Just Love in Action
Copyright: South Bay Community Church
Sermon Reflections: Just Love in Action
Date:16 July 2023
Speaker: Lead Pastor Tammy Long
Scripture Text: Isaiah 42:6-7
Sermon Reflections: Just Love in Action
Date:16 July 2023
Speaker: Lead Pastor Tammy Long
Scripture Text: Isaiah 42:6-7
Sermon Preamble
In our lives, we need God to speak to our hearts, and we need the Holy Spirit to guide us, so we will know what to do. Those times include injustice and brokenness in our world now such as: (1) another shooting of a black person or another mass shooting in a school, church, synagogue or mosque, (2) the growing encampments of the unhoused, (3) inequalities in health care, bank loans, and housing opportunities, (4) disparities of pay between men and women (5) the disproportionate number of prison inmates that are people of color. The list goes on. Even when we make strides in the right direction, there is pushback that swings the pendulum the other way.
Programs to help those in need are often the first to be cut, and equal opportunity is not really equal for all. Most recently, the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action will have big ramifications for many. Many people of color face systemic inequality and injustice, and these systems are layered, intersectional, connected, and complicated.
People marginalized by their race, economic status, physical abilities, sexual orientation, gender, former incarceration, mental illness or age, etc. experience injustice. This message will explore how, as followers of Jesus, we are to respond. How are we to embody God’s justice and righteousness through prevention, intervention, and restoration until Jesus comes again?
God’s Response to Injustice – Samples of Old Testament Scriptures
First, let us explore some examples of what God says about justice, as we listen for the heart of God.
Jeremiah 22:3 declares, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Be fair-minded and just. Do what is right! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Quit your evil deeds! Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows. Stop murdering the innocent!’” Those named as mistreated here are the marginalized and the oppressed.
Psalm 33:5 declares, “The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.” Notice the parallelism (likeness) within this passage: God’s unfailing love includes righteousness and justice.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 declares, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken!’” Did you notice God’s priorities? God is not against wisdom, power, or resources, but they are nothing to boast about. As we connect the dots, we can see that we can use our wisdom, power, and resources for justice and righteousness. When we use our wisdom, power, and resources for justice and righteousness, God is delighted.
Psalm 89:14 declares, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants.” It is clear that justice and righteousness are at the core of the Kingdom of God. Like inseparable twin peaks of a mountain, righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne.
Particularly in the Old Testament, righteousness and justice go together as a fixed phrase; it is used more than 50 times. We often think of righteousness as personal purity in being clean before God. But the original Hebrew word and understanding of righteousness is about being in right relationship with another based on God’s standard of relationship. The English phrase for this standard of right relationship is “someone doing right by us.” Righteousness is really about being in right relationship with God and with others based on the standard God has set.
Justice is the application of God’s standard of the righteous relationship to our actions. Righteousness and justice go together. Most often in scripture, justice is oriented to the vulnerable and the marginalized.
Samples of New Testament Scriptures – Jesus manifesting justice and righteousness as just love in action
In the New Testament, the link between righteousness and justice is even more interesting. Justice and righteousness come from the same Greek word. In essence righteousness and justice are so linked that they can be used interchangeably. So when we read in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness” that passage could also be accurately translated as “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his justice” (DRA translation). As followers of Jesus, how can we seek first the Kingdom of God and God’s justice? When we talk about “Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven,” justice and righteousness are at the core of God’s unfailing love on earth.
Jesus’ life embodied justice and righteousness. In Jesus’ own words, Jesus’ mission statement is all about justice, particularly targeting the marginalized. Jesus declared in Luke 4:18-19: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” The marginalized were in the crowds and multitudes that followed Jesus. Jesus was bestowing dignity, worth, love, and value unlike anything they had ever experienced before, as an invitation into the Kingdom of God.
Jesus understood the extent of His mission. Yes, Jesus came to save us from our sins. Yes, He came to reunite us with God. But Jesus’ mission was more encompassing and revolutionary. Jesus ushered in a new world order of love in action manifesting justice and righteousness. Jesus declared that the Kingdom has come near, as a reset of God’s intention for humanity and the world. Jesus’ love in action is what we are calling “just love” in action.
God’s response to injustice is very clear: God hates injustice; it is not God’s plan for creation. God took on flesh and sent the Son of God to address it now and in the coming future. As followers of Jesus, we also are called to address injustice and pursue justice and righteousness as well.
