A Question of Tolerance

We've obviously got quite a lot to get through this evening.

It would be great as ever if you keep that open in front of you.

We're going to spend a lot of time in bits of it,

scoot over other bits,

but hopefully we'll get to the end in not too long.

Let me pray.

We all need God's help this evening.

Heavenly Father,

I pray that you would give us eyes to see,

ears to hear,

the truth of your promise in your word this evening.

Help us, each of us, to trust in you,

to have faith in you.

Be with us by your Holy Spirit, we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

And last week, we began by imagining ourselves,

if you remember, in the English Channel.

It was 1939.

1939, we were on our way to war in France,

but there was a big storm.

We were in a small boat.

There was a big storm.

And really, that was just a picture of the mess,

a picture of the mess of life,

the mess of the world around us,

and being really honest with ourselves,

the mess of our own lives,

the mess in our own hearts.

And this week, I want you to imagine,

I guess, quite a similar picture.

It's six years on, still World War II, 1945.

It's D-Day.

This time, your crossing to France was relatively smooth,

but now, you can imagine yourself,

you've come off the boat,

and you're wading through the sort of waist-deep sea.

The waves are starting to feel more intense,

but that is nothing compared to the gunfire all around you,

the shells dropping,

the whistles,

the screams.

It's a mess.

Last week, as we thought about the mess of the storm

in our little boat

on that very first crossing to France,

well, if we're honest,

the truth is that in life,

mess is not reduced to a single moment.

Life just seems to get messier all the time, doesn't it?

Injustice gets sharper.

Trauma gets increasingly painful.

And on this side of the cross,

we continue to ask,

where is God in all of this mess?

How are we supposed to have faith in the mess?

Just a reminder of where we were last week

in terms of the history of Habakkuk.

Habakkuk is a prophet in the southern kingdom of Judah.

The northern kingdom, Israel,

has been conquered 100 years before.

They've been carried off into exile.

And in the south,

things have been getting increasingly evil.

For that 100 years,

bad king after bad king.

Habakkuk probably experienced something of a revival

under the good king, Josiah.

But now,

under Josiah's son,

Jehoiakim,

there is a return to evil days.

And so last week,

in that context,

Habakkuk cried out to God.

He was, if you like,

a faithful prophet

in amongst the mess all around him.

And he cries out,

knowing God to be a God of justice,

he cries out a super honest question.

How long?

How long until you come and do something

about the injustice

that is going on amongst your people, God?

And we saw last week

that God responded with this promise

of surprising justice.

God said,

I'm going to raise up the Babylonians

to bring that justice.

The Babylonians,

the violent and evil empire next door.

Which obviously begs the question,

and we'll see this evening,

the question that Habakkuk asks,

how can you let the guilty people of Babylon

get away with the judgment of your people?

Last week,

we thought about the surprising justice

of the cross,

where the victory,

the victory over sin and death

really was won.

And yet,

living on this side of the cross,

we still ask that question,

don't we?

What are you going to do

about all the guilty people?

It's now a week or so after D-Day.

The war on the beaches was won,

but it definitely isn't over.

In fact,

you're still fighting battles.

Some of your friends

probably won't make it.

It's definitely still a mess.

The world sometimes feels

a bit like that,

I think.

For the Christian,

we know,

we're so often told,

aren't we,

Jesus is victorious.

The victory is won.

Justice has been achieved.

If you're here this evening

and you don't know Jesus,

that is the message.

Jesus is the one

who brings justice.

That his death on the cross

is what did it,

where he defeated evil,

where he cried,

it is finished.

He rose again.

He defeated death.

That's the message.

It's the big justice moment.

And yet we look around today,

2,000 years later,

and the world is still a mess.

We thought last week

about how we contribute

to that mess.

About how faith in Jesus,

faith in that big justice moment,

is so important for us.

Because it was a just God

making a way

to justify his people,

like we read in Romans chapter 3

Romans 3 · chapter mention

just now.

