Calvin on the Church, our mother

Calvin has a very high view of the church, even the visible church. What he says should remind us that a high reformed ecclesiology is a well-respected mainstream tradition which goes back to the Reformers, or rather Augustine, or rather Scripture through the eyes of Augustine and the Reformers, and is not something to be afraid of or some new heresy. Calvin’s doctrine of the church is also something that has a bearing on how we Anglicans of a more conservative persuasion should think and behave in the current theological climate.

Speaking of God, Calvin says:

“To those to whom he is a Father, the Church must also be a mother.” (Institutes IV.I.1)

To justify this, he points us to Galatians 4.26, where we are described as being children of a new Jerusalem. Of the visible church in particular he writes:

“But as it is now our purpose to discourse of the visible Church, let us learn, from her single title of Mother, how useful, nay, now necessary the knowledge of her is, since there is no other means of entering into life unless she conceive us in the womb and give us birth, unless she nourish us at her breasts, and, in short, keep us under her charge and government… Moreover, beyond the pale of the Church no forgiveness of sins, no salvation, can be hoped for.” (Institutes IV.I.4)

It is through the education of the church, Calvin says, that is, through the ministry of preaching committed to pastors, who are part of the ascended Christ’s gift ot his church, that God’s people are brought to perfect manhood. Calvin goes on to say that:

“All who reject the spiritual food of the soul divinely offered to them by the hands of the Church, deserve to perish of hunger and famine.” (Institutes IV.I.5)

He reminds us that while faith is the gift of God, nevertheless, he grants faith to us by the instrument of the gospel preached. Calvin points us to Romans 10.17: “Faith comes through hearing”. We are to recognise God’s presence in his institution. We are to seek his face in the sanctuary (Psalm 105.4). He warns us of the dangers of a merely private faith. Moreover, Paul says that it is in his preaching the glory of God shone in the face of Jesus Christ. God has made it so that preaching has efficacy, although it is to him alone that the power belongs. Calvin distinguishes between the invisible church, i.e. the church as it really is before God, the saints on earth and all the elect from the beginning of the world, and the visible church, that is, the body of mankind scattered throughout the world who profess Christian faith, have been initiated into that faith by baptism, and who partake of the Lord’s Supper and submit to the church’s ministry. Calvin acknowledges that this church is a mixed body containing hypocrites (either because their guilt and impenitence cannot be established, or because discipline is lax) but we are to have regard for the church under this aspect as well. Separation from this church is a grave offence:

“For such is the value which the Lord sets on the communion of his Church, that all who contumaciously alienate themselves from any Christian society, in which the true ministry of his word and sacraments is maintained, he regards as deserters of religion. So highly does he recommend her authority, that when it is violated he considers his own authority is impaired… Moreover, no mean praise is conferred on the Church when she is said to have been chosen and set apart by Christ as his spouse, “not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing” (Eph v.27), as “his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph i.23). Whence it follows that revolt from the church is denial of God and Christ. Wherefore there is the more necessity to beware of a dissent so iniquitous; for seeing by it we aim as far as in us lies at the destruction of God’s truth, we deserve to be crushed by the full thunder of his anger. No crime can be imagined more atrocious than that of sacriligiously and perfidiously violating the sacred marriage which the only begotten Son of God has condescended to contract with us.” (Institutes IV.I.10)

Calvin anticipates that trouble could be caused over the word “true” in the phrase “true ministry of his word and sacraments”: people might not recognise a church if they deem there to be faults in either of these. He advises great caution and says that defects may even creep in with the administration of word and sacraments which ought not to alienate us from its communion. Not all truths are of equal importance. That God is one and that Christ is God, and the Son of God, and that our salvation depends on the mercy of God are essential; whether the soul goes to heaven on dying or whether it somehow lives with the Lord without specifying its location are not.”We are not on every minute difference to abandon a church, proided it retain sound and unimpaired that doctrine in which the safety of piety consists, and keep the use of the sacraments instituted by the Lord.” Furthermore, we should be even more tolerant of imperfection of conduct with regard to the issue of separating frmo a church or not. Calvin reminds us of some of the parables of Christ, including the parable comparing the church to a net in which all kinds of fish are taken but not separated until they are brought ashore, or a field in which the good seed is mingled with tares and is not separated until the harvest is brought into the barn. Calvin points us to the Corinthian church, in which there was a multitude of sins of an heinous nature, with corruption in doctrine and practice. Paul did not separate from them or eject them from the kingdom, but calls them a church of Christ and a society of saints. He also points us to the Galatians, in whom Paul recognised the church, even though they had all but abandoned the gospel:

