every tribe or every group of people has its defining markers.
I thought for safety's sake, I might start with us.
So North Shore people, you know, has defining markers like boat shoes,
Range Rovers, polo shirts,
that thing that we never admit about how we think we're better
than anyone who lives anywhere else in Sydney.
Then, of course, there's the Westies who love stubbies, thongs, tattoos.
Shoes, country people, who, from what I can gather from Steve,
is basically boots, utes and guns,
and perhaps a little bit of good hospitality.
Now, I know there are stereotypes, there are general, there are exceptions,
but stereotypes exist for a reason.
There's always something there.
But what I wanted to ask is, what is it that marks this tribe?
What is it that marks Christians as distinct?
Or, if you like to ask it another way,
how do you tell if someone is actually a Christian?
Or whether or not they're just kind of doing lip service
to being a Christian and following Jesus?
What's the most important evidence of faith in Jesus?
Is it attire?
Socks and sandals?
I had a friend in Bible college
who purchased a Bible that was of the perfect size
to fit in a satchel that he also owned,
so that he would always be wearing his Bible
in his Bible satchel.
Is that the definitive marker of someone who is genuine
when it comes to following Jesus?
Is it maybe a personality trait,
something that we don't want to admit,
like being judgmental,
being the moral police?
Well, there's probably lots of things that matter
when it comes to being genuine in the way we follow Jesus.
But tonight I want to look at one that,
as you go through Scripture,
is quite conspicuous and unavoidable.
And so I want to throw a whole bunch of verses
at you really quickly.
They're going to be on the screen
so that you can read them with me.
And then we'll come back and look at it in the end.
So first up is Micah 6, verse 6 to 8.
It says,
He has shown you,
O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly,
and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
Again, Luke 3, verse 11.
Anyone who has two shirts
should share with the one who has none.
Anyone who has food should do the same.
Psalm 41.
Blessed are those who have regard for the weak.
The Lord delivers them in times of trouble.
Proverbs 14.
Whoever oppresses the poor
shows contempt for their maker,
but whoever is kind to the needy
honors God.
Isaiah 58.
If you spend yourselves
on behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness
and your night will become
like the noonday.
And then James 1.27.
Religion that God our Father accepts
as pure and faultless is this.
That's a significant introduction sentence.
You know you need to pay attention
to what comes after that.
Religion that God our Father accepts
as pure and faultless is this.
To look after orphans and widows
in their distress
and to keep oneself
from being polluted by the world.
One of the distinct markers
of those who follow Jesus
is a social conscience.
And more than just a social conscience
and an investment,
a concern for those who are in need,
essential to genuine faith
is a heart that cares about
the less fortunate,
that cares about the widow,
the orphan,
the oppressed.
And look,
on one level that just seems
really obvious.
It just makes sense.
It just kind of fits with
who Jesus is
and what he was like.
The general vibe of Jesus
was to go and hang out
with the downtrodden,
to be nice to those
that everybody else
left to the side.
But you might be wondering,
given that we had
a fair trade expo today,
is this sermon
just a bit of a
fair trade beat-up?
Am I just trying to
pump the tyres
of a particular cause
that we're focusing on
this week
to try and, you know,
get you revved up
in that direction?
Well, maybe a better question
to ask would be,
why does this matter?
Why is this so significant
when it comes to testing
the genuineness
of someone's faith,
someone's claim
to follow Jesus?
I want to give you
three reasons.
I think there's probably more,
but I want to give you
three tonight
that might be a good question,
a good test for you
in terms of whether or not
this is distinctive
in your life.
Three reasons this matters.
Firstly,
because all people
matter to God.
Not just some,
not just good,
not just Christians,
all people matter to God.
If we go back
to the very beginning
of Scripture,
the first thing
that God does
when He creates people
is He creates them
valuable.
He puts an intrinsic
dignity into people.
When He creates humans,
He puts His image
on them.
He by default
creates them
as something
that is representative
of Him.
And so we need
to look at all humans,
local,
foreign,
friendly,
enemy,
whatever,
as having some value,
some importance,
whether they're rich,
poor,
or otherwise.
