Freedom Sunday

A Justice Sermon

Rey Bicol

Good morning. This Sunday is unique and special because around the world
more 2000 churches are preaching the same message. This is the message
of justice and freedom.

Right now what is being talked about is this unfamiliar passion of God. And
it is important that we should know this special attribute of God. His
commandments. And that we should be interested in the same thing that
He is interested in. He being our savior. Ang tanong, pareho ba kami ng
interes at kinahuhumalingan ng Diyos? O baka naman magkaiba o taliwas ang
aming kagustuhan?

Let’s go to our text found Exodus 3:7-8, and I’d like to start from verse 1.
I’ll read from the NLT,

One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro,[a]the priest
of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai,[b] the
mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing
fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the
bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up.3 “This is amazing,” Moses said
to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.”
4When the LORD saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him
from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

“Here I am!” Moses replied.

5“Do not come any closer,” the LORD warned. “Take off your sandals, for you
are standing on holy ground. 6 I am the God of your father[c]—the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard this,
he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.
7Then the LORD told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people
in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave
drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue
them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their
own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the
land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and
Jebusites now live.

The Lord shall bless the reading of His Word.

Let us pray –

The passage that we’ve just read is a familiar passage to all of us. This
speaks of this great encounter between God and Moses. This was the time
that God called Moses to accomplish that great thing for which he was born
for – the liberation of the people of God (the Israelites) from the Egyptians
So that they can become one great nation under God. This definitely was a
turning point in the life of Moses, who was then a shepherd, having been
exiled from the Land of Egypt, fleeing for a crime he committed, and in this
appointed time, God appears before Moses, disrupting his everyday and
probably uneventful life and revealing to his this great plan that the Lord will
use Him in liberating His people. And we know the rest of the story and How
God through Moses life showed his power until the people of God are
brought to the promise land.

But what I want to focus first on in the passage that we just read is what
this reveals about the character/attribute of God.

One character/attribute that is very much evident and this passage speaks
to us is that God is involved in human history. He is very much involved in
our lives. We see here that He is not a distant God. HE IS A VERY
PERSONAL GOD. He is not just a creator God who created everything that
we see out of nothing, and left it on its own. He is an involved God. He is
involved in His creation most especially in His people. AND HE IS JUST NOT
INVOLVED BUT HE CARES. (John 3:16 – God intervened in history) The
LORD NOTICES. HE PAYS ATTENTION.

That’s why in this passage – we see God speaking to Moses and telling him
the reason why he was appalled and come down…and act – He said: I have
certainly SEEN the oppression… I have HEARD the cry…. I HAVE COME to
rescue them
This passage shows what God is passionate about, which may be unfamiliar to many
us. What is it the make God’s heart beat faster? What is it that God is interested about?
(Q as we serve the Lord is God and I interested in the same things?) WE SEE HERE
GOD HEARS THE CRY OF THOSE SUFFERING…AND HE ACTS TO SAVE THEM
FROM THEIR ABUSER/OPPRESSOR. HE is a GOD OF JUSTICE.

And being a GOD OF JUSTICE

GOD OF JUSTICE (HE HATES INJUSTICE AND WANTS IT TO STOP)

What is Injustice anyway? –

Who has experienced injustice? (being cut in the line, made to work on a holiday, low
grades)

You know there is another category of people who are suffering (nagdurusa) in
the world – and they aren‟t suffering because they have never heard the gospel, or
don‟t have food, or don‟t have shelter, or don‟t have medicine. They are suffering
because they have an oppressor. They are suffering because of the abuse of other
people. These are the victims of injustice.

Injustice in the Bible is actually a particular kind of sin. Injustice is about the abuse of
power – it’s the abuse of power to take from other people the good things that God
intended for them: their life, their liberty, their dignity, the fruit of their love and their labor. And
when someone who is stronger abuses that power to take from those who are weaker, God calls this
a sin, the sin of injustice.
Ecclesiastes chapter 4:1 says, “Behold, I saw the tears of the oppressed, they
have no one to comfort them. But on the side of the oppressor was power.”

AND GOD HATES THIS:

If we search the Scriptures, there are many passages of Scripture which confirms this.
Our God is a God of justice. And He is passionate about stopping injustice
committed against the poor and holding to account those who oppress them.

