What about Justice?

Pastor’s Pen

God is a God of justice and mercy. If either quality is emphasized to the minimizing of the other, we get an unbiblical and distorted picture of what God is like. As Christians we are called to proclaim God’s justice and mercy. At best, these are partial and often misused and misunderstood. But we look forward to the time when we stand before God on Judgment Day and all wrongs will be made right and the partial made whole. A glaring example of injustice was the destruction of our Twin Towers with the death of nearly 3,000 people. Many believe the acquittal of Casey Marie Anthony to be an example of injustice, in the death of her two year old baby, Caley. It is hard to believe that a mother could go partying, get tattoo, and in other ways show a calloused disregard, even relief, in the death of her baby. The only consolation or comfort we can find in such tragedies is the assurance that our God will one great Day make all wrongs right. The day of mercy will be over and God’s justice will prevail. But “today is the day of salvation.” If you have not received God’s mercy in the forgiveness of your sins, ask Him now to come into your heart and life and be your Savior. The claims of justice were all fulfilled at the cross of Calvary. Your sins can be forgiven because justice was paid in full in Jesus’ death, His mercy provided in His resurrection.

Regarding the First Amendment

We live in a society that, in many quarters, has a twisted understanding of the separation of church and state. The establishment clause of the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion…” was never intended to rule God or religion out of the public square. Prayer in Congress and other public domain doesn’t amount to establishment of religion. The amendment does not call for prohibiting reference to God or religion, or prayer. It prohibits the establishment of religion. What is it in the word “establishment” that some of our leaders don’t understand? And the secularists overlook the second clause of this part of the First Amendment, “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” We should be able to exercise our religious beliefs whether we are in Congress, in the oval office, in our schools and courts, and not be limited to our homes and churches. Those who object must do soon on grounds other than the Constitution. The so-called separation of Church and State first seen in a letter of Thomas Jefferson to a New England Baptist Church, should not be construed to the forbidding of all reference to the Deity, and all call to prayer and worship outside the church. It will be a sad day for America if the secularists win the legal aspects of this one, over all religious people.

Cultural War

 We are not being paranoid when we affirm that there is a cultural war in progress, especially an antipathy toward Christianity and Christian values. Imagine the outcry, and violence, that would ensue if certain TV and radio commentators used the name of Mohammed the way they cavalierly use “Jesus Christ”, “for God’s sake”, and other profane uses of our Lord’s name. Atheist and agnostic groups are becoming increasingly vitriolic about the cross that was formed in the ruins of the trade center towers. They insist it must be removed. A battle is going on in a veterans’ cemetery in Texas against using the word “God” or any other word for the Deity. Even when a family requested a ceremony with the word “God” in it, the cemetery administration denied its use. How sordid can people get, to forbid mourners from receiving the only authentic comfort that can be given at a time of the loss of loved ones! Many previously unheard of and unacceptable restrictions have been made in the bogus name of separation of church and state. Someone should inform these objectors that there really is a difference between proper use of the name and concept “God” and the establishment of a particular church.

Good News!

Our biggest, most formidable problem is sin. Not sins, the manifestation, but sin, the orientation.  Not sins, the fruit, but sin, the root.  It is the person-oriented, or centered around self, when one’s chief concern is for “I”, “me”  “my”  “mine”.  It is the attempt (though not expressed outwardly, often not recognized) to be God, to seize his place at the center of life, to take control.  It is essentially self-centeredness, the self-referential life.  Every consideration is how it affects “me”.  Not God, not my Christian brothers and sisters- not the unbelievers around me- not even my family or my spouse- but “me”.  “Okay”, you say, “so what do I do about it?  How can I reorient my life around God and others? “The good news is, you can’t!  Self cannot cast out self.  If you got a measure of success, it would make you proud, and you would say, “See what I have done.”  So there it is again- self-congratulation, control, manipulation.  Why is this good news?  Because it is when we recognize that our own best efforts cannot prevail to change us at the root, the way is open for God to do a genuine inside-out overhaul of you.  Hand the controls over to him.  Tell him you no longer desire to be “boss” of your life.  It may happen suddenly, volcano-like, earthquake-like.  More likely, it will be a gradual but real change.  You will begin to notice a real concern for others, a letting-go of life as you see you don’t have to control it after all.  And what a relief, as you turn the management of the universe over to God!