Whatever is just…

Well, good morning, everybody. My name is René, I'm one of the pastors here at Twin Lakes Church. So there's a reality TV show that I just found out, I don't know why, it's called America's Dumbest Criminals. And these are true stories that reveal that not every criminal is a criminal mastermind. Just to put it mildly. Let me just give you one example of the kind of stories that they talk about. It seems that a man attempted to rob a store, armed only with a baseball bat. Since it was a gun shop, the manager simply trained a gun that he had behind the counter on the would-be robber, keeping him at the crosshairs until authorities arrived.

America's Dumbest Criminals, it's fascinating to me. Here's how popular the show is. It's been on now for 16 seasons. So apparently, there's a never-ending wealth of material for this show. It's in 30 countries, not just in America. The rest of the world likes to see how dumb our criminals are, I guess. And a book based on the show was a New York Times bestseller for four months. I've got a question: why do we love stuff like that? One word, justice, right? We like to see the bad guys caught. And as we'll see today, the Bible actually talks a lot about justice. But with a twist, are you ready to be challenged today? It might surprise you.

How Joyful People Think is the name of our New Year's series. Why are we doing this series? Well, we live in a world where you and I are being fed through our devices and elsewhere constant stories of outrage and anxiety and anger, and predictably this is producing people who are outraged, anxious, and angry. But the good news is you don't have to think like this. The Bible says you can learn to think how joyful people think. And this series is based on a really cool verse in the Bible, Philippians 4:8. Quick recap, this is part of the book of Philippians, which was written by the Apostle Paul in the least joyful, least peaceful setting you could imagine. He is in prison writing this, and yet it's just suffused with a sense of joy and happiness and peace. Why? Well, it's because of how Paul is choosing to see the world around him, even in his dire circumstances.

And he tells us how he chooses to look at the world in Philippians 4:8, our key verse. Let's read this out loud together, all right? Because we're trying to memorize this during this six-week series. Here we go. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. So we're reading this out loud every week. I have a nefarious plan. By the end of this series, you're going to have this memorized just because you've been saying it so much.

This verse is just packed with energy, right? What we've been doing is kind of dissecting this verse and looking at it. And one of the things we did the first week is look at what you might call the power of the divine whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever, anything. Paul keeps repeating this word in this verse. What he's saying is, think about whatever fits into these categories. Whatever is excellent. Whatever is true. It doesn't have to be religious things. Every day is like a treasure hunt for things that fit into these categories. And you can find them everywhere.

As we've seen the first week, we talked about looking for whatever is true. Last week, whatever is noble. If you weren't here for those weeks, watch those on our website, on YouTube, Instagram, wherever, because you can get caught up on these things. And today, we're looking at whatever is right. Other translations render the same Greek word just or righteous. The Bible writers absolutely love this word. Watch this. This is huge. It's in the New Testament over 80 times. It's in the Septuagint, which is the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Hebrew scriptures, over 400 times. That's 480 total times. I don't want you to miss that. This concept is not some minor emphasis in the Bible.

So say 480 times out loud with me. 480. Kind of slap your forehead with disbelief while you say that. 480 times. Try that. 480 times. Exactly. Why do I bring that up? Because if God says something 480 times, I better pay attention. Now, the word is usually translated just. Justice is most frequent. Righteousness, doing the right thing for others. So we got to let go. Wow, the Bible talks about justice 480 times. Now, there is a big obstacle, hurdle, challenge for any pastor doing a message on this. These days, the very word justice is kind of radioactive.

I speak at conferences and churches around the country sometimes, and I was told by one a couple of years ago, "We're telling all our speakers do not talk about biblical justice in your sermons. Don't even say the word justice. It's that toxic. It's that divisive." And I said, "That's kind of a shame because the Bible mentions it how many times again? 480. But I kind of get where they're coming from, right? Because there's a lot of toxic behavior in the name of justice. You see people who call themselves justice warriors ostracizing people, not allowing for redemption, not allowing for nuance, acting morally superior, allowing the ends to justify the means, terrible behavior in the name of justice.

