{"id":4729,"date":"2017-11-12T15:55:45","date_gmt":"2017-11-12T15:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/?post_type=ctc_sermon&#038;p=4729"},"modified":"2018-01-09T16:38:48","modified_gmt":"2018-01-09T16:38:48","slug":"rivers-of-justice","status":"publish","type":"ctc_sermon","link":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/sermons\/rivers-of-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"Rivers of justice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"qtranxs-available-languages-message qtranxs-available-languages-message-es\">Disculpa, pero esta entrada est\u00e1 disponible s\u00f3lo en <a href=\"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/4729\" class=\"qtranxs-available-language-link qtranxs-available-language-link-en\" title=\"English\">English<\/a>. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.<\/p><p><\/p>\n<h2>Readings:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Joshua 24: 1-3; 14-25<\/li>\n<li>Amos 5: 18-24<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p>5:24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>As you walk out of Church today, what will have changed? What difference will it have made to come to church this morning and worshiped God? What does choosing God, rather other gods, mean today? How does worshiping God change our lives?<\/p>\n<p>Noris read for us this morning Amos, chapter 5, verses 18 to 24. I want to re-read those to you now, from the version \u00abThe Message\u00bb:<\/p>\n<div class=\"poetry\">\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"line\"><span class=\"text Amos-5-18-Amos-5-20\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><sup class=\"versenum\">18-20\u00a0<\/sup>Woe to all of you who want\u00a0<span class=\"small-caps\">God<\/span>\u2019s Judgment Day!<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"indent-1\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"text Amos-5-18-Amos-5-20\">Why would you want to see\u00a0<span class=\"small-caps\">God<\/span>, want him to come?<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"text Amos-5-18-Amos-5-20\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\">When\u00a0<span class=\"small-caps\">God<\/span>\u00a0comes, it will be bad news before it\u2019s good news,<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"indent-1\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"text Amos-5-18-Amos-5-20\">the worst of times, not the best of times.<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"text Amos-5-18-Amos-5-20\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Here\u2019s what it\u2019s like: A man runs from a lion<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"indent-1\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"text Amos-5-18-Amos-5-20\">right into the jaws of a bear. &#8230;<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"text Amos-5-18-Amos-5-20\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\">At\u00a0<span class=\"small-caps\">God<\/span>\u2019s coming we face hard reality, not fantasy\u2014<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"indent-1\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"text Amos-5-18-Amos-5-20\">a black cloud with no silver lining.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"poetry top-1\">\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"line\"><span id=\"en-MSG-9550\" class=\"text Amos-5-21-Amos-5-24\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><sup class=\"versenum\">21-24\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cI can\u2019t stand your religious meetings.<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"indent-1\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"text Amos-5-21-Amos-5-24\">I\u2019m fed up with your conferences and conventions.<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"text Amos-5-21-Amos-5-24\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\">I want nothing to do with your religion projects,<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"indent-1\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"text Amos-5-21-Amos-5-24\">your pretentious slogans and goals.<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"text Amos-5-21-Amos-5-24\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\">I\u2019m sick of your fund-raising schemes,<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"indent-1\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"text Amos-5-21-Amos-5-24\">your public relations and image making.<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"text Amos-5-21-Amos-5-24\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\">I\u2019ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"indent-1\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"text Amos-5-21-Amos-5-24\">When was the last time you sang to\u00a0me?<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"text Amos-5-21-Amos-5-24\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Do you know what I want?<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"indent-1\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"text Amos-5-21-Amos-5-24\">I want justice\u2014oceans of it.<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"text Amos-5-21-Amos-5-24\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\">I want fairness\u2014rivers of it.<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"indent-1\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"text Amos-5-21-Amos-5-24\">That\u2019s what I want.<br \/>\nThat\u2019s. All.\u00a0I. Want.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>God\u2019s anger in Amos was because the religious festivals were not followed up by just actions. God gave the means to reverse the people\u2019s systems of injustice, to end inequity and oppression. But the river of people who were supposed to flow out of the temple (like when we all leave this Church this morning) to fulfill God\u2019s promises walked out of the temple and did nothing.