Walk Hard

Series: Connections Gives Back
May 25, 2008

Last Sunday we started our mini-series on Connections Gives Back. We began looking at this foundational passage for the church, and for Christ-followers, Micah 6:8, “What does the Lord require of you? To do justly, to love mercy, to walk humble with you God.” A mission for all the people of God to guide and direct our lives- corporately as the church and individually as brothers and sisters in Christ. We got started on the first part- do justly (Notice I didn’t say we finished, because really, we’ve only scratched the surface in looking at the call to justice). Today we move on to mercy and walking with God.

Last Sunday I would have never guessed that I would be faced with one of my greatest justice issue challenges just this past week. My bike was stolen. I went out to lunch, came back, and discovered that someone cut my lock and took off with my bike. I’m not going to say I loved that bike, it was just a bike, but I REALLY liked that bike. I felt violated. I did not want to forgive this person. I wanted justice. I wanted retribution. I wanted vengeance. But of course I remembered that the bible teaches us, vengeance is mine says the Lord. SO I prayed God would take vengeance. I prayed the person would wreck and get mangled. I prayed they would get skin disease and go bald (not that there’s anything wrong with balding, I just don’t know anyone who actually wants to go bald). I prayed they would be plagued with digestive ailments. And I’m pretty much still praying this upon the person. Why, because I just preached on justice last week, and this person broke a command of God, and I think this is a situation where there has been a great injustice against me.

But I also prayed for mercy on the thief. If I meet this person today I would love to take the opportunity to tell them about Jesus. To talk to them about justice. To find out what injustices maybe had been done to them, what put them on a path of doing injustice against others. I’d love to tell them about the free offer of grace and mercy extended to us in Jesus Christ. I would love to tell them that in the big picture the bike doesn’t really matter. What does matter is justice. What does matter is that they know the mercy of God. What does matter is walking with God.

Here’s where we go from last week- we can only do justice correctly when we love mercy. Justice is really about getting what we deserve, or giving others what they deserve. And like we said last week, we really do crave and desire justice- but only when we have been treated unjustly. When we have done something in just, and been busted, we never say, oh great, you caught me, now please show me justice. No, we beg for mercy. Please please please forgive me! I’ve learned my lesson. I can see the error of my ways, so me mercy! That’s so human! It’s our gut response- mercy for me, justice for everyone else. What Micah does so masterfully is bring the two together, to begin teaching us that the two are really hand in glove- we need both. Micah taught it, but Jesus embodies it.

Case study. A group of religious leaders brings a woman caught in adultery to Jesus. They quote the bible to say that the woman should be stoned. What do you say Jesus? They’ve set him up. If he says stone her he breaks the law of Rome and they have him. If he says let her go he disregards the Law of Moses and they have him. Talk about a sticky situation. What does he do? Nothing. Actually, he does what we should do more often- he keeps his mouth shut for a while, and it appears that he stops to think, and kneels down, and begins doodling in the sand. The religious leaders keep pressing him, and finally Jesus straightens up and says, “OK, whoever has not ever sinned, you go ahead and throw the first stone.” First the old men drop their stones, and then the young ones, and soon not one is left. Only the woman and Jesus are left. “Woman, where are your accusers? The ones that wanted to condemn you?” “They’re gone.” And listen to what Jesus says, “Neither do I condemn you, now go and leave your life of sin.”

That is awesome! Jesus has done justly by loving mercy. To truly appreciate and understand mercy, we must first be confronted with justice. That’s what Jesus does so well here. That is what is always so hard- how to find the balance between justice and mercy? It's difficult. Nay, impossible, unless we can be guided through these difficult situations. Jesus was able to navigate justice and mercy because he walked with God. And likewise, we can only hope to navigate this requirement by walking humbly with God. We have to start thinking and living like Jesus, the perfect fulfillment of acting justly and loving mercy.

If we are to become the people God requires us to be we must walk with Him. How awesome that God doesn’t just want us to serve Him, but to walk along side of him. What God actually wants, what God actually requires, is for us to live in relationship with him. This is so awesome because if we only had the first two- do justice and love mercy, we would be left with a religion of works. What does God require? He requires you do these things, he requires a works righteousness, he requires a religion. But this final requirement changes the whole dynamic. The final requirement highlights the wonderful truth that ultimately God requires, God desires, that we enter into a living relationship with Him. He wants us to walk together, to walk humbly with him.

