Micah 6:8
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Focus: What is required of us is to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God.
In times of war, threats of war, protests and uprisings what posture should we take as Christians?
Do Justice
Love Mercy
Walk Humbly
Do Justice
God is just in all of his ways and expects his people to act with justice.
Micah 6:6-8 ESV
“"With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Justice means that there are rules to be obeyed.
All of our obedience should begin with a respect for God’s divine rules.
Even in the pagan, corrupt Roman Empire, Paul gave this instruction in how to deal with the rules that governed their lands:
Romans 13:1-7 ESV
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”
*This implies that both rulers and those who are subject to them will inevitably be held accountable to God’s divine law.
And in the midst of both righteousness and corruption, the people of God are called to do justice.
We need to stop with the herd and mob mentalities.
We need to be those who love God with all of our hearts, minds, souls and strength.
And through this, we need to learn to love our neighbor as ourselves.
The word justice implies something has been tried in a court, weighed and a verdict has been reached.
This means that two sides of a story or case are heard to get the facts.
Proverbs 18:17 ESV
“The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.”
Ultimately it’s about discovering the mind of Christ and living according to God’s law which supersedes any man-made law.
We start by reading the civil and moral codes found in the Torah to get a foundation of God’s wisdom.
We layer onto it the spirit behind the law - looking at the New Testament revelations and commandments.
Romans 8:2 ESV
“For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
Then with prayer and consecrated thought, we look to represent Christ in the way that he would to bring application to our interactions and affairs.
1 Corinthians 2:14-16 ESV
“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.”
Our goal is to be a vessel for the justice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Galatians 2:20-21 ESV
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”
Matthew 12:18-21 ESV
“"Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope."”
Jesus is concerned about justice and is determined for things to be done right in the end.
What is it about Jesus that would make even the Gentiles place their hope?
It is that despite any circumstances, the gospel is good news to all people of all nations at all times - if we would turn to Jesus.
For all the world, he brings his Kingdom, his rule, full of kindness and mercy.
Love Mercy
God wants us to love kindness and show mercy, because we have been shown mercy in Christ.
The word kindness in the Scripture above can also be translated as mercy.
A man I know recently said:
“You can not co-opt the language of Christianity while ignoring the substance and teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the mount.
If you do it is idolatry and not Christ.”
Micah 6:8 NIV
“He has shown you, O mortal, 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.”
God does not tolerate sin in the name of mercy.
He rebukes the sin, the lawlessness, from whatever the source, and calls people to repentance and faith in Christ.
God is not a God of disorder (or confusion), but of peace (I Corinthians 14:33).
So the question then becomes, “what would God have us do in our civil affairs?”
If you feel that you’ve sought God’s word, have labored before him in prayer and have a burning within you to address modern affairs then you may need to answer a call to help be a voice of godly wisdom and order.
But know this - God has told us how to recognize the sound of his wisdom:
James 3:13-18 ESV
“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
Act Humbly
God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Micah 6:8 NLT
“No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
The proud forget where they’ve come from and of what they’ve been forgiven (Matthew 18:21-35).
The humble act as firm agents of Christ to stand for what is right and not mask unrighteousness with mercy.
The humble don’t look at anyone as better, worse, less than or greater than another (II Corinthians 5:16).
They know that all will stand on level ground before the judgement seat of Christ (II Corinthians 5:10).
Could it be that I need to see what Christ might be trying to accomplish in the midst of the chaos?
In humility, we are servants of the Lord and his gospel is to be our primary message, his Kingdom come and rule, that for which we ultimately strive (Matthew 24).
Whether in law, politics, government, healthcare, business, law enforcement, academia, the service industry, the military, engineering, entertainment, technology, social work, research or homemaking, you are called to be an ambassador for Christ - to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God as Jesus would.
You are to be Christ’s hands, his mouthpiece and his representatives to illuminate his kingdom and demonstrate his gospel of grace.
Sin is never ok.
It had to be paid for with Christ’s own death at the cross.
Because of Jesus’ sinless life, death, burial and resurrection, we now have both a source and a pathway to redemption - reconciliation with God and one another.
We now call people in love and humility to repentance and faith that they might escape hell on earth and the hell to come for those who would continue to rebel against Almighty God.
The humble receive God’s grace and then can offer it with boldness, wisdom and love to the world.
Yet in all of these things, we must avoid the trap of self-righteousness.
If you were to stand before Jesus today, would standing for these things make you right with God or give you entry into his wedding banquet (Matthew 22:1-14)?
No.
We’ve all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:21-26).
Walking humbly leads us to the cross where we understand that doing justice and loving mercy alone will not justify us before God.
We need a perfect Savior who alone has done these things perfectly and gone to the cross to pay the price for our failings, our lack of love for him and others.
In humbly repenting of our sins and turning to Jesus, he not makes us new creations, but continually sanctifies us to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God as we stand in his righteousness alone.
Matthew 5:1-16 ESV
“Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
-Second City Church
