I Demand Justice!

The Bible can be hard to read. Have you ever had that thought? Do you think it’s alarming that the Pastor has?

It’s hard to read because it’s living and active. You gotta slow down, get close, and do some listening to read God’s Word well. My wife is living and active. Sometimes our communication can be hard. I have to slow down, get close, and do some listening to actually read her.

The Bible can also prove difficult because it messes with my blanket of comfort.

This Sunday’s text is a prime example: Jonah 3:6-4:2. This passage is a lot of things, but it includes justice. Jonah’s story reflects my idea of justice and God’s.

Mine goes like this: The maniac driver whizzing past on the morning commute can infuriate me with his (or her) efforts to arrive 5 seconds earlier to a shared stoplight. Seeing him get the same red light I get satisfies my sense of justice. Seeing him get pulled over for speeding banks deposits of justice that I can live on for days. Oh, yeah.

My demand for justice can even be applied to my kids (who missed the bus this morning). “Dad, we missed the bus. Can you come get us?” My internal response was necessarily attached to my selfishly quiet morning at Starbucks. “NO! I can’t come and get you. You’ll just have to figure this one out yourselves. It serves you right.” Those were my inner words of justice. What I actually said was, “I’ll be right there.” And when I picked them up, I gave them absolutely no grief. I just took them to school. THAT may have been a little dose of God’s kind of justice kicking in.

Do you know the difference between our demands for justice and Jesus’s desire to grant it? Let’s talk on Sunday. This one hits home, again. Our “Interrupted” series on Jonah has been doing that a lot.

I’m excited to gather with you at 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. I’m excited to teach because the Lord has been teaching me.

We’ll have a rockin’ choir this week. Josh Bias and the band will be bustin’ out a Michael Jackson tune just prior to our services. (You should come early!) I believe there’s also an Adele tune to keep us focused on the day’s theme. You should think about inviting a friend to this one!

Come ready to lay things down and pick up your Gospel identity. God’s justice will be tangible if you do.

Blessings, Ya’ll,

Weekly Giving | 09.11.16

$34,229.84

Weekly Need $39,700.00