<\/p>\n<p>You were given arms that can reach out to those who suffer: who are those arms wrapped around? Yourself? You were given feet to take the first steps towards those who feel alone, afraid, oppressed: where are your feet planted? In your comfortable life? You were given ears to hear the stories of justice denied: are you listening? You were given a mouth to speak Truth: but words are used to harm and tear down, rather than to build, and certainly not to speak Truth!**<\/p>\n<p>Thursday, November 9th many Panamanians waited expectantly for a reveal of names and details regarding the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prensa.com\/odebrecht\/\">Obredecht corruption cases<\/a>. A nation waiting and hoping for justice to prevail and corruption to set a food on the proverbial banana skin and the other foot in the grave. It wasn&#8217;t enough.<\/p>\n<p>This brings to mind, for me,\u00a0<strong>Proverbs 24: 24<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Whoever says to the guilty \u00abYou are innocent\u00bb will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>All I read on Twitter &amp; Facebook is frustrations and cursing of the lack of action and lack of justice. What more can and should be done? Panama needs to restart and rethink fighting corruption from a grassroots level. It needs to start in the home. Social justice and righteousness are needed from each person and member of society. And for us, it starts as we walk out of Church today. Worshiping God is not just about what we do for one hour on Sunday morning. Worshiping God is in each thought, each word &amp; each deed.<\/p>\n<p>1 John 4: 20 through 5:3\u00a0 remind us:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span id=\"en-NIV-30624\" class=\"text 1John-4-20\"><sup class=\"versenum\">20\u00a0<\/sup>Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister\u00a0is a liar.\u00a0For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen,\u00a0cannot love God, whom they have not seen.<\/span>\u00a0<span id=\"en-NIV-30625\" class=\"text 1John-4-21\"><sup class=\"versenum\">21\u00a0<\/sup>And he has given us this command:\u00a0Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"chapter-1\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span class=\"text 1John-5-1\"><span class=\"chapternum\">5:1\u00a0<\/span>Everyone who believes\u00a0that Jesus is the Christ\u00a0is born of God,\u00a0and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.<\/span>\u00a0<span id=\"en-NIV-30627\" class=\"text 1John-5-2\"><sup class=\"versenum\">2\u00a0<\/sup>This is how we know\u00a0that we love the children of God:\u00a0by loving God and carrying out his commands.<\/span>\u00a0<span id=\"en-NIV-30628\" class=\"text 1John-5-3\"><sup class=\"versenum\">3\u00a0<\/sup>In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands.\u00a0&#8230;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>How do we love our brother and sister? Well, let me warn you, it&#8217;s not sentimental. It&#8217;s not that \u00abfeeling\u00bb of love. It&#8217;s about your actions -and they speak much louder than any words. John warns us about this: \u00abwe know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fat, this is love for God: to keep his commands.\u00bb<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s take a quick walk through the Bible and discover the ways we show love to our neighbours &#8211; children of God &#8211; all created, like you and me, in the image and likeness of God:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Leviticus 19: 9-18\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.<br \/>\nYou shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. &#8230;<br \/>\n&#8230;\u00a0The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. &#8230;<br \/>\n&#8230;\u00a0You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people. &#8230;<br \/>\nYou shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor&#8230;\u00a0ou shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Proverbs 29: 7\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The righteous care about justice for the poor&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Isaiah 1: 17\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span id=\"en-NIV-17672\" class=\"text Isa-1-17\">Learn to do right;\u00a0seek justice.<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"indent-1\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"text Isa-1-17\">Defend the oppressed.<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"text Isa-1-17\">Take up the cause of the fatherless;<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"indent-1\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"text Isa-1-17\">plead the case of the widow.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Isaiah 58: 6-7\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8230; this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.\u00a0 Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jeremiah 22: 3\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8230; Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And\u00a0do no wrong or violence\u00a0to the resident alien,\u00a0the fatherless, and the widow, nor\u00a0shed innocent blood in this place.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Matthew 6: 14-15\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"jquote\">For if you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Matthew 25: 35-36<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span id=\"en-NIV-24044\" class=\"text Matt-25-35\"><span class=\"woj\">For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<span id=\"en-NIV-24045\" class=\"text Matt-25-36\"><span class=\"woj\">I needed clothes and you clothed me,\u00a0I was sick and you looked after me,\u00a0I was in prison and you came to visit me.