Tov #1 - Do Justice
Message Description
Senior Pastor Dr. Kurt Bjorklund kicks off a new message series entitled Tov, which is the Hebrew word for “good,” exploring what it means to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.
Message Transcript
Good morning. I think we need to do an Adult Fest around here, don't you, at some point? It's like the kids have all the fun. Hey, I just wanted to take a moment before we jump into the teaching and pray. Obviously, last night's events, whether you stand on the political spectrum or if you're not political at all, are horrifying when there's an attempt to assassinate a leader, a political leader. I know that there are many in our church family, especially with our Butler campus, who work in law enforcement, as federal agents, and medical personnel who are all directly involved. I know that there are others who live near there where they have different perspectives and were traumatized.
And so, we just want to take a moment and pray together. Would you join me in prayer? God, as we're here this morning, we ask that you would bring civility to our political discourse, and that you would bring sanity to the way that people think about opposing views. God, we pray that you would bring moral clarity to us as a nation as people go to the polls and vote. And God, we pray for you to be near to the families of those who lost people, who were injured, for former President Trump as he recovers. We pray that you would bring just healing to this situation and ultimately our nation. God, as we're gathered here in this moment, I pray that you would speak, that my words would reflect your word in content, tone, and emphasis. And we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
So, let me ask you, what is it that you desire? My guess is if we went around this room and our different campuses, locations, or online, that there would be a lot of words that would come out. If you were to boil down what you wanted to a single word, you would have a lot of answers.
For some of us it might be a health-related thing, financial thing, career thing, or a relational thing. But what we want mostly is whatever it is that we define as good. What we want is to say, I want these good things in my life, and we want it in the world in a broad sense, meaning we want to live in a world that's not full of bad things, evil things, but full of good things. We want it from others that we're in relationship with, and we also want it in ourselves.
And what's interesting is even people who often are up to things that many people would say aren't really defined as good, have often a code that they live by, that they feel like it is good the way that they live. You've seen the mob movies where the guy is killing people and then he says, but I have a code, an honor code that I live by, and you dare not break the honor code because I'm a good person at the core.
We have this desire to say, I want to live in a way that is in accordance with how I see goodness. In over the next few weeks, we're going to have a series here that we're calling Tov. Tov is a Hebrew word, an Old Testament word for good as opposed to bad. That's what it means. Tov is transliterated into English with “Tov,” and it just simply means good. We're going to look at this verse, this well-known verse in Micah 6:8, where we're told what is good and what is required. What is good, what is tov, and what the Lord requires of you. And then we're going to take three weeks to look at what it is to act justly, what it is to love mercy, and what it is to walk humbly with our God.
And so, today, we're going to talk specifically about justice and what does it mean to act justly. Now, certainly this has been an area where the church has been critiqued by people outside the church where they say the church is just concerned about saving souls for eternity. It's not concerned at all about doing justice in the world and helping bring about goodness in our world. It's even been a debate within the church in some ways, in that there's some people who have set up a juxtaposition between justice and evangelism. They've said, well, the church's mission should be all about evangelism, that is helping as many people as possible come to know Jesus Christ, so they have an eternity. Others have said the church should be about justice.
And those who sometimes say that they're about evangelism, what they say is those who are about justice are like those who simply are rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. You're not going to really help anything long term. And those who are all about justice say that those who are about evangelism are simply trying to help people punch a ticket to some future goodness and aren't concerned about the goodness here and now.
If you've been around Orchard Hill over any time, hopefully you know that as a church we believe that the Kingdom of God is now and his invitation to be a part of it is something that has a benefit for this life and for what's ahead. And so there is this sense in which there's a both/and to the idea of evangelism and justice. John Stott, in writing about it, said this speaking about evangelism and justice. “Neither is a means to the other, or even a manifestation of the other. For each is an end in itself.” In other words, they're both important.
Now, in order to talk about justice, I want to just take a quick foray into thinking about justice from our culture standpoint. And so, I'm going to just give you a quick summary of a book written by Michael Sandel, who is a professor at Harvard. He wrote this 10, 12, 15 years ago, and this was a book in which he tried to, on a very popular level, take all of the ideas of justice and synthesize them through history. He tried to write it in a way that we could all kind of grasp. So, it's been a celebrated book, and you'll recognize some of this if you've taken a philosophy course lately, and if not, I'll try to make it such that it's easy. And if you've been around, you know that when I reference a book, I often try to give you a quick summary, so you don't have to go by it. So, I'm going to try to give you Michael Sandel in about 6 minutes right now. Okay?
