Words about the Word - Tom Chandler - Trinity Lutheran Church
“…and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8
It would be good to display those beautiful words from Micah in a prominent place in your house or even use them as wallpaper for your cellphone as a reminder of the good life God wants you to have. Doing justice means being fair and honest and trustworthy. Loving kindness means being gracious and generous and merciful. Walking humbly with God means trusting His Word as a lamp for your feet and a light for your path, avoiding the dark places.
It’s a good idea to use these words as a reminder of how we should live, but that is not the way Micah is using them. Through the prophet Micah, God was acting as a prosecuting attorney at a trial against His people. The beautiful words of Micah 6:8 are a reminder of what they haven’t done and why God will punish them.
Before they entered the Promised Land, God’s chosen people agreed to the terms of a legally binding covenant, similar to a lease agreement you might make with a landlord. In this case God is the landlord. Moses wrote the terms of the agreement down in the Book of Deuteronomy. If they obeyed, it would go well with them, and they would live long in the land. If they broke the terms, there would be consequences. Eventually they would be evicted.
The people said, “All that the Lord has spoken, we will do!” But then they didn’t. The book of Micah reads like an eviction notice. It is time to get ready for defeat and captivity. God has made up his mind and no amount of offerings and burnt offerings laid on the altar will change it. What Micah prophesied came to pass when first the Assyrians and then the Babylonians came and scattered God’s people all over creation.
And yet, the book of Micah is a book of hope. We usually hear from Micah at Christmas-time. In the little town of Bethlehem, he said, a shepherd would be born who would gather his people from the far corners of the earth and lead them to a greater promised land. Wait for him, the prophet said, God will “cast our sins into the depths of the sea.”
Jesus came and did everything God required of his people, for all people. He did justice, he loved kindness, and he walked in humility with his heavenly Father. Then he took the guilt of the sins of all people to the cross. He died for all of us. He rose again to free us from the captivity of death and pave the way to eternal paradise.
Whether or not you are a Christian, at some point in our lives, if only in our own minds, we will all have to give an account of the way we’ve spent the few years we have on this earth. I’m saying it is not too late. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for you. There is hope for you.
Jesus has already done it all. Everything God required has been accomplished and every sin atoned for. Yet it is still a good idea to live by those beautiful words of Micah while you can. Doing justice, loving kindness, walking humbly with God toward eternal paradise, there is no better life than that!
