To be totally honest with you, this has potentially been the hardest sermon that I have
written. Today, we’re diving into what we’ll call “meaningful justice” and it’s no secret that justice is
such a hot topic in culture. And I’m not just talking about the local, national, or even international
news. You see it on yard signs, social media, billboards; or at businesses, sporting events, and
bumper stickers. You may even hear it in your conversations with co-workers, friends, or even
people here at Lakeside. The idea of justice is all around us.
So today as we walk through this idea of meaningful justice, I hope we can approach this
topic with humility, patience, and love. And please know that I am not attacking your specific
passion about or commitment to justice. But I do think that it’s reasonable that we just simply ask
this question: Is the justice that I seek, the same justice that God is seeking?
I think there are some key differences between meaningful justice and some of the justice
we see in today’s world. And I’m thankful that we can use the book of Ecclesiastes to help us see
those differences. I’ve been thankful for this series about living a meaningful life. Though some could
consider the book of Ecclesiastes a depressing book that just speaks to the meaningless of life, I would
argue that, just like the rest of the Bible, this book is just another book that points us into the direction
of Jesus. So to give you a hopeful sneak peek, it shouldn’t be surprising that our view of justice should
do the same. But that’s for later. For now, I think it would make sense to pause and pray. So would you
bow your heads with me.
[Prayer]
Let’s open up Ecclesiastes 3 and we’ll start reading at v. 9. “What does the worker gain from his
struggles? 10 I have seen the task that God has given the children of Adam to keep them occupied. 11
He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but no one can
discover the work God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for them
than to rejoice and enjoy the good life. 13 It is also the gift of God whenever anyone eats, drinks, and
enjoys all his efforts. 14 I know that everything God does will last forever; there is no adding to it or
taking from it. God works so that people will be in awe of him. 15 Whatever is, has already been, and
whatever will be, already is. However, God seeks justice for the persecuted.”
You may not have caught it, but from these five verses, we get one of the most major
elements about meaningful justice. Usually, I’d save the big point for the last one, but I think it’s
important that we hold this element first and understand that everything else about meaningful
justice flows through this. What I’m talking about is that Meaningful Justice is Eternal. I hope this comes
with no surprise to you if you’ve been following along with this meaningful life series. But when we look
at the justice that God seeks and acts upon, it has eternal significance. And that eternal significance is
not just eternally into the future. But that eternal significance is eternally into the past. Often when
we talk about eternity we talk about it with just a future mindset, but there is significance for us
that when we say that meaningful Justice is eternal, we look behind us as well.
The significance that we must hold onto goes all the way back to the beginning of creation
back in Genesis chapter 1. As God created the universe, he repeatedly says that what he created is
good. The Hebrew word for good is “Tov” and we know that this kind of good is deeper than how we
use it today. This “good” this “Tov” was best, it was holy, it was perfect.
Land, sea, animals, and even the creation of man was considered “Tov;” it was perfect. It was
good. And when God created man, he created man “in his image.” A reflection of his glory. In a
perfect relationship with Him.
The thing is, it’s not hard to see that this world is no longer perfect. This world is broken and
dark. I’m sure you’ve felt this weird mixture that there is between seeing good things in this world
with some broken things. Solomon makes a whole list intertwined with this that we read when we
talked about time. (Ecclesiastes 3:2-8)
“a time to give birth and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to uproot;
a time to kill and a time to heal;
a time to tear down and a time to build;
a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance;
a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing;
a time to search and a time to count as lost;
a time to keep and a time to throw away;
a time to tear and a time to sew;
a time to be silent and a time to speak;
a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.
We see the good and the bad. And yet God brings meaning to that by “making everything
appropriate (also translated as “beautiful” in its time.” God does that through meaningful justice
and he does that through you and me. I think it’s important to note that our desire for justice comes
from God. Look at Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has also put eternity in their hearts…” Once again, eternity is
not just future. While it is true that we do have something within us that is chasing God in our future, it
is equally true that we have something within us that is yearning for that perfect and good creation that
was before the fall.
So when we see brokenness in this world, it makes sense that we would have a desire to restore it back
to being “Tov” once more. This actually brings us to the next part of meaningful justice. Meaningful
justice is restorative. There are two different ways that we see meaningful justice as restorative. First, it
brings us back to God himself. And secondly, it brings something broken or oppressed into how it
was originally supposed to be.
Let’s talk about that first one - Restorative Justice brings us back to God. The end of
Ecclesiastes 3:14 says “God works so that people will be in awe of him.” With eternity set in our
hearts, it would make sense that we would do the same. There’s a whole separate sermon to be
preached here about the work of restoring relationships with God from those who’ve turned their
back to him. But I’ll just say this - Jesus’ great commission, his sending of his disciples and us, is an
act of restorative justice to the perfect relationship between man and God that has been broken. It
just might be the biggest act of Justice that we have been called to.
Meaningful Justice is not just about restoring relationships back to God though. Like I said,
the second part of this is restoring something back to its original state of being “good”. Look at the
end of Ecclesiastes 3:15, “God seeks justice for the persecuted.” It's no secret that God cares for
those who are persecuted. I’m reminded of Proverbs 31:8-9, “8 Speak up for those who cannot
speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the
rights of the poor and needy.” and Jeremiah 22 we read, “Rescue the victim of robbery from his
oppressor. Don’t exploit or brutalize the resident alien, the fatherless, or the widow. Don’t shed
innocent blood in this place.” And then in Psalms 146 we read, “The Lord protects resident aliens
and helps the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.” God’s heart seeks
justice for the persecuted. It makes me wonder…do our actions reflect that heart for the justice of the
persecuted and oppressed? When we see brokenness in this world, do we lean into the “eternity within
our hearts” and seek to restore to goodness?