Clothing them

in his righteousness,

removing their guilt,

those who have faith in him.

But really,

that's got to just be a start.

Because ultimately,

just like Habakkuk,

on this side of that problem,

on this side of that promise,

sorry,

we are left with questions.

And so again,

this week,

we're going to ask them

with Habakkuk,

we're going to ask

an honest question.

And this time,

we will see the promise.

The promise from God

is of complete justice.

Let's begin.

Let's begin with this honest question.

Habakkuk begins,

a bit like last week,

actually,

with an acknowledgement

of who God is.

You see in verse 12,

have a look at verse 12

in your Bible.

Lord,

are you not

from everlasting?

My God,

my Holy One,

you will never die.

See the titles

that Habakkuk uses

to address God here.

Again,

he uses Lord

in capital letters

like that.

We saw last week

that's Yahweh.

It's the word used

to speak specifically

of the God of Israel.

It's the name

that God revealed

to Moses.

It really just essentially

means the one

who was,

who is,

and who forever will be.

And so comes

the appropriate question

of verse 12,

are you not

from everlasting?

It's who you've told us

you are.

This is who you are.

And you are

my Holy One.

My Holy One.

Habakkuk actually does

something incredibly

profound here.

Because not only

does he describe

God as holy,

which is to say

so utterly perfect

that he is

quite unlike

anything in the

created world.

In fact,

his holiness

is so complete

that to be unholy

in his presence

is impossible.

And yet,

he is mine,

Habakkuk says.

It is incredibly

profound

that the God

of Israel

is both holy

and personal

to his people.

And it is because

of that,

that Habakkuk

can confidently say,

still in verse 12,

actually the translation

in the NIV

I don't think

is as good here.

You might have a footnote,

but in the ESV

it's we will,

we will never die.

Habakkuk's theology

is really good.

He knows who God is,

that he is eternal

and holy.

But he also knows

that those who are his

will live forever

with him.

His theology

is really good.

And not only

does he know God,

he also accepts

that God's

surprising promise

of justice

that we heard

last week

in chapter 1

is true.

He says,

You, Lord,

have appointed them

to execute judgment.

You, my rock,

have ordained them

to punish.

Using that other title

for God,

my rock,

in other words,

the place I go

to seek refuge.

You send the Babylonians

to do justice

in this place

and I will flee

to you,

my strong foundation.

He knows

who this God is

and he accepts

that this is what

he said he'll do.

This is what faith

looks like

in the mess.

He's trusting

that D-Day

really was

the victory.

And as we keep reading,

Habakkuk continues

to illustrate

really good theology.

See, in verse 13,

he knows what God

is like.

Your eyes

are too pure

to look on evil.

You cannot tolerate

wrongdoing.

He's just saying

you are so holy.

And so he asks

his honest question.

Why then

do you tolerate

the treacherous?

Why are you silent

while the wicked

swallow up those

more righteous

than themselves?

Got to say

that's a good question,

isn't it?

It's really the question

we were left with

last week.

As God says

he's going to raise up

the Babylonians

to bring his justice.

But then

in verse 11

he describes them

as guilty.

In chapter 1,

verse 11,

the Babylonians

are guilty.

If God is too pure

to look on evil,

if he cannot tolerate

wrongdoing,

how can he possibly

allow them

to get away with it?

Aren't we asking

that question?

Don't we ask it today?

And if we stick

with the World War II

theme,

it's true that

Joseph Stalin

died in his own bed,

the man responsible

for more deaths

in the deadliest century

in human history

than any other,

and he died

in his own bed,

comfortable,

at home.

He never faced

the justice

of a human court.

How can we say

that the cross

brings justice?

How could God

possibly have allowed

him to get away

with it?

Maybe that's a question

that you have.

I think it's really

got to be a question

that we're all asking.

How can this God,

knowing what this God

is like,

how can he possibly

allow such evil?

I guess for some

of us in the room,

this might be a really

deeply personal question.

