“Our engagement with the work of justice is no more and no less than an extension of our desire to follow our God and Savior. …if our leaders … teach us about the God of justice, we can, and will follow him in the struggle against injustice…. They will lead us in the authority of the Word of God to know God’s passion for justice, Christ’s compassion for the oppressed, God’s holy condemnation of the sinful abuse of power and his deep desire to rescue the vulnerable. … [they] will show us that God’s plan for seeking justice in the world is to use his people to work acts of love and rescue. …equip us with a hope that will withstand the inevitable trials and suffering that accompany obedience to Christ. [and] …prepare us to be witnesses for Christ’s love and holiness in a hurting world of oppression. Or – they won’t. Some teachers will be so shocked by the unfamiliarity of this God of justice, that they will, like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, return to … worship of a different God – their familiar God of tithes and sacrifices – and neglect the God of the Bible, the God of justice…. Jesus call the teachers and guides of his own people back to their Scriptures, to rediscover this God who had become unknown to them. At least one teacher came secretly to Jesus in the night to learn more (John 3:1-17), but most teachers simply grew angry at the suggestion that they had veered from the God of the Scriptures. They closed their ears to the voice of Christ.” Gary Haugen

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter –
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”
Isaiah 58:6,7

Moving From the Head to the Heart

• It’s possible to be very religious and “close your ears to the voice of Christ.” Could you be missing that voice? Could your pastor?
• Is Isaiah’s theme familiar to you? …in your church?
• Do you believe God wants you to “work acts of love and rescue?”

Abba, help me see you as you really are.

For More: Good News About Injustice by Gary Haugen