"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie to 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
I recently listened to a sermon by Tim Keller, who is a pastor and author. He spoke about doing justice and mercy. The first half of his sermon was about what that means, and the second half was about why we do justice and mercy. If you want to hear to sermon, you can find it here. Today I wanted to share what stuck out to me in this sermon.
Often times when people do kind deeds, or in the terminology of the sermon, show mercy and justice, it is because they feel guilt or because they want to seem like a good person. However, it is rare to find a person who shows justice and mercy for the sake of others. If there is no benefit or consequence to showing mercy and justice, people tend to shy away from those opportunities. People don't have any good reason to serve justice.
So how should a Christian approach justice and mercy? What compels us to help others? I have said and will continue to say this for as long as live- the cross is the most important part of Christianity. Without the cross, there is no Christianity. Tim Keller said something that spoke to me during his sermon. He said that "the beauty of the cross leads to social justice". The cross is what compels us to show justice and mercy.
Jesus' suffering and death on the cross is the most beautiful picture of mercy and justice. He showed mercy by not giving us what we deserved for our sins. He served justice by bearing the punishment that we deserved for our sin. However, Jesus suffered with no mercy and cruel injustice. The soldiers beat Jesus and mocked Him mercilessly. Pilate unjustly sentenced an innocent Jesus to death on the cross. At the place of the most cruelty and injustice, Jesus showed us mercy and justice.
The cross is so beautiful, and should compel us to mercy and justice. If we deeply accept that Jesus died for us, we should be willing to do the same for others. Jesus showed us the greatest mercy, so we in turn should show mercy to others. Jesus served the greatest justice, so we should serve justice to others. We shouldn't approach justice and mercy as a way to benefit ourselves, but as a way to share the beauty of the cross.
-Smart
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