If you've been

betrayed or abused

or wronged,

if you've faced

significant discrimination,

if you've just

experienced the sharp

end of the messy

world that we live in,

I am sure you're

asking this question

with Habakkuk,

how can they

possibly have been

allowed to get away

with it?

I'm not going to

promise that you'll

come away this evening

with an absolutely

satisfying answer

to that question,

but stay tuned

because there is

hope,

there is comfort.

Before we get there,

see in verse 14,

Habakkuk begins to

lay out the charge

against Babylon.

Here he's actually

speaking of the nations

that Babylon are going

to conquer.

You have made the people

or you have made mankind

like the fish in the sea,

like the sea creatures

that have no ruler.

I think maybe especially

he's thinking of his own

nation,

Judah,

with such a useless

and evil king at home.

It's as though the people

have no ruler at all.

Their wickedness,

their violence

are left to run wild.

And then in verse 15,

Habakkuk says,

this is what the

Babylonians are like.

It's just as you say,

God,

this is what's coming.

If we are the fish,

then they come with

their hooks

and their nets

and their dragnets

to carry us off

into exile.

Just like we've seen

happen to our brothers

in the north.

It's a stark image.

It's also a real image.

There are actually

drawings of the

Babylonian empire

carrying off

captives

in nets

like fishing nets

and dragging people

with hooks

through their noses

and their cheeks.

These really are

their tools of war.

And here's the issue

for Habakkuk

in verse 16.

Therefore,

he sacrifices

to his net

and burns incense

to his dragnet.

These people

that you are raising up,

God,

they want nothing

to do with you.

In fact,

they'd rather worship

their tools of war.

They turn their

military power

into their gods.

And in doing so,

in the rest of verse 16,

they're able to live

in luxury.

They're able to enjoy

the choicest food.

They are utterly evil

and yet materially

prosperous.

I think it's worth

pausing for a second here

and just looking

in the mirror together.

Confessing that

despite the prosperous

years that our nation

may have enjoyed

and experienced,

there are ways

that we have

contributed

and continue

to contribute

to injustice

in this world.

And even more

than nationally,

more just individually

in our relative

prosperity,

even as we think

about the places

where we buy things

from,

we've got to ask,

are the producers,

the farmers,

the creatives,

are they getting paid

fairly for the goods

that we use?

Are the people

making our clothes

being treated

with justice?

As we look in the mirror,

as we ask these questions,

I think it just becomes

increasingly obvious,

doesn't it?

Doesn't it become

increasingly obvious

that there are ways

that we contribute

to the injustice

of this world,

maybe even without

thinking about it?

But also,

as like Habakkuk,

we look out of the window,

again,

this ought to be

a question

that we have today,

the injustice

in the world.

I'm sure that as he

rests his head

on his pillow tonight,

Vladimir Putin

will have the nicest

silk sheets,

the very best pillow.

It remains true

that those who seem

to cause the most

injustice in this world

are also very often

those living

the most luxurious lives.

And so we ask,

along with Habakkuk

in verse 17,

is he,

is the Babylonian

to keep on emptying

his net

and destroying

nations without mercy?

That's the question,

isn't it?

It's very similar

to the question

of chapter one.

How long

are you going to

let this persist?

In chapter one,

it was how long

will you let

the injustice

at home persist?

And now the question

becomes universal.

How long

are you going to let

injustice

in this world

continue?

And so with Habakkuk

in verse one

of chapter two,

I will stand

at my watch

and station myself

on the ramparts.

I will look

to see what he

will say to me

and what answer

I am to give

to this complaint.

In other words,

I will wait.

I've offered

my honest question

and now

I will wait.

Imagine again

being in the army,

D-Day has happened

and every day,

what are you doing?

You're waiting

for the announcement.

War is over.

It is finished.

That's what Habakkuk

is waiting for,

for it to be done.

Justice,

complete justice

to be done.

And just before

we move on

to that promise,

let's just learn

from this honest question

as we look at it

as a whole.

See how Habakkuk

asks it.

