The scripture reading comes from Micah chapter 6. Please follow along your bulletin or on the screen.
Hear what the Lord says.
Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.
Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth.
For the Lord has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel.
O my people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me.
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and sent before you Moses, Aram, and Miriam.
O my people, remember what Balaam, king of Moab, devised,
and what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him,
and what happened to Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.
With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Would the Lord be pleased with the thousands of rams and ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn to my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has told you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you,
but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.
This is the word of God.
Thank you. Sylvie?
We're not going to have an extended pastoral prayer today,
but let's just pray briefly as we come to God's word.
Heavenly Father, as we look at the scripture this morning,
as we've said so many times, we are not here merely to be inspired,
or merely encouraged, or entertained.
We are here to meet with you, the living God,
and we want to do that in your word.
And so, we pray, O God, that you will speak to us from your word.
We pray, Holy Spirit, take your words that are from your scripture,
and apply it to our hearts and our lives.
God, as we look at this topic this morning,
this theme of your love for justice and mercy,
we pray, God, that you transform our own hearts,
that we will become more like you.
And so, help us, we pray,
that your word come alive to us, God.
We pray that this won't just be the opinions of man,
but that really, God, we'll encounter you today in your word.
Come and lead and guide us, we pray.
In your powerful and your majestic name.
Amen.
If you've been coming to Watermark for a while,
you'll know we are working through this series called Watermark Essentials,
and we're coming to the end,
and we've been looking at our values as a church,
the foundations upon which we as a church are built.
And so, for four weeks, we looked at the gospel.
What is the gospel?
And the gospel really is the heart of Watermark Church.
You take away the gospel,
or if we start to drift from the gospel,
let's close the doors.
It's the reason why we exist.
It's the heart of our church.
And then we said,
okay, but the gospel makes us a kind of community.
And so, we looked at community for a couple of weeks,
and how the gospel shapes us as a community.
And then, over the last couple of weeks,
we've been saying,
yes, but God also calls us
to be on mission with Him.
That part of being part of the people of God
is to be part of the mission of God.
To be someone who follows Jesus
is to join Him in His redemption plan,
and what God is doing in the world.
And so, we've been saying that
mission is not something that the super Christians do.
It's not an optional extra.
It's not something that the pastors and the elders do.
It is part of what it means to be a follower of Jesus
is to join His redemption plan in the world.
But then the question is,
okay, but what does that mean?
What does it actually look like?
And so, last week, we answered that question one way
by saying,
to be part of God's plan for the world,
His redemption plan,
is to be agents of reconciliation.
And so, we said,
we are reconciled to bring reconciliation.
Today, I want to look at part two of that question.
What does it mean to be part of God's mission in the world?
And not only are we agents of reconciliation,
we are also God's agents of mercy and justice.
Okay?
So, that's where we're going today.
To be part of God's people
is to be part of His mission.
What does that look like?
It's to be His agents for mercy and justice in the world.
And we're going to do that
by looking at this very famous passage in Micah chapter 6.
Now, the background is this.
The book of Micah is written by this prophet called Micah.
You would never have guessed.
And he writes to the nation of Israel around 740 BC.
Now, at the time, Israel is not in a very good way.
Okay?
They've lost their way.
The nation is actually divided into two.
There's a northern kingdom and a southern kingdom,
and they don't really get along so well.
There is rampant wickedness and idolatry.
There's all sorts of craziness that is going on in the nation of Israel.
And God is bringing His judgment on the nation of Israel.
And the way that Micah is written,
it's written like a lawsuit.
God is bringing His charge or His indictment against His people.
And so, look at how it starts off.
He starts off in verse 1,
and He's calling His witnesses.
Okay?
So, it starts off,
and His witnesses is creation.
Look at what it says.
Arise.
Okay?
Remember, you've seen those scenes in the movies,
All Rise, the court is in session.
Okay?
He says,
Arise.
God, arise.
Plead your case before the mountains.
Let the hills hear your complaints.
Listen to the Lord's lawsuit,
you mountains and enduring foundations of the earth,
because the Lord has a case against His people,
and He will argue it against Israel.
And so, God says,
I'm coming to bring my case and my lawsuit against you,
and He calls His witnesses to listen to His case.