The bible is replete with the language of walking with God. From Adam and Eve walking in the garden with God in the cool of the evening, to walking the streets of God in the kingdom of Heaven. From the metaphor of walking in obedience to God, to the disciples literally walking with their teacher Jesus, to us, to the body of Christ, called to walk in step with the Holy Spirit guiding our path. What does that look like? How do we walk humbly with God? Four observations from the bible:

One, to walk humbly with God we must first acknowledge that God is in the lead. This is where it starts. You can’t even really actively walk with God until you come that that starting place to say God, I want to walk with you, and that means I’m going to follow you. Jesus, take the wheel! Take the lead.

Easily said, more difficult to do. Nearly everyone who says they are a Christian, a Christ follower, by definition recognizes that they are saying Jesus is in the lead of my life. But you know what, we say a lot of things we don’t do or believe, right. We talk a big talk all the time about a lot of things. Perhaps this is the biggest talk any of us ever say, that we’re actually going to follow Jesus. I think I can say that with some confidence because if all of us who say we are following Jesus, walking with him, were really walking with him a lot more actively, intentionally, humbly, a lot of people would live a very different life than they do today, and the world would be a lot better place than it is. Perhaps it’s time we go back to the start, back to humility, to say Jesus, God, you’re in the lead. I’ll go where you go, do what you do, be who you want me to be.

Two, to walk humbly with God, to put him in the lead, we must go in the direction he is going. This may mean changing course on our part, and we must be willing to do that. And when I say the direction God is going, I mean we have to get it aligned. You start out on a line, and say I’m going to go in the general direction of this line, but you start a just a fraction of an angle off, then you walk a few minutes, a few hours, a few days, a few weeks, and that line is no longer anywhere in sight. That’s the thing about direction- we have to get it right, because over the haul, a little off or a lot off makes no real difference, it’s just off. God is the leader, God sets the direction. We may not like it- so what. That’s why this takes humility.

In our lives we are confronted with this almost daily. But we get a lot of practice. We follow the direction of our parents when we’re young, of teachers as we grow, of bosses as we enter the work force. We even follow people in really stupid directions. WE follow people to the dumbest places in our lives, don’t we? When we think about some of the things we’ve done, the places we’ve gone, the trouble we’ve gotten ourselves into… what were we thinking? We’ll we weren’t putting Jesus in the lead, and weren’t going in his direction, because the awesome thing about the direction of Jesus, is that it will always take us to God. Always. It will take us to a cross mine you. It will take us to sacrifice, to some suffering, to giving until it cost us something. But simultaneously it will take us to joy, abundance, freedom, life. That’s just like a teaser for our Breakout series and what we’re going t be going into in-depth.

Three, to walk humbly with God we must go at God’s pace. My mom used to always complain that I would walk ahead of her, and she wanted me with her. To this day, Robin still tells me I walk too fast. If we are going on a walk, she wants to walk together. I must change my pace if I want to be with her. And so we must go with God’s pace. I know I find myself way out in front of the church, and I must stop, slow down, and pace myself with God. We may want the answer now, but it may be weeks, months, or years down the path. Of course there are times when I want to drag my heels through times of change, discomfort and disagreement. To pace ourselves with God means we move when he moves, and wait when he waits. But to get there, we must go together.

Four, to walk humbly with God we must look to the same destination. We will argue, we will fight, we will eventually split our ways if we are not agreed on the same destination. Humility says we’ll go to God’s destination for our lives. Of course, it doesn’t take much foresight to see God has a great destination- plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future. God’s destination, let us never forget, is his kingdom, a perfect kingdom where the streets are gold, the crops are always ripe, and no one will shed any tears. It’s an awesome destination. And that’s what gets us through the walk- because as sure as the destination is wonderful, there will be times in walk that will be difficult. There will be struggles, trials and temptations. There will be persecution. There will be sacrifice. Some will even pay the ultimate price. Never forget that Jesus path to the kingdom, to his fathers right side, took him to firs to the cross and the grave.