He doesn't doubt

who God is.

He doesn't deny

who God has revealed

himself to be.

And so would we,

as best as we know

how,

speak to God

as he has revealed

himself to us

in his word.

As both the everlasting

God of judgment

and also as my God,

our God,

the personal God.

That is faith

in the mess.

When we pray,

how often we fall

into one of these traps.

either seeing God

as so distant,

so holy,

so other,

so beyond us

that in our reverence

we fail to enjoy

relationship with him.

Friends,

we can pray

with Habakkuk,

my God,

and know

that he is with us.

We thought about

that with Ray

this morning

for those of you

who are here.

And that's because

of what Christ

has done for us.

Though he is

utterly holy

and totally beyond us,

he is nevertheless

our friend.

But on the other side

of that coin

there is another trap,

isn't there,

where we pray to God

as though he is not holy,

as though he is not eternal,

as though he were nothing

but our best friend

who does not want us

to change,

who is not looking

for repentance

and faith.

We have got to see

that our God

is both way bigger

than we could possibly imagine

and way more familiar

than we could possibly hope.

Notice too

how Habakkuk

humbly and honestly

asks his question

and then

waits.

He waits

for God

to speak.

Nowhere in the Bible

does it tell us

not to ask our questions.

The more you ask

questions of God,

the more your faith

will grow.

But as we go

to God

with our questions,

we have to be prepared

for him to speak.

I'm not talking

about an audible voice.

It might not even

mean a supernatural

sense of clarity

revealed out of nowhere.

And yet God

has spoken

and he does

speak

through his word

today.

And so

as we pray,

as we approach

God with our

honest questions,

especially about

justice this evening,

will we be prepared

to patiently

study his word

and hear

what he has

to say to us?

Indeed,

we see here

in Habakkuk

how God

would respond

to exactly

this question.

Last week

with a surprising

promise of justice,

this week

we see a complete

promise,

complete justice.

See in verse 2

as the Lord

replies,

write down

the revelation

and make it

plain on tablets

so that a

herald may run

with it.

God is saying

that these words

that I'm speaking

are meant to be

permanent,

written down,

they're to be

shared,

they are for all

to hear.

And at this point

I think we've got

to understand

this is why

this book

was written

because this

complete promise,

it doesn't just

apply to Habakkuk's

question about

Judah,

it doesn't just

apply to Babylon,

it doesn't just

apply to the

7th century BC,

something much

bigger is happening

here because

God's word

speaks today.

Indeed as we

read on in

verse 3,

for the revelation

awaits an

appointed time,

it speaks of

the end

and will not

prove false.

In other words

this complete

justice,

it is ultimately

a justice that

will not come

until the very

end of the

world.

When the

curtains are

closed and

the show is

over,

when the

message comes

over the

wireless,

the war in

Europe is

over.

It may seem

slow in the

coming.

Remember Habakkuk

prays in chapter

1, how long?

But God

responds here

still in verse

3,

though it

linger,

wait for it,

it will

certainly come

and will

not delay.

It may feel

as though it's

never going to

come, but

a thousand years

is like a day

for the eternal

Lord of the

universe.

And the promise

here is that it

will come

and that when it

does, it will

be swift.

But we have to

ask what exactly

will that justice

look like?

What does God's

justice actually

do?

Well read on

with me.

In verses

4 and 5

we get another

picture of the

Babylonian from

God here.

He describes

the Babylonian

as puffed up,

arrogant, as

greedy as the

grave.

He gathers to

himself all the

nations and

takes captive

all the

peoples.

It is primarily

a picture of

the Babylonian.

But as we dig

into these

verses, isn't

this really just

a picture of

humanity?

Humanity whose

desires are not

upright, who

is never at

rest, never

satisfied.

In other words,

a humanity that

lives as though

God does not

exist.

And so indulging

all our own

desires and yet

in doing so

never finding

rest for our

souls, never

finding true

satisfaction.

The picture here

is of a people

who are utterly

self-reliant and

self-indulgent.