Except, He doesn't, in the next verse,
lay out His case.
You think He's now going to say what the problem is,
but He doesn't actually read from the charge sheet,
as it were.
And the reason is,
because He's done that previously in the book of Micah,
chapter 2 and chapter 3.
God details the charges that He's bringing against His people.
And so, look at what He says here in chapter 3.
He says,
This is what the Lord says,
concerning the prophets,
those who lead my people astray.
Those who proclaim peace, peace,
when they have food to sink their teeth into,
but declare war against anyone
who puts nothing in their mouths.
Okay, so what's going on here?
The leaders of Israel,
when their bellies are full,
when their bank accounts are full,
when people are being generous and kind to them,
ah, peace, peace, everything's fine.
God bless you, brother.
Go on your way, as you were.
All's fine.
But as soon as things don't turn out the way that they want,
as soon as their bank accounts are getting a little empty,
or maybe somebody in the congregation
doesn't do what they want,
war!
God's not going to bless you.
If you don't do what I say,
well, you've got to be under God's judgment, right?
So when the people are doing what they want,
ah, peace, God bless you.
Go on your way.
But if not,
oh, well, God's going to be displeased with you.
Likewise, He goes on, verse 9.
Listen to this,
leaders of the house of Jacob,
you rulers of the house of Israel,
you who abhor justice,
or pervert justice,
and make crooked everything that's meant to be straight.
Her leaders issue rulings for a bribe.
Her priests teach for payment.
Her prophets practice divination for money and silver.
Okay, so corruption,
perversion of justice is taking place.
Maybe there's a dispute that's taking place in Israel.
Two people aren't getting along.
And they come to the leaders and say,
how should we deal with this?
And who do you think is going to get the favorable outcome?
The one that's going to pay the higher bribe, right?
Or maybe two friends,
or there's disagreement,
they come to the leaders,
and the leaders are always favorable towards their friends,
or to those that give the most money.
And so what happens in Israel
is the rich are getting richer,
the poor are getting poorer.
Those that have access to opportunities
get more access to opportunities.
Those that are disadvantaged
get more disadvantaged.
Those that are being tread on
or become more downtrodden,
because of the injustice that's happening in Israel.
Now, how should God's people respond?
God is saying there's a problem.
We've got to do something about it.
What should God's people do?
Well, God's people have some ideas.
Look at verse 6.
They say,
What shall we bring before the Lord
when I come and bow before the God on high?
What can I do to appease God
or to win back His favor?
Shall I come before Him
with burnt offerings
and year-old calves?
In the Old Testament,
a year-old calf is the choice offering.
So should I come with a choice offering?
That'll really please God.
Verse 7.
Would the Lord be pleased
with a thousand rams,
ten thousand streams of oil?
So pure olive oil,
very expensive,
but very important to the offering.
Is that what God wants?
Maybe I should bring
ten thousand streams of pure olive oil.
God will be pleased with me then.
Maybe rams and sheep,
a hundred rams,
a thousand rams.
Should I give my firstborn son
for my transgression,
the offspring of my body?
God, is that what you want?
God, what do you want from us?
Name what you want
and God will do it.
We'll bring it.
Will that earn your favor, O God?
Well, look what God's going to say.
What is it that God wants from His people?
Look at verse 8.
He says,
He has told you, O mankind,
what is good.
What does the Lord require of you?
To do justice,
to love mercy or kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God.
See, for the Israelites,
they knew that things weren't good.
God's bringing His charge against them.
And their response is,
Okay, fine.
God, name your price.
What is it that you want?
Do you want money?
We can give you money.
You want offerings?
We can give you offerings.
Let me write a check.
I can do that.
God, you want sacrifice?
How much do you want?
A hundred sheep?
A thousand sheep?
Ten thousand sheep?
God, what do you want from us?
And God's response is,
I don't want your stuff.
I don't want your religious piety.
I want your hearts.
Imagine a married couple.
Imagine a couple are married,
and the husband,
let's just say,
is,
something goes wrong.
And he is unfaithful to his wife.
And he comes back and he says,
Honey, I'm so sorry this has happened.
How can I put this right?
I'll tell you what,
I'll buy you a diamond ring.
You want an overseas holiday?
