On Sunday we talked about the injustice in the world and the responsibility we have as Christians to do measured mediation: absorbing some of the pain and brokenness of others. We can do this because of what we have been given in relationship with God and the promise of future peace. This is what God expects from those who have experienced His glory. We see this in Micah 6.6-8, where it says this:
“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?”
This is how the people respond to experiencing God and sin at the same time. All of this is an attempt to appease God’s justice; He has declared Israel unfaithful and so they say: we will do anything get right with you: bow in reverence, offer up sacrifices and offerings, we will pour out expensive oils, to the point of offering the firstborn, the thing that means more to them than anything else in the world. Their response to injustice was: what can we do to make it right and get ourselves on rhythm with God? This is the response:
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?
God’s request is not for them to do more or to ‘change the world,’ it is simply to act appropriately in all of our interactions. Specifically:
DO JUSTICE | to act for the best of others.
LOVE KINDNESS | not only act rightly but to find your delight in them.
WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD | to live out your life, every step, as an act of worship to God. Humility comes from truly knowing God and what He has done.
In reality these flow in the opposite direction from how they are stated here. Knowing God makes us love kindness because we recognize the kindness given to us in the life of Jesus. We see His act of ultimate justice done for us and it places in us a desire to do for more than ourselves. The more we love kindness, the more we will be motivated to DO for others. Right action stems from a walking humbly with God; what does your walk look like?