(Outline/manuscript of my message at church on 11/12/16)

Intro: If you’ve been watching the news or checking your social media feed, or just generally alive, you’ve probably noticed that this week has been a time of great unrest and uncertainty. Every four years, about half the nation is upset about the results of the election. But I’ve never seen this kind of fear and division before. This is especially upsetting as Americans because, at least at the surface we have perceived this country as a place of relative safety. The reality of discrimination and oppression that have been going on since Europeans first arrived in this country is another story. Racism, at least, has been a part of our story since day one. Still, many of us are not accustomed to the kind of division and fear that most of the rest of the world knows, and, for that matter, that most of the rest of people in history have lived with all their lives.

I’m not interested in blaming any political party. But I think it is clear that, as a country, we have a problem, from the common man on the street all the way up to the top of our government.

This puts us in an interesting position as both Americans and Christians. When it comes to our response, it is helpful to take a step back and look at the whole of human history. It is helpful to realize that the people of God have almost always lived under the rule of corrupt men.

Jesus himself was born under the rule of Herod the Great, who slaughtered innocent children in Bethlehem. And Jesus was crucified under the rule of Herod Antipas, who stole another man’s wife and later had John the Baptist executed because of the request of a woman who danced impressively for his friends.

The early Church grew and expanded under the rule of terrible men like Nero (who blamed Christians for the Great Fire of Rome, which, supposedly, he himself ordered), and others like Domitian and Trajan who brutally persecuted the church.

And looking further back in the Old Testament, God’s people lived under the rule of countless corrupt men. From the wicked kings of Israel to enslavement under Egypt to exile in Babylon, the rule of thumb is that God’s people have lived under the rule of corruption and oppression. And yet even under the kingdoms of corrupt men, the kingdom of God continues on. There is a certain comfort in knowing that our mission as a church has not changed in the last two-thousand years, or the last two hundred, or since last week. So today I want to take a brief look at the question of “How then do we live?” How do we continue to live as children of the kingdom of heaven while living in a kingdom of earth? How do we live as children of God under the rule of men?

1. Grieve

It is okay to be angry, to be sorrowful. Injustice breaks God’s heart too. Emotion is a natural response to brokenness in the world. What matters is how we respond to that emotion. But feeling it is good; if you saw or experienced injustice and felt nothing, it’s probably a sign you’re growing desensitized to suffering, which can feel safer but is actually more concerning. If injustice or tragedy occurs, as Christians it is natural to feel and express the weight of that brokenness.

So I want to take a look first at God’s view of injustice, about those he repeatedly says to take care of in society, and why.

Jeremiah 22:3

Deuteronomy 10:17-19

Zechariah 7:8-12

Ezekiel 22:6-7

Malachi 3:5

Jeremiah 7:5-8

Psalm 146

Again and again, this is God’s stance: protect the foreigners, the fatherless, and the widows. Stand up for those who are in need. These are the people who were vulnerable in society. Especially in the agricultural, patriarchal society of the Old Testament, the fatherless and widows had no way to take care of themselves without a family or property; foreigners, too, often were without land of their own and were often treated unfairly and with disdain. (Think of the story of Ruth and how rare it was that Boaz treated her, a foreigner, with such generosity).

The parallels to our current society are obvious, and it is interesting to note that, unfortunately, what we’re experiencing is nothing new. It is also interesting to note what the beginning of Psalm 146 says: “Do not put your trust in nobles, in man, who cannot save.” If the current government wants to work in cooperation to help the poor and marginalized in society, then great, but if not, that doesn’t change our mission as a church. Our hope is not in government or human leaders. Our hope, instead, is with God and with what he calls his church to do on earth.

2. Stand up for the weak and vulnerable

God cares for the weak and the vulnerable; for the marginalized and the minorities in society. If these are things which matter to God, what are what are we going to do about it?

James 1:27. Pure and faultless religion: take care of the vulnerable and don’t be corrupted by the world. This is, according to James, the practical living out of our religion.

James 2. The first half of chapter is about living in a just and fair manner; about not discriminating against people based on what they can offer us. But he goes further. He says it isn’t enough to just believe these things. It isn’t enough to just talk about loving one another. It has to be connected to action.

James 2:15-17. We can't just say "Good luck, I hope things turn out ok for you." A stationary, intellectual concern for another's well-being is no concern at all; true compassion is active. In the same way, faith that does not reach out and take hold of the gift of salvation from God is as good as dead.

