WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.919 Well, good morning again. Glad you're here this morning. As we turn to God's Word this morning, 00:00:05.060 --> 00:00:13.400 I want to make a bold statement, and it is this. You are here because God wants you to know Him 00:00:13.400 --> 00:00:20.320 in a life-giving, life-changing relationship. Now, you may be here because you're visiting 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:24.839 for the weekend, because family has dragged you, because this is what you do on Sunday morning. 00:00:24.839 --> 00:00:30.280 There may be all sorts of reasons why you think you've come here this morning, but God has a 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:37.640 purpose for you, by His Word, that you would be restored and renewed in your relationship with Him. 00:00:38.980 --> 00:00:46.219 Why is a restored relationship with God His purpose? Well, because we need Him. 00:00:48.219 --> 00:00:53.659 Our relationship with Him is not all that He would desire it to be. 00:00:54.840 --> 00:01:01.640 Now, some of you know this. Some of you are here because you're seeking and exploring Christianity. 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:07.600 You're reading the Bible and figuring out who is Jesus, and who is this God of the Bible, and why 00:01:07.600 --> 00:01:13.719 would He want a relationship with me, and what does that mean? You are so welcome to be here. We are so 00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:18.680 glad that you're here, and we hope that this message and your ongoing interaction with our church 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:26.760 will be of help in your search for God. Now, some of us are regulars. You've come here this morning at 00:01:26.760 --> 00:01:32.700 Trinity, and you are rejoicing in His grace today, and my hope is that this message will encourage you 00:01:32.700 --> 00:01:41.780 to know God more. But some of us are here, and are regulars maybe, but we don't need this, 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:51.659 and we need to wake up. Maybe we attend, give, serve, but God is far from our hearts. 00:01:51.659 --> 00:02:01.420 Maybe our relationship with God has turned to duty, to formalism, to superficiality. 00:02:03.259 --> 00:02:11.599 Maybe you are weary of the game of keeping it together. You've wearied of trusting God through 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:20.759 hard times. You've run from God to seek your own desires and goals. Maybe you've just grown cold, 00:02:20.759 --> 00:02:27.819 and you're not even sure why. Friends, I'll tell you, this week as I've studied this passage, 00:02:27.959 --> 00:02:34.199 God has used this in my heart. I don't come this morning as one who has it all together, 00:02:34.579 --> 00:02:41.139 and has figured all this out, or has no need of God. I need this message as much as you do this morning. 00:02:43.019 --> 00:02:49.439 Our message is from Micah, chapter 6, verses 1 through 8. We've been in a series in the book of Micah. 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:55.719 Micah. If you want to turn there, I forgot to get the page number, 731. Thank you, Lori. 00:02:56.659 --> 00:03:02.579 731 is in the Pew Bible, if you want to look. Micah 6. And remember, Micah's a prophet preaching 00:03:02.579 --> 00:03:11.199 in the 700s BC to the people of God, the southern kingdom primarily, after the fall of the northern 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:18.500 kingdom. And God is speaking a word of warning, and of judgment, and of hope. And this is what 00:03:18.500 --> 00:03:26.840 this is the overview of what Micah is doing, and we will see all of those things in our passage this 00:03:26.840 --> 00:03:33.620 morning. So Micah, chapter 6, verses 1 through 8. Let's go ahead and read it together, and then I'll pray. 00:03:33.620 --> 00:03:42.420 Hear what the Lord says. Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your 00:03:42.420 --> 00:03:49.659 voice. Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord. And you, enduring foundations of the earth, 00:03:49.780 --> 00:03:56.680 for the Lord has an indictment against His people, and He will contend with Israel. 00:03:56.680 --> 00:04:07.260 O my people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me. For I brought you up from 00:04:07.260 --> 00:04:13.460 the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery. And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, 00:04:13.600 --> 00:04:20.860 and Miriam. O my people, remember what Balak, king of Moab, devised, and what Balaam, the son of 00:04:20.860 --> 00:04:29.259 Baor, answered him. And what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the 00:04:29.259 --> 00:04:38.040 Lord. With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before 00:04:38.040 --> 00:04:45.780 Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, 00:04:45.779 --> 00:04:52.679 with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, 00:04:53.199 --> 00:05:01.719 the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good, 00:05:02.559 --> 00:05:11.219 and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and love kindness and to walk humbly 00:05:11.220 --> 00:05:20.900 with your God? Let's pray together. Lord, as we come to your word this morning, 00:05:21.320 --> 00:05:30.200 I ask, Lord, that you would help us. Lord, if we come and simply seek to understand your word, 00:05:30.440 --> 00:05:37.920 Lord, in our own strength, Lord, we will surely miss the richness, the fullness, 00:05:37.920 --> 00:05:44.960 and maybe even the plain meaning of it. For our hearts endlessly would turn away from the truth 00:05:44.960 --> 00:05:52.080 of your word. So, Lord, we ask this morning for your Holy Spirit to help us. We ask, Lord, 00:05:52.120 --> 00:05:57.879 that by your Holy Spirit, we would understand your word and that in understanding it, we would sit under 00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:05.240 it and receive it. God, I pray this morning that you would help me to speak your words as I ought. 