Micah 6:8 is for us a rubric to approach life. A rubric in literature is a heading or direction or even a rule. And that’s what God gives us in this verse. What is our heading, our direction, our rule for living? What is good and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, love mercy, and walk humble with God. God has rubric for what we are to do, to be, and to become. Live by a verse like this and you will never go wrong- for who can argue against God’s justice, mercy and path for our lives?

So how will you live this out this week? Before you leave here today you must decide how you will obey this requirement. Where will you do justice today? Who needs to be shown mercy in your life? What direction will you change so you can walk humbly with God?

So I ask you, what does the Lord require of you? Say it with me and live it everyday….

Seek Justice

Series: Connections Gives Back
George J. Saylor
May 18, 2008

My poor wife grew up in very a very unjust circumstance- she was a Pastor’s Kid. There are actually support groups for pastors kids because to the issues they have. If you are a PK and have issues, talk to my wife, not me. My dear wife was subjected to what was called “The Calvinettes.” She tells me it was like a Girl Guides troop with a biblical twist. They would get their troop together, put on their little vests and kerchiefs, do crafts, work on earning badges, sing songs and study the bible. The Calvinettes always began with the same ritual- they would all line up and the leader would ask, “Calvinettes of Victoria, what does the Lord require of you?” And in unison the girls would shout back,

“To do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God, Micah 6:8.”

To this day my wife still points to this as one of her life verses- one of those verse that provides for her a handle to grasp the Christian life, a ruler to gauge her lifestyle, and a goal for her to try to attain. Those are the hallmarks of a great and worthwhile mission- this verse gives us the direction to set our lives and the tools to get there. It calls us to something greater than just ourselves and our own wants and desires. It gives us something to live for, and something worth dying for. It really is a mission worthy of our entire life.

1 Listen to what the LORD says:
"Stand up, plead your case before the mountains;
let the hills hear what you have to say.

2 Hear, O mountains, the LORD's accusation;
listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.
For the LORD has a case against his people;
he is lodging a charge against Israel.

3 "My people, what have I done to you?
How have I burdened you? Answer me.

4 I brought you up out of Egypt
and redeemed you from the land of slavery.
I sent Moses to lead you,
also Aaron and Miriam.

5 My people, remember
what Balak king of Moab counseled
and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD."

6 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?

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.

Our passage starts as a courtroom scene- God is the plaintiff, Micah the lawyer, Israel the defendant. God is about to make his case, through a man named Micah, against the people of Israel, his chosen people. Which is interesting in itself. Israel is God’s chosen nation, but they seemed to have irreconcilable differences on many occasions. So God decided to take them to court, so to speak. It’s a great scene. When I first studied this passage this really struck me, for my father was a trial lawyer. I thought about this passage, my work as a minister, and my father’s as a trial lawyer, so I called him up I told him, “You know Dad, we have a lot more in common than one might think. We both serve a client rather than ourselves; we both spend days, weeks, or months reviewing our cases, going over the facts, interviewing witnesses, taking statements and preparing our arguments. Then, when the hour comes, we go before a gathering of our peers, we present our case, and try to persuade them to decide in favor of our client. At the end of the day we let the facts speak for themselves, trusting that the truth will become plain and clear to all.” As my father reflected on that he said, “You know George, if that’s the case, then you would have made a lousy lawyer!”

Well like any good lawyer (No, that’s not an oxymoron) Micah presents the facts, plain and simple. He says God has a case against His people. They haven’t stopped to be God’s, God’s plans have not been thwarted by the failures of people. But he definitely has a case against them. He reminded the people that it was he who brought them out of Egypt, out of slavery. Then he says remember what I did for you and remember your journey from the desert to the promised land- I saved you from curses and I delivered you to the land flowing with milk and honey. He reminds them of specific instances, places and people. He goes on to remind them how it was God himself who showed them how to worship. He asks will I be pleased with burnt offerings, dead rams, rivers of oil, even the offering of a child sacrifice. Remember, in the time and context of God’s dealing with the people of Israel this was the ultimate expression of worship, the ultimate offering to many of the so-called gods- offering a human, a child sacrifice.