So James is saying that we live out the mission of the church by caring for the vulnerable and that caring for them means more than nice words. This means taking a stand with them and for them through both our words and actions. It is our responsibility as Christians to stand up for those who are outnumbered, for those who are vulnerable, for those who are being discriminated against.

I believe this also means standing up for both those you agree with and those you may not agree with. The story of the Good Samaritan is not a story about one Christian helping another who completely agrees with him. It is the story of caring for someone you disagree with. The Jews and Samaritans had distinctly different views of what it meant to follow God. It means putting your life at risk to stop and help someone in a dangerous position; also putting your money out there to support them. We are called to come and stand beside those in our society who are discriminated against and who are afraid – regardless of whether we agree with them or not.

This means we stand up for the Muslims. We stand up for the poor. We stand up for immigrants. We stand up for women. We stand up for blacks. We stand up for the LGBTQ community. We stand up for and with all these children of God. If we really believe, as our vision statement says, that this church is a place where ALL people can encounter Jesus, that means that we must do more than speak these words, we must show them to be true in our actions, in who we welcome into our doors and how we treat people in the streets.

And we must go further than this. Because God calls us to love our enemies – even the oppressors of the weak and vulnerable we’re trying to protect.  It doesn’t mean you have to support them, but because we know that our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers of darkness, we recognize that even the oppressors are also children of God. And that means that we fight with love – a love that listens and seeks to understand and that calls them towards justice. We love the oppressor, not by letting them do whatever they want, but by opposing them in firm but non-violent ways, and by seeking their good, even as we seek to protect the oppressed.

3. Proclaim a message of justice and hope

But if we’re honest, and if this world is all we have, in the end, there is one oppressor we cannot protect people from, and that is death.  

We do our best to make this world good, but we also recognize that it will one day end. For me, this doesn’t take away the urgency and importance of the cause of justice in our world, but it does remove some of the unbearable weight of despair that comes from looking at the impossibility of resolving every case of injustice we face. There is hope, not just that God will one day return, but that in the Second Coming of Jesus, he will bring an end to the rule of men and all the corruption therein.

This is what we proclaim as Adventists. Contained within the Three Angels’ Messages are promises of justice. These are proclamations of hope. Promises of the good God is about to accomplish.

Revelation 14:7 “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come.” A promise! The God who is a defender of the weak, of the fatherless, widows, and foreigners is coming to judge and to bring about justice. (We are sometimes uncomfortable with God as judge; yet we also look at suffering and complain that God isn’t doing anything. God will do something as judge once and for all when he returns, and until then you and I are his hands and feet for justice).

Revelation 14:8 “Babylon is fallen!” A promise! That corrupt religious systems will fall. That systems which do not show and live the true love of God’s gospel will come to an end. I was asked this week why some people don’t seem open to the hope of the Second Coming even in light of these times. So much religious rhetoric has been used to justify injustice, it can be hard for people to see the good in religion. Why would they look forward to the return of a God who is represented by many of his people as hating and seeking their destruction? Jesus promises that these false portrayals of him will soon be judged, removed, and forgotten. Only the truth will remain. Until then, it is our responsibility to keep proclaiming the truest view of a God of love and justice we know.

Revelation 14:9-10 “Anyone who worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand” will be destroyed. A promise! Not just religious systems, but all who are workers of oppression and injustice (which is the outworking of false religious systems and false portrayals of the character of God) will fall. God will one day bring about total justice and peace.

We get to decide now, before that day comes, if we want to be a part of that world or not. This is why God calls out to us in Revelation 18:4 “Come out of her, my people…” A promise! And an invitation. God calls his people out of corruption into freedom. He calls us into relationship with him, and promises to bring about everlasting peace. We don’t have to place our hopes in false religious and worldly systems; we can place our hope in God.

Conclusion: God is calling you to stand up. He is calling for you to grieve over what grieves him. He is calling you to stand up for the oppressed. He is calling you to tell the world about his promises for justice in his return, and invite them into a relationship with the only true and fair judge who is coming to bring unending peace to this world. Will you stand with the God who stands for you?

In Luke 7, Jesus goes to Capernaum. A Roman centurion’s servant was deathly ill and so he asked some of the Jewish elders to go ask Jesus to intervene.

“When they reached Jesus, they pleaded with Him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy for You to grant this, because he loves our nation and has built us a synagogue.’” (7:4)

This is interesting because the Jews did not like the Romans. But they liked this Roman because he had done some nice things for them (and maybe he would keep doing nice things for them). They make their case to Jesus basically like this: he has done nice things for us so you should do nice things for him. Apparently they weren’t paying attention to the whole love your enemies thing in chapter six.