00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:12.939 And together, Lord, we would sit under your word. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:23.660 What is the path to a restored relationship with God? In this passage, there are two sections. 00:06:24.079 --> 00:06:30.060 Verses 1 through 5, we'll talk about the problem. Verses 6 through 8 will show us the solution. 00:06:30.060 --> 00:06:35.839 So, let's look at these things in turn. Starting in verse 1 through 5, the problem. 00:06:36.379 --> 00:06:42.959 In verses 1 through 5, God reveals the depth of our alienation from God. That is, the depth of our 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:53.279 broken relationship with Him. This is a classic Old Testament word of accusation where God comes to 00:06:53.279 --> 00:07:01.179 His people and He says, I have something against you. He begins in verse 1 by calling on the creation 00:07:01.179 --> 00:07:08.039 itself, the mountains, the heavens and the earth to bear witness to what He's about to say. 00:07:08.699 --> 00:07:14.659 And He brings this word of indictment, which is a judicial word. It is what we do when we charge someone 00:07:14.659 --> 00:07:19.719 formally with a crime against the state. And it is what God is saying, 00:07:19.720 --> 00:07:25.940 my people have committed a crime against me. They've committed an offense, a transgression 00:07:25.940 --> 00:07:33.880 that needs to be addressed. And this is what verses 1 and 2 of our section do is God is setting up. 00:07:34.200 --> 00:07:37.560 One of the things that's really important as you're reading the prophets is to recognize that 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:43.020 the voice changes and it's always important to hear who's speaking, right? So, in verses 1 and 2, 00:07:43.019 --> 00:07:51.620 it seems that God is actually, this is Micah saying, God is saying to Micah, hey, stand up and plead this 00:07:51.620 --> 00:07:58.819 case, right? And then in verse 3, Micah is speaking for God. And so, this is God speaking directly to His 00:07:58.819 --> 00:08:06.099 people, having called the witnesses into the count. But He doesn't lambaste them the way He has. If you've 00:08:06.100 --> 00:08:12.700 been here for a while, you know that chapters 1, 2, and 3, God goes after them and tells them exactly what 00:08:12.700 --> 00:08:22.260 they've done wrong and everything. But here God goes not at the proving His case route, but the pleading His cause 00:08:22.260 --> 00:08:33.259 route. He turns from, I have an indictment with you, against you, to why have you done this? Why have you broken 00:08:33.259 --> 00:08:41.679 the relationship with me? Do you see this in verses 3, 4, and 5? Oh, my people, what have I done to you? 00:08:42.740 --> 00:08:49.200 Now, the reason He does this and why these things coincide is because in the Old Testament, the people 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:55.519 of God, the people to whom Micah were speaking, were in a covenant relationship with God. A covenant was a 00:08:55.519 --> 00:09:03.179 binding agreement between two parties where each had roles to play. This is what you see in Exodus 19, 00:09:03.259 --> 00:09:10.759 God, having brought His people out of Egypt, out of slavery, delivered them from the hands of Pharaoh 00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:17.659 and through the Red Sea, comes and says, I will be your God and you will be my people and I will protect 00:09:17.659 --> 00:09:23.840 you and I will provide for you. And you are called to be my people by obeying me and following me and 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:28.539 making me the object of your worship, exclusive of all others. 00:09:28.539 --> 00:09:38.379 And God comes to this people that He has loved and invited into this covenant relationship and He says, 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:47.279 how have I failed you? What have I done wrong? And this tone of pleading is not a tone of weakness, 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:54.959 but it's of strength. He's saying, like an abandoned lover, have I done anything to cause this to you? 00:09:54.960 --> 00:10:03.900 And then in verses 4 and 5, He says, this is what in fact I have done. This is my part in the 00:10:03.900 --> 00:10:09.720 relationship. Look with me again. He says, for I brought you out of the land of Egypt 00:10:09.720 --> 00:10:17.139 and redeemed you from the house of slavery. I have done the greatest work of salvation 00:10:17.139 --> 00:10:26.740 in the entire history by redeeming a million people from slavery to Egypt with my strong hand. 00:10:27.439 --> 00:10:36.240 I did a miracle in order to make you my people. And