Our response to Injustice –Pray for justice to prevail on earth, draw closer to God’s character
As followers of Christ, the challenge before us then is, what do we do? Where do we even begin? We cannot address everything; nor are we called to or gifted to address everything. God has an entire family to mobilize as agents for justice. So we begin by praying and reading God’s Word to draw closer to God’s character. We then pray to discern our part in the mission.
Avenues to justice for which God may be calling us – Prevention
In prevention, we identify areas of injustice, and the fight is to address issues on the front end. Jesus did prevention with His preaching and teaching on how we are to treat one another and love one another, including our enemies. Jesus’ life shows us what right relationship looks like. If we were to actually live into those teachings, we could prevent and even eliminate injustice. Prevention means addressing root causes of systemic issues such as poverty, education disparities, and discrimination before they take root in order to break the cycles and systems of injustice. As salt and light for the world, we do this by educating, equipping, and engaging in initiatives that support social justice aims and goals.
Avenues to justice for which God may be calling us – Intervention
In intervention, we respond whenever injustice is occurring. We are advocating, speaking up for the voiceless, and standing up against oppression. This may require us to go outside of our comfort zones. Intervention means not being content with the status quo, but if necessary, shaking things up. Intervention is advocating, mobilizing, and dismantling unjust systems. We see that Jesus also intervened when injustice was happening. He overturned tables in the temple to protest the exploitation by the money changers. Jesus spoke up for the woman caught in adultery and challenged her accusers. Jesus “rolled up His sleeves” and stepped in whenever injustice was occurring. As followers of Jesus, we are called to do the same. For some of us, this is our primary way to bring God’s Kingdom to earth in pursuit of justice.
Avenues to justice for which God may be calling us – Restoration
Restoration means the healing and support needed in the aftermath of injustice. Restorative justice seeks reform, reconciliation, restoring dignity, healing, providing opportunities for forgiveness, rebuilding, and making amends. As a justice agent guided by the Holy Spirit, God may be calling you to listening, counseling, support in healing, and restoration or reconciliation of those bruised by injustice both on the side of the oppressed and the oppressor.
At South Bay Community Church, we have ministries pursuing justice that you may not know about.
Genesis provides educational, vocational, and cultural enrichment programs for children, youth, and adults
Genesis is the Community Development Arm of SBCC whose mission is to provide educational, vocational, and cultural enrichment programs resulting in personal improvement and life transformation. The vision is to transform the lives of underserved youth and families by breaking the barriers to success.
Currently, Genesis provides four basic programs. (1) Genesis provides educational and cultural tours of Historically Black Colleges and Universities using the prevention avenue for justice. (2) Genesis provides a Parent/Guardian Workshop Program that uses the avenue of prevention in building communication skills to support and advocate for their children. (3) Genesis provides a Suspension Reduction Program that uses the avenue of intervention, providing schools an alternative to suspension. (4) Genesis provides a Preparation for Success College Readiness Program. For example, in response to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, Genesis will offer a workshop helping students write essays for 2024 college applications. These are actions using avenues of intervention or restoration for justice. God is showing us what to do and guiding our way to pursue justice.
South Bay Community Church conducts a worship experience at a prison on the second Sunday of each month
SBCC has a team of women who visit our sisters in prison at the Elmwood Correctional Facility on the second Sunday of each month. They are fanning healing, hope, and reconciliation as restorative justice. In addition, every Mother’s Day and Christmas, SBCC provides gifts for women in prison. SBCC recently started sharing gifts with men at the Elmwood Correctional Facility.
In Matthew 25:31-40, Jesus is sharing the importance of caring for the “least of these.” In other words, Jesus is speaking about a righteous relationship towards justice for the marginalized. “‘When did we see you sick or in prison and go visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25: 39-40). Jesus states that visiting those actually in prison is the same as visiting Him.
We serve a God who is so passionate about justice and righteousness that God took on flesh
Here are words of Isaiah in his prophecy about Jesus. “The Lord looked and was displeased to find there was no justice. He was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm, and his justice sustained him. He put on righteousness as his body armor and placed the helmet of salvation on his head. He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance and wrapped himself in a cloak of divine passion.” (Isaiah 59:15-17). This is the God that we serve. God took on flesh to battle the injustice of this world to restore us back to God and calls us to serve with God.
