2.1.11
INTRO
It's 2011 and we all have to get used to writing 2011 instead of 2010 -- whether on a cheque or letter. It's easy to forget.
POINT
It doesn't matter if we forget to do some things, but other memories are more important -- particularly remembering who we are.
STORY
It's a common Hollywood theme - someone who loses their memory and for a time forgets not only their past but also who they are; like 'Total Recall' or the documentary film "Unknown White Male.
Imagine experiencing temporary memory loss and not knowing who you were or the relationships that were important to you.
How would you feel as your memories began to return and you understood once more your identity, relationships, the things that were really important to you and your purpose in life?
POINT
The truth is that to some degree we can, and do forget. We tend to forget
* our true identity in Christ
* and along with this the nature of our relationship with God as he has established it to be
* and as a result of this the priorities we make in life.
From time to time we need to be reminded of this.
I sense that it would be worthwhile and appropriate for us to reflect on this on the first Sunday of 2011.
I can think of no better way to start 2011 than by being reminded of our true identity in Christ and what this means for us.
READING Micah 6:6-8
Spanish philosopher George Santayana famously stated the great truth that: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"
One of the greatest mistakes God's people the Jews made was to forget who they were, lose their sense of identity as the covenant people of God and gradually drift from living their lives the way God intended to.
God had said to them:
"Be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." Leviticus 6: 12
This happened not once, but time and time again. The writer to the Hebrews included a warning in the letter for New Testament believers not to make the same mistake. But here we are today, I sense, in need of being reminded. Only then can we fully appreciate weight and the relevance of the question:
'What does the Lord require of you?'
Without first being reminded of who we are in Christ we will not know how to answer this for ourselves in 2011.
BACKGROUND
The prophet Micah came from the city of Moresheth which is near Gath, about 30 miles from Jerusalem. He was a contemporary of Isaiah and his book is of a somewhat similar style. The prophet's name means "Who is like God?" and this forms the theme of his prophecy well.
Micah describes not only what God is like, but how people can be God-like.
The prophet Micah had in view both the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions.
Micah sees a vivid picture of the destruction that will come about of the people, beginning with their rulers and reaching unto the women and the children.
WHY? Judgement was coming because the people of God were no longer living as the people of God.
Instead there was corruption, oppression, bribery, and injustice. And the people were not able to see that something had gone radically wrong.
POINT
What had gone wrong was they had neglected their relationship with the Lord -- so much so that their heart's affections had been overtaken by other things.
And this in turn was the explanation for the change in the way they were living and how they were treating others.
What would be the cure? Not so much to deal with the symptoms but to deal with the cause!
A change in behaviour would be the inevitable outcome of returning to a meaningful relationship with the Lord.
APPLIC There's many a sermon that has been preached and listened to in which the hearers have agreed with everything that has been said but felt powerless to change.
* It could be an exhortation to evangelise
* Or a plea for greater patience
* Or a challenge to deeper commitment.
But the listeners feel powerless to change.
The answer if first of all to be restored to a close relationships with Father God
* to know his healing and his anointing
* to recover our memory of who we are as children of God
* to live from the basis of that relationship
RESPONSE OF THE PEOPLE
The people don't get it straight away.
After listening to Micah their response is: 'What more do you expect from us?
Micah 6:6-7
With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
[7] Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
They'd left their relationship with the Lord, lost their memory of who they were and were out of touch with how far they had drifted away.
APPLIC
It happens to Christians too. We can drift. And as soon as we become cut off from the source of our life we are no longer motivated in the same way to be distinctive. Nor do we have the passion any more to do so.
MICAH TELLS THEM GOD'S REQUIREMENTS
Micah 6:8
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.
APPLIC
It is as we are renewed in our relationship with Father God that we not only remember who we are but we also take on the divine nature.
1. ACTING JUSTLY
It wasn't happening in Micah's day.
In Micah, the prophet complained about the person who uses "dishonest scales, with a bag of false weights." (Micah 6:11).
Here was a society that was cheating one another, and this was not God's way.
In Psalm 51:6 we read, "You desire truth in the inward parts."
In Proverbs 4:23 we read, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring all the issues of life."
APPLIC
Living our lives in ways that reflect God's Father heart will mean delighting in loving our neighbour as ourselves.
2. LOVING MERCY
This is not just 'having mercy' but loving mercy!'
Mercy is a rich and strong word meaning loving kindness in action.
There's an element of unexpectedness about it.
[And by the way I have written to the Prime Minister to suggest that we have a national day of kindness and encouragement as part of the Big Society (including a few kind words of encouragement for him and his staff) -- but I haven't heard back yet]
Mercy conveys a sense of love and kindness that is not expected.
It's doing acts of kindness out of love.
Like in the parable of the Good Samaritan, it was the one considered least likely to offer help who did so.
The parable of the prodigal son reveals to us the heart of a father who accepted his son against the expectation of almost everyone.
The story of the woman caught in adultery teaches a compassionate mercy scarcely revealed in Old Testament Jewish law.
The dying thief on a cross who believes.
It's a way of life that reflects the love of God for us. It is taking on and living out the divine nature
3. WALKING HUMBLY WITH GOD
This is a lovely picture -- a bit like Adam and Eve walking with God in the Garden of Eden before the fall.
POINT
I am not sure that it is possible to walk 'proudly' with God (in the wrong sense of course)
It conveys:
* Friendship
* A common understanding
* A common agenda
To walk with God means keeping the relationship alive
* In means staying by his side
* It means taking the same direction as he -- Not taking a direction that God would not take, but also seeking to walk in the same path that God is taking.
GOSPEL
The people in Micah's day were not the first to ask 'What does the Lord require?'
Cf John 6:28-29
28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
Acts 2:37-38 37Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" 38 And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
CLOSING
Let 2011 be a year of drawing nearer to God rather than drifting further from God.
We don't accomplish this by pulling our socks up.
It's a matter of drawing near to God once again -- repenting of the sins that have separated us from god -- And taking the advantage of a BRAND NEW START that God offers us today.
[pray]