then He goes on, He says, not only that, 00:10:36.580 --> 00:10:43.059 but I gave you leaders. I gave you Moses and Aaron and Miriam. And these leaders 00:10:43.059 --> 00:10:51.419 were called by me to speak for me and to represent me so that you would know me well. 00:10:52.059 --> 00:10:56.039 I've provided for you the things that you need, the leaders that you need, 00:10:56.119 --> 00:11:02.619 so that you might continue in this covenant relationship. And then He shifts gears from Exodus 00:11:02.619 --> 00:11:09.099 and He shifts gears into the book of Numbers. And He says, do you remember as you, 00:11:09.100 --> 00:11:16.019 the chosen people were heading towards the promised land. You had to cross the territory of Moab. 00:11:16.379 --> 00:11:23.379 And the king of Moab, whose name was Balak, opposed you. And he called his prophet to come out. 00:11:23.860 --> 00:11:33.960 And as he came out, he said to his prophet, go out and curse these people so that they will not succeed. 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:44.400 And yet God foiled him. And the king of Moab, who sought to oppose the purposes of God and the people of God, 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:48.860 was foiled. And in the end, Balaam went out and he blessed God's people. 00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:52.440 Because it was the only words that God would allow him to speak. 00:11:52.440 --> 00:12:01.420 And they entered into the promised land, moving from Shittim, which is across the, 00:12:01.620 --> 00:12:08.220 on the eastern side of Jordan River to Gilgal, where you see in Joshua 5, they renewed their covenant. 00:12:08.840 --> 00:12:12.120 They renewed as they entered into the promised land that God was providing. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:20.060 So God's telling this story of their relationship to remind them that He has been faithful. 00:12:20.059 --> 00:12:25.879 No matter what obstacles they face, no matter what enemies that have stood up against them, 00:12:26.239 --> 00:12:32.819 no matter even their own failures, God has been faithful to them through all of this. 00:12:32.899 --> 00:12:35.399 And He says, how have I failed you? 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:39.659 I haven't. 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:42.139 I have been faithful. 00:12:42.439 --> 00:12:45.559 And I want you to know my redemptive works, 00:12:45.559 --> 00:12:52.459 to know my redemptive love for you in the saving acts that I have done for you. 00:12:56.019 --> 00:12:59.179 And so God comes to His people with this charge. 00:12:59.779 --> 00:13:05.059 And look, this charge has in its background all of the rest of the prophecy of Micah. 00:13:05.739 --> 00:13:07.859 So God has already said, 00:13:08.079 --> 00:13:09.279 you have oppressed the poor. 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:11.679 Remember, you have taken advantage of people. 00:13:11.839 --> 00:13:13.779 You have misused spiritual authority. 00:13:14.220 --> 00:13:16.319 You have been selfish in the way you have led. 00:13:16.659 --> 00:13:22.199 You have been unrighteous in many, many ways in your horizontal relationships with one another. 00:13:22.299 --> 00:13:27.519 And you have turned away from me to worship idols and to turn to treaties to protect yourself. 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:30.159 This is what I have done. 00:13:32.019 --> 00:13:33.559 Or this is what you have done. 00:13:33.620 --> 00:13:34.779 You have done all these things. 00:13:34.779 --> 00:13:38.059 So there has been content, but it's not in this passage. 00:13:38.539 --> 00:13:40.799 Here God is pleading for a renewal. 00:13:41.659 --> 00:13:44.159 He's saying, what do you have to say for yourself? 00:13:44.500 --> 00:13:45.779 How have I failed you? 00:13:46.379 --> 00:13:48.699 And the answer is, of course, none. 00:13:51.399 --> 00:13:54.459 And friends, as we think about how this applies to our life, 00:13:55.759 --> 00:13:58.539 God puts us on trial as well. 00:13:59.100 --> 00:14:03.659 He reminds us of His faithful love to His world and to His church. 00:14:04.779 --> 00:14:07.659 And He asks similar questions of us. 00:14:09.199 --> 00:14:12.059 He asks us, how have I failed you? 00:14:14.759 --> 00:14:27.240 And yet we find ourselves claiming to be God's people and yet failing to be the covenant people that He wants us to be. 00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:32.159 We cannot say that we love God and hate others and treat them with prejudice. 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:41.500 We cannot say that we love God and not love the people in the pews next to you who you find annoying or quirky or weird or difficult. 00:14:42.500 --> 00:14:48.940 We cannot say that we love God if our hearts are hardened towards those who are poor and needy. 00:14:48.940 --> 00:14:56.220 We cannot say that we love God if our church participation is superficial or rote. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:00.440 If we think that by just showing up on Sunday mornings, God will be pleased. 00:15:00.860 --> 00:15:08.100 Or that our formal affiliation or our baptism in the past will cover for our present faithlessness. 00:15:08.100 --> 00:15:18.519 If we think it's simply okay to go through the motions of church life, God would say it is not. 