The Just Response to Injustice | Sunday, October 22, 2023

Have you ever found yourself looking at all of the things that are happening around you and in the world, and you ask yourself the question, "What in the world is going on?" Maybe some of you, in the last couple of weeks, have had that question come back to mind. Perhaps some people have interacted with you at the school you attend or the office building you work in, asking that same question: "What in the world is going on?" I certainly have had that thought going through my mind.

Two weeks ago, on Saturday, October 7th, I, along with 120 other people in our group, were about 250 miles off the coast of the northern port in Israel. We were scheduled to be in Israel on Sunday, the 8th. When I woke up on the 7th, I started to receive a whole bunch of messages and notifications on my phone. In real time, we were witnessing a terrorist attack happening in Israel, a horrible event. For all of you who have watched the news, I realized that many people here were seeing more of the news than I was really paying attention to. I had people texting and emailing, asking, "Are you guys okay? Are you safe?"

I have to be honest with you; it was a very surreal feeling. We were at a five-star hotel on the water, experiencing this beautiful ship in the Mediterranean Sea, enjoying great weather and eating way too much food. Meanwhile, people were asking if we were okay. I thought, "Well, I'm more than okay. I'm going to need to go on a diet!"

However, what was happening was that we were receiving information back. We were supposed to be in Israel on Sunday the 8th, and on Monday and Tuesday after that. In fact, we were scheduled to be in Ashdod, which is just 11 miles from the border of Gaza. That did not happen. When we gathered together as a group for a time of worship and Bible study, my friend David Guuk was going to lead the Bible study. I shared with everyone that they had probably seen some of the news starting to come through. The news was still kind of up in the air; we didn't really know what was happening because we were in the right time zone, which was 10 hours behind at that point in time.

I said, "You know, one thing that you can expect when you are in the Middle East is to expect the unexpected." I have been through the Middle East multiple times, including Israel, I think five or six times. So, I shared with our group that there was a good likelihood we would not be going to Israel as planned.

Israel was a bummer. I have personally been working on this trip for about four years. We were supposed to do this trip in 2021, but then we had this little thing called COVID that disrupted it at that point in time. I have been working on this trip for a long time, and we had a whole bunch of people with us, not to mention a lot of people on the boat in addition to our group.

By the end of that day, the captain came over and said we were not going to be going into Israel. Our ports were supposed to be Israel for three days and Alexandria, Egypt, for two days. There were also some tourists who were killed in Alexandria, Egypt, and a couple of days later, they announced that we were not going to go to Egypt. Everything got thrown up in the air, and it was, as I said, very strange and surreal to be in the midst of those events.

We ended up being diverted to the island of Cyprus off the coast of Israel, and then from there, we went back up to Greece. People were emailing me, asking if I was okay. Well, we were in the Greek Isles, so it was hard to say things were terrible. They weren't terrible, but watching what was happening in Israel, I think we all were just brokenhearted by the things we saw.

The schedule was completely turned upside down, and that question was going through my mind. I have had a number of people ask me over the last couple of weeks, "What in the world is going on?" People are trying to sort things out, and it is important for us to acknowledge that we are living at a pivotal inflection point in our experience of history. We are in a very strange time, and both Christians and non-Christians alike are wondering what is going on and how they should respond to everything that is happening.

As we get into the Scriptures today, I want to suggest to you, as I have many times before, this important truth. I believe it is not just a propositional statement that I have believed for a very long time—20 to 25 years—but over time, I have come to see it as a certainty as I have followed the Lord. It is this: the Scriptures teach us both how to think and live through all of life's twists and turns. This is a statement of truth that I have believed to be true for a long time, and I have watched it play out.

Over the last 25 years or so of my journey as a follower and disciple of Jesus, the Scriptures have taught me how to think and how to live through all of life's twists and turns. The Apostle Peter, in his second letter in the New Testament, writes in 2 Peter chapter 1, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, according as His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue."

I read those words to mean that God has given you and me, as His followers, all the things we need to live this life in a godly manner. Everything we need to know how to think and live through life's challenges has been revealed to us through His Word. He has shown us how we ought to live and how we ought to move through this world.