But again, we aren’t so different, are we? We often follow the same logic: if I do nice things for God, then he will do nice things for me. This is the basis upon which we try to make trades with God. This is how we try to bargain with him. Or, if we are not that active, this is at least how we expect God to treat us. Thus, we spend a lot of time trying to establish our own worth.

This makes the response of the Roman centurion all the more interesting. Here is this outsider to the faith, this guy who has barely earned their conditional acceptance, and he is the only one who gets it right:

“Jesus went with them, and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell Him, ‘Lord, don’t trouble Yourself, since I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. That is why I didn’t even consider myself worthy to come to You.’” (7:6-7)

http://www.inspirationalposter.org/poster-6635-6093652/jesus-heals-centurions-servant-matthew-viii-5-13-giclee-print/

This centurion takes a completely opposite approach to his Jewish advocates. They said, “This guy is worthy, so help him out.” But he says, “I am not worthy, please help me.” And here is the reason why he says that: he realizes that the good that Jesus can and will do for us is not based on who we are, but on who Jesus is.

“But say the word, and my servant will be cured. For I too am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this!’ And he does it.” (7:7-8)

The power comes from Jesus, not from us. It is based on his authority, not our worth. You can rest easy. You can stop trying to prop up your own worth with flimsy attempts at good works and a polished exterior. Instead, you can turn to Jesus and trust fully in his goodness and his love. That is what faith is all about. You can hang all your hopes on him; he will not fail you.

“Jesus heard this and was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following Him, He said, ‘I tell you, I have not found so great a faith even in Israel!’ When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant in good health.” (7:9-10)

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.”

Love your enemies. It is a sobering passage, to say the least. If I’m honest, it does more than step on my toes a little – it calls me out, revealing that much of what I call “love” is nothing more than self-interest. But that’s a topic for another time. Right now, I want to jump down a few verses to what I believe is a key to understanding what is often missed about this passage – or, at least what I missed for a long time.

After summing up what it looks like to love your enemies, Jesus tells us what it would mean if we were to live out such love:

“Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is gracious to the ungrateful and evil. Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”

This may sound obvious, but Jesus is telling us that he wants us to love like this because this is exactly how God the Father loves. When we love like this we are living as God’s children because that is how he loves. Jesus came to show us what the Father is really like, to correct our misguided notions about him. I think this is one of those moments.

When I come to this passage, I usually read it, feel depressed about the lousy quality of my love, and determine to try harder. I focus exclusively on what it says about how I love or don’t love. What I rarely do is focus on what this says about how God loves. And I rarely think about whether or not I am interacting with God as he presents himself. Instead, I tend to treat God as if he plays by our rules.

How often do we live as if God is the embodiment of everything this passage says is not love?

• As if God only loves those who love him?
• As if God is only good to those who are good to him?
• As if God only gives to us when he expects us to do something for him in return?

Even sinners do this, and yet too often we treat God as if his love is no better. Listen to the subtle implications of conversations you hear around you (and inside your own mind) and tell me this isn’t true.

We tend to believe that if we do the things God likes, he will do nice things for us, but if we do the things God doesn’t like, then he will do bad things to us. I know it seems that way sometimes. That’s why we try to bargain with God. That’s why, too often, we try to impress God with our goodness. That’s why we hide from him when we’ve sinned.

Now don’t get me wrong – there are blessings for living in tune with God, and there are consequences for disconnecting ourselves from him, but the point is this: yes, God blesses the faithful, but, astonishingly, God also blesses the unfaithful!

In Matthew’s version of this passage, Jesus says that God causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall, not just to benefit the good, but the evil as well. It is as if God can’t contain himself! He is so full of love for us – all of us – that he just keeps pouring out good things all around us, knowing that most won’t even lift their heads to thank the source from which their blessings come. What a gift to God, then, to thank him for his gifts! But even if we don’t, that doesn’t change his love – it just keeps overflowing like the sun spilling over the horizon, like the rain bursting from the sky onto parched and thirsty ground.

He just gives, and gives, and gives…

And his giving only fills him with more to give!

What if I lived like that?

What if I lived as if God really loves me like that?

I wonder if all this trying to be better would be replaced with streams of living water flowing – overflowing – from within. I wonder if I would love because he first loved me.