When we get there, what? #4: Making Justice June 14, 2020 Introduction: We are learning that the right question is not, “When will we get back?”, but “When we get there, what will we be?” Sincerely asking this question requires us to embrace the pain of this moment, lament, and realign our lives with God’s will. 8He 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. Micah 6:8 NIV 9Hear this, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right; 10who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness. 11Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the LORD’s support and say, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us.” Micah 3:9-11 NIV 1:22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says... 27Religion 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. 2:1My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism... 5Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6aBut you have dishonored the poor... 8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. 12Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. 14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 1:22, 27-2:1, 2:5-6a, 8-17 NIV I. Times Between Times, Biblical and Otherwise A. Acknowledging the moment by changing the question. B. Using the moment by seeking new answers. II. Making Justice A. The literal translation of Micah 6:8–Hebrew asowt mispat–is “making justice.” (See Gen. 2:4) B. Mispat occurs 421 times in the Old Testament, nearly always in tandem with the Hebrew tsedakah, which means “righteousness.” C. This is the character of God, which is embodied in the person of Jesus (Matt. 11:1-6, 22:34-40; Lk. 4:16-21) and the church. D. Making justice produces peace and joy (Jas. 1:22-2:7, Pr. 21:15) Conclusion: God’s justice is greater than any human politic. (Pr. 29:26)