I don't know
if you've noticed
that currently
in our country
as we debate
whether or not
we should accept
refugees,
and particularly
Syrian refugees
at the moment,
well-meaning people
are making suggestions
like,
maybe we should
just have
Christian refugees
come in.
Maybe we should
just have
non-Muslim refugees
come in.
And maybe
if you want
to be generous
it's a security fear,
whatever it is,
but as Christians
from the very
beginning of Scripture
God doesn't
distinguish
values
between different
kinds of people.
He creates
all people
in His image.
Muslim,
Christian,
Syrian,
Iraqi,
Iranian,
Australian.
Have you ever
noticed how
when there is
a disaster
in the world,
whether it's
a natural disaster,
a plane crash,
whatever it is,
that we get
given a particular
emphasis in the story.
So a plane
has crashed,
300 people are dead,
and there was
three Australians
on board.
Or there's
an earthquake,
X amount of people
are displaced,
etc.
This many Australians
were involved.
Now,
on one level,
sure,
we're in Australia,
there's a chance
we might know them,
but have you ever
asked why that
detail is so
important?
Why are those
three Australians
or ten Australians
or fifty Australians
more significant
than the other
300 or 5,000
or whoever it is
that's lost their
life?
Now,
I want to be
gracious because
it's loss,
it's pain.
There's so much
emotion wrapped up
in this sort of
a topic,
but I wonder
if the reason
that we go
there first,
I wonder if the
reason we
emphasise the
Australians
is because
we tend to
view the world
through a lens
that starts
with me.
and so if
they're Australian,
it's more
closely
associated
with me.
I can more
closely identify
with who
they are.
My value
almost gets
connected to
who they are,
whereas if I've
never met them
or seen them,
then it's still
sad, but it's
not the same,
is it?
But could it
be that the
Bible's painting
a really
different picture
about the way
God calls us
to view the
world?
Could it be
that every
single person
matters and
is valuable?
The second
passage that
Jimmy read out
for us in
Matthew 25
is a scary
passage in
many ways.
It's a picture
of the final
judgment.
Jesus
gathers
everybody in
front of his
judgment throne
and like a
shepherd begins
to sort between
the sheeps,
those who are
genuinely following
him, and the
goats, those who
maybe have paid
lip service, those
who have claimed
to be Christian,
but for whatever
reason are not
genuine.
And listen to
the words.
It says,
the king will
say to those
on his right,
this is to those
who have been
faithful,
come you who
are blessed by
my father,
take your
inheritance,
the kingdom
prepared for you
since the
creation of
the world,
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.
I needed
clothes and
you clothed
me.
I was sick
and you
looked after
me.
I was in
prison and
you came
to visit
me.
Then the
righteous
will answer
him,
Lord,
when did
we see you
hungry and
feed you,
or thirsty
and give you
something to
drink?
When did
we see you
a stranger
and invite you
in, or
needing clothes
and clothe
you?
When did
we see you
sick or in
prison and
go to
visit you?
It's the
key line.
The king
will reply,
I tell you
the truth,
whatever you
did for one
of the least
of these
brothers of
mine,
you did
for me.
God
associates
his own
worth
with his
image bearers.
The way
that we
treat people
is directly
connected
to the
way that
we're
treating
God.
They're
actually
inseparable.
He has
designed
our
existence,
he's designed
our interactions
and our
relationships
in such
a way
that our
relationship
with him
is not
just some
abstract
spiritual
reality,
but it is
played out
in our
relationships
with one
another.
all people
matter to
God
because he
has created
them as
valuable.
The second
reason that
this social
conscience is
so significant
for us as
followers of
Jesus is that
we've got to
remember that
the world's
not supposed
to be like
this.
Now,
sure,
we live in a
really,
really privileged
part of the
world,
but when we
look at those
news stories,
there's this bit
of us that
goes,
that's not
right,
is it?
That's not
what God
intended.
Again,
Genesis 1,
God's good
design,
creation itself
has an
inbuilt
provision.
There's this
pattern in
Genesis 1,
when God's
creating,
he's walking
around,
let there be
light,
let there be
sea,
let there be
land,
let there be
trees,
let there be
all these
things,
let there be
animals,
and eventually
people.
There's a
pattern.
God always
creates what
is required
for life
before he
creates the
life.
He creates
the sea
before he
creates the
creatures to
go in it.