Let me give you an example. When you see someone holding a “homeless, please help” sign,
is your first thought to actually help? Or maybe the opposite, is your first thought to act like you
didn’t even see them and hope the light turns green soon.
A broader example - children in the foster care system who don’t have a home. Have you
ever considered being a foster parent? Providing for a child who for some reason isn’t being
provided for by their own parents? Or do you just assume other people will take care of that?
I’m not saying that after service today you need to stop for everyone on the street asking for
help nor that you need to go sign up to be a foster parent, but I just want us to ask the question, “do
our actions reflect the heart for justice that God has for the persecuted and oppressed?”
Third thing to note about Meaningful Justice is that Meaningful Justice is Selfless. It’s not
filled with pride or power, but it’s led by our desire to restore. Meaningful justice happens when we
look first to the needs of the oppressed without wondering about our own gain. Ecclesiastes 5 says,
“8 If you see oppression of the poor and perversion of justice and righteousness in the province,
don’t be astonished at the situation, because one official protects another official, and higher
officials protect them.” It’s heartbreaking to think that twisted forms of justice keep the oppressed
in oppression and the oppressors in power.
This idea of selfless justice is painted throughout scripture. I think of Jesus’ words in
Matthew 25, “37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed
you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you
in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and
sisters of mine, you did for me.” Or I think of James 1:27 “27 Religion that God our Father accepts as
pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself
from being polluted by the world.”
Nowhere do we read anything about how serving the poor and needy could elevate us in
God’s eyes or give us a better social standing. No, what we see here from God is that the root of
justice is to selflessly restore brokenness and oppression back into how it was intended. Tov. good.
Perfect.
Church it sounds really simple. Meaningful Justice is eternal, restorative, and selfless. But
just because it’s simple, doesn’t mean it’s easy. I’m reminded of the story of Jonah. Jonah was a prophet
whose interaction with God would commonly be to receive some sort of correction and give to the
Israelites. However, this time Joseph's assignment was to take correction to Nineveh. We aren't really
told if there was a specific reason, but Jonah is against the idea of going to Nineveh and sharing the
word with Israel's enemies. So he instead sets sail towards Tarshish. Which would be about 3000 miles
away from Nineveh. For reference, it’s about the same distance from New York City to Los Angeles.
But on his voyage, a huge storm hits and through a crazy series of event, Jonah dives into the
sea, what would usually be certain death. But God saves him…by having a giant fish swallow him
whole. After three days and three nights and repentance from Jonah, the fish spits Jonah out back on
shore. Jonah goes to Nineveh and delivers the message God has given him, (Jonah 3:4) “Forty more
days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
Sounds more like a warning of destruction than an invitation into repentance. And the king's
response surprises Jonah. He issues a decree that led to the people of Nineveh turning from their
wicked ways.
And this makes Jonah upset! He’s so caught up in his anger with his enemies that when an
entire city turns its heart towards God, he can’t handle it! In his anger he even wishes for his own death,
not only the destruction of Nineveh. And God asks him, and I think it’d be quite appropriate that we ask
ourselves… “Is it right for you to be angry?”'
When we seek justice, do we seek it like Jonah, who probably, somewhat rightfully so,
wanted destruction of his enemies. But when they turned to God he couldn’t move past his own
selfish thoughts? Or do we hold the same heart that God holds.
When Jonah is upset here, he is almost annoyed by the Goodness of God. “He prayed to the
Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing
to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in
love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”
Jonah gives us an imperfect look at meaningful justice. He was so close! He shared the
message of God and the people turned to Him, but Jonah missed it.
Thankfully Jonah isn’t the only example of Meaningful Justice in scripture. There are
countless examples of justice in just the Old Testament, but each of them fall short of being a perfect
example of meaningful justice.
For the perfect example, we turn to the end of Jesus’ life. Jesus on the cross is a full display of the
perfect justice we should be seeking. The justice on the cross was eternal. Giving us hope in what’s to
come. The Justice on the cross was restorative. Bridging the gap between a broken and fallen creation
back into a perfect relationship with God. and the justice on the cross was selfless. Jesus’ death was not
for his own pride or power. It was out of his love that he laid down his life for you and for me. This is the
perfect example of meaningful justice. I think the main difference between meaningful justice and
meaningless justice is grace. We often mix this up, but don’t miss this…Grace is not the opposite of
justice. It is its holy partner.
There is grace for the oppressed and grace for the oppressor. “Father forgive them, for they
know not what they do”
I’m not saying that all people will be forgiven. For we know that there are still people who
deny this gift from Jesus and continue in their persecution. But the offer of grace is there.
We remember that grace through the elements of communion.
On the night Jesus was betrayed he was with his disciples and in the middle of the meal
paused and did this with them. He took the bread. And said, “This is my body given for you; do this
in remembrance of me” a foreshadowing for the disciples but a reflection for us. So I invite you. Take
and eat, remember the Meaningful Justice displayed from Christ’s body on the cross. He then took
the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Once
again, a foreshadowing for the disciples but a reflection for us. So I invite you. Take and drink,
remembering the meaningful justice displayed from Christ’s blood on the cross.
Church, be led by this. My prayer is that the justice we seek would be eternal, restorative,
selfless, and full of Grace.