One of the things you discover as you begin to follow God, read His Word, and align your life according to it is that His Word leads us into fulfilling the purpose for which we were made. This concept has been somewhat rejected in Western culture over the last 25 or 30 years, and perhaps even longer, in the way we train people. Many individuals, particularly those aged 20 to 35 today, have been indoctrinated with a worldview that suggests there is no ultimate purpose for which they were made. Instead, they are encouraged to discover their own meaning and purpose in this world.

However, what you find when you delve into the Scriptures is that God created you for a reason, for a purpose, for an end—what the ancient Greeks would refer to as a "Telos." He has a specific purpose for which He made you. As you begin to follow God and His Word, you discover what that purpose is, and it leads to a more joy-filled and satisfying life.

The philosophers of our time, many of whom are the songwriters of our culture, have expressed sentiments like "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" or "I Can't Get No Satisfaction." Yet, as you seek God through His Word and align your life with the Creator's revealed will, you will find true fulfillment.

As you begin to experience an increase of joy and satisfaction in this life, I believe that walking with God through His Word results in the best possible outcomes, both in this life and in the life to come. Over the last couple of weeks, I have received many questions and had various conversations that boil down to the ultimate question of how we should think and respond to all the things happening in the world around us.

Early last Wednesday, partly due to jet lag and also due to swirling thoughts about the current events, I found myself wide awake at 3 in the morning, contemplating how we ought to think about these issues. As I was running through various thoughts in my mind, I received a text message at 4 in the morning from one of our missionaries, who is 150 miles from Gaza. Because this is being recorded and will go online, I won’t mention names or specific locations, but if you have been a part of our church for a while, you know who they are. They are there, trying to figure out how to respond to the situation. They are completely surrounded by people who are angry to the point of wanting to fight.

They asked me how we should respond to this and whether it is a fulfillment of prophecy, specifically some of the prophecies in Amos or Ezekiel. As Christians, how do we respond? I shared with those two missionaries that I am not going to dogmatically say this is what the Scriptures indicate; I don’t know that for certain. However, there does seem to be some strange harmonic resonance between these events and the prophecies.

So, how do you respond when you see things that seem to be alluded to in Scripture, and it looks like some of those might be happening? Jesus tells us how to respond: when you see these things, look up, for your redemption draws nigh. Our ultimate hope for this world, and specifically for peace in this world, is not found in Washington, and I think you might know that. It is not found in New York at the UN. The ultimate hope for peace is only found in the Prince of Peace. The Scriptures reveal that there will be a day when He will rule and reign in righteousness, and there will be no more.

Suffering will come to an end; there will be no more sickness, no more death, and no more terrorist attacks. Our desire as Christians, our prayer as Christians, should be for that ultimate end. Jesus instructed us to teach and to pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven." When you pray that, you are saying, "God, I want your rule and reign here in this broken, fallen world."

The Scriptures teach us both how to think and how to live through all of life's twists and turns. We have seen some significant and sharp twists and turns in the last 25 years or so. In all of my adult life, it has been an interesting period of time. I was just thinking back through some of these things over the last few days. Right before, or right as I turned 20 years old, we entered into a new century, and there was a lot of hubbub about how crazy that was going to be. Remember Y2K? It is now a distant memory of things that did not happen.

However, right after that, a year later, we experienced perhaps the most horrific terrorist attacks in our country's history in 2001. This led to 20 years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, with hundreds of thousands of lives lost and trillions of dollars spent. In the midst of that crazy political upheaval, the very first presidential election that I voted in was marked by some political chaos. How many of you remember hanging chad and pregnant chad? Chad, you're not pregnant, are you? Some of you might remember that.

So, there was 2000, with some crazy upheaval, then 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020. We are coming up on another chaotic time of political upheaval. It is going to be a crazy wild ride over the next year, the next 13 months.

A revolutionary transformation in communication came about in 2007, leading to the rise of social media, which has contributed to a massive decline in mental health. It is very clear at this point; we don't have to look very far to see it. That is another major twist and turn we have seen in our culture: the redefining of marriage.