People who are,

at the beginning

of verse 4,

enemies of

God.

And so what

will God's

justice do?

Well, before

we get there,

have a look at

this wonderful

promise.

Sorry, I'll go

back.

There's this

but at the

end of verse 4.

It's one of my

favorite buts in

the Bible.

But the

righteous person

will live by

his faithfulness.

There is

another way.

The promise is

that we do not

need to be

self-reliant.

That we can

instead rely on

God, trust

him, be

faithful to

him and be

found to be

righteous in

him.

This is such an

important concept

for the Christian

gospel.

It's picked up by

writers in the

New Testament.

They say the

righteous shall

live by faith.

And it's

really what we

saw last week.

That is the

surprising promise

as we look to

Jesus who

lived a

perfectly

righteous life

in our place,

who took the

justice of the

world on his

shoulders so

that by faith

his righteousness

might be freely

given to us.

If you're here

and you don't

know Jesus,

that is the

message.

It's right at

the heart of

what we believe

as Christians.

And so it's in

the context of

that promise

that we read

the woes that

follow.

If you scan

your eyes over

the rest of

chapter 2,

we're going to

speed up quite a

lot here, but

that's what we

get.

Five woes.

If you see that

repeated refrain

in the rest of

chapter 2 at the

beginning of each

paragraph and then

again at the

beginning of verse

19, woe to

him.

In other words,

judgment is

coming to

him.

We don't

have time to

unpack each of

these in detail,

but see what

God's justice

looks like.

That's the

question we want

to answer.

Track with me.

The first is

there in verses

6 and 7.

He piles up

stolen goods.

God says he

has taken things

that don't belong

to him.

It's theft.

And then the

judgment comes in

verse 8.

The peoples who

are left will

plunder you.

The second is

similar.

It's empire

building through

injustice.

See in verse

9, he builds

his house by

unjust gain,

setting his

nest on high to

escape the

clutches of

ruin.

He's amassing

wealth.

The picture here,

it's like he's a

killer magpie,

right?

Not just pinching

the shiny necklace

and carrying it

off to the safety

of his nest,

but also pecking

the wearer to

death.

death.

And the

judgment for the

Babylonian is in

verse 10.

It's shame for his

house and ultimately

death coming to him

himself.

The third woe begins

to focus more sharply

on violence.

See in verse 12,

it is the bloodshed of

empire building.

And so comes the

judgment in verse 13.

As they bring

destruction, so will

they be destroyed.

They will be fuel for

the fire.

And then the image

in the fourth woe,

I think, becomes much

more personal.

The charge here,

degrading their

enemies.

See in verse 15,

it's like an ancient

date rape drug.

He gets them drunk

and gazes upon their

nakedness.

Terrific abuse,

that.

And the judgment in

verse 16,

he will be filled

with shame.

It is his turn to be

filled with wine and

exposed.

And the fifth and

final woe, this is the

climax of it all,

idolatry.

Putting man-made

things, images and

carvings, putting them

in the place of God

and saying to them,

come to life,

which of course they

can't.

The Lord, on the

other hand, in verse

20, he is in his

holy temple.

Be silent before him.

Why?

For he does have life,

he will speak,

and his judgment

will come.

So these are the five

woes proclaimed

against Babylon.

As we read them,

what does that justice

look like?

What does God's

justice do?

Well, two key things

for us.

Firstly, notice how

God's justice is

just.

The punishment fits

the crime.

As the Babylonian

plunders, so will

he be plundered.

As he builds a

house, his house

will be put to

shame.

As he brings

destruction, he

will be destroyed.

As he shames his

enemies, he will be

shamed.

And ultimately, as he

glorifies idols,

God will be seen

to be glorious.

God's justice

is just.

Notice in that

that it's not the

one who has been

wronged who executes

that justice.

God is the judge

and he brings

justice himself

by his own

means.

God's justice

is just.

Secondly, God's

complete justice

is ultimately

eternal.