God has reminded the people that it is he who is good and who has done good to them. He freed them and fed them, he lead them and loved them. So when he asks the question, “What is good and what does the Lord require of you?” All he has to do is point them back to what he has already done. For the Lord has already shown them. The Lord has acted with justice, and so he asks in response for his people to act justly. He has loved and shown mercy, so the people of God are to love mercy. He has walked humbly with his children, and so they are to walk humbly with him.

If want to please God, if we want to do what he would require of us today, then we are called to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. So lets’ look at what living this out could look like.

First, God requires that we act justly. That is, God cares about we do, and he has shown us, by his own doing, what justice looks like. For Israel this meant that God brought them out of slavery, out of an unjust system of oppression and government. God fleshed that out for Israel through the commands, decrees and laws. What is a great starting place to know how to do justice? We should know the 10 commandments- Worship God alone, do not worship any idols, honor His name, honor the Sabbath and keep it holy, honor your parents, do not murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, or covet. I believe we should actually have the commandments memorized. We should also memorize an even simpler form, a way that Jesus summarized justice for us.

“Do to other as you would have them do to you,” the Golden Rule in Mathew 7:12.

We are all born with this kind of internal justice sensor. It’s a bit skewed, but it’s there- this internal longing that we be treated justly. And whenever we are treated, or believe we’ve been treated without justice, our hearts and voices scream out. Think it’s not true- I invite you to come to my house, off my kids a cookie, then when you break it in half, and give each half. If one of those halves has one microscope speck of more cookie, the other going to scream- it’s not fair! We’ve about got the point in my house where we’re going to buy one of those super sensitive scales to help us dish out bowls of ice cream. We are wired to want justice for ourselves. That’s the given. But we must learn to offer to others as well.

Therefore, if we are going to do justice in and through our lives, we are going to have to be saturated with God’s Word- we are going to have to know the law, and more importantly, the spirit of the law. We have to become biblical ethicists. Otherwise, we will become situational ethicists.

These are the only two ways to approach justice- we have our ethics and they guide and direct our lives. Or we let our lives guide and direct our ethics. Clearly we see, from God’s actions, from God’s laws, from the example of Jesus Christ that we must live by the Bible’s standard.

Now I’ll be the first to say that this is difficult. It’s not always clear cut. Which is exactly why we have to think about and pray about our ethics in advance. The biblical ethicist looks deeply at the situation and determines the ethics that are appropriately exercised. The situational ethicist simple reverse the order. They say that what is ethical or true in one situation might not be the same in another. But here’s the thing- both positions look at the situation, one determines strictly from the situation how it is to be handled. The other seeks to apply what is timely and eternal- and that is God’s justice. We have to know the bible and allow it to guide us so that when we come into difficult ethical and justice situations we will have a reference point to begin working with.

We must study the justice issues of our day in light of God’s Word. As Abram Kuyper once said, the pages of our Bible must be smudged with the ink of our newspaper. What are the justice issues of our day? What are the issues we are trying to navigate through? What does the Bible speak to them? Euthanasia, abortion, divorce, war in Afghanistan and Iraq, genocide in the Sudan, the arms race, cyclones in Burma, earthquakes in China, Olympics in China, land claims in Canada, and the list goes on. And if you think that these issues are not addressed in the bible, you haven’t read the bible. The bible tells it like it is. The major justice issues of humanity, all of them, are address in the stories of scripture. Because our God is a God of justice who longs for justice to be done.

All people, and all the world, longs for justice. But if we are going to do God’s justice we must know His Word, look at the situations, and apply justice with love and mercy. Which leads us to our next requirement: love mercy. Which will lead us into the final step in following God’s requirements- to walk humbly with him. But that will have to wait until next Sunday. Because this issue of justice can’t be tackled in one service. Not in two services, and not in our lifetime I suspect. In fact, we know that justice will not finally roll down like a river, as the prophet Isaiah described, until Jesus comes again in a victory of justice. But it is precisely because of the promised victory over injustice in our world that we can become agents of justice today. We can become people of justice and a church of justice, and we can worship a God of justice today.