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:23.019 And that's for God's people, for those of you who would claim Christian. 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:30.920 But all of humanity stands under this charge of rejecting the God who has loved the world. 00:15:30.919 --> 00:15:41.939 We have refused God's claim on all of humanity and rejected that He has the right to call us to live in a certain way and to tell us what that ought to be. 00:15:42.679 --> 00:15:51.620 And instead of submitting ourselves as a created being to our Creator, we arrogantly position ourselves as the masters of our domain. 00:15:53.939 --> 00:15:57.379 We live as we please in our world, do we not? 00:15:57.379 --> 00:16:04.960 We live as we please and expect God to bless us and to make our lives easy and to make our hearts happy. 00:16:06.700 --> 00:16:10.460 But the self-centeredness of our sinful living is an offense to God. 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:13.720 Our selfishness rejects His common grace. 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:18.980 Provision is the one in whom we live and move and have our being. 00:16:18.980 --> 00:16:31.680 When God comes and brings this indictment to us, we recognize we cannot be in a right relationship with God while we reject Him at the same time. 00:16:32.620 --> 00:16:34.360 And we must heed this warning. 00:16:35.460 --> 00:16:37.519 We must not skip over this. 00:16:37.620 --> 00:16:40.680 In fact, this is God's plan for us this morning. 00:16:40.679 --> 00:16:47.659 It's that God would search our hearts to see if there is any wayward or wicked way in us. 00:16:47.959 --> 00:16:52.439 If there are ways that we are harboring sin against the Creator of the universe. 00:16:53.000 --> 00:17:01.899 If there are ways where God is revealing in our hearts right now that we are cold, that we are indifferent, that we are dismissive, 00:17:02.079 --> 00:17:06.419 or that we are rebellious against our Creator and our God. 00:17:06.420 --> 00:17:11.759 Search us, O God, and know our hearts. 00:17:12.360 --> 00:17:16.080 And show us if there be any wicked way in us. 00:17:17.580 --> 00:17:23.300 This is where we must start for our renewal in our relationship with God. 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:27.240 Because we don't know that there's a problem. 00:17:27.660 --> 00:17:29.320 We're not going to look for a solution. 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:31.820 We're just going to keep doing the same thing. 00:17:31.819 --> 00:17:39.279 But when we actually admit the depth of it, when we see that we have sinned against the Creator of the world, 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:42.720 and the God who has loved us in all the ways that He has, 00:17:43.500 --> 00:17:49.720 then we're positioned for renewal in our relationship with Him. 00:17:52.279 --> 00:17:58.279 God shows us our need so that He can show us the way for restoration. 00:17:58.279 --> 00:18:01.059 And this is what we see in verses 6 through 8. 00:18:01.859 --> 00:18:07.259 God has spoken to His people, and now in verses 6 and 7, it seems that the people respond. 00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:11.960 There's an acknowledgement that something must be done. 00:18:12.460 --> 00:18:14.259 And the question is, what shall I come? 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:16.240 What shall I come before? 00:18:16.339 --> 00:18:18.220 With what shall I come before the Lord? 00:18:18.500 --> 00:18:19.440 There's a recognition. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:22.899 I've got to do something to try to make this right. 00:18:22.900 --> 00:18:26.280 And I will tell you, I've wrestled with these verses this week, 00:18:26.300 --> 00:18:28.600 because the question I've had is, what is the tone? 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:30.060 Right? 00:18:30.259 --> 00:18:36.019 It's possible that this is an honest, humble seeker who's convicted of their sin and saying, 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:38.700 God, what can I do to make this right? 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:43.300 And verse 6 talks about, I'll follow the law. 00:18:43.420 --> 00:18:48.280 I'll bring the sacrifices that the law tells me to bring that might atone for my sin, 00:18:48.380 --> 00:18:49.960 or somehow make this right. 00:18:49.960 --> 00:18:54.539 And verse 7 seems to go beyond it and say, maybe that's not enough. 00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:56.299 Maybe I'll give more and more. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:19:02.500 The greatest treasures that I have, even my firstborn child, if I could give that to you, 00:19:02.900 --> 00:19:07.559 there's a sense of a humble, desperate desire to be restored to God. 00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:19.079 Or, this is more like a frustrated teenager saying, 00:19:19.379 --> 00:19:22.059 I can never please you. 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:23.899 There's nothing I can ever do. 00:19:23.980 --> 00:19:24.579 What do you want? 00:19:24.619 --> 00:19:25.539 I'll go get the moon. 00:19:25.619 --> 00:19:28.700 I'll give you a million dollars if I can just do this thing. 00:19:28.700 --> 00:19:40.559 And the hyperbole seems to point to me more towards the second, where it goes beyond just 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:45.279 the requirements of what God has shown them to say, what can I give you? 00:19:45.340 --> 00:19:46.299 My own child? 