Looking For Justice In An Unfair World

A lesson about prayer teaches us about God's character.

Luke 18:1-8 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.

2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’

4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

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Jesus wanted to teach his disciples some more about prayer, he had already granted their request to learn how to pray in Luke 11:1-4 when he gave them what we call "The Lord's Prayer." This time around he wanted to teach them about the longevity of prayer and the nature of the person that we are praying to.

In Jesus lesson about praying, he talks about the persistence that may be required before getting an answer and he talks about seeking justice from God for the wrongs that are committed against us.

Our God loves justice

Job 34:12 Truly, God will not do wrong. The Almighty will not twist justice.
Psalm 99:4 Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established fairness. You have acted with justice and righteousness throughout Israel.

Jesus told his disciples that they should be faithful in prayer, doing it always without giving up, just like a nagging woman that won't stop. The judge in the story made it clear that he didn't play favorites and that he was fair with everybody. That's how it is with God, he is our impartial judge and he will bring justice, it is a part of his nature that cannot be changed.

We may have to pray for a long time about the same injustice but we can have hope in the fact that God is just and he will eventually make everything right in this world. No wrong will go without punishment except for the wrongs that have been forgiven by Jesus blood.

God wants us to be just

Zechariah 7:9 “This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. 10 Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other.

The world that we live in is a very unfair place, things happen everyday to people that don't deserve it and other people get away with stuff that they shouldn't have. God wants us to seek justice but it is something that we should seek for others more than for ourselves.

Mercy and kindness should rule in our lives and we should strive to treat other people fairly. Throughout the Bible we find the message from God to deny ourselves, treat each other fairly and help out everybody that you can, we should let our heavenly father be the just judge that he is and let him deal with the wrongs that are made against us. 

God's justice is:

• Impartial - 1 Peter 1:17
• Infallible - Hebrews 4:13
• Inescapable - Romans 2:3
• In Christ - Romans 3:25-26

I need to be nice at all times, at home, at work and in traffic between those two places. Help me to be forgiving.

Help me Lord to reverse the trend of society by helping others and being nice in this world that needs a lot more niceness. Help me to pray without ceasing for all of my needs.

Using Your Money Wisely

Don't try to hog it all for yourself.

Luke 16:9-13 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.

10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?"

13 “No one can serve two masters.For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

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Just about everybody loves money, some love to save it but most people love to spend it. In today's verses Jesus tells us that our allegiance to money and our faith in what it can do for us is at odds with our faith in God. God tells us to use our money for his purposes.

Jesus told a parable about a dishonest manager that is a little bit confusing, after-all isn't honesty the best policy, that's what I was always told. We need to realize that the dishonesty wasn't the point of the story.

Proverbs 23:4-5 Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit. 5 In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle.

Jesus explains that the point of the story is that the manager used the money to benefit other people so that later they would recall his kindness and they would help him out. Jesus told us that unbelievers typically deal financially with each other so that they will win friends, whereas the believers often fail to use their financial resources to win people to faith, who will become their friends forever in heaven. The world tells us to use people to get money but Jesus says that people matter more than money and that we should use money to get more people.

We all have resources that we use everyday, the problem is that we usually use them for our own immediate satisfaction, we normally think of using our resources for our own benefit and we neglect to use them for the benefit of others or in order to advance God's kingdom.

Loving my money is a huge mistake and I will be severely disappointed when it disappears, but the friends that we win for Christ will be our friends forever, they will become part of the treasure that we are supposed to be storing up in heaven. (Luke 12:33-34)

How Generous Will I Be

The good Samaritan's charity presents the innkeeper with a choice.

Luke 10:34-35  Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him.

35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’

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My previous post was the parable of the good Samaritan, we looked at the story the way that it has always been viewed with the focus on the Samaritan. While I was working on the post it occurred to me that I have never heard anyone talk about the innkeeper.

It dawned on me that the innkeeper has been given an opportunity, the Samaritan has begun a good work and he has asked the Jewish innkeeper to complete the rehab on the injured man and after promising to repay him for his expenses, the Samaritan leaves. We don't know what the innkeeper did but we do know that he has options, he can take care of the Jew that was beaten or he can take the money from the Samaritan and do nothing.

If he decides to care for the man, the innkeeper could:

• Keep a running tab of every single expense, he could be honest but legalistic about everything that it cost him. 
• Be a thief and inflate the bill, he could make it look like the guy received the best care and that he was living in luxury.
• Be like the Samaritan man and practice generosity as well.

