SPEAKER_00 0:01

What is social justice? How does it relate to God's compassion and righteousness? And how do we as Christians live in response to injustice and inequality? Join Pastor Wei Yi and his wife, Bevelyn Lim, as they explore the social justice tradition, sharing from both Scripture and their own life's journey.

SPEAKER_02 0:22

So this week we are looking at the social justice tradition, right? And social justice tradition is really about discovering the compassionate life. It's about living a life that is committed to compassion and justice for all peoples. And some of you might be wondering why should we be considered why should we be concerned about these things? If we mind our own business, if we are good citizens, if we don't do anything wrong, don't do anything illegal, keep to our lane. If we are not responsible for someone else's plight, surely that's good enough, right? As long as we aren't the ones causing the harm, that's fine. We can kind of just keep it, keep to ourselves. And what exactly do we mean by compassion and justice for all peoples, anyway? Even if we want to participate more in this thing called social justice, whose theory do we follow? People through the centuries, uh all the way back to the Greek philosophers, have proposed different political and philosophical theories on justice. So who do we follow? On what standard do we do justice in society? And so, as it turns out, the Bible has more than a thing or two to say about social justice and our part in it. And as we shall see, not only does God rebuke those who actively exploit and oppress, God also rebukes those who are inactive in extending compassion to those in need. So this morning we our first reading is from uh the book of Amos. Uh, and and it's a scathing indictment of the northern kingdom of Israel. Right at this point in Israel's history, they were doing very well, right? Under uh under King Jeroboam II, uh they were kind of expanding their borders, their territory, uh, they were having great economic prosperity, and they had a lot of security. As a nation, in the eyes of the world, they were doing great, right? Everything is just going up, GDP going up, uh, economy going up, business going up, all is good. From the text, it seems that they were also regularly worshipping the Lord, going to uh the temple, going to church, going to offer sacrifices, and worshiping God. Surely God must have been blessing this nation, right? Since they are doing so well. And yet today we read that God rebuked them. Um and so in verse uh from verse 21, God says this in no uncertain terms, right? I hate, I despise your feasts, I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. And the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs to the melody of your harps, I will not listen. All this gathering for Sunday service, attending connect group, going for prayer meetings on Saturday, serving in church, even playing music and singing songs. God is rejecting all of that. And why is God rejecting that? We find in verse 24 he kind of gives the reason. It was because they utterly failed to do what was on God's heart for all peoples justice and righteousness. Without those things, God would reject and despise our worship. So in verse 24, he says this let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. He cares not for empty shows if it is not accompanied by something fundamental to his own character. If you read Amos chapter 5, just a few verses before, I think it kind of clarifies the situation here. Verse 11 Um it is it is said that the people trample on the poor and they exact taxes of grain from the poor. And then in verse 12, I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins. You will afflict the righteous and take a bribe and turn aside the needy in the gate. They were mistreating the poor. You were siding with the rich and the powerful because only the rich and the powerful can give bribes, right? And if you go to a court, right, who get who wins? The rich and the powerful who can offer money. It is the poor who have no money to offer bribes that suffer the most. And so this the whole nation was walking against the poor, against the the powerless, and did not care for the needy. Again, in no uncertain terms, this was a great offense to the Lord. And the southern kingdom of Judah was similarly rebuked, in particular through the prophet Isaiah. And just very quickly in Isaiah chapter 1, verse 17, this is kind of like a um uh like a baseline for the nation, right? Learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause. And yet in chapter 58, we see that they were seeking the they were seeking God in chapter 58, verses 1 to 7, right? If you will read through the the whole passage, they seek God, they delight in the Lord, right? They were they acted as if they were a righteous nation, uh just just people of God, right? Worshiping Him all day. And their act, but their act of piety, especially in fasting, was meaningless to God. For they were not doing what God was seeking. Fasting for them was really just just avoid food and all, and they just kind of act pious before the Lord, right? But in verse 6, strikingly, this is the kind of fasting that God desired from his people. Verse 6 is not this the fast that I choose to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke. Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house? When you see the naked, to cover him and not to hide yourself from your flesh. And that is in the context of fasting, something that we think is very private, very individual. God says, Is this not what fasting looks like? To feed the poor, to home, to give home to the homeless, to clothe the naked. God has called his people to be just and righteous, showing compassion to the poor, the needy, the widows, the foreigners, the sojourners. And he consistently rebuked them for neglecting and even oppressing them. And so this is not just a this is not a concept that's just unique to the Old Testament, right? The call for justice and compassion carries into the New Testament. And so, just very quickly, we we see in in uh James chapter 2, verses 14 to 17, what good is it, my brothers? If someone says he has faith but does not have works, can their faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warm and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, it does not have works. If it does not have works, it's dead. And similarly, John in 1 John chapter 17 and 18 says this if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him. How does God's love abide in him? Little children that are not loved in word or talk, but in deed and truth. Right, just saying thoughts and prayers to the be to a world that is suffering is meaningless. Just saying, don't worry, I'll pray for you. Just go and be well, right? It's kind of meaningless. The numerous scriptural passages we just went through show just how much God emphasizes justice and compassion for all peoples. He admonishes those who actively oppress people, but he also admonishes those who are inactive in reaching out and helping the needy. All the religious things that we do even today, fasting, prayer, worship, it all means nothing to God if it's not uh coupled with social actions to bring God's justice to those in need. And so God is looking for his people to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly before our God. That's Micah 6:8, or in the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 23, to do the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. God's demand for justice and compassion stems from himself being righteous and ever compassionate to all people. It all stems to who God is, to his very character, right? And there's one particular characteristic of God's justice that really stands out in scripture. God is especially concerned with the poor and the needy. And that's not to say he's not, he has no compassion or love for everyone. He has compassion and love for everyone. But precisely because the poor, the needy are the ones who are powerless in society, are the ones who are always oppressed, are the ones who cannot help themselves, our God, the Almighty God, has special concern for them. For the exploited ones, for the oppressed, for the ones without a voice, the ones who are powerless to defend themselves, the ones who need someone to step in and provide for their lack and to right a wrong. We see verse uh Proverbs 31, verses 8 and 9. Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. Right, God says, Go out, lend your voice to the voiceless, lend your power to the powerless, your resources to those who have none. And it you know, God has such a concern. And I say this is a fundamental character of God because He identifies with them. If someone were to ask me to introduce myself, I will probably say first, my name is Wei, you know, or I have an English name that I don't really use, but people kind of know, and people don't really know how to pronounce, and so they kind of avoid saying it, and I shall not try it here anyway, right? But I'll say, Oh, I am We'i, right? I work in church. Uh, I'm a husband, married to Beth, I like coffee, and so on and so on, right? Uh, we will introduce uh ourselves that way because those are the things we do, right? Those are the things we identify with. You know what's amazing about God? In Psalm 68, verse 5, he is identified as the father of the fatherless and protector of widows. That's how God identifies himself, right? Of course, he's the creator God, he's the almighty God, he is the holy one, right? And yet he identifies himself as the father to the fatherless and protector of widows. The orphans and the widows, um, they they were the they were amongst the most vulnerable people in societies, right? The fatherless have no one to take care and watch over them, while the widows, without their husbands to provide for them, um were often kind of um forced. They had to resort to begging, or worse, resort to prostitution. And they were considered the outcast of society. Nobody wants to care for them, so they are unwanted and uncared for. And it is precisely with them that God identifies himself father of the fatherless, protector of widows. Which is why James in chapter 1, verse 27, says this interesting thing: religion that is pure and undefiled, religion that is pure and undefiled, before God the Father is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. And God's identification with the poor, with the powerless is seen elsewhere in scripture. In Proverbs chapter 14, verse 31. Uh, just very quickly, whoever oppresses a poor man, insults his maker. You oppress the poor, you are insulting God himself. Have you thought about that? When we insult someone, we think we are superior over someone, right? Especially the