Title: What Can We Bring to the Lord?
Text: Micah 6:1-8
Thesis: God cares deeply about injustice toward people and is concerned that his people do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with him. (Micah 6:8 is a call to action… compassion, mercy, justice and humility.
A church generally falls primarily into one of four categories. A church is either:
• A Healthy Missional Church
• A Stable Church
• A Critical Moment Church
• An At Risk Church
The objective of the At Risk Church is not to become a Critical Moment Church. The objective of the Critical Moment Church is not to become a Stable Church. And the objective of the Stable Church is not to remain a Stable Church. The objective is to always be moving toward Congregational Vitality, i.e., becoming a Healthy Missional Church… a church that is pursuing Christ and Christ’s priorities in the world.
In order to understand what being a Healthy Missional Church looks like, we are unpacking a series called: The Marks of a Healthy Missional Church. Researchers have found that there are at least ten marks, characteristics, traits, qualities, etc., that are consistently found in Healthy Missional Churches.
Series: The Marks of a Healthy (Pursuing Christ) Missional Church (Pursuing Christ’s Priorities in the World)
• Compelling Christian Community
• The Centrality of the Word of God
• Life Transforming Walk with Jesus
• Global Perspective and Intentional Evangelism
Today we will unpack a fifth Mark of a Healthy Missional Church. A Healthy Missional Church is:
• Transforming Communities through Active Compassion, Mercy and Justice Ministries
And today we look at a fifth mark… that being Healthy Missional Churches are Transforming Communities through Active Compassion, Mercy and Justice Ministries. So if we were to do a self evaluation as a Church and as people are we Actively Involved in Ministries of Compassion, Mercy and Justice?
Introduction:
One of life’s most challenging lessons is the simple fact that life is not fair. I know life isn’t fair, but I sometimes wonder why it can’t occasionally be unfair in my favor.
Life may not be fair and we have to learn to live with that unfairness but in fact, life should be fair. We do not all emerge from a superior gene pool. We do not all receive equal opportunities. Discrimination and bias of every form happens. Disease happens. Poverty happens. Accidents happen. War happens. Plants close and people get laid off. Two people work equally hard but one makes a Banker’s CEO salary and oversees the loss of 6 billion dollars and keeps his job and the other, a minimum wage earner get fired for being late to work because he missed his bus. One person is born in Bloomfield Township, Michigan and the other is born in the heart of Detroit, Michigan. Our daughters are so precious to us that we would die before hurting them but in Niger, Africa, of 10 girls between the ages of 11 and 15 in a rural village – 7 are married and 2 are engaged to be married because their fathers had to cut overhead… one less mouth to feed and the dowry money supports the remaining family. What is fair about that? In California three men exercise their right to free speech to produce a ridiculous and inflammatory film that provokes the ire of Islamists in Lybia that results in the deaths of 4 innocent American Embassy workers. Life isn’t fair! But it should be.
I would guess that there has been a time or perhaps many times when you wanted justice or needed mercy… a time when you looked at the world and the ways things are and you knew, down deep, this is a broken world. Down deep you knew as we all know, things are not the way they should be. Life isn’t fair but that does not mean it shouldn’t be. Nor does it mean that it cannot be a more fair and just and merciful world.
We know God cares about fairness and justice because that is the ultimate realization of Christ’s Kingdom Rule. In Isaiah 9… the passage we celebrate at the onset of the Season of Advent is the prophetic announcement of the significance of the coming of Christ.
“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” Isaiah 9:6-7
Following his wilderness temptation Jesus emerged from the wilderness and made his way to his hometown where he “unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and the time of the Lord’s favor has come.’” The text says that he rolled up the scroll and as every eye in the synagogue was upon him, he sat down and began to speak. And this is what he said, “This Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” Luke 4:18-21
In the simplest of terms, Jesus announced to the world that he was the promised Messiah… Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace whose government and its peace would never end. Jesus was and is in fact the one who will rule with fairness and justice from his throne for all eternity. Jesus came to proclaim Good News to the poor, to proclaim the release of the captives and the oppressed, and give sight to the blind.
God cares about fairness and justice and our text today is a powerful witness to that truth. What does the Lord require of you? “That you do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”
In our text today we see that God is not happy with his people:
I. At the very root of God’s displeasure with his people was their unfair and unjust practices.
“Listen you leaders of Israel! You are supposed to know right from wrong, but you are the very ones who hate good and love evil.” Micah 3:1
Our text today begins with a court room scene. The mountains and hills that have surrounded the people of God are called to act as a jury. God lets the defense present speak but they have nothing to say. So God proceeds to charge his people with failing to live up to his expectations. And he asks his people, “What have I done to you to make you tired of me?” God continued with a little history lesson, reminding them of all that he had done for them and chided them for their short memory and lack of faithfulness in the face of his kindness.
If we jump over our text and take a quick peek at verses 9-12 we are given some of the specifics that prompted God’s displeasure.
• The homes of the wicked are filled with treasures by cheating.
• They are guilty of the practice of measuring with dishonest measures… cheating.
• The rich had become wealthy unjustly.