We have seen the total transformation of how people frame identity, personhood, and humanity. We have witnessed the devolving of race relations, ethics, morality, and the rule of law in our culture. All of these things are questioned. We have seen the massive pornification of our culture and the decriminalization of drugs, which we know for certain will not lead to good things ultimately.

In the last several years, we have experienced a very strange phenomenon with a global pandemic and the world's response to it, which has been far from good. Now, we see the rise of artificial intelligence, leaving a whole bunch of questions about what that will mean for our culture and how it will affect us. I can assure you it is going to affect our culture in some very strange ways that we can't even wrap our minds around at this moment.

Just a year ago, something called ChatGPT was opened up. Maybe some of you don't even know what that is or have never used it, but I can tell you for a fact that it is going to transform how this culture functions in a significant way. There are a lot of unanswered questions.

We are also experiencing a 40-year high in inflation. Some of you lived through the last highs and the results of all of that back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. We are in the midst of that again, and the question on people's minds is: What is going on, and how shall we then live?

I am convinced, as I have shared many times and have driven home several times this morning, that the Scriptures teach us both how to think and how to live through life's twists and turns. Over the last ten years or so, I have discovered that one of the things God has called me to do, both as a theologian and as a pastor, is to help people see how we should think biblically through these things.

We need to take what the Scriptures teach and apply it in our lives. We should live in a manner worthy of the Lord and worthy of the Gospel, which is the exhortation of the New Testament. Paul, in several of his letters, says to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. He urges us to walk worthy of the Gospel and walk worthy of the Lord.

How shall we then live? How can we shine as lights? Philippians 2:15 says, "In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world." Do you realize that is God's call?

To you today, if you're a Christian, I urge you to shine as a bright light, a beacon in a dark culture. Our culture is dark and getting darker. When I say that, I see many of you nodding in agreement. It is very clear that our culture is dark and getting darker. This is a call that God has placed upon you and me as followers of Jesus: to shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.

Is this the fulfillment of prophecy? Is this the end of the world? These were the questions that came to me from our missionaries when they called me the other day. In the midst of these things, we should pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven." The Lord may delay His return; He could delay for generations. I have no idea. However, in virtually every generation of Christian history for the last 2,000 years, the faithful church has expected the return of Jesus Christ. That is creedal orthodoxy for the church: He shall come again and rule and reign forever and ever. Of the increase of His government and peace, there shall be no end. When He comes and rules and reigns, He will right every wrong. That should be our hope; that is what we should be looking for.

This is an alternate way to think that shines as a light in the midst of a dark and perverse generation. Maybe you're wondering about some of these same issues or questions right now, and I want to try to address some of those questions this morning. I don't have the kind of time that I would like to have. I have so many more things that I'd like to say, and I kept finding myself editing out of my notes this last week as I was thinking about this.

Again, I want to state that proposition: the Scriptures teach us both how to think and how to live through all of life's twists and turns. Let me add this point number two, if you're taking notes: the Scriptures give insight, bringing knowledge that, when applied, results in wisdom for life. This application is so important because knowledge alone is insufficient. We have all these things coming at us in a broken and fallen world, and we have to try to navigate through those things.

A bank account, if you will, of knowledge exists, and the funds in that bank account of knowledge are often insufficient to face all the challenges that come against us. Knowledge alone is insufficient. How many of you know a lot of smart people who do a lot of dumb things? Knowledge alone, even with good intentions, is not enough. We have all known or heard people say things like, "Well, I know I should have done X, but I did Y." They had the right knowledge and even the intention, but they still did not act accordingly.

When applied, the knowledge of the Scriptures can bring wisdom for life. Jesus said, "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." Therefore, that application is crucial. A beautiful passage of Scripture from Psalm 19:7 states, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

Moreover, the psalmist writes, "More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb." Note this verse 11 from Psalm 19: "Moreover, by them your servant is warned, and in keeping of them is great reward." The application is important.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus, in Matthew chapter 7, says, "Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon the rock. Whoever hears these sayings of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand."

