Life that God wants (Micah 6:6~8)

Life that God wants (Micah 6:6~8)

 

 ⁶ With what shall I come before the Lord,
And bow myself before the High God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
With calves a year old?
⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
Ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

⁸ He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

Intro)

1 Prophet who recorded book of Micah was prophet who worked with Isaiah 2700 years ago.

At that time southern Judah’s kingdom was corrupted. Society was filled with violence, lies, idolatry, and human trafficking. Slave was traded for price of 1shoe. Leaders of this kingdom who supposed to fix these problems were fall in love with materials than God, so they were corrupted as well.  

 

Micah reported this corruption to God and asked for rightful judgment on them, but leaders and priests of the kingdom of Judah believed offering a lot will just remove their sins. So, they were thinking “what should I give to God, and thousands of sheep will do or endless of oil as an offering would make God happy? For my sin should I give my son..?”

 

2. Thing is God does not want us to live a life that only sees material. His wish didn’t change even today. What are three ways of life does he want us to have?

 

Body)

 

A) Life that has justice in front of God

 1 today’s verse 8 says, ‘⁸ He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

Justice works as God’s element and allow group to be peaceful and equal. Also it is about respecting the weak one’s right and protects them.

Therefore, the country has justice will protect weak ones first.

 

In Jeremiah 7 5-6 says, ‘⁵ “For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, ⁶ if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt’

 

At that time Micah yelled to politic leaders like this (Micah3:1-3)= “Hear now, O heads of Jacob,
And you rulers of the house of Israel:
Is it not for you to know justice?
² You who hate good and love evil;
Who strip the skin from My people,^[a]
And the flesh from their bones;
³ Who also eat the flesh of My people,
Flay their skin from them,
Break their bones,
And chop them in pieces
Like meat for the pot,
Like flesh in the caldron.”

 Meaning it was survival of fittest.

 

2. God gave politic leaders power to perform justice, but they did opposite act of what God wanted. Used position to grow corruption more and more and justice was dead.

3. Amos Prophet said in Amos 5:24 says, “²⁴ But let justice run down like water,
And righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Although we offer our child if we continue to commit sins everything that we have done will be in vain.

 

 4. There is a pastor named Timothy Keller who started small church with 50 church members and his church grew into 8 thousand church members. Pastor Tim wrote a book called ‘Generous Justice’

In this book he says that ‘often, many Christians focus on grace and consider justice as incidental, however grace and justice isn’t separate thing. We receive salvation through grace, and with the grace we received we need to perform justice.’

 

Jesus also said in Matthew 5:20, ‘²⁰ Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.’

 

 What is justice? It’s simple. Whatever you think it’s right. That is justice. Do what is right and not do what isn’t.

 

 

B) Life of compassion and mercy

1. in the middle verse of Micah 6:8 says, ‘...to love mercy…’

 

Life what God wants from us is love, having compassion and mercy to our neighbors. Like God loves us we need to love our neighbors.

 Hosea 6:6 says, ‘⁶ For I desire mercy and not sacrifice,
And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.’

 

2. There is a story about Korean orphan who adopted to U.S parents and grow up to be a top researcher in American Aerospace Research Institute

 

This Orphan’s name is SukChun Choi, and English name is Steve Morrison. His father failed in his business and lived life in alcohol and beat his wife all the time. Mother couldn’t handle it and took off; little after father did the same. This happened when Steve was 5 years old. He had to live life as a homeless and got into orphanage. At age of 14 he was adopted to American parents.

 

 Steve’s step parents had 1 son and 2 daughters’ biological children and 1 more of adopted child from Korea already. They weren’t economically stable, but with love of God they took care of them.

 

When Steve stepped into U.S soil for the first time his step parents made Kimchi, so he could be more comfortable. Steve had an issue with his leg from the past, and step parents took a loan to do surgery on his leg, tuition etc. They had to work overtime, but they kept it from Steve. His step father once told him, ‘Hey Steve, I made few great decisions in my life so far, which are became a believer of God, marrying your step mother, and lastly adopting you to our family.

 

Steve wanted to return step parents’ love so he studied hard and became a top researcher in American Aerospace Research Institute.

 

Later on he wanted to find is himself in confusion, so he told his step father to change his last name to Choi. It could be disappointing to step parent, but step father told Steve, ‘Steve, being Korean is not important that goes same to American. Those aren’t important living life. More important thing is living life as wonderful person.’ Steve wondered about how to become a wonderful person, and have wonderful life? And he realized that his step parents were living wonderful life.

 

When Steve was praying God, he heard the voice saying, ‘you became orphan is not coincident, how can you know the pain of not having parents as a child without not going through it? There are many children like that in Korea. What would you do for them?

 

After hearing God’s voice Steve’s tear came out and came to realization that the reason why he was here is because to do God’s work. He started to do volunteer works and established Korea Adoption Promotion Society (MPAK). Nowadays, Korea Adoption Promotion Society are located in 5 different areas, and 28 in Korea. What a thankful thing isn’t it?

 

 

3. Jesus tells us like this (Luke 10:27) ,” ²⁷ So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’^[h] and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’

 

Without love whole world we get sick. only love can cure this world and change in a good way.

 

Hebrews 13:16 it says, ‘¹⁶ But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.’

 

 

C) Life that walk humbly with your God

 

Lastly, what God wants from our lives is walk humbly with your God.

Humble means in this sentence is accepting God as God and we are creation of his.

Believing God’s existence, support, and judgment

  Therefore, ‘walk humbly with your God’ means let our life become a life that is seeking recognition from God.

 

Humble is me being me is fully from God’s grace and having thankful mind. We have nothing to show off in front of God. We have to lower ourselves with humble and be obedience to his word. only person who is humble could work with God, because he gets rid of who is arrogant and gives grace to who is humble.

 

1 peter 5:5 says, ⁵ Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for

“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”

 Psalms 147:6 says,

⁶ The Lord lifts up the humble;
He casts the wicked down to the ground.

In Proverbs 18:12 says, ‘² A fool has no delight in understanding,
But in expressing his own heart.’ Let’s be humble in front of God. How much do we know if we know? We probably know like less than his eye booger.

 

 

Con)

We looked over a life what God wants in 3 ways. What was it?

 

1 life that has justice in front of God 2 Life of compassion and mercy 3 Life that walk humbly with your God. What life are you living in at the moment? Is it something like today’s verse? Let’s have time to look back.

 

ik sun ahn/cf: Lee young hoon