A few years ago, 6-year-old Robbie Richardson saw his dad drive through a red light on their way home in Quincy, Massachusetts. The boy warned his dad that he was going to report what he did to police.
The dad, Michael Richardson, tried to explain to Robbie that the turn he made was a legal right on red, but Robbie kept his word and dialed 9-1-1 as soon as they got home.
The officer on the line responded, “9-1-1, this line's recorded. What's your emergency?”
To which Robbie replied, “Daddy went past a red light. He has a black truck, but it was in the brand-new car, my mommy’s car.”
Later, Robbie told a Boston Herald reporter, “My dad went past the red light, and I told him that I was going to call the police. Red means stop, green means go, yellow means slow.”
Robbie — who wants to be a police officer when he grows up — said he learned the important traffic light rules in kindergarten and knew to call 9-1-1 because it’s written on the side of his toy police car.
Mike Richardson had just fired up the grill when his son came out of the house and handed him the phone. A voice on the line announced that he was speaking with the Quincy Police Department. The officer let Michael know his son had called to report his recent right on red — and he apologized.
“Oh no,” Michael said. “I apologize … we’re good, thank you.”
After that, Robbie said, “If my dad runs another light, I'll call the eye doctor so he can fix his eyes” (Chris Vallini, "A boy who dreams of being a cop calls 911 on his dad," Boston Herald, 6-1-16; www.PreachingToday.com).
That boy went a little overboard, but you have to appreciate his passion for justice and doing the right thing. The fact is we live in an unjust world, where some people get away with much more than a traffic violation, while others are unjustly accused of crimes they did not commit.
For example, Antifa and BLM rioters burned and vandalized buildings in the summer of 2020 with little or no consequences. In fact, a reporter with burning buildings behind him, tried to gaslight his viewers by describing the scene as “a mostly peaceful protest.” But in 2021, hundreds of people were arrested for simply walking through the capital on January 6 under police escort. Most of them still languish in prison two years later awaiting their day in court.
Though their plight has improved in recent years, our African American brothers and sisters have experienced this kind of injustice for a long time. Now, freedom loving, American patriots are experiencing injustice just for their political views. Our black brothers would say, “Welcome to the club.”
So, how do you find justice in an unjust world? How do you get those in authority to treat you fairly? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Ecclesiastes 3, Ecclesiastes 3, where Solomon addresses the issue of injustice.
Ecclesiastes 3:16-17 Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work (ESV).
Even though Solomon cannot find justice in any earthly legal system, he notes that God will someday justly judge both the righteous and the wicked. The wicked will no longer get away with their wickedness and God will justly reward the righteous. So, if you want to find true justice…
LOOK TO GOD BEYOND OUR LEGAL SYSTEM
If you have been unfairly treated, leave it in God’s hands to make everything right in His time. Expect God to treat you fairly, even when a human judge mistreats you.
TRUST GOD MORE THAN THE UNJUST JUDGES OF THIS WORLD if you want to find true justice.
President Mobutu reigned as the dictator and President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1997. But after global political changes, Mobutu was forced out of power and the country collapsed and descended into conflict and chaos. British pastor Mark Meynell tells the story of his good friend Emma, who witnessed many atrocities committed against his friends and family members. He and his wife and three daughters fled east on foot. Weeks later they arrived in Uganda as refugees, with nothing. After a few months of a miserable existence, he walked past a local seminary and sensed that the Lord was calling him to ministry. The family had been living in one room, without water or electricity, and enough to pay for one meal every two days.
Pastor Meynell said that one evening they met in the seminary's tiny library and started talking. As Emma opened his heart and shared the story of the violence and injustice he had witnessed, he started to openly weep, even though African men never cry in public. Then Emma said these sobering words, “You know Mark, I could never believe the gospel if it were not for the judgment of God. Because I will never get justice in this world. But I couldn't cope if I was NEVER going to see justice done.”
Meynell commented, “We in the West often recoil from God's justice for a very simple reason: We've hardly had to suffer injustice. But most people around the globe recognize that God's justice is praiseworthy and great (Mark Meynell, www.Preaching Today.com).