This serves as a preface to my attempt to answer some of the questions regarding how we should think and respond to what is happening in the world, particularly in light of the events we witnessed in real time in the news from Israel two weeks ago.

The Book of Joshua has some answers to our questions. If you would open your Bibles to Joshua chapter 20, we can explore this together. Joshua is the sixth book of the Bible, following Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. In chapter 20, I believe there are important insights for us to consider.

Joshua chapter 20, verse 1, states, "The Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel, saying, "Appoint for yourselves Cities of Refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses."'" At least two times in the last couple of years, I have discussed the Cities of Refuge, so I won't delve deeply into their purpose and significance. Instead, we will cover this quickly and glean some general principles that I think apply to our current situation.

While the children of Israel were preparing to enter the Promised Land, Moses, their leader, instructed them to establish these Cities of Refuge. Now that they are in the Promised Land, Joshua, their new leader, says, "Okay, now that we're here, you are going to establish these Cities of Refuge." What were they for? The verse continues, "Appoint for yourselves Cities of Refuge," as mentioned in verse 2, "that the Slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there, and there they shall have refuge from the Avenger of blood." The term "Avenger of blood" sounds like a Marvel movie in the making.

The children of Israel were establishing these Cities of Refuge, with six in total: three on the west side of the Jordan River and three on the east side. These cities were designated for the Slayer who killed someone unintentionally. It is important to understand the context of this moment in time, 3,400 years ago. The children of Israel did not have an active and established police force, nor did they have a king ruling over them. They were to be a self-governed people, living according to the rule of God through His law, as they were in a covenant relationship with Him.

So, what happens in the case of what we would call homicide, the taking of one life by another? It is essential to recognize that there are variations of homicide. There is intentional, premeditated murder, which, 3,400 years ago, and in many contexts today, carries significant legal and moral implications.

Places today is a capital crime, meaning that if you commit that, you could be put to death. On the other end of the spectrum of homicide, there is what we would call, in our time, manslaughter. What happens if someone is dead unintentionally at your hands? In that culture at that time, they didn't have an active police force. The person who is dead has a near of kin, the oldest male living relative. It is now their job to avenge the death of that loved one; they become the Avenger of Blood. They will hunt you down if you are the one who killed that person and put you to death—the Avenger of Blood coming back after the Slayer.

But what if it was unintentional? What if that person did not do it on purpose? What if it was not premeditated? What shall they do? The City of Refuge is for the Slayer, so that they may flee there and find refuge from the Avenger of Blood.

In verse four, when he flees to one of these cities and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them and give him a place that he may dwell among them. If the Avenger of Blood pursues the Slayer, they shall not deliver the Slayer into his hand because he struck his neighbor unintentionally; he did not hate him beforehand. He shall dwell in that city—note this word, circle it, highlight it, underline it—until he stands before the congregation for judgment. There is going to be a judicial review, if you will, and until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days. Then the Slayer may return to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.

Now, you may wonder how this text in Joshua chapter 20, a 3,400-year-old text, has anything to do with Hamas, Israel, and the world of October 2023. I want to suggest to you that it has a lot more to do with it than you might think at the initial look of this passage. This passage teaches us how to respond to evil that invites a punitive response, specifically the evil of homicide—the taking of one life by another individual.

In this passage, we have a number of things going on: we have the Slayer, the man Slayer; we have the Avenger of Blood; we have the City of Refuge; we have the elders of that City of Refuge who review what has happened; and then we have a proper response to evil. This was a society, again, that did not have an active police force.

Kings had to rule themselves according to God's dictate from His law. What does God say? Well, going all the way back to Genesis chapter 9, we see that God instituted capital punishment for the taking of life. Some of the first texts in all of history state this. In Genesis 9:5, God says, "Surely for your lifeblood, I will demand a reckoning." He is speaking here to Noah, after the ark and after the flood. He says there will be a reckoning for a life that is taken. "From the hand of every beast, I will require it," God says, "and from the hand of man, from the hand of every man's brother, I will require it."

