Sermon Tone Analysis

©May 25, 2014 ~ Tom VanderPloeg

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Introduction

Pay it forward Even apart from the church or religion our society has some idea of what it means to pay it forward—you know, the idea that if you have been fortunate or blessed in some way that you have some kind of responsibility or privilege to pass it along as a gift of service to someone else.

Even in our consumerist culture, marketing companies have recognized that tugging at our heart strings with a message that appeals to this notion of what is good and right for us to do as human beings can create a positive association with whatever product they are trying to sell—regardless of whether or not the association is true or accurate.

It’s hard-wired into us.

And that’s no mistake since—as we know in the church—we are hard-wired in the image of God.

So of course this kind of selfless generosity rings true and resonates within us as a noble quality.

So as Christians it’s no wonder we embrace this kind of idea.

But even so, we struggle, don’t we?

You see, it seems that if you look at popular Christianity today you find examples of this that swing to the extremes and leave us confused.

We have examples of churches today like the Westboro Church in Kansas that seem to proclaim a message of hatred for other people.

And the media seems to constantly find examples of other churches that get caught in fraud, embezzlement, and conflict.

And we also have examples of churches today that have reduced the entire gospel message to nothing more than doing good for other people.

These are churches who define Jesus as nothing more than a positive role model who showed us how to live a good moral selfless life.

Yes.

We do know that Jesus lived a perfect life and does provide us with a perfect example.

But we also know there’s more to the gospel message than a moral example.

So where does this all leave us this morning?

How should we think about living good moral lives?

What does God actually want from us?

The great differences in the examples of churches here in America that I’ve just mentioned here today tell us that we are asking this question and not all coming up with the same answer, are we.

So what does God want our lives of morality and personal piety to look like?

What does the Bible and our theological heritage have to say about that?

!! The Divine Lawsuit

What we see here in Micah 6 is the scene of a courtroom.

God is brining a lawsuit against his people Israel.

All the language of a court proceeding is here.

The first two verses announce the case and call forth the jury.

Here the mountains serve as the jury as they were witnesses to all that Israel has done to wrong the LORD.

In verses 3-5 God makes his charges against Israel by proclaiming all that he has done for Israel to keep up his end of the covenant agreement that he has made with them.

Exhibit “A” the rescue from Egypt, exhibit “B” deliverance from the Canaanite king Balak, and exhibit “C” the crossing of the Jordan river near Gilgal.

And this is only to name a few examples, but it’s enough.

The prosecution rests, your honor.

Now in verses 6-7 the prophet Micah makes a hypothetical defense for the people.

Israel is saying here, “wait a minute.

But didn’t we bring all the appropriate sacrifices?”

Israel is claiming innocence because she has performed all the required religious duties in bringing offerings to the LORD.

And beyond that, she asks in verse 7, “What more do you want?”

And with exaggerated examples of thousands of rams and rivers of oil Israel proclaims her righteous piety before God in doing all that the covenant requires.

It’s as though Christians today come before God and say, “LORD, I regularly come to church, I give my tithe, I pray at mealtimes, I do devotions every day, I even teach a Sunday school class and serve on a ministry team.

What more do you want?

The defense rests, your honor.

And now in verse 8 God stands up as the plaintiff once more and declares where Israel has gone wrong.

It’s not about personal piety in keeping requirements of sacrifices and offerings to God.

And it’s not about how much you bring to God.

Those were all things required by God, but just those things alone with nothing else meant nothing to God.

Did you catch that; those things by themselves mean nothing to God.

It’s not about how much I go to church, or how much I give to the offering, or how many ministry teams I serve on.

God requires our involvement and participation in the life of the church; but those things by themselves mean nothing to God.

Do you hear the prophet saying that here today?

Just showing up for church and being involved in church—if that’s all you do—is not what God is looking for.

So this brings us back to the question be began with this morning.

So what does God want from us then?

Micah says, you already know this.

The prophets have already declared this message.

The prophet Amos has already told you that God requires you to act justly.

The prophet Hosea has already told you to love mercy.

And the prophet Isaiah has already told you to walk humbly with God.

Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

This is what God wants.

It’s what God requires.

The Hebrew word here for “require” should not be taken as a duty.

Because that was Israel’s defense; they were maintaining that they’ve done their required duty.

No, this is requirement that carries more of the sense of a petition.

This is what God seeks, what he is looking for.

So what is God looking for from us? Let’s unpack this and then take a look at how this shows up in our world today.

!!! Justice

First of all, justice.

The Hebrew here literally means to make or do justice.

It’s not just observing the rules.

If that was the case then Micah would have used the Hebrew word “shemah” meaning to hear, observe, keep, or obey.

But Micah uses a more forceful word meaning to create, make, engage, activate.

This isn’t just about responding to God, it’s about being pro-active to own it as yours—as part of your own identity.

Justice isn’t just something God wants me to follow, he wants it to be a part of who I am.

And justice.

The Hebrew word is “mishpat” and is used to describe the entire system of government in the Old Testament.

Israel did not have branches of government like we do today.

So justice in the Old Testament refers to judging, governing, and ruling.

But beyond that, “mishpat” or justice referred to the rightness of God’s character.

This wasn’t a democracy where majority opinion of the people defined what was right.

No, what was right was defined by God and was held as an expression of his very character.

So to embrace and uphold justice in Israel was to embrace and uphold the very character of God himself.

That’s what it means to act justly.

!!! Mercy

Love mercy.

We actually encountered this last week when we looked at Jeremiah 31.

The Hebrew word here for mercy is “chesed” meaning great love, loving kindness, or covenant affection or loyalty.

God says I want you to love with the same affection and loyalty that I love with.

And this is a loving mercy that does not come from obligation or duty.

It comes from affection.

You show this kind of mercy because you choose to love in this way.

It is an expression of the true heart.

This is loving kindness that is not earned or deserved.

That’s what mercy is, after all.

It is an expression of love that is not deserved.

That’s what it means to love mercy.

!!! Humility

And walk humbly with your God.

The Hebrew word for humility here literally means to be careful or wise.

So the idea here is to proceed with careful or wise attention to God.