So how can I guard against that? Well, there's the classic verse, Micah 6:8. "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly?" So we do have to live lives of justice, but also love mercy. Your goal is redemption, not retribution. Your goal is to win over your opponent, not to destroy an opponent, love mercy, and walk humbly, not strut self-righteously, right? There's a huge difference between justice and judging. So that one verse solves a lot of problems, but let's dig deeper.

This word deserves a deeper look because it's in there how many times again? You got to be kidding me that many times. Well, let's dive in because there, listen, there's three crucial questions about justice to make sure my emphasis is biblical and I'm doing what God wants me to do, right? And the first question is this: how do I even define justice? My understanding of justice has got to be based not on a cultural trend, not on my emotion, like anger at injustice or guilt about injustice because anything that's motivated by emotion in the long run, it's just not sustainable. It's got to be based on something unchanging, God's character, God's unchanging character.

God is a God of justice, but what does that mean for God? How does God see this whole issue? Well, as I said, I could show you hundreds of verses, but let's look at just a few, like in Psalm 146:7, "He, the Lord, gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The Lord frees the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves those who live justly. The Lord protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and the widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked." This is typical, if you look at every place that the word justice is used to describe God, or just, or righteous, right?

Every single time in the Old Testament, there are four types of people that continually come up over and over and over again: widows, orphans, immigrants, and the poor. Like Deuteronomy 10:18, he defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. It is amazing to see how often God is introduced as the defender of these vulnerable groups, these four groups that were so vulnerable back in the day and still today. As Tim Keller says, "Don't miss the significance of this." It's like when people ask me if I'm speaking somewhere else, "How do you want to be introduced?" And I usually say something like, "Just say René is left for one of the pastors at Twin Lakes Church." Right?

Of course, I'm many other things in my life, but that's the main thing that I spend my time doing in my public life. So do you see how significant it is that the Bible writers, when they introduce God, that they always introduce Him this way, as a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling? It's kind of like this is what's on God's business card over and over again. And listen, it's hard for us to understand how revolutionary this was back in the day. Check this out. There's a Sri Lankan scholar, Vinot Ramachandra, and he's got a great quote. He says this, "In virtually all the ancient cultures of the world, the power of the gods was channeled through and identified with the elites of society, kings, priests, military leaders, never the outcast. The leaders of society was to oppose the gods. But here, in Israel's rival vision, it's not the high-ranking males, but the orphan, the widow, and the stranger with whom Yahweh takes His stand."

The God of the Bible stood out in the ancient world as a God of justice on the side of the poor. And when God came to earth, the incarnate word, Jesus Christ, He literally lived this out, didn't He? Lived with, ate with, taught, made friends with, the socially ostracized, the widows, the prostitutes, the lepers, the tax collectors, the Samaritans, and so on. So what I'm getting at is when Paul says, "Think about whatever is just and righteous," for me that means I think about Jesus and how He lived, and Jesus' followers who lived like this, like Harriet.

Harriet was born into slavery in the American South in 1849. Good news, as a young adult, she escapes. She's free, gets a job in the North. She could have lived her life out safely there, but she is a devout Jesus follower. And she says her Christian faith teaches her to rescue the perishing and fight injustice. So Harriet sneaks back into the South secretly where she could have been captured right back into slavery. Why? To rescue people. She goes back at least 13 times, starts the Underground Railroad. These are just some of the many people she personally rescued from slavery. And her faith was her biggest resource. One reporter said of her, "I never met any person of any color who had more confidence in the voice of God." And I love this. As she led escapees across the border, the first thing she said each time was, "Glory to God and Jesus too, one more soul is safe." That's Harriet Tubman, and that is biblical justice.

Or how about Catherine? When Catherine was just 14 years old in London, England, she began to tell everybody who would listen that alcoholics and the poor deserved help. And this was in the Victorian age when alcoholics were shipped off to insane asylums and the poor to workhouses. And she said, "That's unjust." And her faith motivated her. And as she grew older, she began to preach about this in an age when women were generally not allowed to preach. And they tried to stop her. Except for one guy who said, "I like what you're saying, and I like you. Let's get married and start a ministry together." And they started an army that is still changing the world today, the Salvation Army. That's the story of Catherine Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army. That's biblical justice.