“If the Church remains among the Corinthians, where envyings, divisions and contentions rage; where quarrels, lawsuits, and avarice prevail; where a crime, which even the Gentiles would execrate, is openly approved; where the name of Paul, whom they ought to have honoured as a father, is petulantly assailed; where some hold the resurrection of the dead in derision, though with it the whole gospel must fall; where the gifts of God are made subservient to ambition, not to charity; where many things are done neither decently nor in order: If there the Church still remains, simply because ministration of the word and sacrament is not rejected, who will presume to deny the title of church to those to whom a tenth part of those crimes cannot be imputed?” (Institutes IV.I.14)

Moreover, the decision to separate from sinful Christians, particularly at the Lord’s Supper, does not rest with the individual. That unrepentant sinners should be admitted to the Lord’s Supper Calvin acknowledges is a disgrace, and lays the blame for that at the feet of pastors who are not as diligent in church discipline as they ought to be, but nevertheless, he argues that individuals ought not to take the decision to separate upon themselves.

“But although the Church fail in her duty, it does not therefore follow that every private individual is to decide the question of separation for himself. I deny not that it is the duty of a pious man to withdraw from all private intercourse with the wicked, and not entangle himself with them by any voluntary tie; but it is one thing to shun the society of the wicked, and another to renounce the communion of the Church through hatred of them. Those who think it sacrilege to partake the Lord’s bread with the wicked, are in this more rigid than Paul. For when he exhorts us to pure and holy communion, he does not require that we should examine others, or that every one should examine the whole church, but that each should examine himself (1 Cor. xi. 28, 29)… The right of admitting or excluding ought not to be left to the decision of individuals. Cognisance of this point, which cannot be exercised without due order, as shall afterwards be more fully shown, belongs to the whole church. It would therefore be unjust to hold any private individual as polluted by the unworthiness of another, whom he neither can nor ought to keep back from communion.” (Institutes IV.I.15)

In all this, Calvin is essentially following Augustine, and he echoes Augustine’s teaching that the godly should correct what they can and bear patiently with what they cannot, lamenting and mourning in love until reformation comes from God, or he brings the final judgement. Calvin reminds us that in a body which seems full of error, there will be those whom they do not notice who are pursuing righteousness. Judgement belongs to the Lord, and not to the individual Christian. Calvin points us to the example of Old Testament Israel, where the prophets did not form new churches for themselves or erect new altars for separate sacrifices, but went where their countrymen went, recognising that the Lord had institutes the ceremonies by which he was worshipped and had deposited his word there, so worshipped him there, even amidst ungodly people. In summary, Calvin says this:

“Let both points, therefore, be regarded as fixed; first, that there is no excuse for him who spontaneously abandons the external communion of a church in which the word of God is preached and the sacraments are administered; secondly, that notwithstanding the faults of a few or of many, there is nothing to prevent us from there duly professing our faith in the ordinances instituted by God, because a pious conscience is not injured by the unworthiness of another, whether he be a pastor or a private individual; and sacred rites are not less pure and salutary to a man who is holy and upright, from being at the same time handled by the impure. (Institutes IV.I.19)

Calvin returns expounding his high view of the church and the blessings that are enjoyed in it, and the power and authority its ordained ministers have from Christ in conveying these blessings to us. Belonging to the church is required for the forgiveness of sins, and the ordained ministers of the church as its representatives declare to the people the forgiveness of sins (the ministry which has been entrusted to the church) both corporately and to individuals (which, I take it includes personal confession of sins to a minister to receive the benefit of absolution, if required).

“In the Creed forgiveness of sins is appropriately subjoined to belief as to the Church, because none obtain forgiveness but those who are citizens, and of the household of the Church, as we read in the Prophet (Is. xxxiii. 24). The first place, therefore, should be given to the building of the heavenly Jerusalem, in which God afterwards is pleased to wipe away the iniquity of all who betake themselves to it. I say, however, that the Church must first be built; not that there can be any church without forgiveness of sins, but because the Lord has not promised his mercy save in the communion of saints.” (Institutes IV.1.20)