Let's go on an overseas holiday together.
Well, I don't know.
I'll buy you a new car.
Will that make you happy?
What's the wife going to say?
She says,
I don't want your stuff.
I want your heart.
Friends,
this is what God says to his people.
He has told you,
a man,
what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice,
to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Now,
why is it that God requires this of them?
Of all the things that God could ask for his people,
why does he want this?
Why is this one of the pinnacle descriptions
of what it means to love and trust and follow God?
Throughout the scriptures,
these two things of loving and serving God
and loving and serving people
are always come together.
These two things of acting with justice
and mercy towards people
and walking with God
are always found together.
As we work our way through scripture,
these two things are almost married to one another.
It's almost as if God says,
it's impossible for you to say,
you love me,
and yet have no regard for the people
that I'm concerned about.
And so that's why I remember Jesus.
One day somebody comes to him,
says,
Jesus,
what is the greatest commandment?
Out of all the laws in the Old Testament,
the hundreds of them,
narrow it down.
What's the greatest thing that we should do?
And what does Jesus say?
I want you to love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
your soul,
your mind,
and your strength.
But then,
he quickly adds the second one.
But don't forget the second one,
which is just like it.
To love your neighbor as yourself.
Now remember,
nobody comes to Jesus and says,
Jesus,
what are the two greatest commandments?
Just,
look,
I know there's 600,
just give us the top two.
Nobody does that.
They come to him and say,
Jesus,
what's the greatest thing?
And he says,
to love God.
But,
there's another one,
which is just like it.
To love God,
and to love your neighbor.
For on these two things,
hang all the law,
and the prophets.
Friends,
to love God,
and to love others.
To serve God,
and to serve others.
To walk humbly with God,
and to walk righteously with others.
These two things,
are actually two sides,
of the same coin.
Do you know that phrase?
Two sides of the same coin.
You've got a coin,
and you look at,
you can't say,
well,
I like this side,
but the other side,
I think I'm just going to throw it away.
Right?
If you've got a coin,
it's got two sides,
but they join together,
they married.
And what God has joined together,
let no man separate.
Right?
Jesus says,
to love God,
and to love others,
is what he's all about.
And so that's why God says to his Israelites,
mankind,
he has told you what is good,
and what does the Lord require of you?
Now you might say,
but when did God say this?
When did he tell them?
I mean,
what verse is there,
that he told them,
this is what he requires of you?
Friends,
this is what God has always said.
This is what the entire scriptures are all about.
In many ways,
this is what the entire Old Testament is about.
Remember the Ten Commandments,
we're going to look at them in a few weeks time,
we're going to,
in two weeks time,
we're going to start preaching through the Ten Commandments.
The first four commandments are all about
what it means to walk humbly with God,
to have no other gods,
no other idols,
to honor God's name,
and honor his Sabbath.
The next six are what it means to do justice,
and righteousness,
and mercy in the world,
to honor your wedding vows,
to honor your parents,
to honor your words from your mouth,
to not take from others.
This has always been God's instruction to his people.
This is what it means to be part of the people of God.
And so in Jeremiah chapter 9,
God says this,
listen to this amazing verse.
He says,
this is what the Lord says,
let not the wise man boast in his wisdom,
let not the strong man boast in his strength,
let not the rich person boast in his riches,
but if you're going to boast in something,
boast in this,
that you understand and know me.
And what does that mean?
Who am I?
That I am the Lord who practices mercy,
and justice,
and righteousness on the earth.
For in these things I delight.
He has told you a man what is good,
and what does the Lord require of you,
but to do justice,
to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
Now,
we need to define our terms here.
What does that actually mean?
What is justice and mercy?
What does it mean to do these things?
Well,
are you getting ready?
This is going to be a little theoretical
for a few seconds,
okay?
You're going to have to have your game on.
In the Bible,
the word justice is the Hebrew word mishpat.
And mishpat is a very common word
in the Old Testament.
It's translated in many different ways.
But the broader sense is
for things that are wrong
or out of sync with God's order,
for those things to be put right again.
Or it can mean for things to operate
as God intended in His created order.
Now,
of course,
one of the ways that things can be put right
is through punitive justice.