Or how about Pastor Andre Trokmé, the Protestant pastor of a tiny village in France called Les Chambon. During World War II, when Jews were desperately fleeing the Nazis, Pastor Trokmé, I mean, this is an out of the way tiny little hamlet. What could they do about world events, right? So he secretly holds an emergency meeting at his church of the whole village, and he says, "The Bible makes it clear we are to help. But this is not going to work until our entire village agrees." Everybody here, Christian, atheist, whatever, we've all got to agree that we're going to do what we can to save the Jews. And every person said, "We're in." And this tiny village helped at least, by actual count, 5,000 people escape the Nazis. 5,000.

When Paul says, "Think about whatever is just," these are some of my whatevers. People like this, "Who are yours?" It's inspiring to think this way because often when we say, when we think, "Yeah, I've got to think about justice," what we're actually doing is stewing about injustice. And that just makes us angry. Paul says, "No, think about the righteous. Think about the justice and celebrate them." These are people who reflect God's character. And this begins to answer the second question, "Where do I focus my justice efforts?" Well, the marginalized, right? Marginalized people in society.

So check this out. There's a famous historian, Tom Holland. He hosts one of the top podcasts in the world right now called "The Rest is History." And he says, when he was a kid, he loved dinosaurs, right? And then when he became a scholar, he was an expert in ancient Rome, which he says was not much of a stretch because the Romans were like the Tyrannosaurus Rexes of the ancient world. Watch this. He says, "The heroes of old golden and predatory had scorned the weak and downtrodden. The starving deserved no sympathy. Beggars were best rounded up and deported." That was the culture in ancient Rome. But a small group started to emerge. Christians, and they were different. And they said, "Here are our marching orders. This is what the Lord Almighty said. 'Administre true—" what? Justice. That's one of those 480 times. "Show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless or the foreigner or the poor." There's those same four groups that are mentioned over and over again.

And Tom Holland says, "This is what brought him back to the church." And why he's a Christian, the realization that anything that we call equal rights in Western society has its origin in the Bible. Not any place else. It's not found any place else in the ancient world. Now, to be honest, I did not see a lot of verses like this growing up in my church. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention. I left my childhood church when I was 17 years old, so it's very possible that in my adolescence I just wasn't hearing it. But mostly what I heard was, "Jesus Christ died on the cross to save our souls." Now, that's totally true. And that changed my life. And I heard, "And God is going to take care of all the suffering on earth one day in the future." And that's also totally true, and that gives me hope. But somehow what God communicated to me was, "So that's not our job." Somehow I missed, "God says it's our job." Like 480 times, in the meantime, like Proverbs 31:8, "ensure justice for those being crushed." Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless. See that they get justice.

There's one verse doing double duty. Two of those 480 times. Jeremiah 22, "This is what the Lord says, 'Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hands of the oppressor the one who's been robbed.'" So, you know, criminal justice. "Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place." And I have to say, early Christians lived this out, rescuing unwanted babies, treating plague victims. Early Christians started the world's first hospitals, the world's first orphanages. They were motivated, even though they absolutely believed, "Jesus is my Savior, and God's... He's going to return and make all things right." They were motivated to do something now, because there's something you might have noticed, in all of these verses. Their commands to you and me, personally.

And exactly how all this might translate to public policy, that's open for debate. What's undeniable is, these are commands to you and me as people. See, the biggest obstacle to justice is this attitude. "Somebody ought to do something." Yeah, I mean, this is not right. Somebody's got to do something about this. Those judges, or the police, or lawmakers got to make some rules, or God's got it. Somebody's got to do something. Right? Pushing it up the ladder. Somebody up there has got to do something. That's not what Pastor Andre Trokme said. That's not what Harriet Tubman said. That's not what Catherine Booth said. Because they knew God says, "You can do something."