This is a key verse. In Genesis 9:6, it states, "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed." Why? "For in the image of God, He created them." This is the key. Our culture has rejected this in most areas of secular society for several generations. Human life is different from other life because, in Genesis chapter 1, God said, "Let us make man in our image." In the image of God, He created them. This is what theologians for centuries have referred to as the Imago Dei, the image of God.

You were created with inherent dignity and value established by God. You are different from animal life. Therefore, when the life of a human, which bears the image and mark of God in some distinct way, is taken, it is not just the shedding of blood; it is an assault upon the image of God. Therefore, God says, "I will require this." It is not simply your family members that require it; God says, "I will require the life." "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God, He made man."

Anytime I talk about these challenging things, Pastor Nick, for the last several months, has been cutting these messages up and putting them on YouTube as YouTube shorts. Immediately when they go up there, they are like 60 seconds taken from a 45-minute message.

A minute message can make you laugh and say, "45 minutes, right?" However, a 60-second excerpt can be dissected from a message totally out of context. We encounter these YouTube comment warriors who claim we don't know what we're talking about and question how we dare to say the Bible isn't the root of all these things. I often have to restrain myself from responding to these foolish comments because the fact that we believe in human dignity and demand justice when lives are taken clearly goes back to creation and what is referred to as the imago Dei, or the image of God.

Whether you read the Bible or not, God has hardwired this understanding into every human. This is why, when you see an atrocious act of evil, you feel angered by it and demand justice. You might ask, "Why should there be justice?" The answer lies in the inherent human value and dignity that comes from God. If you are nothing more than an animal, as our culture has been telling us, then you should expect atrocious acts and not feel anger about them because, in that view, we are just animals.

If you indoctrinate generations of people and tell them they have no ultimate purpose and no ultimate dignity because they are merely the product of random chance over billions of years, you should not be surprised—yes, be shocked, but do not be surprised—when someone takes a rifle and goes into an elementary school and mows people down. They are just acting like an animal.

We are witnessing, in the higher levels of academia today, a questioning of whether we can even have a problem with such actions because of determinism. They argue that the perpetrators were just determined to do it. Ideas have consequences, and we are going to see the unfolding of this reality. It is not going to be pretty, and we have already seen it manifest on some of the college campuses of our culture today, particularly in the most prestigious institutions of higher learning. All you have to do is look at the results.

What happened at Yale, Harvard, and Princeton in the last two weeks answers all the questions about the results of that kind of thinking. The question should be: Do you want to live in that culture? I certainly do not. I don't say these things lightly, and I know it's going to come across somewhat arrogantly, but I got a little frustrated by some of the comments this past week. I have spent decades studying this, and I actually have some expertise in this area. I am finishing a doctorate in the area of ethics and apologetics on these specific issues.

If you disagree in the comment section—I'm talking to you, Cameron in the back—you are ill-informed, and you need to go study history. I'll leave it at that.

The inherent dignity and value of human life is inextricably linked to God's creation of man in His image. The impulse that you have for justice when a life is taken comes from that, whether you have read the Bible or not. It comes from the fact that God imprinted this reality on your soul, in the firmware of your psyche. That impulse for justice, when you see injustice, comes from this.

You don't have the same reaction when you see a lion kill a zebra. You watch that for entertainment on National Geographic, and you don't say, "How dare that lion!" You don't react that way because of this difference. However, if a bear attacks and kills humans, what do we do? We hunt that bear down and kill it. Why? Because there is something hardwired into our souls.

I want to tell you right now, and this might be something you have never thought of before: It is right for you to be angry at injustice. We have been spoon-fed this passive Jesus for several generations in our culture, where gentle Jesus is always portrayed as nice. He never gets angry. Read the Bible.

The Bible teaches us that God is rightly angry at injustice, and so should we be. However, I want to caution you: you should be angry at injustice wherever it comes from and whoever it is aimed at. The challenge lies in how to properly deal with that anger. How do you navigate the evil shedding of innocent blood in a right manner? It is right for you to be angry at evil and injustice, but the question is how do you respond to that injustice without also becoming unjust?

