Micah 6:8

Dnow Smokerise, AL 2018 • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

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OPENING JOKE

I am the husband of my beautiful bride of 24 years - Tonya [SLIDE]. I am the Dad of a couple of precious boys - Caleb & Joshua ([SLIDE]. They are a little older now. age 12 and 16 [SLIDE]. We have played playing hundreds of hours of football in our living room & outside. There is no telling how many hours of basketball we have played together. [SLIDE] I have coached both my boys in football and the youngest in basketball. Beyond that, my boys hear daily how much I love them and am proud of them Here’s a pic of my family [SLIDE of FAMILY].. They both still cuddle up beside me and hug me (show pic). (I told my oldest - who is now taller than me - that it’s gonna be weird when he’s 30 and has kids to come sit in my lap…but we will make it work!)

As my oldest grew, a weird thing started to happen. He WANTED me to coach him, but when I tried to coach & correct him, he treated me pretty poorly. He would roll his eyes, turn away from me, huff out loud, and walk away. On the other hand, when another coach, a guy who hasn’t paid for ONE MEAL in his life; a guy who doesn’t cuddle him at the house; a guy who doesn’t think about him and pray for him consistently…he will “yes sir” his comments & corrections.

SO….the last time my boy asked me to coach the next season, I said, “NOPE. I’m just going to be your Dad.” Truth is, that HURT me, because NOBODY wants better for my boy than I do. NOBODY has been there from his conception, birth, cooing, crawling, learning to walk, carrying while he sleeps…teaching how to drive, and now giving dating advice. NOBODY has been there like his momma & me.

Good parents provide for their children. Good parents encourage their children. Good parents correct their children. And yet - this might surprise you - children are not always appreciative, taking their parents for granted, and sometimes treating their parents with less respect than a new acquaintance. My guess is…that’s how some of your parents feel right now.

And THAT’S how God felt when when of his prophets named Micah, spoke to God’s children, the Jewish people.

They had been told to LOVE GOD [SLIDE] with every fiber of their being - 1st place in their lives. When they loved God, the supernatural spillover was to…

LOVE PEOPLE [SLIDE], to care for their neighbors like they cared for themselves. Instead, they had pushed away from the one who had brought them up and cared for them.

They followed false gods and didn’t love Yahweh God with all their heart, mind, & soul [LOVE GOD SLIDE]. And of course, not loving God like we should spills over into

NOT loving people [LOVE PEOPLE SLIDE] He created like we should.

The people worshipped false gods (1:7; 5:12). They laid in bed thinking about sin they could commit when they woke up (2:1). Leaders stole from their own people (2:2), businesses cheated people (6:11). The land was full of liars (6:12) and murderers (7:2). And you know what? The same is true today. If we don’t LOVE GOD first, we won’t LOVE PEOPLE like we should.

If we disobey the God who created people, we will devalue the people God has created.

So…this weekend, I wonder if we would start by humbling ourselves and ASK GOD to MOVE among us. Any sin in your life? Let’s hit our knees and ask God for help.

PRAY

Our theme verse comes from an OT prophet named Micah that declares that God wants His people to… [TITLE SLIDE].

Micah 6:8 (NIV) …act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah means SLIDE “Who is like Yahweh.” (YaHWeH is the Hebrew term for the small caps Lord in your Bible) So Micah’s name means…who is as stinkin’ awesome (Hebrew) as Yahweh our God!!

And yet, most of people who lived near Micah’s address didn’t act like Yahweh was that awesome. So, God fires a warning shot across their bow and it goes like this:

Micah 6:1–2 (NIV) 1 Listen to what the Lord [Yahweh] says: “Stand up, plead my case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say. 2 “Hear, you mountains, the Lord’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For the Lord [YaHWeH] has a case against his people; he is lodging a charge against Israel.

Micah 6:3–5 (NIV) 3 “My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me. 4 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. 5 My people, remember what Balak king of Moab plotted and what Balaam son of Beor answered….

God brought the people out of slavery from the most powerful empire the world knew at the time. God gave them leaders who cared about them & helped provide for their needs. When Balak king of Moab paid Balaam to CURSE the people, God changed his heart and he BLESSED them instead!!! God ultimately brought them to the promised land & provided for them the whole way - water, meals, clothing, & HIS PRESENCE!!!

You see what God is saying to them? WHO HAS TREATED YOU AS KINDLY AS I HAVE?

Or put another way, “Who is like YaHWeH?” SLIDE

Before we go much further, I want you to consider all that God has done for YOU.

