Now, we turn to read together from God's Word, and we have two Bible readings this morning.
The first from the Old Testament, from the book of the prophet Micah, and we'll read from chapter 6, and the verses marked 1 to 9.
This is the Word of God.
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 I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
O my people, remember what Balak, king of Moab, devised, and what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him.
And what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of God.
With what shall I come before the Lord, and by myself before God on high?
What shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of ram, with tens of thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for 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.
And then our second reading is from the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 5, the beginning of the famous sermon on the mount.
Matthew chapter 5, reading from the beginning of the chapter.
Jeremiah said that.
Why God was a stranger in the land in Scotland.
Because Jeremiah said he was a stranger in ancient Israel because the irreligious had no time for God.
And the religious people had no heart for God.
And the leaders had no zeal for God.
And even committed believers had no thirst for God.
And of course, of course, of course, of course, of course, of course, of course, of course, of course.
And of course, that description of that land then is a description that could fit many lands at many times through history when we think of how it is.
But into the situation in Israel at one stage comes the prophet Micah.
And he comes really with a message that says, look, God is a stranger in these days because the people are practicing idolatry.
And bribery and corruption, the people are being oppressed by the rich.
The religious leaders are career diplomats just supporting the status quo because it's in their interests.
And then it's now commercial interests.
Money was the first commandment.
It was what ruled in all things.
And Micah comes into this situation and this scene where God seems to be a stranger.
And he brings a message from God.
And the message from God is there will be judgment.
There will be destruction.
There will be ruin and exile.
But he brings a message of hope as well.
Because he said, look, if you will just listen to God, if you will listen to God, he will actually bring deliverance to you.
Deliverance from those armies of neighboring nations that are ready to invade you.
He'll spare you that.
He will actually bring blessings.
And he will send a savior who will be born in the city of David in Bethlehem.
This is what God will do.
But you have to listen to him.
You have to set your hearts to obey and to follow and to serve him.
You have to change your behavior and live as God requires.
And if you do that, the future will not be one of darkness and destruction and ruin.
And so in verses 6 and 7 that we read, eventually, I'm sorry about that.
But the people were talking to Micah and they were saying, well, look, what have we got to do?
Okay, we're with you.
Yeah, we forgot what God had done for us in the past.
All his mighty acts and how good he was.
We forgot all that.
But what have we got to do?
Have we got to bring, you know, burnt offerings?
Will that please God?
Will we, you know, will we sacrifice thousands of rams?
Would that do?
Or what about, will we even offer up our firstborn children?
Is that what God wants?
And Micah comes and in those famous words that I'm sure maybe nearly all of us must know and have heard about,
he says, no, look, you already know.
You know, the scriptures, there are so many different places where God has made it clear what he wants.
He's told you what he wants.
You're to do justly.
You're to love mercy.
And you're to walk humbly with your God.
Simple, but not easy.
Clear, not confusing.
On Wednesday, those of us who were here at our New Year's Day service,
our minister, Corey, was reminding us that this is a good time.
For people to have a checkup on their health.
Or maybe to have a checkup on their finances that everything is okay.
But it's also a very good time for a spiritual checkup, isn't it?
You know, the old year is past and God has promised to leave that in the past.
The new year is coming.
So how is it going to be with us?
We read what Jesus said about the character of his followers at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.
But there's a sense in which these few verses in Micah, they're just that bit clear.
They're very basic, aren't they?
To the Christian life as we've been taught it.
We are to do justly.
We are to love mercy.
And we're to walk humbly.
We're to do justly.
That just simply means, doesn't it, we are to live rightly with integrity.
The scriptures teach us again and again that our God is a God of love.
And it is righteousness that he loves.
He is a righteous God.
His ways are righteous.
Always, always have been.
And he wants his people to live righteously.
The prophet Habakkuk says, look, God is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity.
He hates that which is wrong, which is evil, which is wicked.
And doing justly, it just means, doesn't it, living rightly, honestly.
Not lying, not deceiving, not stealing, not taking advantage of other people.
But living in a way that's upright, that's fair, that's just, that's honest.
Keeping your word.
Now, we can all see that that's not happening in the world as it is at the minute.
We can all see that.
We can all see how other people aren't doing justly.
They're not living rightly.
You know, politicians, estate agents, second-hand car salesmen, they've become a stereotype, haven't they,
for people who are crooks, who are not doing right.
Now, not all of them are like that.
But we've just got used to thinking in that way, they're not going to be straight with you.
You know, and people talk about spin nowadays.
You know, where you turn the facts around so that they're not absolutely the way they should be presented,
but they're presented in a way that helps you.
You know, and it's almost become the norm that it's all right to cut corners in your work.
You know, it's kind of all right, you know, to run other people down and be critical of them.
You know what, look, the smart fellow, the guy who gets away with things.
There's kind of, you know, a wee bit of grudging respect.
An American told me not so long ago about the President-elect, Donald Trump,
how he'd actually got away with not paying tax for a while.
And I said, well, gosh, you know, I thought that would be kind of a bit strange.