And perhaps, we’ll come to appreciate God’s justice more and more as our western culture grows increasingly hostile to our Judeo-Christian values.
So why does God allow injustice to prevail for a time? Why does He not bring justice into the world right away? Why does He allow people to be treated unfairly, even if only temporarily?
Ecclesiastes 3:18 I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts (ESV).
God allows injustice for a time to reveal the true nature of people. He wants people to know that without Him they are animals!
Ecclesiastes 3:19-21 For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? (ESV)
Without God, you have no assurance of life after death. Without God, you have only the grim prospect of returning to the dust from where you came just like the animals. Without God, the only thing you can do is grin and bear your meaningless existence.
Ecclesiastes 3:22 So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him? (ESV)
When you have no assurance of eternal life, you might as well enjoy this life as much as you can, as unjust and unfair as it is. The injustice in this world paints a bleak picture, but that’s why God allows it. God allows injustice for a time to show people their desperate need of Him.
Way back in 1978, the band Kansas produced the pop song, “Dust In The Wind.” It peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of April 22 that year and has remained popular ever since. The official YouTube video today has over 226 million views. Solomon himself could have written the lyrics, part of which say:
Now don't hang on
Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away
And all your money won't another minute buy
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
The group’s guitarist Kerry Livgren wrote the lyrics while they were achieving phenomenal success. The band was doing well and making money, but Kerry realized that in the end, he would eventually die just like everyone else. It’s unfair! He said, “No matter our possessions or accomplishments, we all end up back in the ground.”
A couple of years later (in 1980), Kerry trusted Christ with his life in a hotel room after a time of wrestling with the emptiness and unfairness of his own life (“Dust in the Wind,” SongFacts; www.PreachingToday.com).
But that’s exactly why God allowed him to feel the injustice of death. God wanted Kerry Livgren to see his desperate need for something beyond this world, for God Himself. And God wants you to see your desperate need for Him, as well. He allows you to be treated unfairly for a time, because He wants you to come to faith in His Son.
The Bible says that when Jesus “suffered unjustly” on the cross, “He did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls (1 Peter 2:23-25).
Are you suffering unjustly these days? Then don’t retaliate. Rather, like Jesus just entrust yourself to God who judges justly, and experience freedom from your own sin and healing for your own soul. If you want to find true justice, trust God more than the unjust judges of this world.
More than that, TRUST GOD MORE THAN THE OPPRESSIVE RULERS OF THIS WORLD, as well.
Ecclesiastes 4:1-3 Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun (ESV).
Solomon says it’s better to be dead than to experience oppression without any comfort. In fact, Solomon says it’s better to have never been born than to experience comfortless oppression.
At 3:30 p.m. on June 6, 2007, Ben Carpenter, a 21-year-old man with muscular dystrophy, drove his electric-powered wheelchair down the sidewalk in Paw Paw, Michigan. As he approached the intersection at the corner of Red Arrow Highway at Hazen Street, a semi-truck came to a halt at the stoplight. Ben began to cross the street in his wheelchair just a few feet in front of the towering truck.
When the light turned green, the 52-year-old truck driver did not see Ben in his wheelchair. So, with Ben still in front of the truck, the truck driver pressed the accelerator, the engine roared to life, and the massive vehicle pulled forward. When the truck struck Ben's wheelchair, the wheelchair turned, facing forward, with the handles in the back of the wheelchair wedged in the truck's grille. The wheelchair kept rolling, though, and Ben, wearing a seatbelt, was held in his chair. The truck driver was still oblivious to the fact that he had hit the wheelchair. The truck picked up speed, soon reaching 50 mph. Still the wheelchair and Ben were pinned dangerously on the front.
While the driver continued along in his own little world of the truck cab, people along the road saw what was happening. Everyone seemed to see the drama unfolding but the driver. Frantic observers called 911. People waved their arms and tried to get the driver's attention. Two off-duty policemen saw what was happening and began to pursue the truck. On drove the trucker. On the road behind the truck were two new parallel lines that marked where the wheelchairs' rubber wheels were being worn off.
