Sermon Tone Analysis

Do. Your.

Job.

Intro

Intro

Today, I want to talk to you about what is, to me, a central part of our Christian identity.

I say central, because while what we think is important, and what we believe is important, it is all essentially worthless if our actions don’t reflect this inward change we claim to have.

In short, our faith can feel very real, and in fact be very real, but unless we take on the job we are given we are not following our Christ.

James, in his epistle, reminds us of that very idea.

He tells us: “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.

If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

All the inward parts of faith, it turns out, are not intended just for us.

It isn’t intended as a balm for our soul alone.

God is not merely a personal convenience that brings only a believer hope, or comfort, or even eternity.

All throughout scripture, we see God using His people for one reason - the very same reason He Himself became flesh - to bring all people to Himself.

And we are part of that.

He has called and equipped us to help to make that happen.

But that can only happen if we stop trying to get what we want, and start doing our jobs.

Micah 6:9-16

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Scripture MIcah 6:9-16,1-8

Pray

[picofMIcah] We live in the age of hot takes.

Purposefully planted polarizing opinions that attempt in some way to coerce people to choose sides and control both debate and social policy.

Those same opinions are used to justify actions that are based not on justice or mercy - or dare I say even based on the Spirit of God at all - but rather they are based on feelings, or maintaining some invisible advantage that will bring with it moral justification for whatever position they are artificially outraged about.

You can see this in our society pretty regularly.

Well, you can see it if you are willing to humble yourself and look honestly and introspectively at all that you think and do - and especially those people and things we condone or support.

But this isn’t just an issue for our social policy, or our political rhetoric.

After all, those are merely a reflection of our faith; at least they are supposed to be.

You see we, followers of Christ, are called to something far greater than participating in the dog whistling, and constant goal-post moving.

We are called to something more than the hypocrisy of a faith that cares more for self, or party, or social agenda masked with scriptural backing, than it does for the very reflection and image of God shown through all people.

We have sold our faith, it seems, for pieces of silver.

Sold it in the hopes of being given the reins of power so that we can impose some vague moral values on the world - values that we ourselves fail to be able to uphold due to our shared flawed souls.

We have lost our way.

Lost touch with the reality of our Christ - the abiding love and grace and mercy that He offers to us in this world - and we instead take hold of whatever system of belief or rules that we think we need to have in order to be thought of as being Christian.

We seek to appear to be God’s people, without really being God’s people.

This is, it turns out, exactly where we find our text today.

Micah, whose words are those of our God, is speaking to those around him, sure enough, but he is speaking to us as well.

You see Micah, in this moment, finds himself surrounded by people, a society if you will, who claim to know God.

They claim to understand God, and to live out the life God has for them.

But in reality, they are living their lives for themselves, and fail to see the destruction that was waiting for them.

Throughout his prophecy detailed in this book, he calls attention to those who earn riches through dishonest means.

People who worship things that bring them money or comfort.

A people of faith, and more broadly a governmental complex that would seek to build a society that would enrich some groups and empower some groups through dishonest policy and business practices that would impoverish and in fact socially enslave everyone who isn’t in power.

[picofmodernsociety] That should sound familiar to us all.

And not just familiar, it should sound to us a clear warning!

You see Micah wasn’t heard in his time!

The Jewish people didn’t heed, or even give any real credence to his warnings, and they were then overtaken.

Put simply, Micah was trying to remind them of their job, but they chose instead to do what feels good, or what they thought would benefit themselves.

In that moment, as in this, He is the voice of God - of our Christ - reminding us all to do our jobs.

But some, I am sure, would claim that they ARE doing their job!

I get that.

But those claims are based on an incomplete view of God’s will.

A picking and choosing of phrases out of context, and worse, not viewed through the lens of Christ!

The only lens, just as we spoke about last week.

[greatcommandment] The Christ who calls us to love all people.

The Christ that was there in the beginning, who is the light of all people, who is love made flesh!

You see, following that God has requirements.

And what are those?

What are those things that Micah is warning us all to make primary in our lives?

What are those things that are so important to the continuance of life and faith that God would require us to live them out?

Is it politics?

Is it normative social behavior?

Is it oppression of thought or of differences?

Is it winning at all costs?

Is it selling our values for votes or acceptance or likes?

[] No.

That isn’t what God requires.

That isn’t even what He would ever want.

[] No.

That isn’t what God requires.

That isn’t even what He would ever want.

[] No.

That isn’t what God requires.

That isn’t even what He would ever want.

Micah, and through him God, tells us our job!

And further, He is looking at the job we have done, just as He looked at the job they were doing, and has a bone to pick!

“The Lord has a controversy with His people!” Micah says.

And even today, the same can be said.

We come before God with our offerings, just as they did, hoping to appease God through our flawed human efforts.

Hoping to cast His vision away from all those things we are doing and thinking that are oppressing others.

Hoping to divert His eyes from our hearts that claim to love all people, but secretly, and passive aggressively, hate those who don’t think like us.

There is no room in our hearts for compromise.

No room for justice and mercy.

No room in our beings for God to work on others that aren’t like us.

No room for anything because like the Jewish people in this text, we have our rules!

We know what God wants!

So it doesn’t matter what we say or how we act, because WE are the new chosen people!

So we come before God on Sundays, well most Sundays, with our offerings.

Our gifts.

Our justified sacrifices that we think bring us eternity.

Outwardly confident that God will be pleased with our gifts!

Surely God will be pleased with our thousands of rams and our rivers of oil!

Surely we can offer the fruit of our bodies for the forgiveness of our souls!

Obviously you see where I am going.

You can’t.

That isn’t what is required.

Do justice.

Love mercy.

Walk humbly with God.

[lovegodloveneighbor?] That’s our job.