I met someone else a few weeks ago who said that she can tell a Christian just by looking at them – by the way they dress, by what kind of music they listen to, and whether they have tattoos or ear piercings. This person thought she could tell a true Christian based only on their appearance.
If you were to make a list of the ways that Christians live out their faith, what would be on that list? Would it be all the religious things? Would it be going to church each Sunday and Bible study on Wednesday nights, reading your Bible and praying at home? Would it be being baptized? Would include giving 10% of everything we earn to God through our tithe?
The people of Judah were busy doing religious things. They brought their sacrifices to the temple. They did what the Law said they must do. They said they were following God because they were keeping His commandments about what they could eat and couldn’t eat, and what to sacrifice, but their hearts were not with God. They forgot God. They tried to justify their ways by saying that all they had to do was to keep the commandments and give sacrifices. But they were missing the point. They were keeping the externals of a relationship with God without there being anything internal. They had forgotten the reason why they were doing it. God says that sacrifices alone don’t please him. It’s when his people love him and walk in his ways. When they love God, they should want to bring Him sacrifices.
The prophet Micah (Micah 6:6-8) summarizes the Law for the people. He doesn’t focus on the sacrifices, but on how the people should act toward God.1. First, the people of God must act justly. Simply put, to act with justice means to make things right.
There are numerous examples of how God’s people are to act justly. Do not take what is not yours. Do not covet what your neighbor owns. If you borrow your neighbor’s property and you break it, you should replace it for your neighbor (Exod. 22:14). Don’t cheat the poor because they are poor or favor the rich (Exod. 23:6). Don’t accept a bribe (Exod. 23:8). If you see your enemy’s animal wandering off, return it to him (Exod. 23:4). We can do all of those things. Doing what is just means not ignoring what is happening to others around us.
We see many times that God acts with justice by caring for those who cannot take care of themselves, especially the poor, the widow and orphan who have no family, and the foreigner who doesn’t have the same rights as a citizen. We can act justly by being concerned for and caring for these people. It’s not always easy. Sometimes it takes time. Acting justly is making things right for the other person, not being concerned primarily about how much it will cost us.
2. Second, the people of God are to love mercy. When I think if the word “mercy,” I think of being kind to someone. To be compassionate to them. But in the Bible, the word “mercy” conveys with it a deeper meaning – it’s the concept of being loyalty to an agreement.
We read in the Bible that God’s people turned away from following Him many times. They worshiped idols instead. Rather than saying that they broke the covenant and that He won’t love them anymore, God is merciful. They don’t deserve it, but because God is faithful to the covenant He made with them, He continues to love them.
When we love mercy, we will remain faithful to an agreement we made, even if the person we made the agreement with doesn’t remain faithful. That’s what God did for his people many times. When we keep a promise that the other person has broken, we are displaying God’s covenant faithfulness to them – God’s love, God’s mercy.
3. Third, the people of God are to walk humbly with their God. When someone is humble, they do not claim more for themselves than they deserve. The opposite of humility is being proud. Taking pride in oneself, one’s accomplishments, one’s possessions, one’s past. God does not like someone to be prideful, because that person thinks too much about themselves and not enough about others. But we are called to be humble before others.
Even more than this, we are to be humble before God. We must recognize God for what he has done/Who He is. How often do we tell God the things we want rather than allowing Him to shape us so we desire the things he wants? How often do we want God to do things for us rather than changing our lives to do things for God? We must recognize our place as His people. He is our Lord and Master. We must follow him.
But this passage doesn’t just say “be humble before God.” It ways to walk humbly with our God. We must be walking with God. It’s one thing to say we know who God is. But God wants us to walk with Him – to be close to him all day every day. Not to have church time on Sunday and our time the rest of the week, but to be humbly walking with him, allowing Him to shape and teach us.
This passage doesn’t tell us that we must “read our Bible,” but when we are walking with the Lord, we will want to learn more about him by reading his message to us. We don’t read here that we are supposed to “go to church every Sunday,” but as we walk with God, we will want to share our lives with other Christians by coming together to worship him and study His Word together and encourage others. It doesn’t say that we must share the message of the Gospel with others, but as we are doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God, we will be sharing our faith with others through our actions and our words.
As we live in a right relationship with God, we will not put primary emphasis on the externals of our faith, as if that’s all that mattered. Instead, we will practice them as expressions of our love and devotion to God.
What does God require or His people? To do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with our God.
Click here to read the sermon I recently preached from this passage.
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