“When Christ gave the command to the apostles, and conferred the power of forgiving sins, he not merely intended that they should loose the sins of those who should be converted from impiety to the faith of Christ; but moreover, that they should perpetually perform this office among believers. This Paul teaches, when he says that the embassy of reconciliation has been committed to the ministers of the Church, that they may ever and anon in the name of Christ exhort the people to be reconciled to God (2 Cor. v. 20). Therefore, in the communion of saints, our sins are constantly forgiven by the ministry of the Church, when presbyters or bishops, to whom the office has been committed, confirm pious consciences, in the hope of pardon and forgiveness, by the promises of the gospel, and that as well in public as in private, as the case requires. For there are many who, from their infirmity, stand in need of special pacification, and Paul declares that he testified of the grace of Christ not only in the public assembly, but from house to house, reminding each individually of the doctrine of salvation (Acts xx. 20, 21)… Let each of us consider it to be his duty to seek forgiveness of sins only where the Lord has placed it.” (Institutes IV.1.22)

I believe

Following a discussion on the Trinity and evangelism a little while ago, it was suggested that someone should write an evangelistic book based on the doctrine of the Trinity. This is not quite that, but it is a series of seven possible titles for evangelistic Bible studies based on clauses from the Apostles’ Creed with a brief outline of what might be covered (based on the rationale that this is the baptismal creed of the church, with the hope being that at the end of the course, those who were interested in finding out more about the Christian faith will be baptised into this faith, or affirm for themselves the faith into which they were baptised as an infant but from which they may have since drifted). It starts with the Trinity, because it is simply not the case that we all have a basically correct idea of what “God” means which we can fill in later with the historically revealed details of the Trinity: God is Trinity, and we have to start from there to make sure that we are talking about the correct God. This framework could also be used for instruction of new Christians, or for equipping Christians for evangelism. One or more pertinent passages of Scripture could form the basis of a Bible study for each heading, and expositions of these passages could be worked into a book.

1. God

… God, the Father almighty…
… Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord…
… the Holy Spirit.

God as Trinity, and how it makes sense of the world.

2. Creator of heaven and earth

… God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

Doctrine of creation, God’s purpose for the world, sin

3. Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord (Part 1)

… Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended to the dead.

… the forgiveness of sins.

Christ’s full deity and humanity so he can be our saviour, the atonement, its consequences

4. Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord (Part 2)

On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come  to judge the living and the dead.

… the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.

Assurance that sin and death have been defeated, Christ’s kingship, the coming judgement, the future hope of resurrection and life in the new creation

5. The Holy Spirit

… the Holy Spirit.

Work of the Spirit in the life of the believer, making us how God intended us to be, renewing us, equipping us to serve him, what it means to live as a Christian

6. The holy catholic Church

… the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints.

Brought into a family that is set apart from the world, transcends all social, cultural and racial boundaries, public worship

7. I believe

I believe… Amen.

The need for personal response of trust in the God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit; baptism for those who want to do this who have not already been baptised; the need to re-affirm this for oneself if already baptised but have drifted

The Ascension and Psalm-singing

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” – Colossians 3.1

What St. Paul says in this verse depends on what he has said before in the previous chapter. He tells us that in our baptism we have died and have been buried with Christ and raised with him:

“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” – Colossians 2.11-12

Because of this, he points us to where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God, and where we ourselves are with him and tells us to seek, to set our minds on, to pursue and to practise the things that are above, that belong to heaven. This is not because our ultimate future is away from this world in heaven, but because one day Christ will return from there in glory (Colossians 3.4). Jesus is the king and heaven is the capital city, which he has entered having conquered sin and death by his death on the cross in our place, taking the punishment that we deserve for our rebellion against him. We in Oxford in our local churches are colonies of heaven, and the customs, practices, culture and lifestyle of heaven our capital city are to be replicated here in the light of his future return. Christ has returned in triumph to his capital city, and the influence of his victory is to spread throughout his whole empire – the whole world, and that includes us. My family used to holiday in Malta when I was a child. Because Malta was part of the British Empire and only became independent in the 1960s, life in Malta reflects something of British culture - for instance, the cars drive on the left. Paul says that is what it must be like with us: we have been raised with Christ in our baptism, we belong to heaven, and our life here on earth now has to look like life in heaven, and not like the un-Christian world around us. That world, Paul says, in vv. 5-9, is characterised by sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness (which is idolatry), anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk and lying to one another. Because we have put off our old self with its practices in baptism, as Paul said back in chapter 2,  we are to put to death all those things. What our life is to be marked by instead, what we are to clothe ourselves with, is compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with one another, forgiveness, love, peace and thankfulness (Colossians 3.12-15). This new self which we are to put on, Paul says, is being renewed after the image of its creator (v. 10), who is Christ. “By him all things were created” – Colossians 1.16. Paul goes on to tell us how this takes place:

