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[39.70 --> 46.58] that God intends for us to live. The result out of idol worshiping and having idols as our masters |
[46.58 --> 52.52] are terrible masters, but when we worship them as masters, the result out of those are words like |
[52.52 --> 60.68] anxiety that we talked about, fear, worry, exhaustion. And then today, we get to focus in on injustice |
[60.68 --> 68.40] as one of the bad fruits out of idol worshiping. And something about justice, you know what I mean? |
[68.94 --> 74.88] Like, we all have this desire to make something right again. And one way that it reflects in our |
[74.88 --> 81.82] culture today, in our, yeah, in our generation, I should say, is watching those instant karma videos. |
[82.22 --> 87.68] You know what I'm talking about? I confess, I spent way too much time on this, so this is |
[87.68 --> 94.26] an honest confession moment. But those instant karma videos on YouTube or social media, wherever you see |
[94.26 --> 100.98] memes and stuff. For example, you have like reckless drivers, you know, and they're just being reckless, |
[100.98 --> 105.34] they're tailgating, or they're causing a havoc on the road, and as soon as they pass a car, |
[105.58 --> 112.44] they get pulled over by a cop. And you go, yes, satisfaction. And there are countless videos of |
[112.44 --> 118.88] those, and you get really, really pulled into it. I think it speaks into that sort of instinct that we |
[118.88 --> 127.22] have, that sort of gut feeling of wanting to set things right, wanting to seek justice. But that's not |
[127.22 --> 132.10] bad in itself, obviously. We all want justice, right? We're made in the image of God, and that's how we |
[132.10 --> 141.44] were created. But the problem is, is that we often want just our standard of justice. My own standard of |
[141.44 --> 146.72] justice, what it looks like, or at least just the group of people that think like me, however we think |
[146.72 --> 154.40] justice should look like. But as Christians, at the very least, we are called to be humble enough |
[154.40 --> 161.96] to see and hear others' opinions and ideas, even if they are different. Better yet, especially if |
[161.96 --> 169.18] they're different, we should be humble enough to hear them out. Because in our culture of self-rule, |
[169.56 --> 176.18] of defining our own moral standards and what justice even looks like, we as the people of God are called |
[176.18 --> 184.34] to live under God's rule, under God's standard of justice and love. You know, and to be fair, that's |
[184.34 --> 190.76] hard to discern many of the times. What is justice? What does God want for us in this situation? |
[192.00 --> 199.04] But that is our goal, and that is our hope, that is our foundation that we try to live out in our day-to-day |
[199.04 --> 204.72] lives. And it requires, again, that humility piece, to know we don't have all the answers, |
[204.72 --> 210.94] to judge between right and wrong, that belongs in God's hands. And so with that in mind, |
[211.58 --> 217.50] turn with me to the Gospel of Mark this morning, and we get to see the heart of the Father expressed |
[217.50 --> 224.18] through Jesus' passion at the temple. Mark 11, verse 15, we start reading, |
[224.64 --> 229.78] On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying |
[229.78 --> 235.16] and selling there in the temple. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of |
[235.16 --> 240.40] those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. |
[240.98 --> 248.40] And as he taught them, he said, Is it not written, My house, God's house, will be called a house of |
[248.40 --> 255.98] prayer for all nations, but you have made it into den of robbers. So the chief priests and the teachers of |
[255.98 --> 261.30] the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole |
[261.30 --> 269.62] crowd was amazed at his teaching. This is the word of the Lord. So in the clearing of the temple courts |
[269.62 --> 275.96] that we just read, Jesus displays righteous anger. That's how we commonly put it, righteous anger. |
[276.74 --> 283.08] What he does here is that he reveals to us the heart of the Father. The heart of the Father, you can see |
[283.08 --> 287.66] and trace it all throughout the Old Testament, not just the New Testament, through Jesus, right? |
[287.84 --> 296.22] Pulling from Micah. What God wants for his people is to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly |
[296.22 --> 303.22] with God himself, right? That's our calling. That's what God wants for his people. Again, living under his |
[303.22 --> 312.66] rule and his ultimate standard of justice and love. And one stark example of human rule versus God's rule |
[312.66 --> 317.90] that we can trace throughout history, I was reminded of this. So reflecting on justice and what it means. |
[318.36 --> 322.88] And then Moon and I watched the movie. Actually, we didn't finish it because it was just, it was a bad |
[322.88 --> 331.88] movie. It's a Korean movie, but it was based on a true, based on true events of how Koreans were |
[331.88 --> 339.28] identified by their status. And we still are to some point. But the main character of the story is the |
[339.28 --> 346.50] child of a slave. And so he was born into his status, and he had no choice but to live as a slave. |
[346.62 --> 352.22] And it's a story of how he's trying to fight that, fight the injustice, right? Too much gore fighting it, |
[352.30 --> 357.52] but that's what he's trying to fight, the injustice that was happening. And then, as I was doing research |
[357.52 --> 364.06] for the sermon, I read how even the Greek philosopher Aristotle, he taught that some people were just |
[364.06 --> 371.68] simply born to be slaves. That's their fate. That's their destiny. We see that same thing in the caste |
[371.68 --> 377.04] system in India, right? That's what it's based on. If you're born into a certain caste, a class, |
[377.20 --> 383.38] that's where you belong. Don't try to get out of it. You were born that way. And unfortunately, |