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:47.680 I'll give you my own child? 00:19:47.840 --> 00:19:48.440 Come on, God. 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:49.039 What do you think? 00:19:49.220 --> 00:19:50.840 What do you really want from me? 00:19:50.839 --> 00:19:59.259 It seems more of a slightly defiant and frustrated than a humble and desperate tone. 00:20:00.199 --> 00:20:07.740 Either way, however, it raises a question of, is there something that I can do? 00:20:07.859 --> 00:20:14.579 Some religious activity, some rite, some ritual, some sacrifice, some something, 00:20:14.579 --> 00:20:20.480 where I could actually do something to make right what is wrong in my relationship with God? 00:20:22.399 --> 00:20:24.579 And God replies in verse 8. 00:20:26.099 --> 00:20:28.939 This is where God shows a path of restoration. 00:20:31.639 --> 00:20:34.619 He says, he's shown you, oh man. 00:20:35.679 --> 00:20:37.339 Again, the prophet is speaking for God. 00:20:37.740 --> 00:20:43.159 God has already told you, oh humanity, all of you who have known God's word, 00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:46.040 who have heard him speak, you know what he wants. 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:51.080 He wants you to do justice. 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:54.640 And to love kindness. 00:20:55.580 --> 00:20:58.200 And to walk humbly with God. 00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:02.940 This is what I called you to in my covenant long ago. 00:21:03.259 --> 00:21:05.700 This is what I've restated to you through my prophets. 00:21:06.100 --> 00:21:10.740 This is what it means for you to be in a right relationship with me. 00:21:10.940 --> 00:21:11.920 To do justice. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:13.100 What does that mean? 00:21:13.160 --> 00:21:17.960 It means to practice our life with the just values that characterize God and his kingdom. 00:21:18.680 --> 00:21:21.460 It has a primarily relational aspect. 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:28.340 How do we live in such a way that we don't oppress the poor, but treat them fairly and mercifully? 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:34.740 How do we use the power that we have not to accumulate more power or to use others, 00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:39.080 but to serve others and to bless them and to do good to them? 00:21:39.079 --> 00:21:45.799 How do we take the wealth and positions that we have so that others might flourish, 00:21:45.879 --> 00:21:50.879 so that others might be built up rather than seeking our own kingdoms and glory? 00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:58.060 To do justice would be, you can go back and read Exodus 21 through 23. 00:21:58.680 --> 00:22:03.540 It's three chapters of commands on how to live in God's kingdom as a part of his covenant. 00:22:04.060 --> 00:22:10.760 And it has all these particularly mentioning care for those on the margins, for those in need, 00:22:10.759 --> 00:22:12.759 for those who are vulnerable, saying, 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:17.779 this is what it looks like for you to be just in my kingdom. 00:22:18.859 --> 00:22:21.680 And this is what he's calling us to do. 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:28.920 And friends, I wonder, if we think about our own lives, how well do we do in doing justice? 00:22:30.360 --> 00:22:35.039 What does justice look like in our home life with our family, our roommates? 00:22:35.840 --> 00:22:37.360 Do we take them from granted? 00:22:37.740 --> 00:22:39.060 Do we expect too much? 00:22:39.220 --> 00:22:40.400 Are we easily offended? 00:22:41.340 --> 00:22:43.620 Or are we gracious and patient? 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:47.420 Do we seek to serve them and to build them up? 00:22:47.420 --> 00:22:53.080 Do we take the time to invest in their well-being? 00:22:55.640 --> 00:22:59.900 Or are we fundamentally self-centered in how we do it? 00:23:01.460 --> 00:23:03.620 How do we treat those we work with? 00:23:04.460 --> 00:23:05.320 Are we demanding? 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:06.340 Are we harsh? 00:23:07.160 --> 00:23:08.180 Are we gossipy? 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:09.840 Are we complaining? 00:23:11.660 --> 00:23:13.960 Or do we celebrate their successes? 00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:21.319 Do we seek to help them thrive and survive, even at the cost of ourselves? 00:23:23.779 --> 00:23:25.140 How do we treat our neighbors? 00:23:27.019 --> 00:23:29.279 Literally, the people who live next door to us. 00:23:29.860 --> 00:23:30.900 Do we ignore them? 00:23:31.700 --> 00:23:34.180 It's so New England to just ignore your neighbors, 00:23:34.600 --> 00:23:38.140 to not even know who they are, to not have a conversation with them. 00:23:38.140 --> 00:23:44.360 But do we see them as divinely appointed relationships that God has brought into our life, 00:23:44.520 --> 00:23:46.740 even when they're loud, even when they're cranky, 00:23:46.820 --> 00:23:51.120 even when they have cats that poo in your garden, like ours do. 00:23:55.340 --> 00:23:57.600 Do we judge them or do we embrace them? 00:23:57.880 --> 00:24:00.220 Do we ignore them or do we welcome them? 