So,
somebody does something wrong
and they commit a crime
and they've got to pay for their crime.
Things are put right that way.
But in the Bible,
justice,
mishpat,
often means more than that.
It means restorative justice.
It means to go out
and seek
things that are wrong in the world
and to restore them
or to put them right
as God originally intended.
It means specifically
looking out for people
that are disadvantaged,
that are vulnerable,
people that are powerless,
those that are taken advantage of,
those that are pushed
on the outskirts
or the margins of society,
and to restore them
to a place of dignity
and equity
and fairness.
And so,
that's why the Bible
so often talks about
these four things,
the widows,
the orphans,
the immigrants,
or the fatherless.
These people
that are most likely
to be taken advantage of,
God says,
go out and find them,
go and seek them
and restore them
to a place of dignity
and equity
and equality
in society.
And so,
for instance,
in Zechariah 7,
God says this,
this is what the Lord Almighty says,
administer justice,
okay,
there's our word,
mishpat,
show mercy
and compassion
to one another.
Do not oppress
the widow,
the orphan,
the immigrant,
or the poor.
This is what God
calls His people to do,
to pursue justice,
to pursue mishpat,
to go out and seek
those that are treated
less than image bearers
of God
and to restore them
to things that are right.
Okay?
So,
that's our first word.
Second word
is the word mercy
or loving kindness
and it's the Hebrew word
chesed.
Is that right,
Eric?
Eric Amir
is going to correct
my Hebrew
later on.
And in the Bible,
this word mercy
or loving justice
doesn't speak so much
about our actions,
what we do,
it talks about
our hard attitudes.
It's an attitude
of having compassion
and kindness
towards those around us.
It's actually the word
that most often
describes God's
steadfast love
to His people.
And so,
in Micah 6 verse 8,
it talks about this.
It says,
I want you to do justice,
I want you to go out
and find those
that are oppressed,
but I want you to do it
with an attitude
of compassion
and kindness
in your hearts.
So,
Tim Keller says
it like this.
At first,
we may think
acting justly
and loving mercy
are two different things,
but they're actually not.
Acting justly
is the action
what we must do,
but being full of mercy
and compassion
describes the attitude
or the motive
behind that action.
So,
think about this.
You can say,
okay,
yes,
I must do justice,
right?
We must go out
to the marginalized
and the poor,
and you can go
and do that,
but you can do it
with an attitude
of arrogance
or superiority
like,
oh,
these guys,
they're so lucky
to have me
in their life.
They're so lucky
that I'm such a kind person.
I'm giving of my time.
All we can do
is with a savior complex,
right?
Like,
I will come
and save the world.
Thank goodness
that Hong Kong
has a church
like Watermark.
Here we are.
Welcome us.
No,
no,
no.
Friends,
God says,
I want you
to do justice,
but do it
with mercy,
do it with compassion,
with steadfast love
in your hearts.
Then there's a third word
that the Bible uses
to describe God's heart,
and it's the word
tzedekah,
or in English,
righteousness.
When you think
of someone being righteous,
we can often think
of someone
who is morally superior
or very religious,
right?
But in the Bible,
the word righteous
actually has to do
with the way
we handle our relationships,
both with God
and with one another.
Alec Mottier
is an Old Testament scholar,
and he said
that those that are righteous
are those who are right
with God
and therefore committed
to putting all other
relationships in life
right as well.
And so,
according to scriptures,
to be righteous
is not
a private standard
of morality
like being honest
and not being greedy
and being sexually pure.
Okay?
According to scriptures,
being righteous
is inherently social.
It's communal.
It's the way
that we treat
other people
with dignity
and equity
and respect.
And so,
look at God's call
to his people
to practice righteousness
and justice.
It's all over the Bible.
Look at Proverbs 31.
He says this,
Speak up,
judge righteously.
Now,
what does that mean?
What does it mean
to be those
that judge righteously?
He says,
Speak up for those
that have no voice.
Pursue justice
for the oppressed
and the dispossessed.
Defend the cause
of the oppressed
and the needy.
Or,
Jeremiah 22,
this is what the Lord says.
Administer justice
and righteousness.
Rescue the victim
of robbery
from his oppressor.
Don't exploit
or brutalize
the immigrant,
the orphan,
or the widow.