This passage is our concluding prophecy from Isaiah about Jesus. As Christ followers, this scripture text speaks to us as well. “I, the Lord, have called you for justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring our prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.” (Isaiah 42:6-7).
Let us heed the call and embody God’s justice and righteousness through prevention, intervention, and reconciliation until Jesus comes again.
Application for activation
You are invited to join in 12 days of prayer daily starting on Monday, July 17, 2023. If our church office has your phone number for text or email, you will receive at 12:15 pm the invitation to pause and pray for justice with us the next 12 days. If you cannot do it then, pray whenever you can. God is outside of time and always listening.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS INCLUDING FOR USE IN FAMILY GROUP
Sermon Preamble
-What injustice in our broken world makes your heart heavy? What has been your response, if any?
God’s Response to Injustice – Samples of Old Testament Scriptures
-As you read and listen to God’s Word in these samples of scriptures, what is the heart of God when it comes to justice? In what ways do the scriptures enlighten us about the character of God?
Samples of New Testament Scriptures – Jesus manifesting justice and righteousness as just love in action
-As declared in Luke 4:18-19, why does the mission of Jesus include revolutionary ministry to those who are actually marginalized, not just those who are spiritually marginalized?
Our response to Injustice –Pray for justice to prevail on earth, draw closer to God’s character
-As we pray to God for guidance on what to do about injustices, why is it important to listen to God’s Word as God calls us to demonstrate the Godly character of love for justice?
Avenues to justice for which God may be calling us – Prevention
-What is prevention as an avenue of action for justice in our mission as followers of Jesus?Avenues to justice for which God may be calling us – Intervention
-What is intervention as an avenue of action for justice in our mission as followers of Jesus?
Avenues to justice for which God may be calling us – Restoration
- What is restoration as an avenue of action for justice in our mission as followers of Jesus?
Genesis provides educational, vocational, and cultural enrichment programs for children, youth, and adults
-As examples of avenues to justice for which God may be calling us, which programs of Genesis Community Development Corporation are directed towards the need for prevention, intervention, or restoration?
South Bay Community Church conducts a worship experience at a prison on the second Sunday of each month
-Why is it so important for churches to act for those incarcerated? Why are intervention and restoration actions important for the incarcerated to reenter back into society?
We serve a God who is so passionate about justice and righteousness that God took on flesh
-In what ways can you heed the call from God for action as you embody God’s justice and righteousness through prevention, intervention, and restoration?
In our lives, we need God to speak to our hearts, and we need the Holy Spirit to guide us, so we will know what to do. Those times include injustice and brokenness in our world now such as: (1) another shooting of a black person or another mass shooting in a school, church, synagogue or mosque, (2) the growing encampments of the unhoused, (3) inequalities in health care, bank loans, and housing opportunities, (4) disparities of pay between men and women (5) the disproportionate number of prison inmates that are people of color. The list goes on. Even when we make strides in the right direction, there is pushback that swings the pendulum the other way.
Programs to help those in need are often the first to be cut, and equal opportunity is not really equal for all. Most recently, the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action will have big ramifications for many. Many people of color face systemic inequality and injustice, and these systems are layered, intersectional, connected, and complicated.
People marginalized by their race, economic status, physical abilities, sexual orientation, gender, former incarceration, mental illness or age, etc. experience injustice. This message will explore how, as followers of Jesus, we are to respond. How are we to embody God’s justice and righteousness through prevention, intervention, and restoration until Jesus comes again?
God’s Response to Injustice – Samples of Old Testament Scriptures
First, let us explore some examples of what God says about justice, as we listen for the heart of God.
Jeremiah 22:3 declares, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Be fair-minded and just. Do what is right! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Quit your evil deeds! Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows. Stop murdering the innocent!’” Those named as mistreated here are the marginalized and the oppressed.
Psalm 33:5 declares, “The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.” Notice the parallelism (likeness) within this passage: God’s unfailing love includes righteousness and justice.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 declares, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken!’” Did you notice God’s priorities? God is not against wisdom, power, or resources, but they are nothing to boast about. As we connect the dots, we can see that we can use our wisdom, power, and resources for justice and righteousness. When we use our wisdom, power, and resources for justice and righteousness, God is delighted.
Psalm 89:14 declares, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants.” It is clear that justice and righteousness are at the core of the Kingdom of God. Like inseparable twin peaks of a mountain, righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne.
