Don't Waste Your Summer

Introduction

• What are your plans this summer?

• What do you want to do? • What do you not want to do?

• When you look back at the end of summer before school starts, what would make this an awesome summer?

Summer Fun Slide

I remember when I was in school I always looked forward to summer break! I had tons of plans. I wanted to hang with friends at Opry Mills, go see a million movies, play baseball and basketball, and head down to Gulf Shores for some beach time.

And I made money all summer framing houses.

- Summer Sleep Slide

And yet by the end of summer, it mostly consisted of staying up late, waking up early, and it flew by. Before I knew it the summer was gone! Sometimes I felt like I wasted it.

It happens. We start out with the best of intentions, but somewhere along the way we get sidetracked and we waste opportunities that have been given to us. Israel was like this. They were the chosen people of God. They had been given the covenant blessings. All that God asked was that they follow Him with their whole hearts. And yet somewhere along the way, they turned from Him and started doing their own thing. They wasted opportunities for God’s blessing and in turn, received His wrath. We are going to look at one of these times from the book of Micah.

Historical Background About Micah

Micah is the author of the minor prophet book by the same name. Little is actually know about his biographical information. He was from a town 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem. He was an active prophet during the time of the 8th century BC. He was a contemporary of Isaiah. He prophesied during the reigns of Israel’s kings, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.

God’s Charges

Micah 6:1–2 NIV

Listen to what the Lord says: “Stand up, plead my case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say. “Hear, you 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.

God’s people have turned their back on their God. He had been patient with them for much longer then they deserved. They had been called to follow God and dedicate their lives to living for Him. The standard by which they had been measured was the Mosaic Covenant. If they followed God, they would be blessed (Due 28:1-14) and if they chose to do their own thing they would be cursed and pushed out of the land (Duet 28:15-68). The Law had been given to Moses hundreds of years earlier when they were wandering around in the wilderness. Micah is writing in the 8th century. They’ve had at least 400 years to make the decision to follow God or to come back if they had gotten lost.

Here, we find that God was ready to bring judgment because He had been so patient with them. Verses 1 and 2 start by announcing that God is bringing charges against Israel. A court of law is being brought into session and God, as the righteous judge, is calling Israel to give account.

Micah calls out to the mountains to hear the accusations of God

(it is interesting that the charges are being called out to the mountains instead of Israel. Were they that far from God that they won’t even listen to the charges against them?)

Micah 6:3–4 NIV

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

God asks a simple question to His people, Israel. What has He done to them? Why would they turn their backs on Him? Had He been a burden to His people? Had His requirements been too much for them?

He goes on to quickly remind them of the great things that He had done for them. They were in Egypt for 400 years in slavery. Being a slave, obviously, was not a great life; it was hard, it was stressful, and your life expectancy wasn’t great. They were expected to work long hours doing incredibly tough manual labor jobs with the constant threat of beatings and whippings. They had no freedom. They were at the mercy of whatever Egyptian was in charge that day. If the Egyptian was having a bad day, you could bet that the he wouldn’t be afraid to take it out on an lowly slave.

God released them from their slavery. He brought them freedom! They were free to pursue in life what they wanted (within in the context of the Mosaic Law as their guidepost in how to conduct themselves). He sent Moses and Aaron and their sister Miriam to bring them out of slavery and into freedom! Releasing them from their burdens and into freedom was an awesome gift. It was like God was saying, “Was my releasing you to freedom actually a burden?” And yet Israel chose to stray from God. They did their own thing and now God was bringing the case before them and getting ready to bring righteous judgment upon them (this came in the form of the Assyrian Empire conquering the Northern Kingdom in 722BC and the Southern Kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Babylonians in 586 BC.)

Have you ever sat back and thought about all the goodness that God has brought into your life? If we really tried to take an inventory of all the blessings God has brought into our lives, the list would become super long, super quick!

What God Desires From Us

Micah 6:8 NIV

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.