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom…” – Colossians 3.16

The phrase ‘the word of Christ’ does not just refer to origin of word that is to dwell in us richly, i.e. the word that comes from Christ, but also the subject of that word: it is the message about Christ. Throughout Colossians, we encounter the theme of continuing in the faith, of not shifting from the word of truth which is the gospel, of walking in Christ just as we received him. To be renewed after the image of Christ, we are to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, the truth of Christ’s person and work, who he is and what he has done. Paul describes one way for that to happen:

“…singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

When Paul talks about singing psalms, I take it he does mean the collection of songs and prayers in the Old Testament which we know as the Psalms. Our Lord referred to the Psalms as a distinct section of the Scriptures shortly before he was carried up into heaven:

“Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ” – Luke 24.44

It needs to be said at that point that by encouraging us to sing psalms, I am not advocating exclusive psalm-singing. Paul in Colossians 3.16 mentions psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Mary was not told off for composing the Magnificat. If you read the words of the songs sung in heaven in Revelation, they are not just singing psalms, so I take it, given that Paul is encouraging us to seek the things that are above and practise them here, we are not only to sing psalms. But we are to sing psalms, and that is one way of letting the word of Christ dwell in us richly, teaching and admonishing one another, with thankfulness to God. To start with, many of the Psalms directly express thanks and praise to God. Psalms communicate in poetry and song the truth about Christ – who he is and what he has done. Those words from Luke 24 again:

“Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” – Luke 24.44-47

Psalm 22 for example, speaks of Christ’s suffering on the cross so that our sins can be forgiven. Psalm 24 is traditionally appointed for Ascension Day, speaking of the one who shall ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in his holy place, the one who is pure in heart, who does not worship false things, which points to the perfect man, our Lord Jesus Christ, who ascends not the earthly hill of the Lord, Mount Zion, but enters the heavenly Jerusalem. Psalm 24 calls on the ancient doors to lift their heads that the King of glory, the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, might come in. This finds its fulfilment in Christ’s ascension which proclaims him as the King of glory as he takes his seat at the right hand of the Father. He is the Lord, strong and mighty in his battle with sin and death. As we sing psalms, we are letting this word of Christ dwell in us richly. Notice the direction of the singing. Yes, we are singing psalms with thankfulness in our hearts to God, but we are also teaching and admonishing one another. When we are singing psalms (as well as hymns and spiritual songs) we should be aiming to look around and address one another, as well as looking at the words and the music, in order to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly Finally, we see from the end of Colossians 3 that Paul is addressing each and every category of person: wives, husbands, children, fathers, slaves, masters. He is saying, “Wives, you have been baptised, husbands, you have been baptised, children, you have been baptised, fathers, you have been baptised, slaves, you have been baptised, masters, you have been baptised, whoever you are, you have been baptised. Your old self has died and you have been raised with Christ. So put to death the things that belong to this sinful world and seek the things that are above, set your minds on things that are above. That means: put away sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk and lying to one another. Get rid of them. Instead, show compassion, be kind, be humble, be meek, be patient, bear with one another, forgive one another, love one another, be at peace with one another, be thankful. All this is part of being renewed after the image of Christ, so you need to let the word of Christ take hold of you at the deepest level of your being. To do that, sing psalms.”

Grant, we pray, almighty God, that as we believe your only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens, so we in heart and mind may also ascend and with him continually dwell; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Two sermons preached at St. James’s, Poole

Click below for a slightly belatedly uploaded sermon preached on March 29th, the Fifth Sunday of Lent, and the beginning of Passiontide.

Isaiah 58 (21:35, 8.7MB)

Click below for the startlingly brief sermon I preached on May 10th, the Fifth Sunday of Easter.