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:06.540 How do we show justice in treating the people of God? 00:24:06.539 --> 00:24:10.420 Do we love those in church who love us? 00:24:11.619 --> 00:24:19.619 Or do we find ourselves gravitating towards and seeking to reach out to those who are on the edge, 00:24:19.960 --> 00:24:23.619 who needs a little extra care, a little extra attention? 00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:33.159 Friends, we don't need to fix all the injustices of the world to do justice. 00:24:33.160 --> 00:24:35.960 But we are called to do justice where we are, 00:24:36.279 --> 00:24:38.380 in the relationships that we have, 00:24:38.740 --> 00:24:40.779 with the opportunities that we have. 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:45.120 God says not only are we to do justice, 00:24:45.259 --> 00:24:46.580 but we're to love mercy. 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:48.600 Now this is a funny term, 00:24:48.700 --> 00:24:49.980 because it sounds like, 00:24:50.060 --> 00:24:52.080 and often many of the commentators said, 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:55.440 what this means is actually the same thing as the first one, 00:24:55.560 --> 00:24:57.019 in a different way, right? 00:24:57.140 --> 00:24:58.100 To love mercy, 00:24:58.220 --> 00:25:00.400 to love being merciful to those who are in need. 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:03.660 I don't actually think that's the right understanding of this. 00:25:03.740 --> 00:25:06.000 I'm going to take a slightly different take at it, 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:07.860 because the words here are, 00:25:08.259 --> 00:25:09.380 we are to love, 00:25:09.500 --> 00:25:10.600 that is to treasure, 00:25:10.840 --> 00:25:11.519 to value, 00:25:11.700 --> 00:25:12.580 to adore, 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:15.360 to be devoted to something, 00:25:15.840 --> 00:25:18.140 and that something here in, 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:18.960 okay, 00:25:19.100 --> 00:25:21.040 so in the ESV it's translated kindness, 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:24.519 in some of your other Bibles it may be translated mercy, 00:25:25.040 --> 00:25:27.500 it might be translated steadfast love. 00:25:27.500 --> 00:25:30.099 This is the glorious Hebrew word hesed, 00:25:30.500 --> 00:25:37.579 which is God's word for his covenant love for his people. 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:40.539 And it's what he said he was, 00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:41.420 when Moses said, 00:25:41.819 --> 00:25:43.160 show me who you are, 00:25:43.420 --> 00:25:44.559 in Exodus 34. 00:25:44.920 --> 00:25:46.079 And when God passed by, 00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:46.440 he said, 00:25:46.519 --> 00:25:46.900 the Lord, 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:47.400 the Lord, 00:25:47.740 --> 00:25:48.480 slow to anger, 00:25:48.619 --> 00:25:50.599 and abounding in hesed, 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:52.460 steadfast love. 00:25:52.460 --> 00:25:55.180 It is the love that David, 00:25:55.700 --> 00:25:56.319 King David, 00:25:56.519 --> 00:25:59.519 showed to Mephibosheth, 00:25:59.860 --> 00:26:02.319 the son of the rival house, 00:26:02.620 --> 00:26:05.680 that had sought to destroy him for years, 00:26:06.220 --> 00:26:09.220 when he welcomed him into his home, 00:26:11.100 --> 00:26:12.740 invited him to sit at his table, 00:26:12.940 --> 00:26:17.960 and to enjoy the bounty of his household. 00:26:17.960 --> 00:26:22.140 It is the father's love, 00:26:22.660 --> 00:26:24.180 pacing on the front porch, 00:26:24.299 --> 00:26:25.500 waiting for the prodigal. 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:32.019 It is an effective thing that has, 00:26:32.500 --> 00:26:33.740 moves our emotions. 00:26:34.840 --> 00:26:35.880 It is a commitment. 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:38.000 It is loyalty and faithfulness. 00:26:38.460 --> 00:26:41.759 And it is bonding ourselves to another, 00:26:42.340 --> 00:26:45.299 to give to them freely without restraint. 00:26:45.299 --> 00:26:48.500 And what I think God is saying here, 00:26:48.619 --> 00:26:51.299 is that his people are called to love hesed, 00:26:52.659 --> 00:26:54.299 to love covenant faithfulness, 00:26:55.399 --> 00:26:57.899 to be these kinds of people. 00:26:58.680 --> 00:27:01.299 And it does work its way out horizontally, 00:27:02.279 --> 00:27:04.539 in a lot of ways that doing justice does. 00:27:04.919 --> 00:27:05.779 But it means, 00:27:05.960 --> 00:27:06.299 I think primarily, 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:10.619 to treasure being God's covenant people, 00:27:10.879 --> 00:27:12.680 and to treasure the covenant God, 00:27:12.759 --> 00:27:14.220 who has called us into relationship, 00:27:14.220 --> 00:27:15.440 with him. 00:27:16.680 --> 00:27:17.940 This is what it means, 00:27:18.420 --> 00:27:20.059 to love hesed. 00:27:21.299 --> 00:27:23.519 It's to recommit to faithful devotion, 00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:25.299 and loyalty to God, 00:27:25.339 --> 00:27:27.519 and to love him wholeheartedly, 00:27:27.559 --> 00:27:28.680 and without reservation, 00:27:28.980 --> 00:27:30.940 because he has loved us, 00:27:31.299 --> 00:27:32.519 wholeheartedly, 00:27:32.620 --> 00:27:33.880 and without reservation. 