#234 Truth, Justice, and a Better Tomorrow

My pal Superman's motto recently changed from "truth, justice, and the American way" to "truth, justice, and a better tomorrow." (This isn't the first time a change like this has been made. Superman was originally described as fighting for "truth and justice"; "the American way" was added later on.) I've been preaching from the book of Malachi for the past couple of weeks, and I spend a reasonable amount of time thinking about the prophets in the Bible, so as I thought about "truth, jusice, and a better tomorrow," I noticed that the elements of that motto are reflected in the kinds of things God's prophets talked about long ago.

When it came to truth, God sent prophets to His people to help them understand the truth about God and themselves and their relationship with God. The prophets would recall God's love and faithfulness to His people, particularly how He created them and saved them and claimed them as His own. The prophets would remind God's people of God's law, His instructions for what it means to live as people belonging to God. When the prophets spoke, the truth again and again was that God's people by and large weren't truly living for God. The truth was that God wanted obedience and love, not lip service and empty ritual. The truth was that God's people were breaking their covenant relationship with Him through their sins and wrongdoing, and God was rightfuly angry with their rebellion. God's people didn't deserve His blessing and favor. But God was also patient and merciful, calling the people to turn back to Him in faithfulness.

When it came to justice, God used the prophets to expose His people's injustice. Over and over the prophets railed against the wealthy and powerful who took advantage of the poor and weak. God condemned dishonesty and violence and greed and sexual impurity for the harm these sins did to other people as well as for how these sins broke His law. The prophets also spoke of God's justice. God would defend the oppressed and neglected. God would not ignore sin and cruelty, neither among His people nor among the nations. He would bring just judgment, punishing those who deserved punishment for their actions and attitudes.

When it came to a better tomorrow, God didn't send the prophets to only preaching judgment and destruction. Again and again, particularly at the end of the prophetic books, God gave messages of hope. Better days would come for God's people. After judgment, God would bring restoration. In His mercy, God was not finished with His people. He would forgive His people's sins. He would bring a remnant back from exile. He would purify His people and teach them to be faithful to Him so that they could truly serve His purposes. God would lead people from all nations of the world to worship Him and enjoy His blessings. God would set His broken world right, and His redeemed people would love with Him forever. God promised that life would be better than ever before as He carried out His good plans.

So I think Superman writers are generally pointing in the right direction in hoping for truth, justice, and a better tomorrow. We see God's goodness and wisdom reflected in all sorts of different corners of our world. But the thing to keep in mind here is that we need God's truth and God's justice, not our own human interpretations of what's right and good. And a better tomorrow can't finally come through human striving. Only God can redeem and restore His people and His creation. He does this through Christ Jesus, our only Savior, who fulfills all that God spoke through the prophets. Superman can't really save us, but maybe Superman can get us thinking about and searching for what we ultimately need from Jesus.

Grace and peace,

BMH

P.S. Lanie and I found a few of the more out of the way ice cream cone sculptures this week. One of these weeks we'll have to take a trip downtown and get a whole bunch at once. But for now, here's a few more photos: