Preaching Like a Prophet

We dare not be silent about injustices, if only we can see them as God does.
--John Ortberg--

Why we must preach on justice

We tend to avoid preaching about justice because we don't really want to know the truth about what sin has done to our world and to us. Because that would make us uncomfortable.

Why preaching about justice is hard

Our society has become so politicized that people often hear words like justice or life or the poor or compassion as code words for a partisan political allegiance in one direction or another.
Self-righteous moralism.
Generational issues
Character development.
Ideological correctness replaces failure to do the exegetical and theological work

Justice is not partisan politics
Words like justice or poverty or sexuality or life or righteous are really code Words for a partisan political position

A call to action Is not Asking a favor
Make justice concrete
On the cross we see most clearly God's hatred of injustice.
An empty tomb proclaims most loudly justice's final victory.
Provide an opportunity for action
Justice points to Jesus