• The citizenry as whole lied and were dishonest.
This was not some isolated case… this was systemic throughout their culture!
• Learn to do good. Is. 1:10-17
• I want to see a flood of justice. Amos 5:21-24
• You should know right from wrong. Micah 3:1
• Judge fairly and show mercy. Zach. 7:8-10
From the book of Isaiah: God spoke through the Prophet Isaiah asking, “What makes you think I want all your sacrifices.” For a series of 6 verses God essentially tells his people that he is sick and tired of a religiosity that does not result in right living. God concludes, “Give up your evil ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of the orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.” Isaiah 1:10-17
From the book of Amos: “I hate all your show of pretense of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your offerings… away with your noisy hymns of praise! Instead I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.” Amos 5:21-24
Again from the book of Micah: Micah 3 begins with a scathing word for those in government. “Listen you leaders of Israel! You are supposed to know right from wrong, but you are the very ones who hate good and love evil. You rulers make decisions based on bribes; you priests teach God’s laws only for a price; you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid…” Micah 3
And from the book of Zachariah: This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners and the poor. And do not scheme against each other.” Zachariah 7:8-10
The religious leaders and the people of Israel did not even try to play coy. They didn’t feign shock. They didn’t defend themselves in any way. They were caught dead to rights. And their first instinct was to go to confession and see what they needed to do to make God happy again. Immediately they express a desire to get back in God’s good graces and ask, “What can we do to make God happy again?
This raises the question; Can we placate God with religion?
II. Can we placate God with religion?
What can we bring to the Lord? What kind of offerings should we give him? Should we bow down? Yearling calves? Rivers of olive oil? Thousands of rams? Should we sacrifice our firstborn to pay for our sins?” Micah 6:6-7
Attempts to keep God mollified are common, even in a culture of grace. The result are things “we do not do” lest we rile God up. And there are things “we do” that we hope are “gold star” worthy. We do not have a sacrificial religious system like that of Old Testament Israel. We believe and accurately so, that Jesus “offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for our sins, good for all time… and when sins have been forgiven there is no more need to offer any more sacrifices.” Hebrews 10:12-18
So as Christians we are to be way past trying to placate or mollify God with a bribe of religious behavior. What God wanted then and what God wants now is what John the Baptist spoke of in Luke 3:7-18. John said to the crowds who came to hear what he had to say, “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.”
Of course the crowd wanted specifics so they asked, “What should we do?”
John replied, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry. “To corrupt tax collectors he said, “You can live out your faith by collecting no more taxes than required.” To some others he said, “Don’t extort from others and don’t bully people.”
It seems like we want to know what we have to do and in some cases people even resort to seeing if they can make a deal with God. In an old Burt Reynolds / Dom DeLuise film, “The End,” Reynolds’s character Sonny Lawson is intent on committing suicide. After numerous failed attempts he is hospitalized but manages to escape and drive to a secluded beach. He swims out into the ocean in one last ditch attempt to end his life. But once far from shore he realizes he really doesn’t want to die so he turns to God to save him. He promises God that he will begin to tithe if God will help him get back to shore, “Lord, I’ll tithe 80% of my income if you save my life. And as he gets closer and closer to shore he begins to break his promises, “Lord, I’ll tithe 50% if you save me.” Then it’s, “Lord, I’ll give you 25% if you save my life…” And as he crawls up onto the beach he said, “Lord, I’m going to give you that 5% I promised for saving my life.”
Of course it’s a spoof… but who hasn’t bargained a bit with God? “Lord, I’ll start going to church if…” “Lord, I’ll clean up my act if you make my wife come back to me.” “Lord, I won’t do this anymore if you get me out of this jam.” “Lord, if you will heal my child I will really get serious about my faith and read my bible and pray every day.”
All those things are good but what God wants is for us to understand his heart. God is a caring God. God cares about how we relate to other people and how we relate to him. God wants us to know that the “ritual” aspects of our faith are not more important than the “moral” aspects of our faith. There is an aspect to our faith that we may think of as “Ritual.” And we may be pretty good at doing the ritual things like reading our bibles, praying, reading a daily devotional, tithing, attending church services, and activities and so on… But we may also think of another aspect of our faith which we may think of as “Moral.” The moral aspect of our faith is the Christ-like character that we live out in our daily lives and relationships. It’s the “loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself” aspect of our faith that God wants to see lived out… and especially so when we have the ritual down pat but have missed the boat in living into who we are in Christ.
So God says, This is what I want:
III. What God Wants Us to Do is Bear the Moral Fruit of our Faith.
“Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
The Evangelical Covenant Church, the denomination to which our church belongs has a number of Departments through which the ministry of the Covenant Church is accomplished. Among the departments is the Department of World Mission, the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism, the Department of Ordered Ministry, the Department of Christian Formation, the Department of Women’s Ministries and the Department of Compassion, Mercy and Justice. The Covenant Church understand that the Church is not a one legged stool. The Covenant is not a singular ministry Church. The Covenant does not have a narrowed vision but a wide vision that attempts to embrace the whole of the heart of God. And God cares about people… God cares about justice and mercy and walking in fellowship with us.