He creates
the plants
and trees
and fruit
and food
before he
creates the
animals and
the people
to live there
and be fed
by it.
Creation
itself has
provision designed
into it.
And in fact,
current statistics
tell us the same
story.
There is enough
food,
enough money,
enough medicine
for everyone
on the earth
right now.
But oppression
and greed
and injustice
mean that there
is an inequality
of distribution.
It's not
supposed to be
like this.
And so we've
got to understand
that what
happened from
that perfect
design that
God had
to our kind
of messed
up reality
reality now
is not
something that
we can fix
with money.
It's not a
matter of us
turning around
going,
I need to be
more generous.
I need to be
more caring.
The issue
that takes us
from a good
garden of
Eden to a
messed up
right now
is sin.
The problem
and the reason
this matters
for us as
Christians is
because this
is our
core issue.
Sin is the
reality of us
rejecting God,
telling him that
he doesn't
matter,
living as if
we're more
important,
and sin is
the reason
that there is
poverty in
the world.
Sin is the
reason that
there is
suffering in
the world.
Sin is the
reason that
there is
pain and
oppression and
injustice.
And what that
does is tell us
two things.
One, this isn't
a money issue,
it's a heart
issue.
And two, this
isn't someone
else's issue,
this is my
issue.
Now I want to
take a step
sideways just for a
second and just
talk about sin
and consequence.
What I'm not
saying and what
the Bible doesn't
teach is that I
be selfish here and
look after myself and
as a consequence God's
going to make me
poor later on.
It's not sin and
punishment like that,
it's not that
direct, but it's
more like the
collective consequence
of sin,
everybody's sin,
results in this
disproportionate
allocation of
wealth and
starvation.
It's kind of like if
you wander along
next to Sydney
Harbour, you
might see a
plastic bag floating
in the water,
you might see
somebody's Coke
can, a Snickers
wrapper, some
sort of floating
slick that you
can't quite
identify, it's
not real nice.
And you might
sit there at that
moment as you
walk past and
think, man,
whoever did that
should have to
pay.
Those dodgy
boat owners or
whoever it is
that's made that
mess, they should
have to clean
that up.
But what you've
got to understand
is you're part of
the problem.
Every time you
flush your toilet,
it's got to go
somewhere.
I mean, it's
treated, it's
looked after, but
it ends up in
the ocean.
It's kind of
like that with
sin.
It's not so
much that your
sin will have
results for you,
but ultimately a
whole world full of
people living for
themselves instead of
for God, a whole
world full of people
trying to look after
themselves instead of
each other, results
in some people
missing out, results
in some people
starving, some
people living in
what we would
consider unlivable
conditions.
And so there's an
inbuilt warning for
us today.
Be very careful
as you reflect on
issues like poverty
and oppression,
slave labour, all
that sort of stuff,
be very careful
not to look down
on the perpetrators.
Don't sit there
and tut-tut at
Nike and their
sweatshops.
Be sad, be
concerned, be
frustrated, but
don't judge.
Because you sin
too.
You're part of the
problem.
I'm part of the
problem.
You and I
contribute to the
issues.
part of the
issue.
Part of why this
matters for us so
much as Christians,
part of why this is a
measure of the
genuineness of our
faith is because it
takes us back to our
biggest issue, our
rejection of who God
is, our rejection of
his plan for our life.
And so tonight I want
to encourage you, rather
than feeling like a
victim in a bad world,
maybe instead you can
put your hand up and
confess that you're part
of the issue.
And then you can
depend on God's
goodness to forgive you
and use you in spite of
your weaknesses and
limitations to still be
contributing in a
helpful way.
Poverty and inequality
and oppression is part of
a bigger issue.
It's part of a sin issue.
It's the issue that Jesus
came to fix.
I want to go to the
Isaiah passage that was
read out for us and if
you can get that in
front of you, I encourage
you to have Isaiah 42
open.
This passage comes at a
point in Israel's history
where they are in exile.
That means they've been
dragged away from their
homeland.
They're living as slaves,
if you like, servants of
another country, longing
for a better time, crying
out to a God who had
promised to look after
them.
And listen to this short
few verses which is
pointing towards Jesus.
Listen to the
description of what
Jesus is going to do
and how he's going to
do it.
