My readers may be asking at this
point why we are calling private giving to the poor “justice”. Some Christians believe that justice is
strictly mishpat – the punishment of
wrongdoing, period. This does not mean
that they think that believers should be indifferent to the plight of the poor,
but they would insist that helping the needy through generous giving should be
called mercy, compassion or charity, not justice. In English, however, the word “charity”
conveys a good but optional activity.
Charity cannot be a requirement, for then it would not be charity. But this view does not fit in with the
strength or balance of the biblical teaching.
In the Scripture, gifts to the poor
are called “acts of righteousness,” as in Matthew 6:1-2. Not giving generously, then, is not
stinginess, but unrighteousness, a violation of God’s law. Also, we looked at Job’s description of all
the things he was doing in order to live a just and righteous life in Job
31. He calls every failure to help the
poor a sin, offensive to God’s splendor (verse 23) and deserving of judgment
and punishment (verse 28). Remarkably,
Job is asserting that it would be a sin against God to think of his goods as
belonging to himself alone. To not
“share his bread” and his assets with the poor would be unrighteousness, a sin
against God, and therefore, by definition, a violation of God’s justice.
Indeed, as Keller points out, the word tzadegah, righteousness, is used throughout the Scriptures to
describe not so much personal piety, but social justice.
Throughout these ten weeks of our series “The
Signature of Jesus”, we have examined what doing justice, loving kindness, and
walking humbly with God looks like. And
this week is no exception. In a message
entitled, “Love for the City”, based on Acts 11:19-30, we will move beyond
Jerusalem and Damascus to see believers in Antioch living righteously. But it’s not without a clear Lucan
juxtaposition between those believers who hold on to past prejudice and those
that don’t.
Interestingly, Antioch, the capital of the Roman controlled
region of Syria, some 350 miles from Jerusalem, is the place where believers
are first called “Christians”. And who
is it who names them that? It’s not the
church itself – it’s the watching world.
And what is it that prompts the world to give believers in
Jesus Christ that moniker? It’s the
clear and present reality of the Signature of Jesus.
In preparation for Sunday’s message you may wish to consider
the following:
1. What
is the man referring to when he says, “What gives the teaching of Jesus its
power? What distinguishes it from the Koran,
the teachings of Buddha, or the wisdom of Confucius?
2. Can
you think of any recent examples from your life at the present “risenness of Jesus Christ”?
3. How
sufficient is it to say that God the Father let His Son die on the cross?
4. John
Stott once said, “I could never believe in God if it wasn’t for the cross. In a world of pain how could anyone worship a
God who was immune to it?” What does he
mean?
5. What
is Jesus telling us in Matthew 25 when He says, “Truly, I say to you, as you
did it to the least of these my bothers, you did it to me.”
6. What
is sad about Luke’s description of the “dispersed church” in verse 19?
7. What
does he mean in verse 21 when he says, “The hand of the Lord was with
them”? With whom? How?
8. Why
send Barnabas to Antioch?
9. What
does the name Christian mean? How does
it fit the Antiochian church?
10. How
is the beauty of God the only adequate resource to draw you and me away from
ourselves and our interests to serve others?
See you Sunday!