And so,
throughout the scripture,
God constantly says,
this is what it means
to be the people of God,
is to love
and practice justice,
to find those
that are oppressed
and to raise them up,
to do so with mercy
and compassion in our hearts
and to practice righteousness
towards those around us.
Old Testament scholar,
Jane Oswald,
says it like this,
When God called
the rulers of his people
to do justice
and righteousness
for his people,
this didn't mean
enforcing some abstract
law code
or to ensure
the rights of his subjects.
Rather,
it meant to be
so in tune
with the sovereign God
of creation,
to walk with the author
of life,
so in tune
with his character
and his desires
and his wishes,
that his rightness,
his order for life,
would be made
to prevail in the nation
with the inevitable result
that the good,
which is inherent
in the creation
of the good God,
will be unleashed
upon the earth.
See what he's saying there?
He's saying
the people of God
are meant to so walk
with God
that God's heart
of compassion
for the poor
and the marginalized
becomes our heart.
That God's desire
for those that are oppressed
becomes our desire.
That we so walk
with God
that becoming like him
changes the world
and the city
in which we live.
And so that's why
Jesus gets so upset
with the religious leaders
of his day.
Remember at one point
he says to religious leaders,
he says,
you guys have got
the technicalities down.
You tithe on everything,
even your pot plants
in your garden.
You know,
you've got a mint bush
in your garden
and you work out,
okay,
nine leaves for me,
one leaf for God.
You've got some herbs
and spices,
you've got,
okay,
nine pots for me,
one pot for God.
You've worked it out
technically,
but you've forgotten
and what God's
really concerned about
is justice
and mercy
and righteousness.
These,
Jesus says,
you should have abandoned,
you should have pursued
without abandoning
the first things.
Friends,
God's call for his people
to be those
who practice righteousness
and justice
and mercy
is all over the Bible.
almost every book
in the Old Testament,
there's this call
to be his people
that administer justice,
to pursue righteousness
and mercy.
And it's all over the place
and God's call
for his people
is not just to be nice people,
it's not just to be kind-hearted
and certainly not just
to write a check
to ease our conscience.
God calls us
to be those
that seek out
the vulnerable,
that pursue
the disadvantaged,
who go after
those that are susceptible
to abuse
and to stand with them,
to speak up
for those
that have no voice
in society
because they've got
no authority
in society,
to come alongside
those that are downtrodden
or forgotten
and to give them
dignity and honor
where society
gives them
no dignity and honor
because they are made
in the image of God,
because they inherently
have dignity
as his people.
Now,
as we come to a close,
let's ask the question,
why?
Why should we do this?
Friends,
why is it that as a church
we must be those
that are agents
not only of reconciliation
but agents of justice
and mercy
in our city?
There are about
2,700 reasons
and we'll just
look at a bunch of them.
Okay?
It's all over the scripture.
Let me just give us
a couple.
One of the first reasons
is this.
Because God identifies
with the poor
and the vulnerable.
Do you know what I mean
when I say,
when I talk about
name dropping?
Do you know that phrase?
Name dropping
is when you are
in a conversation
with your friends
and you drop the name
in the conversation
of somebody
really important
or famous
so that other people
will associate you
with that famous person.
Right?
So for instance,
you may be
with your friends
and you just casually say,
I was talking to my friend
Jack Ma this week
and we were just
talking about
investment stuff
and suddenly people say,
you know Jack Ma?
And your status
in their eyes
gets increased.
Okay?
Or you say,
I was just emailing
this guy John Piper
and we were just discussing
Micah 6
and talking about it
and suddenly people say,
you know John Piper?
Wow, okay,
you must be
really somebody.
Well, you know,
I was talking to my friend
Brett Iliad
and you know Brett?
Wow, okay,
something like that.
In the Bible,
God constantly
stands with
or associates
with a certain group
of people.
But it's not the kind
of people you'd think
he does.
God constantly
identifies
or takes his stand
with the outcasts
and the marginalized
and the poor
of society.
The downtrodden
and those that society
don't look
very well upon.
In Psalm 68,
God says this,
he introduces himself,
think about this,
think about how you
introduce yourself.