poor, the helpless. We are actually insulting God himself. And God is generous to the needy. Uh to the uh but he who is generous to the needy honors God honors him. When we are generous to someone who is in need, we are actually honoring God Himself. Proverbs 19:17, same thing. Whoever is generous to the poor lands to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. And so in the New Testament, if you will remember, Jesus uh was talking to his uh disciples in Matthew chapter 25. He tells his disciples, um uh I think I think it was a story, and then they say that when when they feed the hungry and thirsty, when they welcome the stranger, when they clothe the sick, when they visit the sick and the imprisoned, they have done it to Jesus. We see Jesus now identifying himself again with the poor, the needy, the sick, the imprisoned, the one who has no clothing, the one who has no food and no water. Right? And Jesus says, if you do it unto them, right, in verse 40, he said, Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me. Yosuch is our God who especially cares for the poor and needy, to the point of identifying himself with them. In fact, as Timothy Keller would put it, um we know how far God went in identifying with the poor. Right. He went as far as sending his son Jesus, the word of God, to become man. He did not come in courts, into courts and palaces, right? He did not come as a royalty, but he came in a lowly manger, born to a couple of a lowly status. And not only that, towards the end of Jesus' ministry and life, he was oppressed, right? His trial was a misjust uh miscarriage of justice. And yet God is uh Jesus is not just an example of having become poor and oppressed, he saved us by being willing to become poor and oppressed. He experienced injustice which he did not deserve and died on a cross for our sins. But if he had not done so, we would not have we would have all been lost. Only by being one with us has Jesus redeemed us. And this is the Jesus whom we worship and follow. And following Jesus inevitably leads us to the oppressed, to the exploited, uh, to the poor, to the powerless, where Christ for social justice and redemption are loudest. If we want to follow Jesus, we'll be led to these places. As uh Pastor Richard, you know, uh, as he was praying, said we follow, we have the cross going ahead of us as we follow the cross. And these these are the places we'll find ourselves at, places where there is brokenness, where there's pain and suffering, where cries of the oppressed are loudest. And following Jesus means bearing that cross, sharing the pain of the world such that the crucified love of God may be brought to bear in the suffering world, even as we are led to the world's broken places. And so I think there are at least two areas for us to consider when it comes to the issues of social justice. There's so many things, right? It's so complex and so global, even. But I think there are at least two areas for us to consider these issues. Number one is our immediate personal context, and number two is the wider society of Singapore. Um, in a way, and and and we we think about these things in the way we treat people, uh, the people we meet in our day-to-day life, as well as in our willingness to go out and do something to help the poor and needy, to bring God's love and care to them. And as you all will well know, uh Singapore is not without its social justice and inequality. Um, one very clear uh example will be the migrant workers and the foreign domestic helpers, uh the sojourners in our midst, many of whom are often exploited and mistreated. Um I was very heartened and encouraged just last week in my conversation with some of you, uh, while I was sitting at the table with some of you and we were just talking, and uh, you were recounting how you will make it a point to treat your domestic helper well, and how it seems across the board in our parish that that the families here tend to uh treat their their helpers well, right? And and that is a way of extending God's love and compassion to them. Um and yet we know that in Singapore, uh many, many more are being exploited, many, many more are being um uh oppressed, right? Um sometimes mistreated, reticuled, uh even discriminated against. And worse, many have been treated by agencies, they are stuck here in Singapore working for next to nothing, and they're afraid of getting sick or injured uh in case they lose their job. And there are also many uh Singaporeans who are poor, needy, and homeless, or who are falling through the cracks of society because of uh inequality. Some of them we encounter in our daily lives, and many more in our society at large. And so, where can we start? How can we pursue God's call in social justice? How does God wanna want to use us in bringing his love and compassion to people in need? Um at this point, if I can have uh my wife Beth to come up, um Beth works in a in a in a particular organization and a para church ministry um that that that has their hands in in some of these uh issues. And so I thought it'd be good for for for us to hear from her as she comes up and share. So I'm gonna uh stand aside so that she can um and so so maybe if I can uh just kind of facilitate this and start to ask her a few questions. And of course, firstly, um may introduce yourself and then what what what ministry or what organized organization are you in?