Again, this is important background for understanding justice. So, he argues that there have been three historic positions, basically for justice. And his book is simply called Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? And what he argues is that there has been what's been called the utilitarian position or the idea that basically points out the idea that says we are to promote the best outcome for most people, even if it's at the expense of freedom.
He argues ultimately against this because he says if it impinges on people's freedom, it may not always be the best course forward. And what he basically says as he argues against this and he quotes Jeremy Bentham, Immanuel Kant, John Rawls, I mean these different philosophers throughout, but what he says is if it takes away an individual's freedom, even if it's for the greatest good, it may not ultimately be just.
And so, just to put this into a parlance that maybe we can all think about, a couple of years ago when there were vaccine mandates, it was part of this thinking of justice. The just thing is, everybody gets a vaccine, whether or not an individual wants it or not because it's the greatest good for the most number of people. And he says ultimately this comes up a little short.
Then his second idea is that of freedom, individual rights. He says what we need to do is we need to lean into individual rights, and that is where we'll find justice. And the problem that he points out with this is that sometimes when people assert their individual rights, it hurts other people.
Another modern example is if somebody buys a large plot of land and says what I do on my land is my business, it doesn't impact anybody else. I'm free. And yet what they do is maybe create pollution that impacts and hurts other people. Then that's not just.
Then a third view that he talks about is the idea of virtue and saying you can choose to act as long as how you act could be replicated in any situation. And here he interacts with Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative. I'm really pleased that I could drop that in today somewhere. And this is the idea that says there is a virtue that is somehow universal. He debunks this in his own mind because he says there's nothing that's universally agreed upon ultimately. And so, his take, this is Michael Sandel, he pushes for what he would maybe call or doesn't maybe use this word, but the idea is ultimately distributive justice. That the way to have a just world is to take and have people who have a lot, voluntarily give it to those who don't have as much. And so, that's his view.
Here's what I think he's missing ultimately. And that is there is a fuller, deeper understanding of justice when you bring in the biblical understanding that is more nuanced and more complete than any of those positions. And so, what I'd like to do is just try to show you how this this phrase is used in the Bible and how that applies to us. I'm indebted to a man named Corey Widmer today for some of his thinking on this topic. And so, the Hebrew word for justice is the word “mishpat.” It is used 425 times in the Old Testament as a noun for to judge.
I'm just going to say there are at least three elements to this. In the Old Testament, there's probably more, but three that we can think about. The first is deciding between fairly and equitably. In other words, when you have a choice that you would say, I am going to make a decision that is fair and just and not be swayed by what's advantageous for me, to not be swayed by the people that I'm aligned with.
Here's a few places where we see this. Deuteronomy 1:17, “Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of anyone, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it.“ So judgment, justice is not being partial to either the small or the great. Proverbs 17:23, “The wicked accept bribes in secret to pervert the course of justice.“ In other words, justice is perverted when we say I gain something, even if I don't give an equitable decision. And then Proverbs 18:5 says, “It is not good to be partial to the wicked and so deprive the innocent of justice.” And this is the idea of basically saying, I want what it is that I decide to be something that is decided based on what is fair, not on the basis of what my preferences may be along the way.
Here's what this means. It means if you're somebody who's in a place where you have a chance to impact policy or decisions for a business or an organization that your most important decision is not always set up just to be about the bottom line. That there is something called justice that's bigger than simply how much money I make, or my organization makes. Sometimes there will be decisions that may not help your organization move farther or faster, that are just and right, that are the right decisions, because you're deciding fairly and equitably.
Maybe an easier way to think about this is if you're ever at a merge point when you're driving, you come to a point where everyone's slow and merging, and you get into the situation where the cars are doing what I call zipper cars. What I mean by that is one goes, then the other goes, the next goes, and the next goes. And so, you're forming the line. Well, have you ever been in that situation, and somebody decides that they're not waiting for the other car? Do you know what I'm talking about? Where somebody says, oh no you don't. I'm getting that car length, and I'm staying right in front of you.