Micah declares what God desires from His people. If they do this, if they come back in line with what God wants, judgment will be avoided. They will receive blessing instead. Micah boldly declares that God has shown them what is good. He then asks the questions, What does it look like for Israel to be good? What does it look like for their relationship to be restored and in good standing with God?

He responds with three simple and yet hard-to-follow commands: act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before God.

Act Justly – What Does it Mean to Act Justly?

How do you treat other people?

Do you play favorites?

Do you have some people that you just don’t like and you’re not afraid to let them know it?

The idea here is to be fair in your dealings with other people

Paul tells us in Romans 2:11, God does not show favoritism.

God treats all of the us the same. He shows no favoritism to one person over another. He has chosen to love all of us equally in the same way. He’s sent His Son to die for all of humanity. Paul tells us in this passage (Romans 2) that whoever rejects the truth will face punishment, and those who do good and follow God (accepting Christ) will find glory, honor and peace.

The idea is the same. God has set a standard and He will follow it with everyone, not being partial but consistent and just in the way that He acts towards people.

The call is for us to treat everyone fairly. Do we treat our parents the same way we treat our friends? Are we fair and just towards our siblings even when we feel they don’t deserve it?

Love Mercy – How Can We Show Mercy?

We live in a culture that is all about self. Culture asks the question, “What can I do at this point in time to meet my wants?” Think about it, we have devices called iPads, iPhones, etc. By the very name of the devices it points to self. It’s not your phone, it’s my iPhone! . We are very inward focused as a culture. But there are so many people around us who are hurting and in need of love! We, as the body of Christ, have the power to go out and share that love.

The idea of mercy is that of loyal love or carrying through on our commitments to meet other’s needs.

Sometimes I wonder if God really likes what we call religion. I mean I know we aren’t perfect and we all make mistakes, but do we really know what His heart is after when we say we have religion?

James 1:27 gives us the definition of what true religion is:

James 1:27 M:BCL

Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

True religion or following God isn’t just about showing up to church on Sundays, but it is lived during the week in the way in which we conduct ourselves towards those we encounter.

Who can we think about to show mercy or love to this week?

Is there someone in our family? What about one of our friends?

Are there any local agencies that you can go volunteer your time with such as a rescue mission?

Walk Humbly – What Does it Look Like to Walk Humbly Before God?

Proud people don’t need God. They are fine on their own. They can do everything in their own power and there is no need to rely on God. It’s no wonder that God hates pride. It was pride that got Satan booted out of Heaven (Isaiah 14:12-15). It’s one of the sins that God detests (Prov. 6:16-17).

Humility is the opposite of pride.

The idea of humility being conveyed here is one of modesty in our relationship with God. It’s an attitude without arrogance. In fact, the Hebrew word for humility used here is only used once in the Old Testament and it means to be modest. We know that we are totally dependent on God, and without Him, we can’t do anything. However, when we rely on Him, He can lift us up and take us to places and guide us to do things that we could never imagine! Matthew 23:12 tells us this concept:

Matthew 23:12 NIV

For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

How can we grow our humility?

By seeking God in all things that we do. When we are humble, we are teachable and able to learn from Him. Psalms 25:9 tells us this:

Psalm 25:9 NIV

He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.

Start going out and serving others! This is what Jesus did and is a quick way to become more humble.

Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Of all three of the actions I’ve mentioned, this (humility) is the most important as the other two (mercy and justice) will flow from this one. “Doing justice is a way of showing mercy, which in turn is a manifestation of walking humbly with God.”

This is the challenge for you this summer. Don’t waste it! Use it to live for God. If your relationship is suffering with Him. Work on it! Spend some time with Him. Learn from Him!

Application Questions to Close With

Take what you learn from Him and go live it out. Go show mercy to people that you wouldn’t normally even talk to!

--How can you build your relationship with God this summer?

-- What Does it look like to be more humble in your life?

--Who can you show mercy to and treat more fairly this week?