00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:38.300 And so we ask ourselves, 00:27:38.660 --> 00:27:40.200 how do we treasure a relationship, 00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:42.620 that we have in our human world? 00:27:43.940 --> 00:27:45.280 We give them time. 00:27:46.500 --> 00:27:47.940 We give them our energy, 00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:49.160 our forethought. 00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:50.240 We plan. 00:27:50.740 --> 00:27:52.600 We consider their needs, 00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:53.780 when they're not around. 00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:55.680 Not just responsively, 00:27:55.800 --> 00:27:56.720 but proactively. 00:27:57.720 --> 00:27:59.020 We give our effort. 00:27:59.019 --> 00:28:00.799 We give our full attention, 00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:03.379 to the people, 00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:04.700 that we treasure, 00:28:05.259 --> 00:28:06.500 in our lives. 00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:08.920 It's where we invest, 00:28:08.980 --> 00:28:10.420 the best part of ourselves. 00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:12.839 It's the thing, 00:28:12.920 --> 00:28:13.759 that we think of, 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:15.019 the one that we think of, 00:28:15.079 --> 00:28:16.220 when our minds, 00:28:16.299 --> 00:28:17.059 aren't occupied, 00:28:17.220 --> 00:28:18.259 with other things. 00:28:20.259 --> 00:28:20.740 Friends, 00:28:20.740 --> 00:28:22.339 God wants us, 00:28:22.339 --> 00:28:24.900 to be consumed with him, 00:28:25.720 --> 00:28:26.900 and with loving him. 00:28:28.200 --> 00:28:28.720 First, 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:30.039 above all others. 00:28:32.220 --> 00:28:34.019 Do we seek to engage him? 00:28:34.579 --> 00:28:35.960 Do we make him a priority? 00:28:36.500 --> 00:28:37.839 Is he the biggest rock, 00:28:37.960 --> 00:28:39.480 that we put into our, 00:28:39.480 --> 00:28:41.279 Stephen Covey, 00:28:41.460 --> 00:28:43.700 time management planning program, 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:44.700 for those of you, 00:28:44.759 --> 00:28:45.279 who are old enough, 00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:46.620 to remember Stephen Covey? 00:28:47.259 --> 00:28:48.960 Is he our first priority, 00:28:49.059 --> 00:28:50.200 that we make him, 00:28:50.200 --> 00:28:51.420 the first thing, 00:28:51.539 --> 00:28:52.160 that we do? 00:28:52.920 --> 00:28:53.740 Loving him. 00:28:54.500 --> 00:28:55.319 Is he the one, 00:28:55.360 --> 00:28:56.340 that we bring along, 00:28:56.440 --> 00:28:57.940 into everything else we do? 00:28:58.160 --> 00:28:59.000 In our workplace, 00:28:59.319 --> 00:28:59.920 in our home, 00:29:00.039 --> 00:29:00.860 in our relationships, 00:29:01.100 --> 00:29:02.140 in our leisure time, 00:29:02.500 --> 00:29:03.319 in our hobbies. 00:29:03.860 --> 00:29:05.519 Is it serving God, 00:29:05.620 --> 00:29:06.680 and pleasing him, 00:29:06.840 --> 00:29:07.980 that drives us, 00:29:08.039 --> 00:29:09.299 in all of these things? 00:29:10.779 --> 00:29:12.059 Or have we allowed God, 00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:12.740 to be someone, 00:29:12.860 --> 00:29:13.900 that we take for granted? 00:29:14.420 --> 00:29:15.500 For him to become, 00:29:15.640 --> 00:29:17.100 the backdrop of our life, 00:29:17.100 --> 00:29:18.559 rather than the focal point, 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:19.759 of our life. 00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:21.980 How easily, 00:29:21.980 --> 00:29:23.360 we allow the weeds, 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:24.019 of this world, 00:29:24.120 --> 00:29:24.740 to choke out, 00:29:24.819 --> 00:29:25.660 our love for him. 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:27.259 How easily, 00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:28.360 we allow the hurts, 00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:29.240 and disappointments, 00:29:29.240 --> 00:29:29.720 of life, 00:29:29.819 --> 00:29:30.900 to harden our hearts. 00:29:32.080 --> 00:29:33.100 How easily, 00:29:33.100 --> 00:29:34.600 we allow the allure, 00:29:35.160 --> 00:29:36.299 of the shiny things, 00:29:36.360 --> 00:29:37.100 of this world, 00:29:37.880 --> 00:29:39.740 to grab our attention, 00:29:40.340 --> 00:29:41.840 and to distract us, 00:29:41.840 --> 00:29:42.740 from our devotion, 00:29:43.420 --> 00:29:44.180 to the Lord. 00:29:44.180 --> 00:29:44.279 God, 00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:47.420 it means, 00:29:47.420 --> 00:29:47.960 it means not only, 00:29:47.960 --> 00:29:49.340 devoting ourselves to him, 00:29:49.420 --> 00:29:50.299 but it also means, 00:29:50.380 --> 00:29:52.320 recognizing that he is our God, 00:29:52.500 --> 00:29:52.920 and therefore, 00:29:53.039 --> 00:29:53.840 he has the right, 00:29:53.960 --> 00:29:55.799 to transform every sphere, 00:29:55.960 --> 00:29:56.560 of our life. 00:29:58.640 --> 00:29:59.680 So he is able, 00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:00.640 to instruct