Well, that is a lack of mishpat, a lack of justice, because what they're doing is they're saying my needs right now are more important than what's fair or right. Therefore, I'm going next even though it’s kind of been understood that this is the way this would work right here. And the problem with that ultimately is it's not deciding fairly.
Certainly, whenever we bring a personal bias to a decision or a personal advantage to a decision, then we're not deciding fairly. And sometimes in our current climate politically, people make all their decisions, not on saying, I'm going to read this situation fairly, but what is it that the group I agree with most says? And so, we end up repeating the news talking points of a group rather than being able to say what's really just or equitable as we think about something.
So, justice is deciding fairly, equitably. It's also advocating for the powerless. And we see this in Deuteronomy 10:18, speaking about God. It says, “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.” This is a reference to God's work on behalf of people who are in need. Throughout the Old Testament, there's a continuum of people, but there are four groups that are mentioned repeatedly as being disadvantaged - the widow, orphan, immigrant, and poor. And so, in the Bible, there is this consistent idea of saying that the way that you give justice is by advocating for those who don't have the same power, the same opportunities that you have along the way.
Now, the challenge with this is how do you identify who's powerful and who's powerless? One of the ways that come to mind in our modern world is to simply do it in groups and create a hierarchy of groups that says this group is the most powerless, then this group, and then this group. And so, however you identify with, whoever's on the top or bottom of the hierarchy, however you want to think about it, that's the group that's powerless. And so, you advocate for them.
Well, let me just show you a little bit of where this goes. I know this is a little dangerous. It might be like touching the third rail to talk about, but I'm going to take the chance. So, Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant's widow, Kobe Bryant, basketball player, evidently left almost $1,000,000,000 to his wife, Vanessa, when he died. This is germane to what I'm going to say. This is an article from the definitive source of all information, the Internet, according to black activist Dr. Umar Johnson, who spoke of what he deems to be an injustice while on the Art of Dialogue podcast.
Here's what he said. “No disrespect to Vanessa Bryant, Kobe’s widow, but Kobe’s mother and father just sold his NBA championship ring. Why? Because they need capital to live. They are elders, they need some money. From what I’ve heard, Vanessa Bryant ain’t giving them a dime. Kobe Bryant left her almost a Billion dollars and you mean to tell me that you don’t have enough decency, enough respect to float Kobe Bryant’s mother and father a million dollars? Even if it’s one time.” So, he's advocating in his mind for the powerless, Kobe's parents, who are old and not getting along.
He admits that that there were some issues to this issue as he talked about it a little more. Evidently, Kobe, when he got married, his parents didn't come because they didn't approve of the wedding because she was not black, she was Hispanic, and they didn't want him to marry somebody who wasn't of the same race. So there had been some history here. I know I'm going way deeper into Kobe Bryant than most of you care, but here's what this advocate said then next. He said, here's my other problem with it. Basically, I'm summarizing, but he said, I don't believe that $1,000,000,000 of equity should leave the black community and go to the Hispanic community because of the inequities to the black community and history.
Now, understand what we're talking about here is $1,000,000,000, an individual, and calling it a justice issue. Do you see the hierarchy thinking? And my point is simply this. And that is not that there haven't been systemic issues in our country, not that there aren't times to advocate for a class of people, but in the Bible, advocacy for the powerless is a personal advocacy for somebody you know. It's not simply saying, I'm taking a group dynamic, and I'm saying that's the group that I care about, therefore, I'm feeling good because I'm for this group. There's something else that somebody coined this phrase, and they called it slacktivism. And what they said slacktivism is, is when you feel like you're an activist, but you don't do anything because you post something or say something in support of a group that you don't actually do anything for. Slacktivism.
You see, what happens sometimes is we can feel virtuous because we identify with a group and say I changed my profile picture, so my background says something about this, but we don't actually do anything. We saw this in the last couple of years. People would change their profile pictures to the Ukrainian flag, and that might be a fine thing but if you don't do anything other than change your profile picture, you've shown some support maybe for some victims, but that isn't mishpat. Mishpat is where you actually advocate for people who are powerless in our world. So, justice is deciding fairly and equitably. When you have a choice to make, it's basically advocating for the powerless.