God created you [SLIDE]. Turn to someone and tell him/her, “There was a time when you WEREN’T!” God allowed 2 small cells to meet up and BANG - you WERE! Think about that for a second…NOT what your parents did (cause that’s kinda gross to think about)…but about the fact that once, YOU DID NOT EXIST!!!

God provides for you [SLIDE]. He put people in your life to care for and provide for you. He has healed your wounds and provided your meals. Take a moment and consider HOW MANY MEALS you have eaten THIS YEAR!!!

God pays for you! [SLIDE] Line up all your friends and pull out the one who died for you. I’ve been reading through Matthew this week and reminded of the incredible pain Jesus went through - beaten, spit on, made fun of, scourged, crucified. And yet, the worst part of it all seems to be the fact that Jesus took on OUR SIN - think about the deepest, darkest, dirtiest thing you’ve ever done, said, or thought…THAT…Jesus paid for THAT!!!

Yahweh God CREATED US, PROVIDES for us, and PAYS for us… “Who is like YaHWeH?”

“Okay, okay” the people are thinking, “so Yahweh HAS cared & provided for us. We’ve messed this up…so how can we make it right? What does Yahweh want us to do?”

Micah 6:6–8 (NIV) 6 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 olive oil?

What can the people do to pay God back? This is the question they are asking.

Maybe He will forgive if we bow down. Or we could offer calves a year old, our most valuable animals to sacrifice. Maybe we could just pay God off with a lavish amount of sacrifices - thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil.

Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

OR maybe we should give him our firstborn child as a sacrifice? Can my child's death pay for my sin? Of course not. This is what pagan nations did - grilling their kids in sacrifice to their gods. But, is this what God wants? Of course not!!! Here’s what God wants.

8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?

Here’s the answer to the question they were answering.

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Act Justly [TITLE SLIDE]

We are to treat people fairly and with value. Let me show you what this looks like in real life. Turn to a couple of people around you and say these words, “YOU ARE VALUABLE! And it’s NOT just because you’re good looking. You are made in the image of God!!!!”

And it’s hard to believe, but some people have actually treated other people poorly because they aren’t as good looking, athletic, intelligent, or as funny as others.

Proverbs 14:31 (NIV) Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

Matthew 7:12 (NET) In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets.

Here’s the reality…

HOW we BEHAVE shows WHO we BELIEVE.

When we treat others like garbage it communicates 1 of 2 things: 1) Either the God we serve doesn’t care about them 2) We are hypocrites - not living what we say.

God wants our behavior to match what we say we believe - to ACT JUSTLY.

Jesus uses a brilliant illustration - cleaning the outside of the cup & dish without cleaning the inside (Matt. 23:25-26).

Love Mercy

This Hebrew word here translated mercy is hesed, and it’s sort of like a diamond, with many brilliant glittering edges and angles a cluster of concepts that brilliantly reflect characteristics of God— [SLIDE]mercy, grace, kindness, goodness, generosity, loyalty, & faithfulness.

To love hesed means we make the first move to show others mercy, grace, kindness, goodness, generosity, loyalty, & faithfulness….LIKE GOD HAS DONE FOR US!!!!

Do you have a story of a time that you NEEDED God’s hesed - mercy, grace, kindness, goodness, generosity, loyalty, & faithfulness - to be shown through his people?

Story about asking Tonya to forgive me. I didn’t deserve her love, mercy, grace, kindness, faithfulness…but she gave it to me anyway!!!! I LOVE mercy!!!! God has shown me mercy at the cross and through many people.

HOW we BEHAVE shows WHO we BELIEVE. [SLIDE]

To When WE show mercy, grace, kindness, goodness, generosity, loyalty, & faithfulness it shows others WHO our God really is!!!!

Walk Humbly with your God [TITLE SLIDE]

To walk humbly with God means to LIVE in OBEDIENCE to Him. It is to be FAITHFUL to Yahweh, the one who has done so much for us!

Does your BEHAVIOR match WHO you say you BELIEVE? If not, you have reason to be concerned. Jesus said,

Luke 6:46 (NIV) “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

To WALK HUMBLY with your God is to LIVE OBEDIENTLY.

After a teaching like tonight a young lady approached the pastor and said, “Pastor, I want to be forgiven. I want to follow Jesus, but I don’t want to give up my sin. What should I do.”

The pastor had her do something I want YOU to do tonight. He told her the story in Acts 10 where the apostle Peter is given a vision to eat food he has never eaten. He KNOWS this is coming from the Lord and yet he says, “NO LORD” (Acts 10:14 NLT). He showed her that these are 2 words that should never go together. He had her do what I want YOU to do.