Two weeks ago, I saw a 16 year old boy die in the street. He had just been shot and he laid in the street, dying. The scene of his death was so still and quiet, it was eerie. Bystanders, including Carrie and myself, stood as we watched the investigation take place, while trying to know how to feel about the whole situation. We knew this young man. His name was Lamarion. He walked by our house daily, on our sidewalk. We fondly greeted one another each time he passed us; he was such an enjoyable and respectful young man. Now, as we stood there helpless, the hopelessness that seeped in was heart-wrenching. All we could do was pray - and we did, continually. The Lord literally directed our feelings, our words, our next steps. He had to because, apart from him, we were at a loss.
That sadness and the inability to properly know how to deal with tragedy continues, as all of us, over the last couple of weeks, have seen our nation ravaged by the tragedy surrounding the death of George Floyd. Many people have reached out to our church and to Truth Spring asking us for direction on how to make sense of it all. Our own children have been among those searching for answers. We now have a teenager who is very aware of what is happening around him. Without proper guidance at such a crucial time in his life, what he sees and hears could cause him, and others who are also searching for answers, to come away with wrong ideas and wrong conclusions.
A Purpose Not a Cause
Highland, it is very important that we know what we are to be about it during times when the world around us is raging. We need to learn what it means to live out Christ’s words when He said, “I am about the work of My Father”. Think of all the “causes” Jesus could have been about - poverty, social injustice, rights of slaves, rights of women, etc… Jesus could have made His time on earth about a “cause”, but He didn’t. His time on earth was about a purpose and that purpose was reconciling ALL mankind to Himself. So what does that mean for us? As we have talked with our children about all the recent events surrounding our lives, from the death of 16 year old Lamarion, to the death of George Floyd, to the riots around the nation, we have kept the dialogue centered on one thing, the heart of man. We have opened up the Word of God, which is our only source for answers in times like these, and we have read and talked through Jeremiah 17:9-10 which states:
“The heart is deceitful and above all desperately wicked and incurable — who can even know the depth of its wickedness? I, Yahweh, examine the mind, I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve.”
It is so easy for us to think of Christianity as a moral code that leads to good behaviors. But we MUST know and believe that Christianity and the Gospel are so much more than a moral code. The Gospel is POWER. It’s power is in the ability to change a heart! If the heart is the well-spring from which every thought, every action, every emotion flows and if the Bible defines our hearts as being “desperately wicked”, then we desperately need the power of the Gospel. We have reminded our children that, without the Gospel giving us a new heart, a heart that is in alignment with God’s heart, then we are capable of being the ones who are standing on the neck of the weaker man who is begging for his life. Because the wickedness of our natural hearts will ALWAYS lead us to take advantage of someone weaker. We have reminded our children that without the Gospel giving us a new heart, a heart this in alignment with God’s heart, then we are capable of assaulting police officers, lighting things on fire, destroying everything in sight. Because in our anger (even when that anger is justified), sin causes our anger to turn to hatred, and hatred ALWAYS leads to destruction. Because apart from the Gospel, our hearts are “deceitful and desperately wicked — who can even know the depth of its wickedness?”.
That is why Christ was not about a “cause.” A cause could never be the solution for a wicked heart. And that is why, in times like these, Christians must remember that we are also not called to be about a cause, but rather a purpose —and that purpose is the message of the Gospel. Through Christ, we are called to offer a broken world the opportunity to be reconciled to God. We are called to offer the world the opportunity to have a new heart.
Justice Cannot be Found on Earth
The world’s solution to injustice is more injustice. Where there is a wrong, a wrong is returned. When sin fuels anger in the life of any person, it produces evil. Sin-induced anger leads to and demands personal rights - rights to protect oneself and to avenge others in the face of wrong-doing.
No matter how right we may be as a person defending ourselves, or human-made laws, or how right we may be in avenging the unjust death of another person, to carry out that right in the wrong way will ALWAYS produce an evil outcome. Under the reign of a sinful heart, a person will abuse even good causes and just stances. Romans 12: 9-21 is work of the Holy Spirit in the human-heart. It sheds some light on how to move forward:
“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Try to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone. Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for His wrath. For it is written: Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay, says the Lord.”
To ask for justice to exist in mankind means that a source of justice can first be found. Can justice be found in the hearts of man? Human history answers with a very loud “no”!
Justice Is In Heaven
“But the Lord sits enthroned forever; He has established His throne for judgment. He judges the world with righteousness; He executes judgment on the nations with fairness.
The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Those who know Your name trust in You because You have not abandoned those who seek You, Yahweh.”
- (Psalm 9:7-10).
So, then, if justice isn’t here, then the source of justice has to exist in the presence of God. Preaching in one of the most oppressive periods in all of human-history, Jesus models for us how to pray, having us look to the name of the Lord and HIS kingdom as the source of justice. Then, he tells us to ask for the just-will of the Father to be revealed on earth!
“Our Father in heaven,
Your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.”
Jesus then explains to us that the justice-system of the Kingdom of God is founded upon mercy and forgiveness:
“Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure — pressed down, shaken together, and running over — will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you (Luke 6:36-38,HCSB).”
Our Response
Highland, the Lord, alone, is just. Only when our hearts have been put in right alignment with Him can we consistently honor another person by offering them equality and dignity. Micah 6:8 clearly tells each Christian what the Lord expects from us:
“He has shown you, mankind, what the Lord requires of you: to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Your God.”
When Jesus arrives on the earth, He then demonstrates the words found in Micah 6:8 as He tells us how to actually put Micah 6:8 into action. The way to put Micah 6:8 into action is to follow the commands of Christ as He says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart AND love your neighbor as yourself.” That Highland, is how we live out justice in an unjust world. We do this one word, one act, one life at at time, therefore cultivating justice in our lives and in the lives of those around us. Highland, I love you. I am grateful for the small but mighty tribe we remain, under the power of the Holy Spirit. Throughout our days, I want each of us to take our lead from Jesus, as Peter tells us:
“…He did not revile in return;
when He was suffering,
He did not threaten
but entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly” (I Peter 2:23).
Discuss what it looks like for your family to live out the instructions found in Micah 6:8. Conclude your time by praying and asking the Holy Spirit to empower you and your family to daily put on display Micah 6:8. Then end by praying for our nation. Ask the Holy Spirit to move in power, thereby, bringing many sons and daughters to salvation!
We love you!
Rob and Carrie