Particularly in the Old Testament, righteousness and justice go together as a fixed phrase; it is used more than 50 times. We often think of righteousness as personal purity in being clean before God. But the original Hebrew word and understanding of righteousness is about being in right relationship with another based on God’s standard of relationship. The English phrase for this standard of right relationship is “someone doing right by us.” Righteousness is really about being in right relationship with God and with others based on the standard God has set.
Justice is the application of God’s standard of the righteous relationship to our actions. Righteousness and justice go together. Most often in scripture, justice is oriented to the vulnerable and the marginalized.
Samples of New Testament Scriptures – Jesus manifesting justice and righteousness as just love in action
In the New Testament, the link between righteousness and justice is even more interesting. Justice and righteousness come from the same Greek word. In essence righteousness and justice are so linked that they can be used interchangeably. So when we read in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness” that passage could also be accurately translated as “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his justice” (DRA translation). As followers of Jesus, how can we seek first the Kingdom of God and God’s justice? When we talk about “Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven,” justice and righteousness are at the core of God’s unfailing love on earth.
Jesus’ life embodied justice and righteousness. In Jesus’ own words, Jesus’ mission statement is all about justice, particularly targeting the marginalized. Jesus declared in Luke 4:18-19: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” The marginalized were in the crowds and multitudes that followed Jesus. Jesus was bestowing dignity, worth, love, and value unlike anything they had ever experienced before, as an invitation into the Kingdom of God.
Jesus understood the extent of His mission. Yes, Jesus came to save us from our sins. Yes, He came to reunite us with God. But Jesus’ mission was more encompassing and revolutionary. Jesus ushered in a new world order of love in action manifesting justice and righteousness. Jesus declared that the Kingdom has come near, as a reset of God’s intention for humanity and the world. Jesus’ love in action is what we are calling “just love” in action.
God’s response to injustice is very clear: God hates injustice; it is not God’s plan for creation. God took on flesh and sent the Son of God to address it now and in the coming future. As followers of Jesus, we also are called to address injustice and pursue justice and righteousness as well.
Our response to Injustice –Pray for justice to prevail on earth, draw closer to God’s character
As followers of Christ, the challenge before us then is, what do we do? Where do we even begin? We cannot address everything; nor are we called to or gifted to address everything. God has an entire family to mobilize as agents for justice. So we begin by praying and reading God’s Word to draw closer to God’s character. We then pray to discern our part in the mission.
Avenues to justice for which God may be calling us – Prevention
In prevention, we identify areas of injustice, and the fight is to address issues on the front end. Jesus did prevention with His preaching and teaching on how we are to treat one another and love one another, including our enemies. Jesus’ life shows us what right relationship looks like. If we were to actually live into those teachings, we could prevent and even eliminate injustice. Prevention means addressing root causes of systemic issues such as poverty, education disparities, and discrimination before they take root in order to break the cycles and systems of injustice. As salt and light for the world, we do this by educating, equipping, and engaging in initiatives that support social justice aims and goals.
Avenues to justice for which God may be calling us – Intervention
In intervention, we respond whenever injustice is occurring. We are advocating, speaking up for the voiceless, and standing up against oppression. This may require us to go outside of our comfort zones. Intervention means not being content with the status quo, but if necessary, shaking things up. Intervention is advocating, mobilizing, and dismantling unjust systems. We see that Jesus also intervened when injustice was happening. He overturned tables in the temple to protest the exploitation by the money changers. Jesus spoke up for the woman caught in adultery and challenged her accusers. Jesus “rolled up His sleeves” and stepped in whenever injustice was occurring. As followers of Jesus, we are called to do the same. For some of us, this is our primary way to bring God’s Kingdom to earth in pursuit of justice.
Avenues to justice for which God may be calling us – Restoration
Restoration means the healing and support needed in the aftermath of injustice. Restorative justice seeks reform, reconciliation, restoring dignity, healing, providing opportunities for forgiveness, rebuilding, and making amends. As a justice agent guided by the Holy Spirit, God may be calling you to listening, counseling, support in healing, and restoration or reconciliation of those bruised by injustice both on the side of the oppressed and the oppressor.
At South Bay Community Church, we have ministries pursuing justice that you may not know about.
Genesis provides educational, vocational, and cultural enrichment programs for children, youth, and adults
Genesis is the Community Development Arm of SBCC whose mission is to provide educational, vocational, and cultural enrichment programs resulting in personal improvement and life transformation. The vision is to transform the lives of underserved youth and families by breaking the barriers to success.