Chapter 42, verse 1.
Here is my servant whom
I uphold, my chosen one
in whom I delight.
I will put my spirit on
him and, this is his job,
he will bring justice to
the nations.
He will not shout or cry
out or raise his voice in
the streets.
A bruised reed he will not
break and a smouldering
wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will
bring forth justice.
He will not falter or be
discouraged till he
establishes justice on the
earth.
In his law the islands will
put their hope.
Jesus comes to bring
justice.
Now we know, we read the
New Testament, Jesus comes
to deal with sin and that's
the point.
They're actually connected.
It's the same problem.
It requires the same
solution.
In the book of Isaiah,
justice is given a much
richer definition.
Sometimes when we think
justice, our mind goes
straight away to a
courtroom.
We think about punishments
given out.
We think about people being
maybe vindicated if they've
been wrongly accused.
We think about this
judicial decree.
And that's part of the
picture.
That's the Matthew 25
picture where the King
Jesus sits on the throne
and says, you're a sheep,
you're a goat.
He does decree, innocent,
guilty, on board.
But there's more going on
here.
What Isaiah does for us
is help us to see that when
God talks about justice,
it includes all of his good
intention.
It includes essentially his
will.
What the servant will bring
is what was always supposed
to be.
What the servant will do is
fix everything that's
wrong.
What Jesus does when he
turns up is not just some
abstract up there, fix some
sin so that one day we go
to heaven.
He turns up to bring justice,
to deal with inequality, to
deal with poverty, to deal
with all the symptoms of sin
that exist in our lives, to
deal with sickness and pain
and frustration and anxiety
and all these things.
You can see it in Jesus'
ministry.
Yes, he preaches.
He says, come.
He says, put your trust in
me.
Be forgiven.
But he also feeds people
and heals people and deals
with physical needs because
all of the inequality, all of
the problems that we face in
life come back to the same
root issue of sin, of rejecting
God.
There's something really cool
about the way that the servant
will bring justice.
on one level, it doesn't
sound inspiring when you
think about the kind of
opposition that you would
face if you were on a justice
crusade in our world now.
But listen to them.
Verse 2.
He will not shout or cry out or
raise his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not
break.
A smouldering wick he will not
snuff out.
In faithfulness, he will bring
forth justice.
He will not falter or be
discouraged till he establishes
justice on the earth.
He will face opposition, but the
means by which he will bring
justice is not force, but sacrifice.
At his cost, at his expense, we
can be vindicated.
God goes to extraordinary lengths
to fix what's wrong with the
world.
He sends his son so that people
like us who tell God whatever we
don't care can actually have a
relationship with him.
But more than that, he sends his
son so that people like us who
treat each other like we don't
matter, or at very least treat
each other like I'm number one,
can actually have the kind of
relationships we were supposed to
have.
The kind of relationships we were
designed to have of service and
love.
This matters for us as Christians
because all people matter to God
and it matters because it's not the
way it's supposed to be.
It's not the picture of God's good
design at the beginning.
It's not the picture of what Jesus
has achieved and we're going to
enjoy in heaven.
And now that Jesus has come, the
work he has begun, he has entrusted
to us to continue.
To defend the cause of the
fatherless and the widow.
plus this is evidence of his grace to
us.
This is how grace plays out.
It shifts our perspective on life and
the things that we do.
In my previous church, I had a friend
who I did ministry with.
I'm not going to mention his name
because it's a pseudo-incriminating
story.
He's a good guy.
I love him.
He loves Jesus.
He's fantastic.
He was a great resource for me.
One of the rules that you have in
ministry or that I have in ministry
is that you should never pay full
price.
Mainly because I don't have enough
money.
And so whenever we're running
anything, I'm trying to get a
discount.
I'm trying to sort of wrangle a deal.
I want a cheap bus.
I want a free bus.
I want the pizzas for a discount.
I want whatever I can do to not pay
the full price for things.
He took this to a whole other level.
We used to run quite a big youth
ministry camp.
We had sort of 400 plus people on
this camp.
And he would get us like seven
minibuses for free like that.
Like he had people tripping over
themselves, competing with one
another to give us good deals.
He just, I don't know how he did it.
One year on camp, it was like 40
degree plus.
