Greed & Justice
i. Not enough that we point out those vices we are afflicted with: Pride, Envy, Anger, Sloth
ii. But also the virtues we fail to demonstrate/trust: Faith, Hope, Love, Fortitude
iii. I suppose this is the peculiar ground of perfect goals. The objective moves proportionately to the progress. Worse yet, it seems the more we know of our goal, the further we seem away from it. For example, the more we understand grace, the more we realize the astounding quantity we have received and the appalling amount we dispense.
1. If I may borrow an old adage form education, “the more you learn, the more you realize you know nothing.” Likewise, the more you understand of holiness, the more you understand your own depravity.
i.
Everywhere I looked people were ascribing Greed as the prime impetus to Greatness
1.
University professor Lawrence Gillespie calls greed
the “first principal of soul.” That force which drives us to live, create and
desire. Dr. Gillespie argues that without greed there would be no civilization.
2.
A national teenage threaded-chat I watched openly
mocked the idealism of one young man who suggested that greed may be evil, in
the end he buckled.
3.
John Stossel, from ABC news described greed as the
necessary engine of American commerce.
4.
Stars on MTV were surprised to see Greed as a
“deadly sin”
a.
Unsurprising. Not only does greed motivate many of
them, it is often the content of lyrics.
ii. Well, I agree. Greed is a powerful motivator. In a world without MORAL NORMS IT IS LIKELY ONE OF THE FIRST MOTIVATORS. The desire to have, have often more than you need. Only problem is that greed poisons its purveyors, and harms the innocent
i. A strong desire to achieve something high or great.
ii. Fortitude, initiative, determination, willpower, resolve, strength of mind…Iron will.
i. We live in the aftermath of late 90s greed!
1. Flagrantly inflated IPO’s, that made venture capitalists insanely wealthy and left thousands destitute
2. Enron lies shredded to protect fat-cat executives who live in unimaginable wealth, while working Americans lost everything they own
3. World Com accounting fraud into the billions of dollars
4. Puppy-mills
5. International child slavery that makes wicked men rich on the unthinkable perversion of men.
6. Even Martha Stewart is falling because of unbridled GREED
i.
The resistance of unfair governance from
ii.
A hard-fought war and well-written declaration of
iii. A battle between brothers to finish that freedom for people of all races.
iv. The hard work of those who built this capitalist country for the freedom and prosperity for ALL.
1. In a day when wealth equaled service.
v. Will to succeed compels the athlete to excel even when they know they cannot win.
vi. Fortitude pushed Lance Armstrong to win the Tour de France after cancer
vii. Resolve drove the engineers at mission control to create a rescue plan for Apollo 13
i. From that which ennobles us has been twisted and inordinate desire to own, and created in us an illness that will eventually destroy us.
i. John Calvin once said that an all-powerful, all-present, all-knowing God was a terrible thing unless the being was just.
ii. Justice is rooted in the very nature of God (Isa 40:14).
1. He evenhandedly rewards good, and he does not ignore the sins of any (Psalm 33:5; 37:6, 28; 97:2; 99:4).
2. God
does not take bribes (Deut
3. or
pervert justice in any way (Gen
4. As blank read in proverbs 11, he HATES the dishonest scale, but accurate weights are his DELIGHT.
5. Justice is part and parcel of who he is and who we are to be
a. Noticed there is no admonition to avoid business, but UNFAIR business
b. As Dan pointed out last week excellent and hard work is our calling.
i. We heard Paul in Romans 3:3-12 speaking to the Jew who may believe they are saved by lineage and tradition. There is no one righteous, not even one…
ii. Except for Romans 3:21-26
i. Perhaps if I put Paul’s argument into a syllogism
1. An all holy all just God must judge wickedness
a. No option to forget or ignore
2. All people are wicked
3. God must judge all people
ii. Jesus unjustly convicted suffers his own judgment
1. Side note-Jesus is not answering the Father’s judgment but God’s judgment, in other words…his own.
iii. His atonement fully satisfies God’s justice
iv. Those who have faith in Jesus receive grace and consequently JUSTICE is met.
v. So if only Jesus as the God-man can satisfy the Justice those who are dammed cannot ever fully meet the crime.
1. Funny…we often think of hell as those who receive justice and heaven ads those who receive grace. When in fact while those in damnation have received a just sentence, but God’s Justice is not fully- met, because only in eternal SALVATION is justice fully answered.
a. I think this is a WoW idea.
b. Take for example murder of a Josiah. If the culprit is apprehended, tried, convicted and executed, a just sentence has occurred, but JUSTICE has not been met. It serves nothing to the victim. The only way the crime could be answered is if the assailant claims Christ, and thus transfers the guilt to his atonement.
i.
The hope of
my family should be that the murderer claim Christ, and become a fellow heir,
while insisting of his just execution.
2.
When we seek the salvation of the lost we not only
value human life but divine justice
3. Thus God remains a righteous judge even as he justifies those sinners who believe in Christ (Luke 18:14; Gal 3:11-13).