What did we do before GPS? Remember those paper maps, that were impossible to refold once you opened it up. You had to watch for the signs. This many miles to this town, or this many miles to this highway. What mile marker was that? And if you missed your exit, then you had to navigate on the fly. No computer voice to tell you “recalibrating.” And then when you figured out you’re truly lost, then it was time to pull over at a gas station and ask for help. Signs, they give us directions, they tell us important information. If we choose to ignore them, we do so at our own peril. If the sign ahead says bridge out, and you keep on going, you’re gonna be in trouble. Just as we have road signs or GPS, Scripture has been given us and there are signs, heavenly signs, that point to Christ. Signs we must pay attention to. Maybe we too like Jonah have found ourselves off course, running away, going in the opposite direction, and yet God still gives us signs to woo us back, to correct our trajectory and get us back on course.
Unless you’ve had your head buried under the sand, you might’ve heard there is an election this year. Slogans and pleadings, “this is the most important election in our history,” “if the other party gets power it will be the end of the world as we know it!,” etc. One of the key phrases being seized upon is “law and order.” It plays out on our tv screens every night, riots in major cities, a mob rule mentality, justice it seems is not justice unless it satisfies the mob, under threat of more violence and rioting of course. But where do we go to get a Biblical sense of justice? The Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron announced the charge against one office in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor. And it was highly unsatisfactory to some, saying that she deserved justice. And yet, as some facts came out, and still other facts are unknown to the general public, there is an outrage with violence spilling over and two police officers were shot, and others use their vehicles to plow over protesters. Most recent is the family “declaring and demanding” that the AG release the transcripts of grand jury proceedings. Why? The family attorney said, “Did he (AG) present any evidence on Breonna Taylor’s behalf or did he make a unilateral decision to put his thumb on the scales of justice to help try to exonerate and justify the killing of Breonna Taylor by these police officers and in doing so, make sure that Breonna Taylor’s family never got their day in court, never got their chance for due process and in essence denied them justice?” The lawyer went on further to say, “it seems there are two justice systems in America, one for Black America and One for White America?” Emotions are raw, run high, run hot. And no doubt the Taylor family is experiencing grief and loss. And yet this was a prepared statement by the lawyer. And yet, in fact, the AG is himself a Black man. So who are we to believe? What are we to think? So, where is the justice? Can we ever expect to have perfect justice in our system or on this earth for that matter? I don’t know all the details, and don’t pretend to have some kind of inside knowledge. But what I do know is that we have to have a standard when it comes to justice. It is to the Bible, God’s word where we must turn. And this morning in our text, we find the principle and an example of Biblical justice.
Appeals are important because it is asking for something of a higher standard to make sure the right call was made, the correct verdict was reached, that a fair and impartial process was followed. This morning our text will consider the occasion for Paul to appeal his case.
We seek justice, not to escape it? “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” (1 Peter 4:12–19)