See back in

verse 3,

way back in

verse 3, we

saw it speaks

of the end.

This is not

just a promise

to Habakkuk

that Babylon

would not be

spared God's

judgment.

Take it, that's

why it is to

be written

down.

And so we

see in verse

14 that the

earth will be

filled with the

knowledge of the

glory of the

Lord as the

waters cover the

sea.

This is an

image of God's

glory in saving

his people,

bringing justice

to the Babylonians

so that through it

and through his

people the whole

world might know

him.

But the final

fulfillment of that

promise, it is

ultimately an

eternal promise.

promise.

It is a promise

that is made

good upon

Jesus' return.

As he paid the

price for that

justice to be

done on the

cross, as he

proved that he

had done so as

he rose again,

and he promised

that he would

ultimately return

to carry out that

justice and

completion.

Why?

So that the

whole earth might

be filled with

his glory.

For us, there

is immense

comfort in

this, as

well as

holy fear.

Comfort, because

we can know

that every

injustice will

be dealt

with.

That really

is huge.

But if God's

justice is

just, then

every single

injustice of

human history,

every murder,

every rape,

every war

crime, every

theft, every

lie, whether

they are dealt

with humanly or

not, whether

they are dealt

with on this

side of eternity

or not, God's

justice is

just.

That means

that Stalin

did not get

away with

it, not

really.

That means

that any

injustice that

you have

faced, if

there is a

specific person

or a group

of people that

have wronged

you, they

have not and

they will not

get away with

it.

There is

comfort here,

but I think

there also

ought to be a

holy fear.

For if we're

honest, we

know, don't

we, that

there are

things that

we have

done,

contributions

to injustice

that we have

not paid

for, that

we could

never pay

for.

And so if

God's justice

is just,

then we

too must

face it.

And this

is the

wonderful good

news of the

Christian gospel.

We know

that if we

will be found

in Christ,

if we would

trust in him,

if we would

have faith in

him, then

on that

final day,

we might be

spared his

justice, not

because he

is not

just, but

because for

those who

trust in

him, his

justice has

been done

on the

cross.

And for

us, this

is a

wonderful

truth.

For in

it, there

is a

forever

hope, not

simply that

we, though

guilty, might

be justified,

but that we

might live

forever in

a new and

perfect world,

world filled

with the

glorious

presence of

the Lord,

a world

where we

know him

perfectly.

And friends,

knowing that

today changes

everything.

It changes

our desire to

tell people

about Jesus.

If there

really is no

other way to

this wonderful

eternity, do

we not want to

point people to

him?

change is

how we use

our money.

With our

eyes fixed

on eternity,

material things

just pale in

comparison,

changes how we

spend our

time.

It changes

how we worry

about things

in this world.

It is the

real and only

secret to

true and

lasting contentment

and satisfaction

in this life.

The forever

hope of

complete,

eternal

justice.

faith in

the mess.

Let me take

you back just

as we finish

to World War

II, to

that strange

in-between.

D-Day has

happened.

You can look

back at

D-Day and

say that the

victory is

sure, despite

the mess all

around you.

But you can

look forward

to waiting

patiently for

the war to

be over.

So too in

life, as we

look back at

the surprising

justice of the

cross, we

know that

victory has

been secured.

And though

life feels

like a real

mess today,

and though we

like Habakkuk

wait patiently

in the watchtower,

God's promise

is of complete

justice.

And in

Christ we

wait,

looking to

an eternity

with a sure

hope in

him.

This is

faith in

the mess.

Let me

pray.

Heavenly

Father, we

thank you so

much for the

surprising

justice of

the cross.

Lord, we

confess that

we deserve

your justice.

And so we

thank you very

much for

Jesus.

We thank you

for the

complete promise

of eternal

justice.

Pray that you

would apply

that promise

to our hearts

by your spirit

this evening.

allow us to

be comforted

by it,

to find

hope in

it.

Would you

help us to

persevere,

to have

faith even

in the

mess?

In Jesus'

name.

Amen.