This is a very delicate balance, and most of the time, we don't think about it. For every single person in this room, myself included, we have all mistakenly responded in anger in the wrong way. Every one of you, especially if you're a parent, has done this. We all have reacted in anger to a wrong action or an evil thing inappropriately. Therefore, we have to stop and reflect, and that is what this passage is talking about.

When the very first life was taken, when Cain killed Abel in Genesis 4, God said, "The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground." There needs to be a reckoning; there is a demand for a reckoning. I want to share some general principles that arise from this text of Scripture.

First, we should be angry about evil; we should be angered by it. However, we must be careful not to sin in our anger. The New Testament book of Ephesians, specifically Ephesians 4:26, says, "Be angry." Many of us might say, "Yes, I'm commanded to be angry!" But it continues, "and sin not." What does that mean? It means that we should be angry for the right reasons and respond in the right way. This is hard because our impulse is often to respond to anger inappropriately.

Evil is a serious matter, and if you respond in haste, that means too quickly. You're in danger of committing the same evil. The first thing this teaches us is to be angry at evil but do not sin in your anger.

The second thing this passage teaches us is that we need to slow down. In 2023 lingo, we might say, "slow your roll." That's hard, but that's exactly what this does. The slayer can flee to the City of Refuge until there can be a review of what has happened and a determination of whether it was intentional. If it was intentional murder, what we call murder, that individual would be put to death by the avenger of blood. However, there is a slowing down of the process here, which is so hard for us because the impulse is to respond and react to that evil. If we're not careful, when we make hasty decisions, we are in danger of damnable actions.

So, first, be angry at evil but do not sin in your anger. Second, we need to slow down. Third, we need to examine the evil in light of the evidence, which is always hard. Fourth, we must judiciously weigh a right response, and sometimes the right response is to execute wrath. That is actually sometimes a right response. If God will execute wrath on unrighteousness, then wrath cannot in itself be unrighteous.

Fifth, we must execute justice rightly, which means we judge those who deserve judgment and we judge in a right manner with proper measures of judgment. This is not easy.

All that to say, point number four: Injustice or violence against the image of God requires a just and sometimes violent response. This makes us uncomfortable because we are often discomforted by violence and injustice. However, injustice or violence against the image of God—humanity—requires a just and sometimes violent response.

In this, many challenging issues arise. These are not easy conversations; they are things that theologians, thinkers, and philosophers have been wrestling with for generations. We are fallen and sinful, so we will always make mistakes in the process.

Proper meeting out of justice, where injustice is concerned, recognizes that this is a given because we are fallen. We need to have anger at injustice, and we need to work as hard as we possibly can to navigate those things justly. What the Hamas terrorists did is abominable and should be damned. Ultimately, God is the one who will damn injustice, and I do not envy the position of those in power who do not bear the sword in vain.

There are certain people in our culture who have been given the sword within human government to execute righteousness. Go read Romans chapter 13. I do not envy that position; I would not want to be in that position because my impulse is to crush it and deal with it. If I had the power to push the button, that would be a frightening place to be in. May it be that there are people in those positions of power who have the wisdom of God to navigate these things, because this is going to be a very challenging situation.

We are entering into a moment in history that could trigger a domino effect that none of us want to see, one that would make the First and Second World Wars look petty. We need to pray. All of these things open up a huge Pandora's box of challenging issues, questions, and problems, and none of these things have easy answers. This is the whole discussion of what is called ethics: the question of good and evil in the world and how we ought to respond to this.

Christians for generations have been talking about this. If you go back to the time of Augustine in the fourth century or Thomas Aquinas six hundred years after that, you get into the whole discussion of just war theory. That's where it all develops from this very thing. There are Christians, and I've had conversations with them over the years, who say, "Well, Jesus was a pacifist, and he taught non-violence and turned the other cheek. Haven't you read the Sermon on the Mount?" Yes, I've read all that, and I just say, "Haven't you read the rest of the Bible?" Because there's a whole bunch of other stuff that God said beyond that.

The Bible teaches us how to live rightly when we have no power and how to wield power when we do have it, both in the context of just war theory on one side.