Currently, Genesis provides four basic programs. (1) Genesis provides educational and cultural tours of Historically Black Colleges and Universities using the prevention avenue for justice. (2) Genesis provides a Parent/Guardian Workshop Program that uses the avenue of prevention in building communication skills to support and advocate for their children. (3) Genesis provides a Suspension Reduction Program that uses the avenue of intervention, providing schools an alternative to suspension. (4) Genesis provides a Preparation for Success College Readiness Program. For example, in response to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, Genesis will offer a workshop helping students write essays for 2024 college applications. These are actions using avenues of intervention or restoration for justice. God is showing us what to do and guiding our way to pursue justice.
South Bay Community Church conducts a worship experience at a prison on the second Sunday of each month
SBCC has a team of women who visit our sisters in prison at the Elmwood Correctional Facility on the second Sunday of each month. They are fanning healing, hope, and reconciliation as restorative justice. In addition, every Mother’s Day and Christmas, SBCC provides gifts for women in prison. SBCC recently started sharing gifts with men at the Elmwood Correctional Facility.
In Matthew 25:31-40, Jesus is sharing the importance of caring for the “least of these.” In other words, Jesus is speaking about a righteous relationship towards justice for the marginalized. “‘When did we see you sick or in prison and go visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25: 39-40). Jesus states that visiting those actually in prison is the same as visiting Him.
We serve a God who is so passionate about justice and righteousness that God took on flesh
Here are words of Isaiah in his prophecy about Jesus. “The Lord looked and was displeased to find there was no justice. He was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm, and his justice sustained him. He put on righteousness as his body armor and placed the helmet of salvation on his head. He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance and wrapped himself in a cloak of divine passion.” (Isaiah 59:15-17). This is the God that we serve. God took on flesh to battle the injustice of this world to restore us back to God and calls us to serve with God.
This passage is our concluding prophecy from Isaiah about Jesus. As Christ followers, this scripture text speaks to us as well. “I, the Lord, have called you for justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring our prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.” (Isaiah 42:6-7).
Let us heed the call and embody God’s justice and righteousness through prevention, intervention, and reconciliation until Jesus comes again.
Application for activation
You are invited to join in 12 days of prayer daily starting on Monday, July 17, 2023. If our church office has your phone number for text or email, you will receive at 12:15 pm the invitation to pause and pray for justice with us the next 12 days. If you cannot do it then, pray whenever you can. God is outside of time and always listening.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS INCLUDING FOR USE IN FAMILY GROUP
Sermon Preamble
-What injustice in our broken world makes your heart heavy? What has been your response, if any?
God’s Response to Injustice – Samples of Old Testament Scriptures
-As you read and listen to God’s Word in these samples of scriptures, what is the heart of God when it comes to justice? In what ways do the scriptures enlighten us about the character of God?
Samples of New Testament Scriptures – Jesus manifesting justice and righteousness as just love in action
-As declared in Luke 4:18-19, why does the mission of Jesus include revolutionary ministry to those who are actually marginalized, not just those who are spiritually marginalized?
Our response to Injustice –Pray for justice to prevail on earth, draw closer to God’s character
-As we pray to God for guidance on what to do about injustices, why is it important to listen to God’s Word as God calls us to demonstrate the Godly character of love for justice?
Avenues to justice for which God may be calling us – Prevention
-What is prevention as an avenue of action for justice in our mission as followers of Jesus?Avenues to justice for which God may be calling us – Intervention
-What is intervention as an avenue of action for justice in our mission as followers of Jesus?
Avenues to justice for which God may be calling us – Restoration
- What is restoration as an avenue of action for justice in our mission as followers of Jesus?
Genesis provides educational, vocational, and cultural enrichment programs for children, youth, and adults
-As examples of avenues to justice for which God may be calling us, which programs of Genesis Community Development Corporation are directed towards the need for prevention, intervention, or restoration?
South Bay Community Church conducts a worship experience at a prison on the second Sunday of each month
-Why is it so important for churches to act for those incarcerated? Why are intervention and restoration actions important for the incarcerated to reenter back into society?
We serve a God who is so passionate about justice and righteousness that God took on flesh
-In what ways can you heed the call from God for action as you embody God’s justice and righteousness through prevention, intervention, and restoration?
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