[383.70 --> 389.60] that's the part of, that's the human logic that's behind us justifying slave training, |
[389.60 --> 396.20] like we heard about today. But even in a big part of Western history, right? That's the logic. |
[396.84 --> 401.34] Some people are just born to be slaves, so it's fair for us to just treat them that way. |
[402.62 --> 407.94] That's the injustice. That's a blatant example of human rule versus God's rule. |
[409.18 --> 414.92] Now, you can say that that's maybe a little bit easy, that's easier to discern than some of the other |
[414.92 --> 421.32] injustices that are happening. Because we don't have anything like racism or poverty or wars and |
[421.32 --> 429.40] violence or broken policies and systems today, right? At least not in Canada. Now, we all know that |
[429.40 --> 435.76] that's not true. No. And as the pastor and writer Tim Keller, Timothy Keller says, reflecting on the |
[435.76 --> 442.06] reality of injustice in the world, he says that the default mode of the human heart is to label some |
[442.06 --> 449.06] people as, quote-unquote, barbarians. Just like in the past, it's the same thing today, just expressed |
[449.06 --> 455.38] in different ways. And this, what Tim Keller is trying to speak into, is the sinful nature that the Bible |
[455.38 --> 463.36] tells us. Sinful nature that we all are affected by. Because at the heart of it, justice is also a |
[463.36 --> 469.82] relationship issue. That's where it all stems from. That's the sinful nature, as I mentioned. You can see |
[469.82 --> 473.76] it all the way from the beginning. The first brothers that are mentioned in the Bible, Cain and Abel, |
[474.32 --> 481.10] it ends up in broken relationship because of sin, because of that tainted heart. And it ends up to |
[481.10 --> 489.30] the act of injustice to the point of murder. I'm trying to point us to the real problem, because you can |
[489.30 --> 495.94] treat the symptoms. And we should do all we can to treat the symptoms that come out of our lack of |
[495.94 --> 503.72] justice. But we do have to talk about the heart of it. What's the actual cause of injustice? Broken |
[503.72 --> 512.16] relationship. What's the cause of that? Sin. A rebellion against God. Because our God is just. He is a God of |
[512.16 --> 519.32] justice. And he calls us to do the same. He is a God who is all-loving. And in that way, in the picture of |
[519.32 --> 527.62] shalom, in perfection, in harmony, that's the way he created the whole world. That's how he created the |
[527.62 --> 534.06] world. And he called it good. And he said it was very good after he was finished. But when rebellion |
[534.06 --> 540.44] against his right rule tainted the good world, that justice and love also broke apart. That loving, |
[540.60 --> 546.48] harmonious relationship between us and God, with ourselves, with each other, and with the rest of |
[546.48 --> 553.82] creation has broken apart. And I mention this because that's how we want to define justice, |
[554.50 --> 562.72] based on God's Word. Justice, then, is the restoration of that brokenness. Wherever there is |
[562.72 --> 570.76] broken relationships, that's where we want to seek justice and harmony again. So right relationship. |
[571.76 --> 575.52] You know, the biblical word for right relationship is actually righteousness, not justice. |
[575.52 --> 583.12] But those two words go hand in hand. Justice, mishpat, and righteousness, sadika. They are |
[583.12 --> 590.86] like married words. You can't separate those words in the Bible. So justice is seeking right relationship |
[590.86 --> 599.04] and vice versa. So that's the good news for us, hope. God is on a mission to restore that justice again, |
[599.04 --> 606.60] that shalom again. And you know what? The good news is, it's already done. Through the death and |
[606.60 --> 612.98] resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord, that mission is already completed. The already not yet is what we |
[612.98 --> 618.82] call the kingdom. Because it's already accomplished by the work of Jesus. And we get to have glimpses in |
[618.82 --> 626.18] the not yet right now. And so we, as the people redeemed by the grace of the Father, through the |
[626.18 --> 631.52] self-sacrificial love of the Son, and now through the guidance and equipping of the Holy Spirit, |
[631.90 --> 640.64] we get the privilege. We get the gift of living justly, of living in God's standard of justice and love. |
[640.64 --> 648.92] Again, not easy, but that's our hope, and that is our goal. We get to. It's a gift. We get to love |
[648.92 --> 656.70] and live justly. So in our passage today, that's what Jesus is reflecting. He shows for us the Father's |
[656.70 --> 663.68] passion and heart for this restoration, for justice. And this fiery display of justice is recorded in all |
[663.68 --> 669.72] four Gospels. That just tells you that this is very important. All four Gospel accounts record this |
[669.72 --> 678.10] because where does this event actually happen? It happens in the temple of God, in the house of God, |
[678.20 --> 684.68] where it's supposed to be the place where the whole world was supposed to be invited in to witness |
[684.68 --> 693.42] that just kingdom of God, that restoration of shalom. That's the place this injustice happens. |
[693.86 --> 699.60] That's the biggest of ironies at this point. Quoting two Old Testament prophets, Jesus says, |
[699.72 --> 707.52] that my house, so God's house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. This is from Isaiah, right? |
[707.62 --> 712.26] This reflects that vision where all the nations are supposed to flood in and witness to the goodness |
[712.26 --> 718.98] of God's kingdom. But then this is the exact place where the priests took it and exploited the people |
[718.98 --> 724.24] who were coming to worship because they have made it, as Jesus says, quoting another prophet Jeremiah, |
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