You know, I think in Britain, we maybe wouldn't elect somebody who, you know, evaded tax or tax.
Oh, but he said, a lot of folk in America think that's a great idea,
and they would do it if they could.
You know, now, you know, Americans are no worse than us.
It just, it's pervasive, this lack of righteousness and integrity.
But we see it so easily in others.
But what about us?
Are we absolutely honest and upright, totally just in all of our dealings?
You know, because it's very easy to be tainted by the world's standards.
And honesty and integrity isn't the common virtue that it used to be.
I'm sure some of you will remember the story.
I think it was August or September last year,
the man who found a bag with £10,000 in used banknotes on the London Underground.
And the story became national news because he actually returned it.
And that was so unusual.
People would not expect that to happen.
But what about God?
We know how we ought to act with our relations, with our families,
with the people we work with, with our neighbours, the people in church.
But, you know, we have a good idea about that.
But, you know, Micah is challenging the people here
because they're going against God.
They're living in a way that is offending and hurting the living God.
And God himself says to them,
Look, what have I done to you, my people?
What have I done?
You know, how have I worried you?
You know, they weren't living for him.
And you and I have a relationship with God if we're Christians.
And are we being honest with God every day, every week?
Do we act justly towards him?
You see, we've all made vows, haven't we?
When we come to communion, we're making vows.
When we become members of a congregation like St. Columbus, we make vows.
And when we marry, when we're baptised as adults,
or we confirm our baptismal vows.
You know, all of those things, you know, we make these vows.
And God warns us in his word, the wise man in Ecclesiastes,
When thou vows to a vow unto God,
Defer not to pay it, for God has no pleasure in fools.
We have to honour those vows to God.
And, you know, it's by righteousness
that we will one day be judged when we stand before God.
Let's not be like those people.
John Calvin talked about the people who attended his church in Geneva.
And he said,
All of them have a vague general reverence for God.
But not all of them truly love him.
C.S. Lewis, he talked about people who were semi-believers.
You know, they believed enough to come to church and sing hymns and that,
but it didn't go really very deep.
Do justly.
Let's think about doing justly in this new year.
Love mercy.
Ours is a religion of the forgiven.
Somebody has written that.
And our God is a God of mercy,
a God of forgiveness.
Mercy, forgiveness is the bedrock of our faith.
And we are Christians
because we have been forgiven
by a merciful God.
And the word that Micah uses here,
it's a word,
Corey's explained it to us quite a few times,
a Hebrew word, chesed.
And it really means, you know, loving kindness.
Faithful loving kindness.
Always being honest and faithful.
And it embraces compassion as well.
You know, and we're told here not just to show mercy,
but to love mercy.
You know, and that means,
that means being glad,
being willing,
being delighted
to reach out in forgiveness
to people who've done us wrong.
To reach out in compassion
to people who are in need.
You know, not just to forgive,
in a way, grudgingly,
or with a bad grace,
or feeling,
well, it's my duty,
I have to do it.
That's not what God requires of us.
He wants us to love mercy.
And it's not so much the action
as the attitude.
And again, it comes from the heart.
True forgiveness,
true mercy comes from the heart.
But listen,
it is not easy.
For natural men and women,
in fact, it's impossible.
But even for those of us
who are Christians,
it is very hard.
And the Jewish theologian,
Dr. Jonathan Sachs,
he has a book called
To Heal a Fractured World.
And in it, he says,
forgiveness or mercy
is so difficult
because of justice.
And he's right, isn't he?
You know,
when we're told
we've got to forgive somebody,
they've been,
ah, but yeah,
but look what they did to me.
You know,
and that's the difficulty.
They should be punished,
not forgiven.
But for those of us
who've been forgiven
by Jesus,
it should be part of our life.
It should flow
from our hearts
because He is Lord
of our lives now.
In Mark 3,
there was awful words,
you know,
that Jesus,
it said He was grieved.
What was He grieved on?
When He saw the Pharisees,
He was grieved
at the hardness
of their hearts.
You know,
a hard-hearted,
an unforgiving Christian
is a contradiction
in terms.
There isn't any such thing.
There just isn't.
And again and again
in the Gospels,
we read of Jesus
reaching out
in compassion,
you know,
to those who were in need
and those who were
neglected by others.
Now,
you know,
the people that Jesus
reached out to,
some were suffering
and it was their own fault.
And some were suffering
and it wasn't their own fault.
But it didn't matter to him.
He reached out to them.
And,
you know,
you,
you would be very unusual
if you've never been wronged.
You know,
if someone has never
lied about you,
if someone has never
taken advantage of you.
And,
certainly as a Christian
in these days,
you're bound to have been mocked
or sneered at
or have your views
misrepresented.
I mean,
that,
that just all happens.
But the amazing thing
about grace
that we,
we sing about it
being amazing,
the amazing thing
about it is
that the grace of God,
when it transforms
our hearts,
makes us able,
if we're walking
closely enough
with God,
it makes us
able
to forgive
and to show compassion.
And,
by the way,
that's a,
a,
a big,
big part
of evangelism,
of reaching out
to folk
in our families
or our work
or whatever
who are not Christians.
because it is
a fact.
It is
Christians
with large hearts
that God
uses
in large
measure
to move
people
in large
measure.
Compassion.
There's so much
gratuitous
cruelty
and wickedness
in the world.
if we will
just love
mercy
and show it
what a difference
that can make,
what a witness
that can be.
And finally,
walk humbly
with your God.
Now,
you know enough
to know,
I'm sure,
that humility
doesn't mean
thinking that
you're no good,
that you're useless,
you won't ever
be able to do
anything to please
God.
That's not what
humility is.
Humility
is having
a realistic
view of yourself,
an honest view
of what you're like.
A sinner,
yes,
but a sinner
who has had
their heart
and life
transformed
by God.
The Puritan
John Flavell
helps us
to understand.
He wrote
on one occasion,
he says,
they that know
God
will be humble
and they
that know
themselves
will not
be proud.
And the book
of Proverbs
helps us
also to
understand it
by contrasting
it.
You know,
the man or woman
who is modest,
humble,
careful in the
way they live
is contrasted
with people
who are arrogant,
presumptuous,
and full of
themselves.
lives.
And, you know,
Micah speaks
here about
walking humbly,
walking
carefully
with your
God.
And he always
has in mind
here people
who already
have a faith.
You know,
people who have
already been
touched by
the grace of
God and had
their lives
transformed.
And he's
talking about
a life of
ongoing communion
and fellowship
with God.
Look,
we have to
have a realistic
take on
ourselves.
And when we
weep and
mourn for
the wrong
that we've
done,
the psalmist
promises,
a broken and a
contrite heart,
the Lord
will not
despise.
Jesus tells us,
blessed are the
poor in spirit,
those who
realize,
those of us
who realize
that we need
the grace of
God and the
help of God.
And blessed
are the merciful.
You know,
those who show
mercy will get
mercy.
But on this,
you know,
these are days,
it's difficult.
And let me tell
you, as you
get older,
you know,
it's not so
easy listening
to all that
goes on in
the world.
Not that our
generations were
any better than
any others,
but things
changed so
much.
When we were
growing up,
you know,
and Billy Graham
and others
will tell you,
you know,
children,
we were seen
and not heard.
Our opinions
didn't count.
You know,
nobody in school,
nobody wanted
to hear what you
thought about
Henry VIII
and his wife.
You know,
you were told
what to think.
Now,
it's a good
thing that
young minds
are made
to be
critical
and thinking.
But along
with that
has come
with self-promotion
and
entitlement,
you know,
and everybody
wants to
organize the
world
to suit
themselves,
to suit
them.
That's not
how we should
be.
That's not
how we should
be.
Vanity is
not a good
thing.
It is
good
to have
a realistic
view of
yourself.
There's a
wonderful
historical
parable
about it.
In the
days of
the
Austro-Hungarian
Empire,
the
emperors
were buried
in a little
friary
way outside
the city.
And
when the
emperor died,
after a
great service
in the
cathedral,
a great
procession
would make
its way
down out
of the
city to
this little
friary,
the grand
duke would
wrap on
the door,
a little
window would
open,
and who
is it?
Oh,
Franz
Ferdinand,
emperor of
the Holy
Roman Empire,
and whatever.
We don't
know him,
and it
would close.
And then
the duke
would wrap
again,
and who
is it?
Oh,
Franz
Ferdinand,
electoral,
of the
Pope,
Margrave
of Hungary,
and we
don't know
him.
And a
third time,
he would
wrap on
the window
would open.
Who is
it?
Franz
Ferdinand,
a wretched
sinner who
looks for
somewhere to
lay his
bones.
Only in
death were
those great
emperors
divested of
their vanity.
For us as
Christians,
we should be
going through
this world
remembering
that we
are just
sinners,
saved by
grace.
We've
finished an
old year,
and we're
beginning a
new year.
I'm sure
you've
reflected on
it,
however
young or
old you
are,
and you
remember that
God's been
good to you.
He has been
good.
God's been
good to you
and how in
his providence
he's taken
care of you
and brought
you to the
start of this
new year.
And you
can't doubt
his love for
you in giving
Jesus to be
your saviour.
So what do you
do in return?
What do we do
to show our
gratitude to
our loving God?
Well, we do
what he's
asked us to
do.
You know,
we do justly.
We live with
integrity in a
fallen world,
whatever it
costs.
We show
mercy.
We reach
out with
compassion to
everyone because
there's so little
of it about.
And we walk
humbly with
our God,
never forgetting
that we are
just sinners
saved by
grace.
That's what he
wants.
Nothing more,
nothing less,
nothing else.
Let's pray.
Our loving
Heavenly Father,
help us to
seal your
words in
our hearts
and to go
into this
new year
knowing the
grace of God
in our hearts
and in our
lives and
seeking,
Lord,
above all
other things
to honour
you by
doing justly,
by loving
mercy,
and by
walking humbly.
in Jesus name we pray this
Amen