Finally, after two terrifying miles, the driver pulled into a trucking company parking lot, still clueless to the presence of Ben Carpenter pinned to the front of his truck. Thankfully, Ben was unharmed (James Prichard, “Michigan man in wheelchair takes wild ride after getting lodged to truck's front grille, Associated Press, 6-8-07; www.PreachingToday.com).
That’s the horrifying picture of oppression in this world. People with power push vulnerable people around, sometimes oblivious to what they’re doing. Now, power is not wrong. In fact, God gives people power and authority to use for the good of others. But all too often, people with power abuse their power. It’s like a 19th Century British Politician, Lord Acton, once said: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
So, if you want to find true justice, trust God more than the unjust judges and oppressive rulers of this world. Look to God beyond our legal system. And…
LOOK TO GOD BEYOND YOUR OWN LABOR, as well.
Find true justice in the Lord, not in the toil of your own efforts.
Somebody says, “I’m not going to depend on anybody else for justice; I’ll make my own justice. I’ll just work hard enough to lift myself out of my unfair circumstances.” To which Solomon says, “this also is vanity and a striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 4:4, 16). Take a look.
Ecclesiastes 4:4-6 Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh. Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind (ESV).
Some people fill both hands with toil, because they’re jealous of their neighbor who has more than they do. On the other hand, some people empty both hands of any work to their own destruction. It’s like they’re eating themselves. Better is the person who only fills one hand with work and the other hand with rest.
So, if you want to find true justice in this world, LOOK TO REGULAR TIMES OF REST beyond your jealous toil. Stop the vain pursuit of trying to get more than your neighbor, and take a break every once in a while.
In May, 1853, Phoebe and her husband Holden Judson joined a covered wagon train near Kansas City hoping to reach Washington Territory by mid-October. It was a distance of more than 2,000 miles over the rough Oregon Trail. Like all wagon trains, they elected a captain, whose word was law. He was Rev. Gustavus Hines, who surprised them one Saturday night when he announced the train would never travel on Sundays.
Phoebe was shocked. They had half a continent to cross, at oxen pace (15-20 miles per day on a good trail), with mountain passes and innumerable river crossings ahead of them. She sat in her wagon and just fumed. One family deserted the train and joined another.
On their first Sunday, while they stood still, one train after another passed them by. They started out again on Monday, only to reach their first river cross on Tuesday evening. A long line of wagons stretched out ahead of them, waiting for the single ferry to carry them across. They waited three days. On Saturday they resumed the journey, only to have Rev. Gustavus Hines tell them they would still rest the whole next day. Phoebe was livid. This made absolutely no sense to her.
Then, a few weeks later she began to see scores of dead oxen, mules, and horses along the trail. Their owners had driven them so relentlessly, the animals had collapsed and died. Phoebe grudgingly admitted that perhaps the animals needed a day of rest.
A few weeks later, she ruefully admitted that maybe the men needed it too, since they walked most of the time. Then she slowly began to notice that as they worshipped, ate, rested, and even played together on Sundays, it had a remarkably beneficial effect upon people’s spirits. There was less grumbling, more cooperation. She even noticed that they seemed to make better time the other six days.
Then, one Sunday evening, the family that had deserted them came limping into their campsite, humbly asking to rejoin them. Phoebe had assumed they were at least a week ahead, when in fact they had fallen behind. Their own wagon train had broken down! Of course, Phoebe’s wagon train welcomed the family back, and they reached their destination in plenty of time. They arrived as friends, having lost only two of the 50 head of cattle with which they began (Ken Koeman, “What a cross-continent trek taught one pioneer about Sunday rest,” Reformed Perspective, 6-10-22; www.PreachingToday.com).
It's like Solomon said: “Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 4:6).