We were in this big barn for our
meetings.
It was horrific.
Kids would get bleeding noses from
the heat.
It was terrible.
And so one year he turns around to
me after being on the phone for 15
minutes.
He goes, oh, I've convinced a company
to travel down, set up portable air
conditioning in the hall.
And then at the end of the week,
pack it up and take it away for free.
I'm like, that's great.
But how?
I remember one time in particular,
we were just out to dinner.
It wasn't ministry.
We went to the good old all-you-can-eat
Pizza Hut.
Really is a sad reality that they're
all gone.
Just have a moment of pause and
lament over the fact that that's not
around.
Anyway, we went to Pizza Hut all-you-can-eat.
It was a good value restaurant.
For those of you who missed that
reality, which actually might be a few
of you, it was just like a smorgasbord
of pizza and you could just keep going
back and back and back.
They had like a dessert bar as well,
so all the soft serve you can eat.
It was amazing.
So the only thing lacking was
refillable soft drinks, but you know,
that's for another day.
So we're in Pizza Hut.
We're eating pizza.
We're chatting.
We're having a good time.
And it comes to the end of our meal
and it's almost time to pay.
And I notice he, my friend gets up
and disappears.
Sort of didn't think heaps of it.
Maybe he's going to the bathroom,
whatever.
And the manager happened to be sitting
in a booth a couple of spots away.
I think she was doing the figures for
the night.
They were getting ready to close up.
And I noticed out of the corner of my
eye that my friend sat down on her
table and obviously they were chatting.
And a few minutes later he comes back
and he goes, okay, we can go.
And I said, did you pay for dinner?
He said, no.
I said, do we need to pay for dinner?
He said, no.
I went, okay.
Sounds good.
And out we go.
And it wasn't until we got outside
that I went, wait a minute.
Why don't we have to pay for dinner?
What just happened?
And he says to me, well, I just explained
to the manager that the pizza available
on the All You Can Eat bar wasn't of
sufficient variety that I could actually
call it All You Can Eat.
And also the time, amount of time that
it took for our drinks to arrive after
ordering at the beginning weren't
sufficient to be serviced that we should
pay for.
And she agreed, and so they agreed,
that our dinner would be free.
Now let's remember that All You Can Eat
Pizza Hut was a whopping $5.95.
Generous savings.
Now, like I said, I love my friend.
He's good value.
He is a blessing in many ways.
But I was reflecting this week on something
that he maybe has in hyperversion,
but is true of all of us.
The way we approach all of our interactions
like that, where there's money involved,
where it's shopping, eating, whatever,
the number one dictating factor for us is,
maybe I'm speaking out of turn,
but I don't think I am.
The number one factor is,
how can I get the best deal for me?
Think about it.
You go shopping for something,
you go from shop to shop to find the cheapest place,
and then you go online to get it even cheaper
once you've found the right size.
It's how we shop.
And it makes sense in so many ways,
that like, that's logical,
I don't want to pay any more than I have to.
But can you see that behind that mentality
is an attitude of,
this is all about my outcome.
This is all about my experience.
There's not even a level of awareness or engagement
of the person on the other side of the counter,
let alone the person who drove whatever it is
and delivered it to the shop,
let alone the person who made it,
let alone anyone else.
The driving thing for us is,
me.
Me.
The reason issues like poverty
and caring for those in need
matter when it comes to being a Christian
is because it's a reflection
of the change that God has worked in us.
See, it makes sense
to look after yourself.
It makes sense
to try and provide for yourself.
It makes sense
to get the best scenario for you
unless
somebody else has already done it.
See,
if you claim to be a follower of Jesus,
what you're saying is,
God loves me.
God provides for me.
God gives me so much more
than I could possibly need or deserve.
God has guaranteed
my eternal future.
God has forgiven me.
God has given me
every good thing in my life.
And so actually,
it doesn't make sense
to then go out into the shops
and live as if you need to look after number one.
You need to get the best deal for you.
Because actually,
God is already looking after you
and He's told you in Scripture
that He cares about the person
on the other side of the counter.
He cares about the person
that made that shirt
or that coffee
or whatever else it is.
They're valuable to Him.
The Christian life
is a redefined reality.
We have a new starting point.
