well be true: "the best defense is a good offense". To plead for the widow, to take up the cause of the fatherless, is to go beyond playing defense; it is to work to stop injustice in its tracks. This moves me to action. It’s taking up the cause of those who are oppressed, because Jesus took up my cause, oppressed by sin and Satan as I was.
It’s speaking up when I see or hear someone mistreated, as Jesus spoke up for sin-oppressed me, when He said, “come unto me, you weak and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest”. Proverbs 31:8 says, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.” We think rightly of those who are slaughtered every day through the moral crime of abortion, and faithful followers of Jesus give voice to these voiceless as we call out in their defense. But let us not stop there; remember that “quartet of the oppressed” of which we spoke earlier, those Biblically oft-mentioned groups? Widows… orphans…foreigners…the poor. Do we know—or will we learn—where these groups of people, or others, may yet be experiencing injustice? And will we be part of the solution, defending and speaking up for them, demanding justice and doing what is in our power to see it done? We can be personally involved.
There is one final word today before we close the books on “justice”, and it begins with Proverbs 17:15: "He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord." Focus on that first part: “the one who justifies the wicked…is an abomination to the Lord.” That sounds like a perversion of justice, doesn’t it, to declare a wicked person innocent? A judge in a court of law who looks at a criminal who has been proven guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt, and says to that lawbreaker, “you are innocent”. Is that justice? How can it possibly be? What kind of judge does that?
God. Romans 4:5 says God “justifies the ungodly”. He stands in the courtroom of His perfect justice, looks at guilty people, and declares, “I find you not guilty”. Is God cooking the books? How can God not be guilty of a grand miscarriage of justice, of violating His own character, of being ungodly Himself? We have to look at this in Romans 3:21-26:
"…the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."
Here is our answer: God is just and the justifier of sinners who place faith in Christ, because of “the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Christ is our Mediator, our Go-Between. Ever hear someone say, “I just want God to be fair with me”? That’s the definition of a “fool”. The last thing I want is for God to be “fair” with a sinner like me. I do not want God's unmediated justice, because that would punish me for my own sins. I want the justice of God mediated through the sacrificial death of His only Son, Jesus, on my behalf and to pay the atonement for my sins. Which is exactly what He offers us.
God showed His love for me in that, despite my sin, He sent His own Son to die in my place, absorbing the totality of the wrath of a holy God on sin. Jesus’ death as my substitute satisfied God’s justice, and on that basis, He extends to me mercy…pardon…forgiveness, if I will only place my faith fully, firmly, and finally in Jesus Christ. If you have never done that, you can do that today, by asking Jesus to forgive you of your sin on the basis that He paid the price for your sin. Praise God for His mercy, for His salvation, for the opportunity that anyone listening to my voice today has, to be completely forgiven and redeemed.
And to join in the daily exercise of living in tzadeqah, engaging in mishpat. Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