The Department of Compassion, Mercy and Justice exists to respond domestically and globally in coordinating efforts in the areas of justice in order to be the heart, hands and feet of Jesus with the vision for making things right in our broken world.
A. Do Justice
Do things right and do the right things!
I grew up in a culture of horse traders and cattle buyers and used car salesmen and aluminum siding salesmen and horn- swagglers and hucksters… some were notorious for their shenanigans. Fairness was the exception rather than the rule.
That’s why I like Mike and Frank of the History Channel Show, American Pickers. On one occasion they purchased something from a seller for what seemed to be a reasonable price. But when they had the piece appraised they sold it for $10,000. It was a huge profit. As we would say back in the day, “They cut a fat hog” on that deal. But rather than pocket a huge profit they returned to the seller and returned $5,000 dollars of their profit. Justice and fairness is doing the right thing by others.
God cares about racial injustice. God cares about domestic abuse and violence. God cares about the disabled and disenfranchised. God cares about people locked away in prison. God cares about human trafficking. God cares about all the people who are unfortunate and who are adversely affected in our broken world.
I know that compassion for the poor has worn a little thin in some circles. But I while we are stewing in our juices about who is deserving and who is not deserving, we might make two observations:
1. We might say, “It’s my money! I earned it. And Jesus could have said, “It’s my blood…”
2. We might say, “The poor are undeserving and will abuse it.” And Jesus could say, “While you were still sinners, I died for you…”
I noticed we had received a note from the Denver Rescue Mission reminding me that for $1.92 we could feed someone a Thanksgiving Dinner at the Mission this year. In the spirit of fairness… what is fair about me having plenty to eat while a child or a person living in less fortunate circumstances has nothing?
Basil the Great was another theologian who lived in what we know as modern day Turkey. Basil the Great wrote, “The bread you do not use is the bread of the hungry. The garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of the person who is naked. The shoes you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot. The money you keep locked way is the money of the poor.”
Doing justice is doing things right and doing the right things.
B. Love Mercy or Kindness
“What good is it if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-by and have a good day; stay warm and eat well” but then you don’t give that person any help… what good does that do?” James 2:14-16
I’m always a bit amused by the Empire flooring ads which feature in-home sales appointments and next day installation. What I really like is promise that if you buy one room Empire will do the rest of our house free… the little Empire Man unfurls a new hardwood floor is it was a throw rug. Then he turns and unfurls hardwood flooring in the next room… absolutely free.
Ambrose, an early church theologian from the 4th century wrote, “There is your brother, naked and crying! And you stand there confused over the choice of an attractive floor covering.” (Isn’t it interesting that floor coverings were a big deal two thousand eight years ago?)
It isn’t just a matter of doing kind and merciful things… it is a matter of loving to do kindness and mercy. It is a matter of being willing and wanting to do justice and acts of mercy and kindness.
C. Walk Humbly with God
I like the Moffatt translation of the Bible of Micah 6:8: “be just and kind and live in quiet fellowship with God.” It really boils down to the simple teaching of Jesus, “Love God and love others!”
Conclusion:
We do many things here at Heritage that reflect a desire do justice and love mercy. We are compassionate and have a passion for doing the right things. The world is broken and there are a bunch of people who are locked in unfortunate cycles and circumstances. That’s why we love Hope House. That’s why we try to be generous with Covenant World Relief. That’s why we have ESL Classes. That’s why we give mittens and hats and coats to children who are cold in the winter. That’s why we make sure our neighborhood school kids have warm clothes for when they go to their school outdoor labs in the mountains. That’s why we have a Samaritan Fund. That’s why support Interchurch ARMS and the Arvada Food Bank. That’s why we give food baskets to people in need. Because Jesus said, “As often as you do it for the least of these… you have done it for me.”
In 2006 Fox News aired a television special, “Can Rick Warren Change the World?” In the interview they pressed Rick Warren on The Purpose Driven Life, the ministry of Saddleback Church and his global efforts to create a network to combat poverty, disease, illiteracy, spiritual emptiness and corrupt egocentric leadership.
All through the interview was the nagging question, “Can you really heal all the hurts of the world?” We might add, “Can you really create a culture of compassion and justice and mercy in the world for all those for whom life is not just or fair?”
Toward the end of the interview Rick Warren said, “There are four words I want etched on my tombstone when I die. Those four words are, “At least he tried.”
Perhaps our four words will be…
At least they tried! (To do justice, love mercy and walk with their God!)
The other day when I drove past Ingram’s Auto Care I noticed an old Chevy pickup in the drive. It was running and each time the mechanic stepped on the gas a cloud of blue smoke came out the exhaust and I could hear that the engine was missing… it was not firing on all six cylinders.
I want Heritage to be firing on all cylinders… my desire is that we be intentionally and actively embracing the Marks of a Healthy Missional Church:
• Compelling Christian Community
• The Centrality of the Word of God
• Life Transforming Walk with Jesus
• Global Perspective and Intentional Evangelism… and that we be:
• Transforming Communities through Active Compassion, Mercy and Justice Ministries