See,
the issue
back at the beginning
when we talked about
that news story
that tells us about
the three Australians,
and again,
I do it.
I'm not casting judgment on you.
I do it as well.
I go,
oh, you know,
three Australians.
That's really sad.
The issue there is
that the reason that's sad
is because
that connects
to where I am.
Because the way
I view justice
and poverty
and everything else
in the world
is defined
by how it connects
to me.
But as a Christian,
that's not
how we view the world.
The world is defined
and sin is defined
and the issues
in the world
are defined
by how does this
relate to God.
And God says,
every person
on that plane
matters to me.
God says,
every person
who's making a shirt
or a shoe
or a meal
or whatever it else is
matters to me.
And then He says,
I'm going to look after you.
So we don't have
to shop anymore
with this fear
of who's going
to look after me.
We don't have
to live our lives
anymore with this fear
of what about me?
God's got that covered.
So I guess just to finish,
I wanted to ask the question,
where does a Fair Trade Expo fit?
Whether you made it here today
for the Fair Trade Expo
or not,
you know roughly
the gist of it.
Fair Trade basically
means two things.
One is you pay
a little bit more
for the same product.
Then you have to.
And two,
the person who's making
that product
gets paid
what they deserve.
That's what Fair Trade is.
There's a whole bunch
of other stuff
about investing
in their businesses
and enabling them
to be sustainable
and doing training
and lending of money
and a whole bunch
of other things
which you can research
and all sorts of stuff.
But a Fair Trade Expo,
where does it fit
when it comes to checking
our social conscience,
our love for the poor?
Well, it's not the solution.
Buying Fair Trade
won't fix poverty
in the world
because we know
that poverty
is a symptom of sin.
Only Jesus
can fix that.
But what something
like Fair Trade does
or just giving generally
to those in need
does
is it gives us
a chance
to remember,
to remind ourselves
that we don't have
to be worried
about me
because God is.
It's a chance
to remind ourselves
that as we go
looking for the things
that we need,
and I use that
very loosely,
God has already
provided it all.
Maybe it gives us
a chance
to get a bigger picture
of the kinds of people
that live
in the world
with us
that God cares about
that matter
and the kind of situations
they're living in.
But more than anything else,
shopping,
Fair Trade,
giving to those in need,
caring for people
who need it
is a chance
for us
to come back
and just again
be reminded
of the confidence
and hope
we have in Jesus.
A Fair Trade Expo
is not designed
to make you feel guilty.
This sermon
is not designed
to make you go
and spend more
on Fair Trade
this Christmas
or feel guilty
about every present
you buy
or anything like that.
It's kind of not the point.
The point is
God loves you.
God has provided
for you in Jesus
and so you don't have
to stress
with the what about me
question anymore.
You're released
to go and love
and invest
in people
that you'll never meet
but who right now
live in conditions
that we just
wouldn't tolerate.
It's a chance
for you
to be reminded
that the things
of this world
are temporary
and all the things
that really matter
can't be taken away
anyway.
It's a chance
for you
to loosen your grip
on the things
that God has given you
so that you can
tighten your grip
on Him.
Let's pray.
Father God,
we want to admit
that sometimes
when we look
at things like this
it's really easy
to realize
that we suck
at this.
It's really easy
to get distracted
by feeling guilty,
to get distracted
by failure,
to maybe push
this message away
because it's not
comfortable
but God,
help guilt
not to be the
destination
for us.
If there is guilt,
help us to give it
to you.
Help us to remember
that you love us
in spite of who we are.
That one of the gifts
that you give us
is to take our guilt
on yourself,
to take our shame
away,
to release us.
God,
thank you for your
patience with us
as we stumble
and as we keep
trying to grow
into this life
that you have
designed for us.
God,
right now
there are so many
people in this world
that you cherish,
that live with
less than what
they need.
Please enable us
to be a blessing
for them.
Enable us
to be bringers
of your justice,
to proclaim
the hope
of Jesus,
to use what
you have entrusted
to us so that
you might get glory,
so that people
might recognize
that you are
a God who cares.
You are a God
who provides.
Father,
thank you for
placing us
here in this church
at this time
with these resources.
Please so shape
our hearts
that we might
be faithful
with what you
have entrusted
to us.
Amen.