How to respond by turning the other cheek is a topic that Christians have written about and discussed for centuries. This is the whole issue we are delving into at this moment in time. However, we need to be careful that we think, act, and work justly and properly as it relates to evil, conflict, and war. We must not get spun up into a frenzy and act unjustly.

We are not living in peaceful times, and barring some geopolitical miracle, this situation is going to escalate into greater conflict. In the midst of that, there must be Christians who are asking the questions of justice and mercy. The Lord has shown us what is good and what He requires of us: to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before our God. In situations like this, we often want to act justly and throw mercy aside, but we have to be very careful. It needs to be you and me, as Christians, who are asking the questions of mercy and justice.

Yes, Hamas terrorists need to be judged. Yes, people who perpetrate evil must be dealt with in a violent manner; that is Scripture. But we must also be asking the questions of mercy and justice. We need to be so careful, Church, about how we navigate these issues.

I will finish with this: Romans chapter two states, "Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judges. For in whatever you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things." We have to be very careful when we cast judgment or stand in the position of judge that we act rightly, lest we also be judged.

We know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. We can trust that God will pour out justice rightly in the future. Do you think, O man, that you who judge those practicing such things and do the same thing will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads to repentance?

Repentance, God's goodness, and His patience towards us have brought us to repentance. Even though every single one of us here has done unjustly and we all deserve wrath, in accordance with the hardness and impenitent heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath for the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. He will render to each one according to his deeds.

Trust that God will judge sin, granting eternal life to those who, by patient continuance in doing good, seek for glory, honor, and immortality. However, to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, there will be indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish on every soul of man who does evil, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. But glory, honor, and peace will be given to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for there is no partiality with God.

Let me pull back to this final point: apart from God's mercy, our injustices will be met by God's just and violent response. I am in desperate need of God's mercy every day, and so are you. I am so thankful, and I've shared this many times, but I constantly come back to it. I am so grateful that when God, in a sense, extended His hand of introduction to Moses on Mount Sinai in Exodus 34, He introduced Himself by saying, "I am the Lord, the Lord God merciful."

He chose to introduce Himself first with mercy. How do you introduce yourself? Most of the time, we identify ourselves by what we do. Yet God, the first thing He said, was, "The Lord, the Lord God merciful." It is so good that He did not say, although it would have been true, "The Lord, the Lord God just," because you and I would be toast. But He leads with His mercy.

Apart from God's mercy, our injustices would be met by God's just and violent response. And who was it that absorbed the just and violent response for our injustices? Jesus. He is the only hope for a sinful, fallen world filled with injustice. We need to constantly remind ourselves of that. I need to constantly remind myself of that. Why?

Because my impulse when I see injustice and evil is to respond with anger, which is a right response, my anger can quickly spiral out of control, leading me to commit the same evil. God help us.

One final thing I think is really important to say: the impulse that every one of us has when we're driving on the freeway and we see an accident—to slow down and look at it—is the same impulse that makes you want to click on that video or that picture on social media. I want to encourage you not to do it. It's not good for your soul to see wickedness with your eyes. Social media affords us the ability to instantly see things that we can't wash from our minds. War is bad; wickedness is disgusting. It's not something to look at. That impulse to look at it—do whatever you can to resist it.

I made a point for the last two weeks to not watch the videos and not look at the pictures, and I'm glad I have. I know how bad it is. I can hear people talking about it; I can read the headlines. I do not need to see burned bodies and decapitated infants. I don't need to see it, and neither do you. It's enough to know that wickedness is disgusting and that God hates it. He hates it.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? God, we need your help. I pray for wisdom for those who are in positions of power, because navigating these very difficult situations desperately needs your guidance. Please put people in the right places, in the right rooms, at the right time to speak wisdom.

God, we pray for peace. And Lord, I know that when I pray, what I'm ultimately praying for is for you to return. So, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Your kingdom come; your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Prince of Peace, we want you to rule and reign. Lord Jesus, come quickly.

Don't come for generations. Give us the ability to shine brightly in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation. For we ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, "Amen."

Let's sing to the Lord.