Morning Message Text: Micah 6: 1-8
The LORD’s Case Against Israel
1 Listen to what the LORD 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 has a case against his people; he is lodging a charge against Israel.
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. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD.”
6 With what shall I come before the LORDand 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? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
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.
Morning Message:
The message today is drawn from God’s word and like many things of God they are counter intuitive to the way we mere mortals think and feel. As we look at what we know as the beatitudes in the gospel of Matthew, we are struck by who Jesus says will be blessed. Jesus’ followers wanted dominion and prosperity and so do we. Jesus’ teachings speak of poverty and sorrow. For many, these words were like cold water on the hot enthusiasm people had for the kingdom. Those to whom he was speaking were certain that the kingdom would make them free and rich, and Jesus turned all of their expectations upside down. It’s kind of like when you come to church in a good mood with the expectation that the preacher is going to make you feel even better and instead all you hear is how you need to continue to grow and improve. Now don’t get me wrong, I want you to leave here praising the Lord and feeling good about the blessings of life that God has bestowed upon you, but I will never want to mislead you or give you false encouragement. The Christian life is difficult, but the blessings along the way are magnificent. There are many churches that you can attend that will preach a prosperity gospel. You only hear positive things from the pulpit, and many of these churches are full because that’s what people want to hear. But what happens when life gets hard and difficult times come? People fall away from God because they were lied to; Jesus never did that; he told the truth and laid out the expectations of his kingdom.
Something that is counter intuitive is contrary to intuition or to common-sense and expectations, but nevertheless true. In the original Greek New Testament there is no verb in any of the beatitudes. It reads, blessed the poor in spirit, blessed the meek, blessed those who morn, and so on. No one wants to be poor in spirit, but God sees it this way: being poor in spirit humbles you, and a destitute heart senses its spiritual need and seeks God. You are more likely to cry out to God for help when you are humbled by a poor spirit. We will all have times of mourning in this life; it’s a fact of life, but God promises the blessing of comfort from the Holy Spirit to those who mourn. God’s ways are not like our human ways, and God knows exactly where and how we need to be blessed. I am very thankful for the things that I wanted to be blessed within my life that God refused to allow me to have.
We need to read Micah today and hear God’s warning to us in this nation. What is God saying in these verses to Israel and to the United States of America? God is pleading his case before all things that existed from the beginning of time: the mountains and the everlasting foundations of this earth. “My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me.” God made Israel into a nation. He freed them from bondage in Egypt. He gave them good leaders. He struck down any who tried to curse them such as Balak and Balaam. He protected them and brought them through forty years of wandering in the desert. What has God done for this nation? He created the United States of America. He freed us from the tyranny of England. He gave us good, upstanding, God-fearing leaders to show us the right way and point us in a godly direction. He has defeated every enemy that has ever come against us. God, Holy God, has a case against us: the United States of America. We have turned our backs on the very God who is the reason for our existence. As a nation we have decided to go our own way, and we have insisted for decades that we don’t need God. And you know what? He has allowed us to go down the unholy paths of destruction. We elect leaders who tell us what we want to hear and pay no attention to whether or not they are God-fearing. Most are not. They have led us, but we have allowed their leadership, even as the church of Jesus Christ. As a nation we are starting to reap the fruits of our unrighteousness. I could preach this all day, but I want you to think for a moment: How much of what this nation does is ungodly in the eyes of a Holy God?
When we do think of how we can better serve God, our first instinct is to try and repay God for all that he has done for us. That’s actually pretty funny if you think about it. What could we possibly give God who has total control of everything that has ever existed? In Israel they presented burnt offerings of calves and sheep. This was what they were instructed to sacrifice to God. They sacrificed their olive oil because it was something that they needed to make their lives better. Some of the religions in countries around Israel even sacrificed their children thinking that act would somehow appease God. What do we do today? We try to give God the earthly things that are valuable to us. But God has no need of any of it. God doesn’t need your money, but if you have Christ in your heart, you will give it. God doesn’t need your time, your worship, or anything else that in your mind might be used to appease Him. If you love God and belong to Jesus, you will do all of that and more. Three things that God requires of us as a nation: act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. If this nation is going to continue, this is what we must get back to. It starts with us, the church: each one of us called by the name of Jesus Christ. The offering that God wants from us as a church and as a nation is obedience to his Word; an offering of ourselves. Not the things that he has blessed us with, but the dedication of our whole beings.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
Views: 0