Then there's a third aspect of it that may not be obvious, and that is generosity with our resources. In Job, chapter 31, we see this idea in verses 13 through 17. It says this, “If I have denied justice to any of my servants, whether male or female, when they had a grievance against me, what will I do when God confronts me? What will I answer when called to account? Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers? If I have denied the desires of the poor or let the eyes of the widow grow weary, if I have kept my bread to myself, not sharing it with the fatherless-” Do you hear it? He equates justice with generosity, and that is often how we think about justice.
But here the word mishpat is used to talk about taking our resources and saying I can share them. And so, if you have more resources than you need, part of justice is saying, how are you using them to help other people? Now, clearly, not every time that you can help somebody is it helping somebody. The old story still holds about if somebody is hungry and you give them a fish, and then they're hungry the next day and you give them a fish, and they're hungry the next day, and you give them a fish, and they're hungry the next day, and you give them a fish, sooner or later you're not helping them because you're not letting them learn how to fish. And so, there is a time without any question to say generosity doesn't help. But sometimes that can be used as a way to say I don't need to get involved in anything, and my resources are all just for me.
Bruce Waltke wrote a wonderful commentary on the Book of Proverbs. It says this about justice and righteousness. He says the just person, the righteous person, throughout the Book of Proverbs, he says, is somebody who's willing to disadvantage themselves for the good of the community. But the unrighteous person, the unjust person, is somebody who disadvantages the community for the good of themselves. That’s the difference between justice and a lack of justice in this world.
Now, Bill Mounce, in talking about this in his little word study book, says this about justice. He says, we long for it, and he quotes Isaiah 40, verse 27 to talk about it. And then he says, Jesus brings it, and he references Isaiah 42 verses 1-4. Isaiah 40 says this, “Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God?’“ The context around that is one of longing. He says, there's this universal longing to say, I want to live in a world that's full of goodness, that's full of mishpat, justice.
And you know this is true. You see it in kids. What do kids learn to say early on? Mom, dad, and then mine. Then what do they learn very quickly after that? It's not fair. Why? Because they say, I want to live in a world that's full of justice. I want things to be equitable. I don't want them to be unfair. That's a longing that's in our heart.
Then he says that Bill Mounce points to Isaiah 42 and he says that this is evidence that Jesus will bring justice. Isaiah 42, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” The idea here is that there will be a day when Jesus will bring justice to this earth, that things will be as they should be, that there will not be inequity, there will not be evil, and there will not be issues that make you say, this is not the world the way that it should be.
I mentioned earlier that one of the critiques of the church is that the church doesn't help the world always become better. But what that's caused some people to do is to say, well, I may be part of a church, I may even give a little money to the church, but my real philanthropy goes to other organizations that can help the world be better. But, you know, if everybody who was part of a church acted with their finances in a biblical way, giving the first portion to the church, the church would be able to do a lot more in terms of bringing about justice in this earth. Make no mistake, although the church's past is not perfect and there have been areas in which the church has been complicit with injustice, many of the wrongs of our world have been addressed and addressed thoroughly by the church or Christian people around health care, economic equality, and around race relations. It was the church that often led the way and people who said, we are called to do what is good and to act justly in this world.
But you know what else is true when I say that Jesus will bring justice? Jesus is the embodiment of justice. What do we say? Justice is to be fair, to decide rightly. It is to advocate for the powerless, and it's to be generous. Do you know what Jesus has done? Jesus has judged fairly because the Scriptures teach us that everyone has sinned, and that everyone deserves punishment. That is fairness. But we also know from Romans five that Jesus died for the powerless, those who couldn't do anything for themselves. It was Jesus who said, I am going to step into that gap. It is Jesus who offers in a generous way the share of his identity, his status with anybody who believes in him. And so, it is Jesus who embodies justice and says, if you are to be my follower, this is what God requires, that you would do what is good and you would act justly in this world.
And so, the invitation is to say, what would it look like if I lived a life of justice where I am? And how would that impact the world if I just brought these three elements to bear wherever I could? You know, I don't know where all of us are here today, but I would imagine that some of us are here just kind of saying, well, that's a nice concept, and I still don't know what's right or how this all all works. But know that Jesus will one day bring about justice. That's the hope. He offers justice now when you come and acknowledge your need, powerlessness, and his generosity. You can share in his kingdom here and now.
Let's pray together. God, I ask today that you would help each of us to not just think about justice theoretically but to know what is experientially from Jesus and to live in the reality of what it is, to act justly. We pray this today in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Thanks for being here. Have a great day.
