January 23, 2022

True Justice

Anthony Gammage

Sermon Quotes

Jeremiah 7:5–7
[5] “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, [6] if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, [7] then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.

Deuteronomy 10:16
[16] Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.

Luke 6:45
[45] The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

“[There are] ways of trying to make the world a better place that aren’t in sync with reality and end up unleashing more havoc in the universe.”
-Thaddeus Williams, Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth

1 Thessalonians 5:21–22 
[21] but test everything; hold fast what is good. [22] Abstain from every form of evil.

Romans 12:9
[9] Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

Isaiah 11:3–4
[3] And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
[4] but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth…

John 7:24
[24] Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Romans 12:2
[2] Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Exodus 20:3
[3] You shall have no other gods before me.

Worship Questions:

  1. God question: Does our form of social Justice take the godhood of God seriously?
  2. Imago question: Does it acknowledge the image of God in everyone, regardless of size, shade, sex or status?
  3. Idol question: Does it make a false god out of the self, the state, or social acceptance?

Ephesians 2:13–14
[13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. [14] For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

Community Questions:

  1. Collective Question: Does our vision of social justice take any group-identity more seriously than our identities ‘in Adam” and “in Christ:”
  2. Splintering Question: Does it buy into divisive propaganda? Fruit Question: Does it replace love, peace, and patience with suspicion, division, and rage?

1 Corinthians 15:3–4
[3] For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, [4] that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Salvation Question – Does our vision for social justice distort the best news in history?