Please, give up the mad pursuit of trying to get ahead of everybody else with two hands full of toil. Instead, take a break every once in a while, and enjoy the trip. If you want to find true justice in this world, look to regular times of rest beyond your jealous toil.
2nd, LOOK TO OTHERS beyond your greedy, selfish toil, as well. Stop the vain pursuit of trying to accumulate as much as you can just for yourself, and include others in your life.
Ecclesiastes 4:7-8 Again, I saw vanity under the sun: one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business (ESV).
You waste your life toiling incessantly to gather wealth which you neither share nor enjoy yourself.
Ecclesiastes 4:9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil (ESV).
When you share the work, you can share the reward, or more literally, the wage. There is better profit (i.e., a good wage) when you share, and there are other benefits, as well!
Ecclesiastes 4:10-12 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken (ESV).
Not only is there better profit (vs.9) when you share life with someone, there is help in times of difficulty (vs.10), comfort (or warmth) in times of need (vs.11), and protection in times of danger (vs.12) (Glenn, Bible Knowledge Commentary). So quit your lonely, tiresome pursuit of wealth and share your life with someone: Make some friends; Get married; Join a service club; Get involved in the church; because life is so much better when you share it with someone.
Aaron Avner tells the story of a farmer who grew excellent quality corn. Every year he won the award for the best grown corn. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.
“How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked.
“Why sir,” said the farmer, “Didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.”
So is with your life... If you want to live meaningfully and well, help enrich the lives of others, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches (Aaron Avner, www.face.edu/cms/lib/CA01000848/Centricity/Domain/2925/Farmer_Story.pdf).
If you want to find true justice in this world, look to regular times of rest beyond your jealous toil; look to others beyond your selfish toil.
And finally, LOOK BEYOND YOUR TOIL FOR PRESTIGE AND FAME. Stop the vain pursuit of power and influence.
Ecclesiastes 4:13-16 Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice. For he went from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor. I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that youth who was to stand in the king’s place. There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind (ESV).
The poor and wise youth became the old and foolish king, because he stopped taking advice, or he ignored his advisors’ warnings. He rejected any criticism. At first, he had many followers; but after a while, no one appreciated him anymore. The next generation groaned under his rule. So the man’s pursuit of power, influence, and prestige was a wasted effort, because it all came and went in one generation.
Pastor Mike Fleischmann, in one of his blogs, wrote about Colman Mockler, the former CEO of Gillette who was celebrated in the business world as one of the most effective CEO’s of all time. When he graduated from Harvard Business School with an MBA, he went to work for the Gillette Corporation and steadily worked his way up the ladder to CEO.
Although Gillette was a 75-year-old company, Colman took it to new heights of success. Under his management they came to dominate the market. After 16 years as CEO, Colman was at the top of the world. Forbes magazine had just put him on the cover of their next issue celebrating his leadership and success. The magazine wouldn't hit the newsstands for another week, but on the morning of January 25th, 1991, they had sent him an advance copy to review. The rest of the executives literally applauded him as he carried the magazine back to his office. In so many ways it was a fantastically good day for Colman.
Decades of hard work had brought him to this point. He had beaten back three hostile takeover bids and revolutionized the company. He had increased the value of the stock 50-fold. He was, literally, celebrated on the cover of the business world. And with millions in the bank, he had just announced that he would be retiring within a few months.
But there was one thing that made it an unexpectedly tragic day. With the staff applauding, Colman walked down the hall, stepped into his office, shut the door, and crumpled to the floor. Within moments he was dead of a massive heart attack, still clutching the Forbes magazine that featured him on the cover. (Mike Fleischmann, “Your Most Precious Resource,” Mike Fleischmann blog, 10-3-16; www.mikefleischmann.net/?p=2594; www.PreachingToday.com).
It hardly seems fair, does it? Yet that’s the nature of life under the sun. Life is unfair, because any achievement in life is transitory.
So, if you want to find true justice in this world, look to God beyond our legal system and beyond your own labor, as well. Look to God, look to regular times of rest, and look to others to be truly satisfied with life in an unjust and unfair world.
