Last we began a walk through the scriptures to answer the age old question What Does God Want? We began our walk with the prophet Isaiah, where God called Judeans to repentance, and truly accept Yahweh into their hearts before they began to pray to God for to work in their lives rather than for their lives.
Today’s scripture reading takes us to the same time period except this time the prophet is Micah and the question isn’t quite the same. The people are asking Micah what does God want them to do?
Micah responds with a simple message: do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.
Do Justice, Love Kindness, and Walk Humbly with Your God. This sound very similar to the words that Isaiah relayed in Isaiah 1: 17. learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed…
So if we look at the first question. What kind of result do you think that God wants to accomplish? Well let’s take a look at what he tells the Judeans through Micah.
1) Do Justice
2) Love kindness
3) Walk humbly with God.
When you hear the command do Justice, what comes to your mind? Make fair, making right, helping those who are oppressed. So how does this relate to what God wants?
I can honestly say being a conservative, for a long time when I heard members of our denomination talk of “justice” it grated my nerves. Not because I felt that justice wasn’t needed, but more or less how these individual interpreted and applied justice. However over time I come to see justice from more than one point of view. Holy Justice is much more than proving right and wrong, or freeing the oppressed, or claiming someone deserves services. God’s justice is much more simple and complex all at the same time. It’s about real justice for all. It’s not about some sort of political view, or social view. It’s about pointing out people’s transgressions in a loving way; it’s about working to free people from the shackles of oppressions and sins that are inhibiting their lives. It’s not about changing morality, or saying one group has the right to steal from another just because that one group has no other way. Because that subverts the law of God for their own deeds. This was the very thing that Isaiah and now Micah were addressing. Justice for our lives, justice in our lives, and the Grace and Mercy God brings through renewing our lives.
This takes us into Love kindness, what kinds of thinks come to mind when we hear this phrase? Complement acts of kindness? Be kind? Be Gentle? I am reminded of how many people, I myself bear this particular thorn as well, often look for the bad in life, or a way to criticize something, rather than at the wonder that has been created. Kindness often takes work. We live in a society that is more interested in seeing the evil in people rather than great acts of good and kindness that go unnoticed. I know for myself, I have to remind myself that God wants us to look for the good in life. That God will take care of those that do evil.
This takes us into what walking humbly for God. What does this mean? This means giving ourselves over to God. This means admitting to our selves that God knows what is best for our lives and that we do this not out of absolute fear of the Lord Almighty but out of love.
All three of these items are very much intertwined with each other, in other words neither the people of Judea nor us could ever really do just one of the three without the other two. In other words to truly act with justice for all we must act with kindness and be humble. For in this way the glory of God is allowed to shine through and people are able to experience the Grace and Mercy that the Lord has for them.
So what does God want us to be or to do? What I get out this message is God wants us to be humble, act with kindness, and be just in our way of life. We are called as Christians to live by Christ’s example. And if we look at his life in the Gospel’s we see these three very commands fulfilled throughout his ministry on earth. He called for justice in all its forms, religious, social, and political. He called for all people to be treated as God’s people. At the same time he called for righteous behavior and treatment for and from all. At the same time he walked in exceptional humbleness never exalting himself or placing himself above those whom he served and tau
Speaking out and bringing justice, isn’t about complaining to the government. It’s about bringing radical change at the local level. Depending on other bodies to bring about the justice God seeks takes the Lord out of the equation if not replaces God with a false God. So bringing justice in your local communities takes many forms, from just helping families getting food and clothes, to providing ways for individuals to better themselves. At the same time we do with loving kindness, while not expecting anything in return, except a way for them to bring about a positive change in their lives.
Now what if we really took the words of Micah seriously, what kind of changes would we make in our lives as well as our walk with Christ and the mission of our church?
As I said to you last week this again I would like to you think about over the coming week, rather than tell you what I would like to see happen here. However I would like to share my vision for the whole Christian community as the Church of Jesus Christ, and I will share with you what I have seen in our church.
As a local church, I have seen these ideals at work. I see us working together with a sense of humble purpose. This was very evident at the cluster conferences last year. When we went through our own gifts and graces, it was hard to come up with things would consider life changing or being fruit, yet when we were among other churches and we heard what they considered their gifts we too were able to share with the group. Why was this so hard for us? Because we do these things out our desire to serve God and through our humble obedience we do them not chalking them up as points toward heaven.
So essence you have already begun the trek to taking this passage seriously, I bet you could all go around this congregation and think of things you have done. That you don’t ask or take credit for that fulfills the call by God upon our lives.
Again imagine if all 1.5 billion Christians took this command seriously, what kind of world would be living in and how might it be transformed. The world I imagine seems like something out of fantasy. I could imagine a world where people would humble themselves to doing God’s will, to doing it with a loving heart, where justice grows out of the ground up, not corrupted by the aspirations of those who want to make a name for themselves but want to a better life for all of us.
So there you have it a call from God, a sequel to last weeks call to repentance, for this week we have the instructions that comes out of out of that repentance. So as we work to build on what we took from last week. I want us to take more notice in how we conduct ourselves this week. I would like us to put those words from Micah 6. That with each action we take we consider if we are approaching them with justice, kindness, and humility. And in those words remember the words from John Wesley:
“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
Amen.
