SOCIAL JUSTICE

Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand.

2 Timothy 1:6-8 6For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.

GOD CARES ABOUT JUSTICE:

Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

Jeremiah 22:3 This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not she innocent blood in this place.

Amos 5:24 Let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness a never-failing stream!

Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Luke 4:18-19, 21 18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. . . . today this scripture is being fulfilled in your hearing.

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this; to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

1 John 3:17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

DON’T LET JUSTICE BE REDEFINED!

Mishpat: judgment, justice, ordinance

•  Acquitting or punishing on the merits of the case—giving people what is rightly theirs whether punishment, or protection, or care.

Tzedakah: being just, being righteous

•  A life of right relationships—the day to day living in which a person conducts all relationships in family and society with fairness, generosity and equity.

JUST do it!

• J __________ first!

Matthew 28:19-20 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

“GRACE AND GRATITUDE BELONG TOGETHER LIKE HEAVEN AND EARTH. GRACE EVOKES GRATITUDE LIKE A VOICE AN ECHO. GRATITUDE FOLLOWS GRACE AS THUNDER [FOLLOWS] LIGHTNING.”

                                                                                                               – Karl Barth1

• U ___________ our own family comes next.

1 Timothy 5:7-8 7 Give the people these instructions, so that no one may be open to blame. 8 Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

• S ___________ demands that we take care of the family of God next.

Malachi 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

Galatians 6:9-10 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

• T ___________ outside the family of faith come next.

2 Corinthians 9:11 …enriched in every way, so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Mark 9:41 Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION/DISCUSSION AT HOME AND/OR IN YOUR LIFE GROUP

1. What have you come to learn about the importance of fighting the right fight and fighting in the right way?

2. Why is it so important to have accurate definition of words, especially when it comes to justice and grace?

3. How are you doing as it relates to living out the priority of being JUST?(Review and discuss each of the priorities listed above.) Are you actively looking for ways to serve and care for those around you—in the family of faith and those outside the family? What injustice in our world speaks to your heart, and why?

4. What was for you in this message? What, from this message, is God pressing upon you to share with someone else?