A follow up on being servants of public justice
If I had more time on Sunday…I would have kept on going about what our actions towards public justice could look like in the place where God has sent us. That is where it matters for us and that is where God will hold us accountable. Justice for our neighbors most likely won’t take the form of a Facebook campaign, but it just might take the form of a casserole.
We have been served fully by Jesus
First, remember that we have been served by Jesus. He has fully given us salvation by taking away our sin and sorrow and he has fully given us redemption by caring away the debt of our sins on the cross. We respond to the service of Jesus in the service of worship, in service to the church and in service in all of life; that is, in our personal righteousness and our public justice. Justice is personal righteousness applied publicly. It is reestablishing the order that God would in our community have so that the people and the place would benefit from a relationship to him. Therefore, it is first evangelistic, only those who are converted and come to relationship with Christ through the justice of the cross can know true justice in themselves. We know that it will only be complete finally one day, when King Jesus Himself reigns over all, but it is true in the way we live faithfully here and now and can be more and more true as we live more and more faithfully. (All of this I said in the sermon).
So, finally, while the church as an organizational maintains the task of preaching the Word and making disciples, we all go out in volunteering and our vocations.
In our volunteering
When we volunteer, we join in the good works that are going on our community. By so doing, we encourage those things that are worth encouraging, we encourage public justice. When we lead in our volunteer organizations, our values lead too. It is important to note that these things are not necessarily evangelistic, but are the kind of works, as Peter said, that will cause those who see to give glory to God, if not now, then none day. I personally volunteer in the community with many great organizations. I have three or four places where I could plug you in right now and get myself out of the way, so that I could dedicate more time to my vocation of Word and discipleship. I have a vision that one day, Christians will be in key roles and every volunteer organization that touches the life of our community. Right now, God has brought the possibilities of several part-time roles that could be key leadership areas for the volunteer good in our community. If you were interested, please let me know. You may the one God is raising up to be a bringing of good and public justice to your neighbors.
In our vocations
Every one of us was trained by a guild for our vocations. If you are a teacher you went through a process, if you were a doctor you went through a process, if you are engineer you with her process. Your guild had a certain set of beliefs, and they were likely not your beliefs. It is time for you to ask the question, “What would be different in my day to day work if I believed that Jesus has served me fully and wants me to serve towards the goal of him being glorified by the people I serve?”
I have a vision of christian business leaders and business owners gathering together all around our community. These men and women could share a common vision of what it looks like for our community to experience the justice of God and to give glory to God for the way their business is run. If there are enough of us, working together, on the same plan, then real, practical and particular change could take place for the good of our neighbors and the glory of God. I mean, there could be real public justice right here in our place; our widows will be better served by local business than government agencies, our orphans will be better cared for in generous and gracious church families, our poor raised up, taught and mentored by local tradesmen and women. So, gather with other people in your field, gather with other business owners or start a business of your own. Do it now and make a 20 year plan to raise up the whole village as you raise up believers in the church. God is right now, calling one of you to lead this. You will be a force of good and glory for our people and place.
Most importantly, learn to be personally righteous in the way you do your work and take very deliberate daily steps so that the people you serve walk away thinking that you are the best service that they have ever had in your field. Do this, with the God given goal that they know that God is the one who has served you with salvation and, perhaps, come to know Him too.