Job 19.23-27 (18:55, 7.6MB)

Job 19.23-27: A sermon for Eastertide

“For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has thus been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God.” – Job 19.25-26

Introduction

It is important that justice is upheld in public; when it isn’t, we’re outraged. I read an article in the newspaper about a fireman who attacked his girlfriend, who was pregnant with twins, on three separate occasions. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 100 hours of community service, ordered to attend a domestic abuse progamme, and fined £500 costs. He was given a suspended sentence of 12 months imprisonment; the judge spared him immediate imprisonment because of his work with the fire brigade. The decision not to gaol him was criticsed by a domestic violence charity. A spokesman said: “Suffering violence at the hands of your partner is a deeply damaging experience. This experience is not lessened by the occupation of your abuser. It is my opinion that a man’s high social standing should be seen as an aggravating factor in a case, not a mitigating factor. Violence against women is an epidemic in our society.” It is important that justice is upheld in public; when it isn’t, we’re outraged. If that’s the case with human courts and judges, how much more important is it when we consider the courtroom of God, the one who made the heavens and the earth, Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Is justice upheld by him? Is evil dealt with and is good allowed to prosper and flourish? Is this a well-governed cosmos? Today is the fifth Sunday of Easter; we continue our celebration of the resurrection from the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ. Resurrection is about God upholding justice in the universe. That is what the writer of Job wants us to learn from the words of Job.

1. The longing for God’s justice (vv. 23-24)

The beginning of the book makes it very clear that Job is the model believer. He is “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil”. He even used to offer sacrifices for his sons and daughters after their feasts in case they had sinned. Not that he was perfect – “no one is righteous, no not one” – but his sin (rebellion against God) had been dealt with and so his status before God was “not guilty”, “in the right”. We might say he was someone who repents of his sins, trusts in the Lord, and lives a life of public integrity that back it up. No one could make any charge stick to Job. He had a wonderful family and was rich. He is described as “the greatest of all the people of the east”.

But Job loses everything: in one day, raiders come and capture his oxen, donkeys and camels and kill the servants attending them, the sheep and the servants looking after them are destroyed by fire, then finally a great wind causes the house where all his children were eating and drinking and kills them all. Then Job himself becomes ill with a terrible disease that leaves him covered in sores from the top of his head to the sole of his foot.

Although the readers are told at the beginning why all this is happening, Job remains in the dark about the meaning of what is happening to him. Throughout the book, Job pleads his innocent, that he doesn’t deserve this: “I am in the right, I am blameless, I am not guilty,” he says. He doesn’t only look at his own situation; he looks at the world around him and sees that it is not right: the wicked and those who don’t trust and serve the one true and living God nevertheless prosper and get away with it. “The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand” (Job 12.6). Job wants to bring his case before God. He wants his words written down and a permanent record made so that they won’t be forgotten when he is gone. He longs for God to hear the case, act justly, and put things right. From what is going on in his own life and what he sees going on in the world around him, it doesn’t look as though justice is being upheld publicly; it doesn’t look as though the universe is being governed well. Job wants God to do something about it.

I would be very surprised if that isn’t a longing which many, if not all, of us share. Perhaps it is your financial situation: you were comfortably off, but because of the recession, it’s a struggle to pay the bills, buy the groceries, pay off the mortgage. Maybe you have even lost your job, and you ask, “Why me?” Perhaps the issue is bereavement: you have lost someone very close to you – your husband, wife, brother, sister or even your son or daughter – maybe in an accident or due to illness. You keep asking, “What have I done to deserve this?” Or it could be you have just received a bad diagnosis from your doctor. Like Job, you have been left in the dark about the reason these terrible things have happened. We often simply cannot say why a particular tragedy has happened to a particular person at a particular time. For some here, that will be a barrier to faith in God, or will have caused you to walk away from the faith you once had. Many of us will have friends or relatives for whom that is true.

Job goes on to explain why he wants a record to be made of his words and for his case to appear before God, why he thinks that would be worthwhile, why it would not be a waste of his time. His words take us to the heart of justice being upheld publicly in the universe, of what God is doing.

