DIVINE MERCY NEEDED
Micah ends on a hopeful note. Micah 6:18 asks the question: “Who is God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?” God in compassion will “tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea” (6:19). In a book that has a strong note of judgment, here is a touch of compassion. God doesn’t revel in meting out punishment. For God, there is always a redemptive aspect. Hebrews 12:6 reminds us that God disciplines the one He loves.
For the past few weeks, we’ve been watching the summer Olympics in Paris. Did you know there’s a cathedral in Paris that was built as a way of asking for God’s mercy on the nation? Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) is striking because of its white exterior. France lost the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, and prominent Catholic citizens viewed this humiliation as a judgment from God for the France’s sins, stemming all the way back to the purges of the French Revolution. The basilica was meant to symbolize the contrition of a nation who sought a renewal of divine favor.
In the same way, Micah pleads for the mercy of God on the people. “You do not stay angry forever” he prays, “but delight to show mercy” (7:18). We can identify with that prayer; it’s right to ask whether there is something in our lives that is not right with God, some sin, some moral decay, that is weakening us and that needs addressing. That prayer can be both an individual prayer, talking about our own lives, or it can be a corporate prayer, asking God’s forgiveness for what we collectively have allowed to happen. We could probably spend a fair amount of time drawing up a list, but perhaps we don’t need to look any further than our public schools. It strikes me that we’re able to come up with billions of dollars for wars far away, but when it comes to education, many teachers have to pass the hat through “Go Fund Me” accounts just so they can provide necessary supplies in the classroom. (Source: NPR, August 8, 2024, a report on Pittsburgh public schools). On some level, is that not a corporate sin, and do we not need to repent? Are we ready to do what Micah prophesies in 4:3, to beat our swords into plowshares, and our spears into pruning hooks, or at very least, some of our swords and spears?
ACT JUSTLY, LOVE MERCY, WALK HUMBLY
Micah is not content just to ask God for forgiveness, as important as that is. There’s an old adage: “If you want to get out of a hole, first stop digging.” In the same way, Paul asks in Romans 6:1 – “Shall we sin, that grace may abound? God forbid!” True repentance means – by the power of the Holy Spirit – correcting our ways, once God has extended his pardon and wiped the slate clean. We have to remember the bitter taste that sin leaves in our mouth. When the sly old devil slips up alongside us, we need to tell him in no uncertain terms: “Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, and not doing that again.” The whole “church thing” is really just holy living. It means letting God lead us together into a fresh way of doing life that honors God, both in our individual decisions as followers of Jesus AND in our corporate choices as the people of God. As Jesus followers, we pray in unison: “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). God’s kingdom coming requires a new way of doing things. What does that look like?
Since it’s not just “Jesus and me” but instead “Jesus and we,” we ask: “Lord, how can I better follow you myself, and how can we better follow you together?” Micah 6:6-8, our text today, gives us the answer. It’s not about building basilicas as a sign of contrition, although I think that was a noble gesture, and it’s not about sacrificing a thousand rams on the altar before the LORD, to atone for our sins. Then what is the evidence of repentance? Verse 8: “He has shown you, O mortal, 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.”
What does it mean to act justly? It means being concerned for justice. In “The Princess Bride,” the young grandson who’s home sick listens to his grandpa read him a story. He gets upset with his grandpa when Wesley – the young hero of the novel – dies. “That’s not fair!” the sick boy protests. “Where is it written that life’s fair?” the grandfather replies. I like that exchange in the movie, because it reminds us that part of “coming of age” is when we realize that life isn’t always fair, that bad things happen to good people, to use the words of Rabbi Harold Kushner.
Yet I think too many of us stop right there, with the “life isn’t always fair” lesson, and we fail to ask: “How might God use me, how might God use us, to make life a little more fair, a little more just, for someone else?” That’s the Kingdom of God question that too often we don’t get around to asking. Micah tells us that if we want justice in our society at-large, a good place to start is to get our own house in order. Is a 15% tip a fair tip, a just tip, when we could afford 18-20% and when we know our server is making minimum wage or less? Is it fair, is it just, to go to Yelp! or Google Reviews and “ding” a business by leaving an angry, 1 star review that we know will stay on there permanently when we notice that the same business has a lot of positive reviews from others? Maybe they just had a bad day when we came in, and a more just response from us would be to leave no review at all, maybe even give them a second chance?
Micah says to act justly, but also to love mercy. Jesus echoes the sentiment when he says in Matthew 5:7 – “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” What do you say when someone asks you, “How are you doing?” I once asked that question to a Christian brother, and he replied: “Better than I deserve.” That answer startled me, because it sweeps aside the entitlement mentality that too many of us fall into. Because God has treated us better than we deserve, we can pass that same blessing along to others, not because they deserve it, but because that’s what mercy is all about. Think of the worst thing you’ve ever done. Now imagine that you were required to write that in black marker on a large white card, hang that around your neck and wear it at all times. How would that make you feel? How might others react to you? Mercy means refusing to judge yourself or others based on our lowest moment. The Jesus way stubbornly says: “I believe that I am far more than the worst thing that I have ever done.” It means looking our neighbor in the eye and saying: “I believe that you are far more than the worst thing you’ve ever done.” “Remember me when you come into your kingdom,” the thief on the cross said to Jesus. Our amazing Lord replied, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”
Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. James 4:6 teaches us: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” When I attended a theology conference in South Africa, I noticed that when a participant from an Asian country such as Japan or South Korea presented a paper, the first 30 second or so, their eyes averted, they would ask forgiveness from the crowd that their research wasn’t better. More often than not, they went on to present a stellar paper! That is an endearing cultural trait that comes close to the spirit of Micah 6:8, to “walk humbly.” It’s an acknowledgment that the health we enjoy, the jobs we have, the apartments, condos, or houses we live, and the cars we drive are not solely the fruit of our own effort. That may be part of the story but certainly not all of it. To walk humbly means to recognize that ultimately God is the source of our strength and the fount of all blessings. To walk humbly means to acknowledge that we stand on the shoulders of others who came before us – the construction worker who paved the road, the builder who erected our residence, the teachers who educated us, the church members who gave sacrificially so we could be in this sanctuary this morning. As we head to the polls in a few months, I wonder if our criteria for voting will be whether a candidate acts justly, loves mercy, and walks humbly? These are the characteristics that Micah scarcely found in the leaders of his day, but it didn’t keep him from calling them to a different way, a better way. Micah calls you, and he calls me, to the same path.
CONCLUSION
A tree can look perfectly good on the outside, but inside, it’s rotting away. Micah did a tree inspection, and found Samaria and Jerusalem were suffering from moral decay. Idolatry, fraud, and corruption were eating away at the nations, weakening them and distancing them from God. On behalf of the people, the prophet threw himself on the mercy of God, and asked the Lord to forgive them, but he didn’t stop there. Once forgiven, he knew that the LORD could empower them to follow a new path, a better way, one of justice, mercy, and humility. What about you? What about us? Are we ready for the something better that Jesus calls us to? Our world desperately needs us to model it. May God grant us the vision and the grace to be his holy, loving people in our sin-sick world.
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Images
Coconut tree – Plant pests and diseases, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Harold Kushner – Cult Of Maximilian, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Gregory Crofford 