Let’s look at some of those passages:

The book of Psalms is replete of these descriptions about God (we can see the Psalmist
being familiar with the passions of God). Let us look at a few of them. I will leave the
passages for a few seconds on the screen for us to absorb these wonderful truth from
the Scriptures and let the living Word speak to us.
What do you think God will do if the poor are suffering and if they are crying out to the
Lord? Psalm 12:5:

“’Darating na ako,’ sabi ni Yahweh,

’Upang saklolohan ang mga inaapi.
Sa pinag-uusig na walang magkupkop,
hangad nilang tulong ay ipagkakaloob!’”Psalm 12:5

Psalm 10, which is a very eloquent prayer against injustice confirms this and show how
God hears the cry of those who suffer and will stop those who oppress them:

Papakinggan mo, Yahweh, ang dalangin ng mga hamak,

patatatagin mo ang loob ng mga kapus-palad.
Ipagtatanggol mo ang mga api at mga ulila,
upang wala nang taong mananakot ng kapwa.”

Psalm 10:17-18

Now still in the book of Psalms, let’s see how the Psalmist describes what the Lord
loves and what He is passionate and how he acts on behalf of the poor:

“For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face.”
Psalm 11:7

“My whole being will exclaim, “Who is like you, Lord? You rescue the poor from
those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them.”

Psalm 35:10

Not only in Psalm but also in the book of Isaiah:

For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I
will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them.”
Isaiah 61:8

There is also one chapter in Isaiah which talks about what is the kind of fasting that the
Lord wants, in seeking the Lord, where should our hearts be focused on:
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and
untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?”

Isaiah 58:6

The book of Amos also tells us what the Lord requires as a sacrifice from his people/
the form of worship he desires, showing that God is indeed passionate about justice:

NO DOUBT GOD WANTS JUSTICE TO HAPPEN> HE IS FOR THE POOR AND THE
SUFFERING

If God is hates injustice and wants it to stop. How do you think the Lord feels about
these statistics:

DON’T FORGET TO MENTION OSEC statistics. (PLAY WHAT IS CYBERSEX

TRAFFICKING)

These figures will just paralyze us. And sometimes because of the magnitude of the
problem, as if we can’t do something about it, we just ignore it. Or maybe we will just
say, indeed we live in a sinful world and we will say, come Lord Jesus.

Question – WHAT IS THE GOOD NEWS TO THIS PEOPLE? HOW CAN WE TELL
THEM THAT GOD IS GOOD? DOES GOD HAVE A PLAN FOR THEM?

Or maybe we wanted to go deeper, beyond these numbers and hear their individual
stories. We at IJM have been privileged to walk alongside this victims and encounter
them.

Melody, CSA Survivor [Multiple counts of Gang Rape of a child with mental retardation,
resulted in a conviction of 2 of the accused]:
When she was accused during cross-examination for enjoying what was happening to her [she had mental
retardation and was smiling during the trial] as the reason why she told no one, she is adamant and
reiterated that fear controlled her, or in the vernacular, “Hindi po. Talagang takot lang po ako
magsumbong saka wala po akong alam kung papaano ako, kung saan ako lalapit.” [1]

ANOTHER RAPE VICTIM – prayed this prayer, when she just can’t bear her pain and
suffering (she shared this during a survivor prayer gathering), ROSE

[1]
TSN dated May 30, 2012, Page 65.
FROM LEAH, a sex trafficking survivor who was trafficked to Malaysia and was repatriated
to the Philippines [promulgation is scheduled in December 2017]:
ERNA, OSEC victim and daughter of accused ENCARNACION TAPNIO (recent OSX Angeles
operation, this is based on her Sworn Statement that I incorporated in the PR):
“Gusto ko pong makulong si Mama kasi mali ang ginawa niya sa akin. (I want Mama to be put in jail
because what she did to me was wrong.)” Those were the words that the eldest girl mentioned to the lady
police officer who was interviewing her at the Philippine National Police, Anti-Trafficking in Persons
Division, Woman and Children Protection Center (PNP-ATIPD-WCPC), with International Justice
Mission (IJM) providing logistical, legal, and aftercare support.
Accused Tapnio is now facing charges for victimizing her own children under Republic Act 9208
(as amended by Republic Act 10364), Republic Act 10175 and Republic Act 7610. The
Department of Justice inquest prosecutor even noted that the daughter appeared to be scared of
her mother, who forced her to perform sex acts in front of the computer. According to the child,
“pinapagalitan ako ni Mama kung hindi po ako sumusunod sa kanya.”

HERBERT – The 7 year old boy

The Lord hear all of these cries…. All of them though they are anonymous to us. The
Lord knows their name.

