The Social Justice Movement And The Bible

Social Justice Warriors and The Bible

Please stand with me as we go over our current memory Scripture:

Matthew 5:9-12

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

“Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets who were before you in the same way.”

And our memory Scripture “refresher” verse(s) is(are):

Galatians 2:20

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Today we will be reading from Micah 6:1-8 (NLT)

Are you a racist?

Are you worried about social justice?

Two of the most prominent anti-racist authors are Robin DiAngelo, author of “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism,” and Ibram X. Kendi, author of “How to Be an Antiracist.”

According to these authors:

- A denial of racism can be construed as evidence of racism

- Martin Luther King Jr. looked forward to the day when all Americans would, “… benefit from a color-blind land of plenty that provides for the nourishment of each man’s body, soul and spirit. Yet, these authors say that, “… colorblindness is essentially a sign of white privilege.”

- “The only remedy to racist discrimination is anti-racist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination.”

- Discrimination heals discrimination???

So, why are we talking about racism and discrimination today?

This past week our DS was at a Church of The Nazarene District Superintendent training conference where she served on a discussion panel about, “The District Superintendent, Racial Reconciliation, and Biblical Justice.”

What did they talk about? I don’t know. But I do know that the Bible has a lot to say about reconciliation and justice.

Please join me in your Bibles as we read: Micah 6:1-8 (NLT)

(Prayer for help)

The title given to this section of Scripture is called in the NIV

“Yahweh’s Case Against Israel”

1

Listen to what the Lord says:

(Yahweh is about to give Micah the complaint to be made against the people of Judah and Samaria. The people who remain in the land have been living lives of cruelty and injustice. They have been oppressing their own people. In this case it was actually true that the rich were getting richer and the poor were becoming poorer. It was basically as if the elite had their foot on the back of the necks of the poor and were grinding their faces into the ground. And, so Yahweh begins to present His case through Micah.)

“Stand up, plead My case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say.

(Yahweh is calling the mountains and the hills to be His witnesses of what is about to be said.)

2

“Hear, you mountains, (Yahweh) the LORD’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people; He is lodging a charge against Israel.

(So, what is Yahweh’s case against His people?)

3 - 5

“My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer Me. I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam.

“My people, remember what Balak king of Moab plotted and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from the Acacia Grove to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD.”

(In verses 6-7 Yahweh speaks almost with sarcasm of what the response will be from the people of Judah and Samaria and He goes on to great exaggeration with rhetorical questions when He says …)

6 - 7

“With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

“Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

(And the response from Yahweh is this in verse 8 …)

“He (Yahweh) has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does (Yahweh) the LORD require of you? To ACT JUSTLY and to LOVE MERCY and to WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD.”

So, you might ask, what does that have to do with “racial reconciliation” and “social justice?”

Did you know that the word justice appears 130 times in the Bible?