SermonStudio

Purpose Statement: This sermon presents the case for Christians becoming social activists.

Scripture has its share of social activists. Moses intervened in a slavery issue (Exodus 2:11-13) in Egypt, had to flee the country, and later went back to get re-involved once more as God directed a campaign of protests to free all the slaves. Jeremiah demonstrated against the war with the Babylonians (Jeremiah 11:18-23; 27:1-12) pleading for peaceful submission on the part of Judah instead of armed resistance. The hawks complained to the king accusing Jeremiah of undermining the courage of the soldiers and the war effort (38:1-6). That sounds familiar. Amos (2:6-8) fought, among other things, predatory lenders in his community. History doesn't seem to change much over the years. Amos cried out against the growing gap between the rich and the very poor because of the corruption of his society, which included injustice in the courts (4:1-3; 5:10-15). Jesus gave us an example of a dramatic demonstration in Jerusalem when he ran the vendors and moneychangers from the temple (John 2:13-16). On one occasion, Jesus was told by the Pharisees to silence his disciples. They were saying things that irritated the Pharisees, and Jesus defended them, saying, "If the disciples were to keep silence, the very stones would cry out." In other words, we cannot sit by and let injustices and travesty go unchallenged. Righteousness, peace, and justice must be heard if it takes the stones to speak. Will the church be a dynamic force for social change in the world or will we just talk about the love of Jesus in whispers behind our walls and hope someday enough people will decide to be nice?

a. Get informed. We know the issues since we are bombarded with the painful news every day. Just the war issue itself, among so many other vital concerns, commands our attention. We constantly prepare for war with more money and resources than for any other program, instead of preparing for peace. Since we haven't learned how to prepare for peace and get along internationally as adults, we are always under the threat of military conflict. Our method of violent physical force hasn't worked yet; wars and threat of wars continue on and on. We may not enjoy the task of reading and research on those social issues that are devastating our society, but it is mandated that we diligently study the concerns and become extremely well informed as churches and Christians.

b. Get organized. We need to get the church involved in these studies (see sermon Z-9, "We Need To Talk") where we can begin to grow in our consensus of what is at stake and just what God desires the church to do. God led the entire Bible leaders mentioned in the scriptures above. If we were to give prayerful, open minded study to social concerns, we would gravitate toward an understanding of God's will for our church and us as Christians (see sermon F-10, "What Are You Doing Out Of Jail?"). We need to form groups in our churches, as well as groups among neighborhood churches across denominational lines.

c. Get going. There is no excuse for not doing letter writing campaigns, protest marches, and visits to legislators. We must let our leaders know what we feel is right and seek to educate the rest of our communities. The civil rights demonstrations of the '60s taught us a great lesson. Serious social issues that destroy people's lives do not change until someone stands up and says something. The church has a choice of being either a leader or a follower.