\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Romans 14: 13<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Galatians 6:2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Carry each other\u2019s burdens&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>1 Thessalonians 5: 11<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8230; encourage one another and build each other up&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>1 Peter 3: 8<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.<\/p>\n<p>I want us to imagine, just for a moment, a world in which <strong>all<\/strong> Christians <em>lived<\/em> according to <em>all<\/em> these rules and fulfilled <em>these<\/em> commands. In Joshua 24 we read how the people of Israel chose to follow God and follow his commandments. What would this look like for Christians? Let&#8217;s take a moment, just to imagine this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>no sexual harassment<\/li>\n<li>no hunger<\/li>\n<li>everyone paid a fair wage<\/li>\n<li>no slander<\/li>\n<li>no hate, no vengeance, no grudges<\/li>\n<li>justice for the poor<\/li>\n<li>oppressed people who are defended vigorously, fatherless children who are protected, widows who have someone standing up for them<\/li>\n<li>no one wrongly imprisoned<\/li>\n<li>no human trafficking or slavery<\/li>\n<li>the homeless living in proper shelters, the hungry given food<\/li>\n<li>relatives receiving hep from their families<\/li>\n<li>no wrong or violence against the immigrant<\/li>\n<li>no innocent blood shed<\/li>\n<li>forgiving others graciously when they make mistakes, even if they intentionally act wrongly<\/li>\n<li>strangers invited in<\/li>\n<li>sick cared for<\/li>\n<li>those in prison visited and encouraged<\/li>\n<li>no one passing judgement on you<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is justice rolling down like waters. This is an everflowing stream of righteousness! This is loving your neighbor and loving God.<\/p>\n<p>As we go out today, let us remember this promise from<em><strong> Psalm 106: 3<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Always. It&#8217;s such a big word.<\/p>\n<p>So, as we leave this Church this morning,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span class=\"text Amos-5-21-Amos-5-24\">Do you know what I want?<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"indent-1\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"text Amos-5-21-Amos-5-24\">I want justice\u2014oceans of it.<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"text Amos-5-21-Amos-5-24\">I want fairness\u2014rivers of it.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>May we be a small stream of water, a trickle in the giant ocean of injustice&#8230; going against the tide and shining our light in this world of darkness.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span class=\"indent-1\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"text Amos-5-21-Amos-5-24\">That\u2019s what I want.<br \/>\nThat\u2019s. All.\u00a0I. Want.<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>**<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reformedworship.org\/article\/june-2014\/just-amos\">https:\/\/www.reformedworship.org\/article\/june-2014\/just-amos<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Disculpa, pero esta entrada est\u00e1 disponible s\u00f3lo en English. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language. Readings: Joshua 24: 1-3; 14-25 Amos 5: 18-24 5:24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4855,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","ctc_sermon_topic":[616,615,25,261,272,165,198,167,58],"ctc_sermon_book":[631],"ctc_sermon_series":[],"ctc_sermon_speaker":[62],"ctc_sermon_tag":[263,384,634,639,640,633,638,636,30,211,279,637,121,170,632,635,146,133],"class_list":["post-4729","ctc_sermon","type-ctc_sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","ctc_sermon_topic-called","ctc_sermon_topic-chosen","ctc_sermon_topic-faith-2","ctc_sermon_topic-fasting","ctc_sermon_topic-love-your-neighbor","ctc_sermon_topic-repentance","ctc_sermon_topic-service","ctc_sermon_topic-truth","ctc_sermon_topic-worship-2","ctc_sermon_book-amos","ctc_sermon_speaker-beth-anne-gray","ctc_sermon_tag-abundance","ctc_sermon_tag-actions","ctc_sermon_tag-activism","ctc_sermon_tag-activist","ctc_sermon_tag-activities","ctc_sermon_tag-change","ctc_sermon_tag-economic","ctc_sermon_tag-environmental","ctc_sermon_tag-grace","ctc_sermon_tag-growth","ctc_sermon_tag-justice","ctc_sermon_tag-political","ctc_sermon_tag-repentance","ctc_sermon_tag-righteousness","ctc_sermon_tag-social-justice","ctc_sermon_tag-spirit","ctc_sermon_tag-teaching","ctc_sermon_tag-truth","ctfw-has-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/4729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ctc_sermon"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4729"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/4729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4733,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/4729\/revisions\/4733"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_topic?post=4729"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_book","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_book?post=4729"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_series","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_series?post=4729"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_speaker","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_speaker?post=4729"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_tag?post=4729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}