CAPTIVATED BY GOD’S PASSION FOR JUSTICE

God has a passion for justice – of that there is no doubt. Isaiah (42:4) prophesies that “God will not falter or be discouraged until he establishes justice on earth.”

The word justice however has broad connotations. In our culture we have a good understanding of retributive justice – that punishes moral wrongdoings that are legally defined as crimes. So when a wrong has been committed like a theft or a murder, there is a collective sigh of relief when the perpetrator is brought to justice.

We also understand social justice – which has to do with the distribution of wealth and power. To “do justice” in this sense is to do such things as feed the hungry, clothe the naked and protect the powerless.
While both retributive and social justice are prominent themes throughout the scriptures, Biblical justice goes beyond these categorizations to offer a much broader and more holistic view of justice.

In Jesus’ visit to the Nazareth synagogue (Luke 4), a picture of justice comes into focus that brings these categories together. In Jesus concise yet profound address to these law-abiding Jews, he outlines his ministry agenda, making it clear that, what is good news for the poor may be bad news for the rich.

(Jamie Munday)

Justice Sunday

Today is Justice Sunday at CapChurch. The Justice Hub@Cap has a four pronged mandate around advocacy for the marginalized: to celebrate God’s justice; to educate the community; to support Cappers doing justice; to call justice “passions” out of the community. Today is about advocacy on behalf of the sexually victimized. This “justice passion” arose from a book group comprised of Cappers and non-Cappers which read Half the Sky. This group is planning a Half the Sky awareness day at Park Royal South for Sat May 12th 10am – 5pm to call people to act on behalf of the victims of sexual trafficking.

Half the Sky presents stories of the worldwide abuse and exploitation of women and how these women are and can be empowered to overcome adversity. Newscaster Tom Brokaw says, “Half the Sky is a passionate…plea to all of us to rise up and say ‘No more!’ to…abuses to girls and women… This is a book that will pierce your heart and arouse your conscience…. [around] one of the most shameful conditions of our time.”

To speak to the issue of Doing Justice And Giving Mercy To The Sexually Victimized we’ve asked Gwen McVicker and Sue Todd from Linwood House. Linwood House ministries beckon the tired, the broken and the lonely; particularly women living in the Downtown Eastside to rest and hear the message of Jesus: you are loved, you are worthy, you are beautiful.

(Mike Nichols)

Today we are pleased to bring to the community the Reverend TERRY LEBLANC. Terry is Mi’kmaq-Acadian. Terry is the director and founding chair of North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies and is completing a PhD (ABD) in Intercultural Studies. Terry speaks to our community about faith, justice, and first nations.

My People International’s mission statement is: To train and equip North Americans and other Indigenous people via the teachings of Jesus and to encourage spiritual life and the appropriate participation within the wider community of indigenous and other people who follow Jesus. See more at see more at www.mypeopleinternational.com/About.html

JUSTICE SUNDAY

Today is Cap’s annual Justice Sunday where we focus on Standing with the Oppressed to Face Injustices. For 2011 The Cap Justice Hub has focused on two issues: human trafficking and Cap’s Justice Discovery
trip/mission to Gitsegukla that you will hear about this morning. Cap’s own Natalie Siewert works with Servants Anonymous whose mission is to get young girls off the street. Cap’s own Barb Atkins advocates for women on Vancouver’s downtown east side as the director of women’s ministries at Union Gospel Mission. All these people and ministries are worthy of our support.

In preparation for justice Sunday I reread the call to do Justice given by Amos to Israel and their love of form over substance. These are remarkable words—and in the Message translation/paraphrase they have both a ring and a sting to them for today’s church.
Amos 5:21-24 in the Message: “I can’t stand your religious meetings. I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions. I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals. I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making. I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music. When was the last time you sang to me? Do you know what I want? I want justice—oceans of it. I want fairness—rivers of it. That’s what I want. That’s all I want.

JUSTICE SUNDAY
Last week we talked about running from God. Jonah made his decision to run from God out of anger that God would even consider revealing himself to the Ninevites; out of discouragement that he was being asked to give up a prejudice against his enemies, and out of mourning over the loss of his neighbours and homeland at the hand of the Assyrians. In worship Kim asked us in the style of a twelve-step meeting if we identified with Jonah to say ―I’m like Jonah because… How did you answer that question? I found myself like Jonah wanting to make sure that God’s mercy did not come to those I consider unworthy. The book of Jonah starts and ends with questions. One of the questions at the beginning is, “What have you done?” (The sailors knew Jonah was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.) I think this is a prophetic question—―what have you done?‖ when you try to alter the mercy of God. In many ways Jonah’s story is the story of ancient Israel and the modern church—we try to keep the unworthy away from God. One test of how we measure up to Jonah is to ask what we think of when we think of God being angry. Who is God most likely to be angry at – terrible sinners out there in the world? Maybe. But the book of Jonah is not alone in encouraging us not to be so sure.

JONAH REVISITED: HOW TO RUN FROM GOD
I have to say from the outset of this two week series on Jonah Revisited, that there are some things I really like about Jonah. Yes he is set up as a negative example. Yet I find a perverse comfort in the portrayal of Jonah as a reluctant, withdrawn and stubborn type who doesn’t get outside his box much. I identify with that. Jonah was never quite ready to go to Nineveh. By contrast people all over the Bible are getting up and going— in the OT Abraham and Sarah move out on a promise. Moses heads for Egypt with nothing but a shepherd’s crook and Aaron to write his sermons. Elijah stands defiant, facing four hundred and fifty Baal prophets but not Jonah. In the NT Fishermen are dropping their nets, tax collectors are forgetting about credit and debit; others are leaving their parents behind; Paul changes his whole way of thinking and acting because of meeting Jesus and then travels the Mediterranean witnessing about Christ—but not Jonah. Jonah stands on the dock with tickets for Tarshish—he is resisting God’s call—and he has his reasons. Even after the Nineveh experience Jonah is still stubborn—Jonah’s redemptive life is admittedly moving slowly—and I identify with that. There is a lot to learn or relearn here.

Mark Wollenberg, the Regional Representative in Western Canada for the International Justice Mission, speaks this week to teach us the difference between compassionate ministry and justice ministry. Before coming to IJM Canada, Mark was a pastor for 25 years, leading established churches as well as developing four new church communities in Edmonton & Yellowknife. He most recently served as senior pastor of the North Langley Vineyard Church in Langley, BC. Mark and his wife Brenda were also members of the national leadership team for Vineyard Churches Canada. Mark has coached pastors and church planters in Canada and a number of countries in Asia, as well as being a key leader for various city-wide inter-church events. Mark passionately communicates a vision of every follower of Christ committed to living justly in their community, and joining with others to see the wrongs of injustice made right in international contexts. He wants to see people from all professions and stages of life engaged in seeing justice prevail wherever oppression and injustice currently thrive.

Have you ever yelled at God? Ever protested to the Almighty? King David did. David protested “the ungodly who prosper” –this reality was very “painful” for him (Psalm 73:12,16). Jesus also protested when he prayed, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1; Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34).

Psalm 94 is known in the Psalter as a “community lament”. One third of the psalms are laments, but Psalm 94 is more of a protest than a lament. The Psalmist is praying against exploitation, arrogance, and evil. I imagine that not lots of your prayer life is spent praying this way. Today we are going to learn from the psalmist how to pray when you are anger, fed-up, and irritated with the injustices all around.