The innkeeper could have looked out for himself and padded his own pockets as his reward for being bothered with this guy or he could be as kind as the good Samaritan was and help without any restrictions.

God wants me to be honest and to be generous in love and mercy, I need to be aware of the opportunities that come my way everyday.

Choose To Be Generous

When we see bad things happen it's an opportunity for generosity to shine through us.

Luke 10:30-37 Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. 

31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. 33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 

34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’ 

36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. 37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

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Jesus is still talking with the religious leader from yesterdays post that asked him what the most important command is. Jesus told him that he needs to love God and love his neighbor and then he asked Jesus a follow up question, "Who is my neighbor?" It sounds like this guy's question that he really wants to know is, "How small of a group of people do I have to be generous to?"

Jesus answers the question with a story that, like all good stories, included a crisis situation and a hero. There were three men that were presented with the opportunity to prove their compassion, two of them should have been friendly by the world's standards but they were not, and then there was the one that could have easily justified why he didn't help but instead he was the one that did.

All of them came across the same exact circumstances and they all made a decision. Two of them were very religious people, these two choose to take the easy way out and step away from the guy that was hurt, imagine being this guy and looking up and seeing your pastor and one of your deacons go walking by without giving you any help, it would definitely be time to go to a different church.  

The third guy which happened to be a Samaritan allowed his trip to be delayed, took the risk of being attacked by the same bandits and he gave up some of his belongings to administer first aid. He was generous in giving of his treasure and time and he did it for somebody that he wasn't even friends with, the Samaritans and the Jews were enemies, Jesus really proved his point in this parable by having the nice guy be the Samaritan.  

We need to love across borders and social boundaries, there shouldn't be any limitations on who we will go to and give generously, I am not too good that I shouldn't assist anybody that I can help. Jesus modeled the highest level of generosity for us:

2 Corinthians 8:9  You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor

Generosity is a quality that a Christ follower must have, Christ example to us makes it clear, he came to earth and gave generously everyday. I need to follow his example and be more compassionate and generous daily.

Lord, help me to be less selfish and think of others I need to meet some needs today.

The Golden Rule

God loves us and expects our response to be love for him and our neighbors.

Luke 10:25-28  One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” 27 The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”

1 John 4:7-12  Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

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The rule keepers had a question for Jesus, they always had questions to throw at him, they were trying to get him to say something that they could use against him. Imagine having the most awesome teacher in the world standing right in front of you and instead of asking a really sincere  question, truly wanting to know what his answer is, instead you show disrespect for the teacher and what he has to say.

The Pharisees came to Jesus with questions that were designed to build a case against him, this guy knew what the law said (Dt 6:5, Lv 19:18) and he was smart enough that he probably already knew the answer to his own question. He didn't know it but he had asked the most important question that we that we all need to know the answer to.

It's easy to summarize all of the Old Testament laws with Jesus statement to love God and love your fellow man. Such a simple rule and yet the religious leaders are still burdening the people with a long list of requirements.

God is the source of love, imagine what this world would look like without love, if God had never given us love we would be living a desperate, sad existence. We must not withhold love from everyone around us! If we are truly grateful for what has been done for us then we will not be able to refrain from showing his love to everyone that we can.

Help us Lord to love you more and to show it by loving others.

You might like to read:
Are You God's Friend   //  I Am Loved Unconditionally  //  We Love Because He First Loved Us

Bring in the Poor

Works of charity are better than works of showing off.

 Luke 14:12-14  Then He turned to His host. "When you put on a luncheon or a banquet," He said, "don't invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward.  13  Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.  14  Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you."

Proverbs 14:31  Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but helping the poor honors Him.

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What an awkward situation we have here. Jesus is at a rich leader of the Pharisees home for dinner and he lets the guy know that he shouldn't invite all of his rich friends to the banquet but rather he should have invited "the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind."

There is no doubt that Jesus was the only poor man there, this religious group still didn't get it when Jesus told them:

Matthew 9:13  Then He added, "Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: 'I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.' For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners."

If we spend too much of our time planning activities with our friends and with those that have the power to help us get ahead, then we will not be focused on the desire of Jesus for us and we will have no interest in helping others.

Help me Lord to always be focused on what is important to you, help me to be a friend to those that are in need, showing the same compassion that you have for them.

You might like to read: Commands of Jesus blog series.

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