With these millions who are suffering, and who are in bondage HOW DO YOU THINK
GOD WILL MOVE? How do you think God will move in the face of this suffering in the
world?

I think God will move the way He did all through out history.

Like in Exodus 3 – He will choose a Moses. He will choose a human agency

through whom he will execute His will. And I think it is pretty much obvious who
he will be sending.

WE ARE GOD’s PLAN

MICAH 6:8; Isaiah 1:17

You would think that if our good God was kind enough to give us a short list of
just three things he expects of us and the very first thing on that short list was
to DO JUSTICE, that we pay attention to it!
-[SLIDE] Is 1:17 Learn to do good, seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the
orphan and plead for the widow.
Matthew 25:35

And Gary would say – God has no other plan.

WOW THAT IS A POWERFUL STATEMENT!

IS IT A GOOD PLAN?

The question is: Will we be able to hear their cry? Are we going to be familiar with this
passion of God. What will it take? How long will it be?
In my personal journey, I struggled with this. My calling as a lawyer – in the prayer room.
PLAY IJM VIDEO (against slavery)

I feel blessed to have found this avenue of service with IJM.

But of course God would call us in different ways… The Lord is calling us to be involved
in justice work, *Dapat may gawin tayo patungkol sa katarungan” no matter who we are
in the body of Christ. We would be responsible for our own sphere of influence.
QUOTE
“While each of us may not feel primarily gifted for the tasks involved in leading the
ministry of justice, it ought to be part of our DNA as disciples to learn how to live justly
and care for the widow, the orphan, the vulnerable, and the oppressed.” - Jim Martin,
The Just Church

QUESTION: What is the weightier matter? Ano baa ng mas mabigat sa paningin ng
panginoon? ANo ang mas mahalaga?

Jesus, has highlighted what are the weightier matters when it comes to serving and
following the commandments of God. He said when he was speaking specifically to the
religious elite of his day, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, MNatt 23:23:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill and
cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.
It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.”

In Jesus’ words to the Pharisees and teachers of the law we find a powerful and
challenging message for us today. We are good at doing church. NO DOUBT ABOUT
IT.

But if Jesus will be asking about weightier matters, he will be asking what are we doing
outside the church? I remember one preacher said: The church should be the only
club in the world that exists for the benefit of its non-members. I think that is how
we are going to measure up to what Jesus is saying as “weightier matters.”
Jump to James . And this poses a challenging message again to the church:

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after
orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by
the world.” James 1:27

Here it is again, this balance between doing the work of growing in faith, described as
keeping oneself pure, and seeking justice for orphans and widows, described as looking
after them in their distress.

What do you think the answer might be if we were to walk out of here today and take a
poll of those in the park, in the local restaurants, or your friends who don’t know Jesus
personally, and asked them to answer this multiple choice question: “Christians are
known for a) looking after widows and orphans in their distress; b) keeping themselves
from being polluted by the world; c) both; d) neither.” I am scared to actually do it
because I fear the answer might be “b” or “d”. Though I don’t think it’s entirely
fair or totally accurate, it is the cultural perception of the place we live. I WANT
TO BE A PART OF A GENERATION THAT WILL CHANGE THIS
PERCEPTION/MISCONCEPTION.

I want to be part of a church, part of a faithful, Christ-following community that is changing this
(mis)perception! I would like us to, I think we ought to, dare I say we must engage this piece of
God’s heart and our call as disciples.
INDEED WE HAVE TO GO OUT THERE – Jesus did not die for sinful
world, he died also for the suffering world. If we are the body –
Quote –
WHAT HAPPENS IF WE RESPOND?
Relate successes
Since 2001, this is what we have accomplished. Vision
Pampanga – testimony
Reduction of prevalence

LAWS – RA 9208, RA 9775, strengthening of justice system.

I see the work that of feeding the 5000, he multiplied the efforts
The invitation – let us follow God in the darkest places. Let us seek justice.
What is the COST of following Christ in this difficult work of justice.
Whoever loses His life, will find it.

That is the proposition of God to us.

We will experience God in a greater way. Miracles. Great adventure.
Deeper knowledge of Jesus.
ERNA, ROSE, HERBERT, MELODY, LEAH

PLAY ELSA’s STORY

HOW CAN I BE INVOLVED?

IJM Prayer Partner

IJM Freedom Partner
Be involved in a justice ministry

Let us be relentless for those who are abused, for those who are
oppressed.

PLAY THE LOST SHEEP