Maybe you're going to
give a talk
at an evening
and someone says,
this is, you know,
Reverend Dr.
Chris Thornton.
Okay?
Or this is
Dr.
Samson,
you know,
whatever it is.
Look at how God
introduces himself.
I am the father
to the fatherless,
the defender
of the widows.
Some killer
comments on this
and he says,
this is one of the
main things that God
is doing in the world.
He identifies
with the powerless
and he takes up
their cause.
In the ancient world,
this was absolutely
scandalous.
The gods
and the deities
of the day
were always
associated
with society's
elites,
with the captains
and the commanders
of armies,
with the leaders
and the generals,
with the kings
and the rulers
of the world.
The priests
were always those
that were associated
with cultural elites.
But here God,
the God of the Bible,
chooses to associate,
to identify,
to name drop
the outcasts
and the vulnerable
and the abused
and the poor
of society.
God takes a stand
with the widows
and the orphans
and the evangrists
and the powerless.
Those that are
most vulnerable,
most likely to be abused,
have a special place
in God's heart.
And therefore,
dear friends,
they must have
a special place
in our hearts as well.
Okay?
That's one reason.
God identifies
with the poor
and the vulnerable.
Second reason is this.
Every human being
is made in the image
of God.
If you think about it,
sometimes in a city
like this,
we can treat our animals
better than we can
treat human beings.
That wasn't meant
to be funny.
I'm sorry.
It was.
We really can, right?
But every human being,
whether they are
mentally challenged,
whether they are crippled,
whether they live
in a cage home,
whether they are
multi-billionaires,
every human being
was knit together
in their mother's womb.
And inherently
has a dignity
and an equality
and something beautiful
about them
because they are made
in the image of God.
Every human being
Jesus Christ
hung on the cross for
and said,
it is finished.
Every human being
Jesus poured out
his life for.
And therefore,
there is no human being
on the planet
that does not deserve
the dignity
and the respect
and the equality
that every other
human being
deserves
and is expected of.
fundamentally,
our dignity
and our identity
as people
is not found
in our bank accounts
or where we live
but in the fact
that we are made
in the image of God
and carry his fingerprint,
his thumbprint
upon us.
Here is one last reason.
Why is it imperative
that as a church
we become agents
of mercy and justice
in our city?
One of the reasons
is because it will
show us the gospel.
about 200 years ago
there was this
Scottish preacher
called Robert Murray
McShane.
It is a strange name.
He died as a young man.
He was 29 years old
when he died.
He was only a pastor
for 8 years
and yet God used him
really powerfully
in Scotland.
He was trying to
urge his congregation
to be those
that give generously
of their finances
to the marginalized
and the vulnerable
in their city.
But as he did this
he found that people
were coming back
to him and saying
but the people
are not thankful
or the people
in our city
they don't deserve it
or when we give
of our money
to the poor
and the marginalized
they are just
going to abuse it.
They are going to
go and buy alcohol
or they are not
going to take care
of themselves.
When we are generous
people abuse
our kindness
and they are not
even thankful.
Why should we do this?
Listen to how
Robert Murray
McShane
answered them.
He says
some of us
might say
but my money
is mine.
I worked hard
for it.
I studied hard
for it.
I labored for it.
It's my money.
Friends
might not Jesus Christ
have said the same
thing.
My blood is my own.
My life is my own.
Friends
if Jesus had said
that to us
where would we
have been?
Some of us
might say
yeah but the poor
and the destitute
they are undeserving.
Friends
might not Christ
have said that
about us.
Jesus might
have looked at us
and said
but they're wicked.
They rebel
against my father.
Shall I lay down
my life
for these undeserving
sinners?
No
I'll give my life
for the good angels.
Dear friends
he gave his blood
for the undeserving
for you
and for me.
Some of us
might say
but the poor
will abuse
our kindness.
They'll take advantage
of our generosity.
Dear friend
might not Christ
have said the same
of us
and with far
greater truth.
Christ knew
that thousands
would trample
his blood
under their feet.
That most of us
would despise
his death
on the cross
and that many
of us
would use
his mercy
and his grace
as an excuse
to sin even more.
And yet
he went to the cross
for us still.