SPEAKER_01 19:43

Hi, good morning everyone. Um so yeah, so so like what Pastor has mentioned, my name is Bevlin and I work with uh uh uh Marseille Ministry under YWAM, which means youth with a mission in Singapore, and we reach out to the people in the red light district. Um, so namely the street walkers, the bottle owners, uh the pimps, as well as other individuals who participate or are involved in the red light trade.

unknown 20:09

Right.

SPEAKER_02 20:09

So when do you start having a heart for these uh social justice issues? Was it when you were young? Did you study for it? Uh how did how did it lead you to uh this point?

SPEAKER_01 20:20

I think I was thinking long and hard about this question, and I I can't really pinpoint a time uh when I started having a heart for social justice issues. I think this was a topic, or the term social justice isn't just something that that was talked about much in uh in the past. So for me, I mean I really don't know. Um but I know that growing up, I always have a soft spot for people, um, the especially those who are needy, who are less fortunate. And um I actively participated in a lot of uh community involvement programs in school. So when it was time to choose my uni course, uh I knew naturally that I wanted to go into a helping profession. And for me, it was social work. But um my parents objected because they say that we need to have financial security, you need to, as Chinese people uh parents like to say, you need to have an iron rice bowl. Uh so I I kind of ended up in law. And uh yeah, so so even though I went into law, I I studied, I I kind of enjoy what I learned. But um I knew right from the beginning that I didn't want to just work for money. Um and I I so as soon as I graduated, I actually went to specialize in family law because I felt that that was the place where I could really help people through the most difficult time of their lives, uh, or just be there for the people. Uh but most of my friends, including my parents, thought that that was a career suicide because family law doesn't pay well. Or lawyers who know uh in the industry will know that it really doesn't pay well. And it's very emotionally taxing. Yeah, so so so um uh yeah, that that's that's what I did. And uh I think kind of after practicing a few years, I I felt like um there must be something more than just uh doing law, helping people. I I like it, but um not that I like seeing people get divorced, of course. I like being there for people, being there to walk them through the emotional struggles that they were going through. But then I began searching and and sensing a void in me. Uh, and I felt strongly that there were there were more that needed to be done, and there were people in the society, the vulnerable and the needy, that I cannot reach as a lawyer. So then I started praying and asking for God to show me more uh on what else I can do. Um what what how can I be more on the ground and how can I uh, so to speak, get my hands dirty. Uh so at the same time, I started, uh I went on a mission trip and and God put missions on my heart. Um, and that was something that I wanted to uh explore further and search deeper. And my search led me to a one-year stint uh with a community-based social uh agency where we work with families with child abuse concerns. Um, my time there really opened my eyes for the first time to the brokenness and poverty within Singapore. Um, that in many ways, because of my background and just how affluent and wealthy Singapore is, have been overshadowed and hidden. So, like, I never imagined myself stepping into a house, a one-room rental flat, with 15 people packed like sardine when they sleep. Uh, or like see a child that is so skinny, malnourished, and neglected because his mother was suffering from uh mental health conditions and did not have any capacity to care for him. So I got to see a side of Singapore I never thought existed, and I was convinced, I was very convinced that God has so much more for our nation and his desire to bring chaos back into order and to restore justice, mercy, and righteousness in our midst. Uh so that's when I started to want to pursue local mission. Uh, and yet by another crazy series of events, I I ended up uh at Tema Village five years ago.

SPEAKER_02 24:33

So tell us a little bit more. What does social justice look like in Tema Village then? What do you all do as a ministry there in the red light district?

SPEAKER_01 24:42

Yeah, so at Tema, uh our vision is to bring God's justice and compassion to the red light district. Um, that's really one of the darkest places where we see the last, the least, and the lost, the people who are voiceless, the people who are powerless. We see ladies who are uh abused, victimized, and being used. Um and knowing that all these friends on the streets are equally loved and valued by God, we really want them to experience and know the truth in a very, very tangible way and practical way. So for us, um, or rather for them, justice and compassion uh looks like going out to have a drink with them, going out to talk to them, uh have uh real genuine conversation, not not with any agenda, but just to be there, to know them, um, and to tell them that you know if they need something, they can always come to us. And in in these conversations, in our interactions, when we get to know them better and they trust us enough, we will also encourage them to consider taking the step to leave the trade. Um at TEMA, we run a restoration center where we provide a safe space for um our friends to heal from the trauma of their experiences, to rest their body, mind, and soul, and also to find the confidence in themselves to dare to dream of a different life again. Because for many of them, uh they grew up in Geelang, that's all they know. And they don't have the, they don't see themselves leaving the trade, they see themselves being trapped, uh, and so they don't know, they don't know what is a different sort of life. So we hope to do life together with them and through a family-like community, um, to show them that that there is another way, uh, to show them that as we um as Christians, we believe in them, we genuinely care for them. Uh, and and in that we hope to restore them a sense of worth and dignity. We hope to return to them uh their voice and and power that has been stripped by the red light district and the brokenness of the world and encounter God in the process through our conversation and interactions.

