Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly...

What does Jesus say to those who possess abundance and wealth in the midst of indescribable poverty? He says a lot...but the bigger question for us to explore is do we hear and, most importantly, act on what He says? I think you would perhaps agree that we frequently fall very short of true sacrificial giving to the poor and those in need. Sadly, a lot of us give in a conscience assuaging and fairly token way, for the most part. It is interesting to note that according to Micah's prophecy the people of Israel and Judah were searching for what it is that God wants of them. Micah quotes them as saying: (Micah 6:6-7) 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?

We, unfortunately, think we know what Jesus requires of us and offer... a canned religious response, a “I go to church” response, a predictable “raise your hands” in worship response. The worshipers of Micah's day were quite prepared to give whatever they believed was required; they were willing to bring any and every sacrifice that the Lord requested; if the Lord demands it they, like Abraham, were even willing to sacrifice their own children. In today's language, we think all we have to do is go to church and that is sufficient. The reality is that there is a huge difference between “going” to church and “being” the church. Yes...absolutely, the Lord does want praise and worship from us. He does love our gifts and offerings given in the right context. BUT... He wants much more than a “just enough” response. Micah tells us God's requirements extend to all of the entirety of the week and not just to what happens in the church on Sundays. (Micah 6:8) 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.
In the first place, God requires us to act justly. What does this mean and what does this look like for us? Today, January 11, is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. We can say one way to act justly means to accept responsibility for the well-being of those suffering oppression as result of being trafficked or enslaved in any manner under other forms of modern day slavery: widows, orphans, disabled, poor, elderly, homeless, and others. These weaker, fragile most vulnerable and disenfranchised members of society are to be found not just here where we live, but also in Asia, Mexico, the Ukraine, Haiti, Africa, Dominican Republic and throughout the entirety of the world. To act justly means to accept responsibility for the well-being of a hungry mother and her children in the Sudan, a child in bondage held for the express purpose of sex, an underpaid sugarcane worker in the Dominican Republic, a dispossessed farmer in Africa, a pensioned widow in inner-city Chicago, and a welfare mom or single mother anywhere in America. To act justly means to accept responsibility for the well-being of the one billion people who are chronically malnourished and who go to bed most nights with empty stomachs. As Gary Haugen, President of International Justice Mission, often says, “ The good news about injustice is...God is against it.” God's Old Testament people very much needed to hear from Micah the demand to act justly in their time just as much as we do today. They needed to hear this because their day-to-day life was marked by a shocking lack of care and concern for the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the alien. In fact, they oppressed the poor and often made life more difficult for them. I find it so utterly amazing the similarities between the days of Micah and our present time. We need not look hard or far to see that we have become selfish, self centered and self serving. Despite all the talk to the contrary we still are about words and not so much in the way of deeds. It's haunting to listen to Micah's words of condemnation: (Micah 2:2) They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud a man of his home, a fellowman of his inheritance How could one not be reminded of the current foreclosure mess and abundant illegal land seizures going around the world, particularly in third world nations. In another place Micah accuses them of using dishonest scales, weights, and measures in order to get for themselves ill-gotten treasures at the expense of the poor (Micah 6:10,11; Micah 3:1-3).
We are being commanded to be more like Jesus here. Over and over again Scripture tells us about God's concern for the weak,helpless and poor. Deuteronomy 10:18, for instance: "He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing." Or the prophet Isaiah: (Isa 1:17) ... learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. (Is 10:1,2; Psalm 103:6; Amos 5:11,15). There are literally hundreds of passages of scripture that clearly demonstrate that the priority of serving the least is foremost on the mind of Jesus. The Gospels present to us a picture of Jesus... who has tremendous compassion on the frequently assembled crowds, who desires that the little children to come to Him, who is concerned about the plight and welfare of widows and orphans, who continuously heals the sick, who has mercy and bestows healing grace on lepers, who cares for prostitutes who have given up on themselves in their despair, who can promise forgiveness and salvation to every prisoner whether shackled mentally or physically. He was angry about any and every injustice and treated all people equally. Today when there is such overwhelming hunger and seemingly limitless poverty, today when we are to be counted among the world's most wealthy, we are to be like Jesus and mirror His acts of justice in every way possible. God also requires that we love mercy. Because to love mercy is to be filled with an intense longing to help others, to do kind and compassionate deeds for those who are in need. We have been given divine power from Jesus and that with our compassion is all we need to accomplish His work on the earth. Here too we are to imitate God. God, you see, is merciful and full of loving kindness. How can we who have so much abundance in an age of hunger show mercy and bestow grace? We can show compassionate treatment of those in distress and with even the most minor needs. We are the bearers of Christ's grace and we are to dispense it liberally upon others and in doing so we show mercy. There is a very powerful thing that happens when we come along side of someone in this way. This is the same type of compassion Jesus showed to all without respect to the nuances of the situation. In this grace comes love and this brings redemption and restoration. This is the thing that we all desire...to be redeemed and restored into a loving relationship with our Father. This is the primary task we are called to in all that we do. Finally, what does the Lord require of you but "to walk humbly with your God." This is the most important of the three requirements. In fact, unless you walk humbly with your God you cannot act justly or love mercy. It truly is an impossibility... What does it mean to walk humbly with God? It means to live with humility and gratitude. It is the quality of being respectful of others and seeing the “Jesus” in people in our interactions with them. Humility is totally the opposite of how most of us live. We are caught up in a world of arrogance, vanity, aggressiveness and boastfulness of what we have done on our own. Clearly, the challenge is to make Him the center of your life in everything you do and everywhere you go. It means to live a life of fellowship with God...constantly. It means to give your heart to Jesus...wholly and completely and to be thankful for what you have received. The Jesus who gave His life for you deserves nothing less. It means to be filled with the Holy Spirit and the power of Christ so that you are born again and are a new Creation in Christ. It means to spend time with God in prayer and Bible reading. Jesus has called us to a life of discipleship just as He called out His original disciples. I want to live this life and I try really hard to be mindful of the fact that nothing else really matters. It's just so easy to be distracted ...sometimes.