Oh dear brother
if you would be
like Christ
give much
give often
give freely
to the outcasts
to the poor
to the thankless
to those
who seem
undeserving
Christ is glorious
and he's happy
and so will you be.
It's not your money
I want
it's your happiness.
Remember
Christ's own words
it is more blessed
to give
than to receive.
Friends
as we
come to a close
I want us to
look at one last
verse in Micah
chapter 6.
I wonder if you
picked up on it
when we read it earlier.
The people of Israel
they are convinced
that they are in the wrong.
Things have not
they are wicked
they are unjust
things are going wrong
and they are saying
what should we do?
How can we put this
right again?
Should we bring
an offering?
Should we bring
gold and silver?
Should we bring
a thousand rams?
What should we do?
And then in verse 7
there is this amazing line
should we offer up
our offspring?
Should we give
our own son
to please
the gods?
Friends
in the ancient world
that's what you did.
If you wanted
to please the gods
you burnt your children
in the fire
as an offering
to the gods
to earn their favor.
Friends
in the gospel
we have a God
who doesn't require
that of us
but he did that himself.
Friends
in the gospel
we have a God
who knew
that we were lost
who knew
the wickedness
in our hearts
that knew
that we deserved
his judgment
and rather than
requiring that of us
he gave
of himself.
He sent
his own son.
He sent
Jesus
to die
on the cross
in our place
rather than saying
what will you give
of me
to be reconciled?
Here we have a God
that came
to the outcasts
to the unjust
to the undeserving
to the lost
and the broken
and he said
I will give
you
my son
that you
can be included
in my family.
Friends
in the gospel
we have a God
that doesn't require
that of us
but he gave
of himself.
Friends
as we be those
that go out
to be agents
of mercy
and justice
as we join
God
what he's doing
in the world
friends
let us never
forget
that the basis
for any
mercy and justice
any grace
that we give
to our city
is the great
mercy and grace
that we have
received in God.
Friends
let us remember
that we were dead
in our sins
and God sent
his son.
He came to find us
he came to hang
on the cross
to pour out
his life for us
to give us
new lives
that we can
be reconciled.
Friends
if God
had left us
where we were
where would we be?
Friends
if God
had treated us
as we deserve
what would our
future look like?
Friends
if God
had only loved
and served
the worthy
who of us
would be saved?
No dear friends
Christ came
from the lost
and the broken
he came to
pour out his life
as an offering
he came to
rescue and to
save us
that we might
have hope in him
out of the overflow
of the mercy
and the justice
we have received
let us be agents
of mercy
and justice
in our world.
He has shown you
a man
what is good
and what is it
that the Lord
requires of us?
To act justly
to love mercy
and kindness
and to walk
humbly
with our God.
Let's pray together.
Heavenly Father
good and gracious God
God
when we look
at your word
Father God
what should we say?
God
when we read
your word
we like the nation
of Israel
have to get on
our knees
and say
guilty as charged.
Father
we are
not that different
from them.
We are not that
different from the
Pharisees God.
In our lives
we come and we
do our religious
thing but God
in our hearts
so often we are
living for ourselves.
Oh Father
be gracious
towards us.
Father
be merciful
towards us.
Oh great God
do not give us
what we deserve
we pray.
Father
we pray
that as your
gospel gets
into our hearts
that you will
not only save us
but you will
transform us.
And we pray
that we as a church
will be those
that are so moved
by the gospel
so changed
by your
incredible
faithfulness
to us
that God
it will soften
our hearts
towards our
brothers and
sisters in the
city and in
this world.
God we pray
that you really
will use us
as a church.
God use us
disproportionately.
Help us God
to be those
that do
love and act
justly in our
city God.
that do so
with mercy
and compassion
and steadfast
love in our
hearts
because we are
those that are
walking humbly
with you.
Father we give
you permission
to wreck our
lives God
where our lives
are comfortable
and convenient
God where our
lives are tame
we pray God
come and help us
to walk with you
and God that
will mean changes
we acknowledge that
Christ come and
have your way
in our life.
come and have
your way God.
Christ come and
have your way in
our church Lord.
Christ come and
have your way in
our city.
Lord we pray that
it will be in
Hong Kong as it
is in heaven.
Use us we pray
in your powerful
and majestic name.
Amen.