2. The promise of God’s justice (vv. 25-27)

The philosopher Nietzsche famously said, “God is dead”. The militant atheists of our generation aren’t quite so certain about what they don’t believe in: the best they can come up with is “There’s probably no God”. Job says confidently that there is a God, he is alive, and one day, at the end of time, he will come and judge the world, put things right and uphold justice publicly. That’s not just true in a general sense: Job will see justice done for him, personally; every wrong will be righted. It will be seen that he is “in the right”, “not guilty” when it come to his standing in God’s courtroom. It has been said before, but it needs saying again, this is not because Job has done anything to deserve it, but because of his relationship with God. For him, God is his Redeemer. In the OT law,  a redeemer is a close relative who could buy you back if you became poor and sold yourself into slavery, or who could buy back your land if you became poor and sold some of your property. God is frequently called “Redeemer” in the Bible because of the way he brought his ancient people out of slavery in Egypt into freedom in the Promised Land, and because of his promise to bring his people back to the Promised Land from where they were in exile in the surrounding nations which was his judgement upon them for continuing to turn away from him, to disobey him, to serve false gods. Job has faith in God as his Redeemer. He has placed his hope and trust in God as the one who will rescue him from death and judgement, and bring him into the inheritance he has prepared for him. It is because of this faith that he is “in the right”, “not guilty”, in God’s courtroom, “justified” to use the Bible word. This is why he can say not only that his Redeemer – God – lives and in the end will stand upon the earth, but after he is dead and buried and his body decays, he will nevertheless in his own body see God with his own eyes. Despite all that Job goes through – the death of his children, the loss of his property, ultimately his own death – he will be raised from the dead on the last day, and so his standing before God of being in the right, not guilty, will be seen by all. His resurrection shows that justice is being upheld publicly in the universe by God, after all.

We’re not in the same position as Job was, or as the first readers of this book were. What they looked forward to or knew only in a shadowy way we now know more fully. We come to these verses as those who once again are in the midst of a 40-day celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He is our living Redeemer, God the Son who was born as a man, who rescues people from slavery to sin and God’s just, settled anger against it by paying that penalty for sin himself when he died on the cross, and who rose again because he had thereby defeated sin and therefore the death which sin brings. On the last day he will return to this world as its judge. Moreover, Jesus Christ was the supreme example of an innocent man who suffered: he was despised, rejected, abandoned, beaten and subjected to the cruellest of deaths – death on a cross – which he didn’t deserve. God the Father raised him from the dead, vindicating him, declaring him to be “in the right”. What Job looked forward to taking place at the last day – the resurrection of the body – has already begun with Jesus Christ. “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15.20). In Jesus Christ, we see with even more certainty than Job that God is publicly upholding justice in the universe.

Friends, if we are to share in Job’s hope of resurrection, if, when Christ returns, we are to be raised from the dead as Christ has been raised, we must be those who have faith in Christ as our Redeemer, who depend on him as the way to be justified, declared in the right with God, because he bore the penalty for sins when he died on the cross. It is only from this position of faith that our longing for justice makes any sense. If there is no God to judge, and if there is no judgement, and if there is no resurrection from the dead as a demonstration of being in the right, then to long for justice is meaningless because there is no such thing: bad, wicked, evil things just happen – deal with it. “Imagine there’s no heaven, it’s easy if you try, no hell below us, above us only sky”? I can imagine nothing worse. One person has said that you either have God and the problem of evil, or no God and evil, no problem. It is because God is alive and he will judge and the dead will be raised that Job cries out for a permanent record of his case to be made, because he knows that justice will be done. And so, if we have faith in Jesus Christ, we can look back on the events of Easter which we’re celebrating now, and take great comfort from them, whatever we’re going through – financial hardship, unemployment, bereavement, or illness. Christ has been raised, we will be raised, justice will be done. The very thought of it takes Job’s breath away (v. 27). This is the exhilaration, the joy we see in the Psalms at the thought of God’s coming judgement (Psalm 96.10-13; Psalm 98.7-9). Finally, Easter means that a new way of living is open to us. If our sufferings are sufferings at the hands of other people, as Job’s in part were, we don’t have to take matters of justice into our own hands. In one place, humanity without Christ is described in these terms: “foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another” (Titus 3.3). Isn’t that an accurate description of our town, our workplace, our country? Many have no place for God’s justice, and so avenge themselves when someone does something to hurt or offend them. Because Christ has been raised from the dead, we know that justice will be done and so, as St. Paul says, we are to repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honourable in the sight of all, to leave peaceably with all insofar as it depends on us, to never avenge ourselves, but leave it to God. This sets us free not to retaliate, not to reply with unkind words if someone says something unpleasant about us, not to harbour resentment and bitterness if someone has wronged us, not to plot how we can hurt people back for the way that have hurt us, but instead to speak kindly, to continue to be friendly, to look for ways to help them, and do them good and put them before ourselves.

Conclusion

It is important that justice is upheld in public; when it isn’t, we’re outraged. That is especially important when we consider God’s justice. Is justice in the universe upheld publicly by him? The answer from this section of Job’s words is, “Yes”. The longing for God’s justice is met by the promise of God’s justice, seen in the resurrection of the dead, which has broken into our world with the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

“For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has thus been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God.” – Job 19.25-26

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.