Most people who know me, know I’m a hopeless romantic and one of my favorite movies is the French war film A Very Long Engagement. It’s a story of two women who’ve lost their lovers to the travesty of war, World War I.
How they each handle their loss is LIGHT YEARS APART. The main character Mathilde hopes and dreams of being reunited with her missing fiance'. She spends years searching for him.
Her journey crosses paths with her counterpart, Tina Lombardi, whose lover’s death was orchestrated by government officials. Tina chose to spend her life pursuing the corrupt officials and making them pay for their crimes.
After murdering the last official, Tina is sentenced to be executed in prison, where Mathilde finds her and returns a gift from Tina’s deceased lover, an old timepiece. Inside the timepiece, Tina discovers a note from her man, “Vengeance is pointless. Try to be happy and don’t ruin your life for me.” How tragic!
In her passion, Tina lost sight of what was good and just. She put justice before love. This is exactly what happened two thousand years ago on a hill called CALVARY. The Pharisees and the Jewish people were so blinded by their pride and anger they lost sight of what it meant to be the PEOPLE OF GOD; they chose their own form of justice and missed the SCHWEET VICTORY Jesus won on the cross, He is faithful. And that is what this final blog of this series is, an Easter blog about the twisted gospel of justice.
Justice or Agendas?
The dictionary defines justice as, “The process or result of using laws to fairly judge and punish crimes and criminals.” And there lies the problem. The Bible is clear, there is only ONE Who defines what is right and wrong, and none of us are Him (Job 36:6, Luke 18:7, Acts 17:31).
However, if you’ve seen the news or social Media over the last year, the Maker has been overruled by the creation. Last year, both information outlets brought out the worst of mankind. Everyone was ranting about or calling for justice about something. There’s a lot more than you think going on here. Being right in our own eyes isn’t the most important thing.
What they failed to realize is justice isn’t what they wanted; we have become an agenda-saturated society. Agendas can become a twisted form of justice if left unchecked. The dictionary defines agenda as, “A plan or goal that guides someone’s behavior and that is often secret.” Whether you lean to the left or right, you want something.
We are willing to fight for what we desire the most. The truth is, everyone has an agenda. Last year it seemed like everyone made theirs known. The homosexual agenda gained momentum as states began legalizing gay marriages left and right. With the implementation of Obamacare, the pro-choice movement took center stage.
Soon after the death of Eric Garner, the anti-racism agenda flooded the airwaves. And again a month later, after Michael Brown was wrongfully shot; outcries about racism once more took over social media, WELCOME TO AMERICA.
On the worldwide stage, the religious agenda struck fear in the hearts of the world as an Al-Qaeda shoot-off, Isis, shocked the world with its Islamic extremist propaganda.
The religious agenda is one of the oldest and most passionate or dangerous agendas known to man. Most believe it is to their benefit to aid God in the fight for justice and are on fire for Him—yet, have no FEAR OF GOD themselves. Our higher learning doesn’t help us know the difference between what is right and what is wrong.
Jerry Jenkins continues in his book I Saul, “I (Paul) hounded Nathaniel daily until I wore him down, persuading him to personally seek a private audience for me with the high priest, Caiaphas. When it was granted, I pleaded with Caiaphas to extend to me the authority of the Sanhedrin itself. ‘As long as these men proclaim a dead man the Messiah, I won’t rest until they are brought to justice. What deliverer would be put to death in such a vile manner? You did right by having them beaten for disobedience, but it didn’t stop them. Their blasphemy has escalated.”
Like Saul and the Jewish nation before him, Christians, THE SAINTS have forgotten the nature of God. Yes, He is just and righteous, but He is a merciful God (2 Samuel 24:14, Psalms 86:5, 145:9, Luke 6:36, Ephesians 2:4, Hebrews 4:16). At the heart of the gospel message, God’s mercy is the center of it all.
Mercy?
In my opinion, God’s mercy is the best part of the gospel message. According to Webster’s dictionary mercy is, “The discretionary power of a judge to pardon someone or to mitigate punishment, especially to send to prison rather than invoke the death penalty.”
However, my favorite definition is a colloquial quote, “Justice is getting what you deserve, whereas mercy is not getting what you deserve.” JUSTICE AND MERCY are polar opposites. It was one of King David’s greatest pleas (Psalm 51:1-5). The gospel message is, through Jesus, God’s mercy saves us from ourselves.
The great British preacher Charles Spurgeon once noted, “God's mercy is so great that you may sooner drain the sea of its water, or deprive the sun of its light, or make space too narrow, than diminish the great mercy of God.”
Like most people, I LIKE TO WIN and believe that in Christ we are more than CONQUERORS. But, our hope in Jesus isn’t that we can HAVE EVERYTHING we want or justice, we are broken together. Our hope is that through Jesus we are justified (Romans 5:1, Colossians 1:21-23).
What Jesus did for love on the cross is how our Father won the war against Satan and sin. His act of MERCY set all who believe free from eternal hell and for that I’m eternally grateful, for I too am a sinner saved by GRACE and that’s why I willingly choose to follow Jesus. He died and rose so we could live.
Recently, I confessed to a brother of the faith about how ashamed I am of the road rage I show when I’m biking and drivers either blow their horns or “buzz” me with their cars. I know I should try and BRUSH ‘EM OFF. I wish I had the power to shake it off, but I don’t. It comes down to to I’M A SINNER in need of a SAVIOR. That’s why, Jesus, I TRUST IN YOU to fight the good fight. No, I’m not bulletproof to sin and my mouth goes BOOM SHAKA LAKA. I’m not fooling anyone, even though today is April Fools’ Day.
I could try and make excuses to justify my behavior, but there’s no excuse to justify how I react to the actions of others. My first reaction isn’t very Christ-like; it isn’t one of mercy or grace. It’s not even a polite plea for justice.
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