“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and 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 smoldering 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 earth. In his law the islands will put their hope.” This is what God the Lord says—he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. Isaiah 42:1-7

To be just is to be fair in your dealings with people. To establish justice is to establish a culture in which people are treated fairly. Sometimes we tend to spiritualize those verses entirely and not recognize that there are broken people in this world. Life is not even, Life is not fair for everybody. Especially for people in every society who don’t have much power, who don’t have much voice. Wouldn’t it be interesting if the only way our life is evaluated is by how we treat people who have no power over us. (Matthew 25:31-46) It applies to employers, it applies to parents, it applies to landlords, it applies to business people and their clients and customers. Are we fair? Is that what the world knows about followers of Jesus, that they treat people fairly. They didn’t fail to disclose information to their disadvantage and they are meticulous about being honest. Part of being a follower of Jesus means that we understand that God shows no partiality. What an interesting thing that we would love one another, but not show partiality, not one set of rules for people like us and another set of rules for other people—whether it be politically, economically, educationally. Our God does not show partiality. He wants to be able to show the unbelieving world that he treats them the same as he treated you and me. Think about it. He doesn’t want them to be able to say on Judgment Day, “Oh it was easy for that person who is living on the sunny side of the street. You made your own set of rules for those people. I didn’t even have a chance.” But, God loves us and He so loves the world that He gives us His Son, that He did not condemn us but gives us everlasting life…, and is done in such a way that everybody knows that God is fair. He is supremely fair. At the end of time, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. It is my belief that this is not going to happen by force. There is not going to be a great voice screaming KNEEL. But everybody, the believer and unbeliever alike are going to be able to see this world and see the truth and the Lord will say, “What more could I have done, than what I have done?” Everybody is going to admit that Jesus is Lord. The Lord is fair.

What a better time for us to live in terms of this than now? Mercy is great. Compassion is great, but sometimes we are more willing to give alms than to be just. It’s like saying you tithe ten or twelve percent, but you cheat everyone you do business with some of us seem to think that as long as I give more than my tithe, it’s O.K. Now compassion is a good thing, but we have to begin with being fair. You don’t have control over whether people are fair with you. Although it is O.K. to speak up for yourself. Jesus commends the widow before the judge. My mother was like that widow. She bought a garbage disposal and it didn’t work, and the store didn’t want to take it back. She was like that widow. She wore them out. Finally, some manager said, “I don’t care how that thing got broken. Give her a new one.” The Lord argues in that text that God will hear prayers of those who cry out to Him for justice, but we must be persistent, when it seems that He is indifferent to our need. (Luke 18:1-8)

Part of your confession of faith is to believe that God is good, God is fair wants your life to be fair and the world to be fair for everybody. Coming back to the Isaiah passage, which points to Jesus, speaks of the Spirit of God’s mission to establish justice. Your witness is no good if you are not being fair with the people you interact with. If you are not giving an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay, your witness is no good. If you are not giving an honest days wage for an honest day’s work, your witness is no good. If you are not treating people who work for you fairly, your contractors and laborers, then your witness is no good. If you don’t pay your bills when you are able to and have committed to, then your witness is no good. The name of Jesus is shamed because of these practices. Our God, our Lord Jesus, wants to establish mercy and compassion but we must begin with being fair and then we must go beyond fair. It’s most important that we are fair with people who can’t give us anything back. We have to be meticulously fair with those who have no real power or voice. God is calling us to be different kind of people.

There are an incredible number of issues of justice globally, but it comes down to one. Are we being fair with our neighbors around the world in how we share the pie? Or is it me first, sorry about you, and oh yes, let me tell you about Jesus?

The word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As is written in the book of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the desert, Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God’s salvation.” John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.” For I tell you that our of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” “What should we do then?” the crowd asked. John answered. “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.” Tax collectors also came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.” The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. John answered them all. “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them. Luke 3:2b-18

From the gospel text we read—He separates the wheat from the chaff. I’ve been a believer for 30 years and I still have chaff. The will of God is that we be fair with people, having mercy on others. Receive the grace of God and treat people fairly.

What happened to Zaccheus when he came out of that tree? Jesus said, “I’m coming to your house today. Salvation is in your house today.” Zaccheus’ salvation included making restitution to everyone that he routinely took advantage of and mistreated. (Luke 19:1-10).

The salvation of God is a wholistic salvation. It’s not just about when we come to church we are one kind of person and then another when we are outside. Part of salvation is that we are intent on being just, especially with people who have so little voice and power. It’s not about us being a tower of power, but rather us going to the fountain of grace. I guarantee that if we respond to the spirit of God who leads us, we will find ourselves in grace.

Another point about the four square gospel—at the end of this passage: This is what God the Lord says—he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles. Isaiah 42:5-6

God says, “I give you breath, I give you spirit, I give you the ability to plant seeds. Hear me. I am the Lord.” He says four things in this Isaiah passage and that’s why I call this a four square gospel:

I have called you. I have taken you by the hand. I have kept you. And I am giving you away. This is the gospel. Have you heard the Lord call your name? God has called you. You and I are believers because He has called us to respond to him. He gives us breath and spirit. He gives us everything. He takes us by the hand. We have trouble, but the Lord is with us. He has taken us by the hand. He guides us by His hand. He will be there with us.

He has kept us. He will see us through.

But our God also says that He is giving us away as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, as a lights to those who are not believers, to open their eyes, to bring out prisoners from the darkness. He wants to give us away. Some of you think that if your life is hard that you are doing something wrong. How do you get into the blessing? You need to understand. You are following Jesus now, crucified and risen and if you are going to follow Him, don’t you want to be spent a little bit in service to God?

He has taken you by the hand, He has kept you….. He wants to give us away. He doesn’t want to save us until the end, unused, unspent, unfulfilled.

Let’s remember our call and give Him permission to give us away, in justice, mercy and faithfulness.