SPEAKER_02 27:05

Right. So, as someone who is pretty much uh on the ground, so to speak, right, uh being involved in uh such work, uh what can we do as Christians or as the church? What can we uh do? What can we contribute? Uh what where are the avenues or the areas where we can uh actually go out and uh do something as God leads?

SPEAKER_01 27:27

To be honest, there are needs everywhere. Um social mobility issues, poverty, migrant workers, foreign domestic workers, elderly, persons with disabilities are just a few social justice areas, communities, or issues that you know uh we can start opening our eyes and hearts to. I think to get involved, we have to first have awareness that these groups exist in our midst. Uh, they are the very neighbors that God has commanded us to love. And though they may be vastly different from us, but God sees and loves them the same. And we are to accept them in uh the same way and accept. And acceptance only can come through meaningful interactions with them when we begin to understand and know them. So sometimes, right, during our commute to work and to school, um, we may be so absorbed in what you know in our own world, listening to a podcast or music that we fail to pay attention to the people around us. So we can start by um yeah, just looking around who are the people around us that uh God is highlighting us to. Um it could be an uncle that's selling tissue paper at the airmarket station, or it could be the auntie who is picking up cardboard boxes uh that will be used for her bed at night. Um, we it it sometimes it can be as simple as just going up to them to ask about their day. Uh and if you see a group of migrant workers working under the hot sun, uh buy them a drink, a cup of coffee just to appreciate them, to thank them for their hard work. And you never know what these little gestures uh of love will take you. You know, maybe some of you some of them may look at you weirdly and like, why are you talking to me? Why are you giving me this? And that's fine. Uh or you may be just that very vessel that God would use that day to speak life into um his sons and his daughters and to draw them back to him. Um and seize every opportunity to bring God's light, hope, and compassion to the different areas that we have been placed in. I think one thing that I really want to emphasize is that we don't have to be a missionary to have a missionary heart and mindset. Uh, I think like what Pastor Wei said this morning, we are called to live a life uh that is compassionate, a life that seeks out the poor, the needy, the widows, the orphans, and everyone else who faces social injustices. Um, and and and these people, uh for these people, sometimes they don't have enough self-worth and dignity or or or um they don't feel adequate to come to church. And I think it is our duty as Christians to bring um the gospel to them in real and intangible ways that they can experience um the love of God. Uh yeah, and I I believe that this is what God is calling us to do uh as we obey Him and live out His justice, his mercy, and His righteousness.

SPEAKER_02 30:40

And so, you know, just uh in our second reading this morning, we read about uh Jesus telling his disciples uh who has compassion for the helpless and the oppressed, and he says this the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. And as like what Beth has mentioned, there's so many ways and so many places that we can go, we can we can do something. And even we from church, uh, when we go for like ACC outcome, um I know our cell groups used to go there to facilitate uh services and to lead uh the the discussion there and to befriend them. Um these are these are different ways that we can we can all uh contribute. Um and so perhaps as cell groups, as families, you might want to dedicate yourself, commit yourself, maybe just once a month, to actually go out and do something. There are all sorts of places that we can uh we can offer our help and our service. And Beth knows a lot of places, uh including uh for for those who just want to help helping hands, help helping hearts is one of those. Uh homeless hearts. Uh and and and there are there are places where if you are professional, if you are a medical professional, dentist, GP, or you are a lawyer, Health Surf uh provides uh uh free services for for the migrant workers who are in need of legal and and and medical help and so on and so forth. There are so many things that we can do. Um but uh it it it it all really boils down to this are we willing? You know, and I think it all must come back to catching uh understanding the heart of our God and catching his his passion for his people, and it all boils down to to how we are following him. Um there is a point also where we are involved in social justice and we forget about uh God's love and the gospel for them. And it all stands back to to this to the power of God and his love and his mercy to people. So would you would you now uh just close our close your eyes and having heard having heard the word of the Lord I don't know how you feel about hearing looking at these passages where God just basically says I identify I identify with these people so go to them? The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. So would you offer your time, your resources, your power, your voice? Would you offer it to the poor and helpless and offer it to God?

SPEAKER_00 33:28

We pray that you've been ministered to by the Word of God today. If you'd like to know more about Eastern Christian Church, please visit our website at yccanglican.com. Have a blessed day.