{"id":596,"date":"2018-02-12T21:22:31","date_gmt":"2018-02-12T20:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=596"},"modified":"2018-02-12T21:39:30","modified_gmt":"2018-02-12T20:39:30","slug":"act-justly-to-loose-the-chains-of-injustice-isaiah-586","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=596","title":{"rendered":"Act Justly 1 &#8211; to loose the chains of injustice Isaiah 58:6"},"content":{"rendered":"<span itemprop=\"description\"><p>What does the Lord require of you? To Act Justly\u2026<\/p>\n<p>A series of studies adapted by Peter based on material by Christian Aid.<br \/>\nSession 1: A call to act justly<br \/>\nSession 2: Social action<br \/>\nSession 3: Drop the debt<br \/>\nSession 4: Fair trade combined with Justice in global trade<br \/>\nSession 5: An ethical lifestyle<\/p>\n<p>Session 1: A call to act justly \u2013 To loose the chains of injustice<\/p>\n<p>\u2018With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings\u2026? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.\u2019 (Micah 6:6, 8)<\/p>\n<p>Read Isaiah 58:1-14<\/p>\n<p> \u2018Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen&#8230;\u2019 (Isaiah 58:6)<\/p>\n<p>Isaiah speaks to us from a time of turmoil and uncertainty. The empires that surrounded Judah were competing for land and superiority. How could such a small nation survive? But Isaiah saw a vision of a Holy God, high and lifted up. The message Isaiah delivered to the people of Judah called them back to a God of the whole earth. This brought hope for their future but, with it, judgement for their sin.<br \/>\n1.\tIn which ways were the people obeying God\u2019s commands? (vv1-3)<br \/>\n2.\tWhat are they condemned for doing? (vv3-5)<br \/>\n3.\tHow is the fast that God requires different from the lives they are living? (vv6-12)<br \/>\n4.\tWhat effect would God\u2019s fast have on them as individuals and a nation? (vv6-14)<br \/>\n5.\tCompare the ways we seek God now with \u2018the chosen fast\u2019 from the passage.<br \/>\nOne interpretation of the passage is that being religious, or even having compassion and showing charity, are not enough. We must \u2018loose the chains of injustice\u2019 to tackle the root causes of injustice in our world, through action on issues such as unjust global trade, international debt and our lifestyle in rich countries. Act Justly will show us many ways in which we can help transform our world.<\/p>\n<p>1.\tDiscuss the difference between meeting people\u2019s immediate needs and \u2018loosing the chains of injustice\u2019.<br \/>\n2.\tWhat should WE be doing to \u201cloose the chains of injustice\u201d in society and in the world?<br \/>\nAs Christians we are called to \u2018act justly\u2019, because God is a God of justice and love. We are challenged to learn what it means to \u2018loose the chains of injustice\u2019 (Isaiah 58:6) in our world and to work to transform our world. Today, this may include finding out about the root causes of global injustice and taking action, as campaigners, consumers and in the way that we live. This session calls us to act justly.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.\u2019 (Psalm 140:12)<br \/>\n\u2018The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.\u2019 (Proverbs 29:7)<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.\u2019 (Proverbs 31:8,9)<\/p>\n<span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"excerpt\"><span itemprop=\"description\">What does the Lord require of you? To Act Justly\u2026 A series of studies adapted by Peter based on material by Christian Aid. Session&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p btn-align-left\"><a class=\"blue zoom-btn\" href=\"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=596\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,35],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=596"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":598,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596\/revisions\/598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}