Now, this could seem absolutely overwhelming because there's so much injustice in the world. But let's just do the math. There's about eight billion people in the world, they say. 2.4 billion of those identify as Christian. That's a lot. So imagine if each one just chose one area in which to do justice. Obviously, we can't cure every ill, but if each one of us just chose one area to focus on, don't be overwhelmed by all the choices. Imagine the impact it would make. You know who taught me this lesson years and years ago? A six-year-old named Travis Busey. Some of you remember Travis. Travis was sitting here in church one Sunday when I said, "Hey, let's try to raise a million pounds of food for Second Harvest Food Bank. We've never done that before." And this captures Travis's imagination.

And that Sunday afternoon, he's busy in his room and he tells his mom, "I want to go to all the houses in the neighborhood and sell these paper kites that I've been making and give the money to the food bank. They weren't even flyable kites." And his mom, Katrina, told me later, "She didn't want to go around to the neighbors and say, 'Would you like to buy these pieces of paper?'" But Travis insists, "So door to door they go." He sells all his kites. Katrina thinks, "Well, at least that's over. Next day, Travis makes more kites." Says, "Let's go out again. Next day, he makes more." So I found this pretty funny and inspiring. So the next week, I introduced Travis to a citywide rally full of civic leaders and politicians. I told his story to them. And as you can see, he grabs my mic. And he says, "I brought some kites to sell to you all today, six years old." And after the meeting, a wide-eyed Travis is overwhelmed by sales orders.

You know what? He himself raised hundreds of dollars as a kindergartner with no money. Just pieces of paper and some scotch tape. And people here at TLC got so inspired that within only three weeks, we raised enough for 1,200,000 meals. That was the first year we had ever gone over a million. And it all started with a six-year-old boy setting it in motion. You see, that's one person choosing one thing. And as you saw in all those verses, feeding the hungry is like one of the big four for God. Here's another example. Dr. V.G. Kamoff raised in India. Not a believer in Jesus Christ growing up. She came to faith at UC Berkeley when she came over to the States to study for her doctorate. Married a guy here, and she lives up there now in Berkeley.

After the deadly tsunami in South India years ago, she decides she's going to choose her one thing. She's going to start a children's home in South India called Little Flock. And TLC supported her from day one. I've been there several times. We send a team from our church there every year to help out. In fact, the next team leaves this week. Well, one year, our team was there when this little girl, Pavithra, arrives at the gates. She's just three years old. Pavithra had been abandoned by her birth parents, and then another couple adopted her, and then they both died. And then this man and his wife adopted her, and then his wife died. And to find work, he had to travel hundreds of miles, and her childcare fell apart while he was away. And she was left completely alone living outdoors like a feral animal scavenging for food, and she was only three.

And he walks in, tears streaming down his face, and he says, "Please take care of my girl. I can't do it." When Pavithra came into the orphanage, she never made eye contact, never smiled, never spoke. When our team returned, one year later, Pavithra had totally changed, smiling, laughing, dancing. And it gets better. I just got an email from V.G. last month. Pavithra has just finished her degree in medical assistance. She has a job with a doctor. She's engaged to be married, and she is now choosing her one thing, caring for the poor and sick through medicine. And this transformation gets repeated in life after life after life at Little Flock. That is biblical justice, isn't it? Caring for the orphan and the poor. And this all got started because one person chose one thing.

And you're going to be inspired. You know, Paul says, think about whatever is just. Think about these people who are doing this justice and righteousness in the world. You're going to get a chance at World Outreach Week. As Mark said, we're going to have 16 people, including V.G. here. You're just going to be so inspired by their stories. This is how joyful people think. It's motivating. Now, maybe you're thinking, okay, how can I get involved? I'm so glad you asked. If you flip your notes over and you look on the back page, there's just a sample list of some of TLC's justice ministries, and there's many, many more.

You know, under poverty and hunger, of course, we've got people's pantry. And justice, it doesn't have to be some dramatic act. Laurie and I get a little bit extra when we go grocery shopping often. And when we come to church, it's our tradition to just have a couple of bags of groceries that we bring and put in the people's pantry barrels, because when you're giving food, biblically speaking, that's not charity, it's justice. Little daily acts of justice. Ministry to the unhoused on the list. Did you know that we have portable shower units, portable laundry units on a trailer, and we could use help with those as well? The TLC hospital visitation team visiting the sick and the poor. Prison ministry, many, many more on this list. And then our Hope Center, right? Breaking ground around Easter, Lord willing, is centered around justice.

So how do I define justice? Well, God's character, right? How do I focus justice, the marginalized people around me? But there's a real danger, and that's why we need point three: how am I empowered for justice? To be sustainable, to not get burned out, to not get bitter. It's got to come from one place. It has to be grounded in your faith in Christ. Faith in Christ. Now let me explain. I see two errors in justice seekers. The idea that it's all up to me, or it's all up to God. Both are wrong, and both can lead to hard hearts. Both can lead to arrogance. Both can lead to burnout.

Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and he had a lot to say about this. This week I was blown away by a sermon of his that I found on the Stanford University website, and by how current this still is. I probably wouldn't agree with every aspect of his theology, but on this and many other things he preached it right. It's kind of long, but it is so worth it. Are you ready for this? You're going to open your ears to this? Listen to this. He says, "Man by his own power can never cast evil out of the world. The humanist's hope is an illusion. It's based on too great an optimism concerning the inherent goodness of human nature. There are thousands of sincere and dedicated people outside the churches working unselfishly through various humanitarian movements to cure the world of its social evils. And I would be the last to condemn these people, because they have not yet found their way to God. But so many of these dedicated people, having no one but themselves to save others, end up disillusioned and pessimistic.

They're disillusioned because they started out with a great illusion. For them there is no sinner or no sin. Human nature is essentially good, and the only evil is found in systems and institutions, just enlightened people and free them from the crippling yoke of poverty, and they will save themselves. All of this sounds wonderful and pleasant, but it is an illusion. The other error concerning the way evil is to be removed from the world says that man must wait on God to do everything. And it sees the Christian gospel is only concerned with the individual soul. This one-sided emphasis overlooks the fact that the gospel deals with the whole man, his body as well as his soul. And this view ends up with such a pessimism that it leads man little more than a helpless worm crawling through the morass of an evil world.

As long as we believe this, we will pray unanswerable prayers. Justice is a real possibility in this nation and in the world, but it will not come by our frail and often misguided efforts alone. Neither will it come by a God who imposes his will. But when we open the door and invite Christ to enter, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will suck with him and he with me. God is too courteous to break open the door, but when we open it in faith, believing, a divine human confrontation will transform our sin-ruined lives into radiant personalities. This is the only way to be delivered from the accumulated weight of evil. It can only be done when we allow the power of God to be let loose in our souls. A man filled with God and God operating through man will bring unbelievable changes in our individual and social lives.

So it is by faith that we are saved. Yes, even social salvation can only come through faith, man's willing acceptance of God's mighty gift. Do I hear an amen from this church this morning? I'll close with this. We've been talking about the oppressed, the imprisoned, the poor. But maybe that's you this morning. Maybe you've been oppressed by sin, risen by guilt and shame, poor in spirit today. Jesus can give you a new life, forgive your sin, and then give you a life of purpose. Where you choose one thing and you move out as his agent of justice, instead of just nursing your fears or satisfying your wants, doesn't that sound good? It's available to you.

So I'll close the way Dr. King closed that sermon. He said, "God has made his free offer through Jesus Christ. If anyone is in Christ," says Paul, "he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come." You can have a new life. All that remains is for you to accept his offer and bring righteousness to your soul. So let's pray together. Would you bow your head with me? If that is what you want, I invite you to pray this in your heart with me. Lord, I don't understand all of this, but what I do understand, I'm really drawn to, and I want to be part of it. I'm opening that door right now to you, Lord Jesus. Thank you for bearing the weight of the world's sin on the cross so that I can be forgiven and made new. I surrender to your will for my life.

And, Lord, we also want to pray for people in the very communities mentioned in the Scripture today. We pray right now for the fatherless and the widows in this church. We pray for the immigrant and foreigner in our congregation, many of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Give them strength. And in all of these areas, let us not say somebody should do something, but say, "Well, I can do something." Empower us, Lord. And, Lord, I'm so grateful for the many, many people at Twin Lakes Church who already serve so faithfully in ministries like this. Empower them, God, to continue. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.