us, 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:01.240 on ethics, 00:30:01.340 --> 00:30:02.019 in our workplace, 00:30:02.380 --> 00:30:03.380 on what we do, 00:30:03.420 --> 00:30:04.460 with our sex life, 00:30:04.600 --> 00:30:05.660 on how we file, 00:30:05.740 --> 00:30:06.740 our tax returns, 00:30:07.060 --> 00:30:08.140 on what we do, 00:30:08.200 --> 00:30:09.420 with our charitable giving, 00:30:09.420 --> 00:30:10.920 on how we spend, 00:30:10.980 --> 00:30:12.019 our leisure time, 00:30:12.420 --> 00:30:13.340 on how we take, 00:30:13.860 --> 00:30:15.680 our influence to others, 00:30:15.779 --> 00:30:16.779 and use it for good, 00:30:16.820 --> 00:30:17.460 or for evil. 00:30:19.000 --> 00:30:19.759 God says, 00:30:20.019 --> 00:30:20.940 all of these are mine, 00:30:21.580 --> 00:30:23.279 in this covenant relationship. 00:30:26.100 --> 00:30:26.580 Friends, 00:30:26.680 --> 00:30:27.700 do we treasure Christ, 00:30:27.800 --> 00:30:28.820 or do we fall back, 00:30:29.420 --> 00:30:30.360 on formality, 00:30:31.400 --> 00:30:32.700 and religious activity? 00:30:35.900 --> 00:30:37.080 Are our hearts, 00:30:37.240 --> 00:30:38.279 far from loving, 00:30:38.420 --> 00:30:39.300 and treasuring him? 00:30:40.420 --> 00:30:41.600 So doing justice, 00:30:41.800 --> 00:30:42.440 loving mercy, 00:30:43.340 --> 00:30:44.259 walking humbly, 00:30:44.519 --> 00:30:45.180 with God. 00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:47.279 This humility, 00:30:47.279 --> 00:30:48.620 is a fundamental part, 00:30:48.680 --> 00:30:49.279 of the covenant, 00:30:49.900 --> 00:30:50.800 recognizing that, 00:30:51.160 --> 00:30:51.860 we are not, 00:30:51.980 --> 00:30:52.620 in a relationship, 00:30:52.620 --> 00:30:53.240 with God, 00:30:53.320 --> 00:30:54.500 because we have anything, 00:30:54.700 --> 00:30:55.800 to commend ourselves. 00:30:56.300 --> 00:30:57.480 In Deuteronomy 7, 00:30:57.620 --> 00:30:58.500 Moses reminds, 00:30:59.000 --> 00:31:00.080 the people of this, 00:31:00.259 --> 00:31:01.220 in at the beginning, 00:31:01.420 --> 00:31:02.259 as they were entering, 00:31:02.460 --> 00:31:03.480 into the promised land. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:04.300 He said, 00:31:04.420 --> 00:31:05.259 for you are a people, 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:06.840 holy to the Lord your God, 00:31:06.920 --> 00:31:07.660 the Lord your God, 00:31:07.700 --> 00:31:08.480 has chosen you, 00:31:08.539 --> 00:31:09.200 to be a people, 00:31:09.420 --> 00:31:10.980 for his treasured possession, 00:31:10.980 --> 00:31:12.080 out of all the peoples, 00:31:12.080 --> 00:31:12.880 who are on the face, 00:31:12.880 --> 00:31:13.460 of the earth. 00:31:13.640 --> 00:31:14.740 It was not, 00:31:14.740 --> 00:31:15.700 because you, 00:31:15.940 --> 00:31:17.200 were more in number, 00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:18.340 than any other peoples, 00:31:18.440 --> 00:31:18.900 that the Lord, 00:31:18.980 --> 00:31:20.000 set his love on you, 00:31:20.140 --> 00:31:20.940 and chose you. 00:31:21.140 --> 00:31:21.779 For you were, 00:31:21.880 --> 00:31:23.140 the fewest of all people. 00:31:24.180 --> 00:31:25.340 But it's because, 00:31:25.460 --> 00:31:26.580 the Lord loves you. 00:31:28.340 --> 00:31:29.420 The humility, 00:31:29.420 --> 00:31:32.080 of relating to God, 00:31:32.080 --> 00:31:33.580 who has shown grace, 00:31:33.580 --> 00:31:34.259 like this, 00:31:34.259 --> 00:31:35.980 is absolutely fundamental. 00:31:36.500 --> 00:31:38.340 I have never done anything, 00:31:38.340 --> 00:31:39.200 to earn this. 00:31:39.420 --> 00:31:41.200 I can never do anything, 00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:42.960 to deserve it. 00:31:43.160 --> 00:31:44.300 There is nothing, 00:31:44.300 --> 00:31:45.560 that I have, 00:31:45.640 --> 00:31:46.580 in me, 00:31:46.980 --> 00:31:50.700 that obligates God, 00:31:50.880 --> 00:31:51.740 to love me. 00:31:52.420 --> 00:31:53.480 But rather, 00:31:53.779 --> 00:31:54.900 out of the fullness, 00:31:54.900 --> 00:31:56.140 of his love, 00:31:56.300 --> 00:31:57.320 and his grace, 00:31:57.400 --> 00:31:58.200 and his mercy, 00:31:58.460 --> 00:31:59.500 he reaches out, 00:31:59.560 --> 00:32:00.660 and grabs hold of us, 00:32:00.700 --> 00:32:01.600 and pulls us in, 00:32:01.740 --> 00:32:03.640 to this embracing relationship, 00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:04.160 and he says, 00:32:04.560 --> 00:32:06.680 I have made you mine. 00:32:06.680 --> 00:32:13.039 This is his chesed love, 00:32:13.140 --> 00:32:14.560 commitment to us. 00:32:15.400 --> 00:32:17.060 And we receive it, 00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:19.060 with all humility, 00:32:19.460 --> 00:32:20.240 and grace. 00:32:21.360 --> 00:32:23.060 Nothing in our hands, 00:32:23.400 --> 00:32:24.000 we bring. 00:32:24.799 --> 00:32:26.019 Only to the cross, 00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:26.640 we cling. 00:32:27.860 --> 00:32:28.759 And this humility, 00:32:28.759 --> 00:32:29.840 extends not only, 00:32:29.940 --> 00:32:31.400 to receiving this grace, 00:32:31.420 --> 00:32:32.180 of relationship, 00:32:32.620 --> 00:32:33.140 but again, 00:32:33.240 --> 00:32:34.539 to submitting to him, 00:32:34.600 --> 00:32:35.580 and following him. 00:32:35.860 --> 00:32:36.360 To saying, 00:32:36.359 --> 00:32:37.219 my life, 00:32:37.399 --> 00:32:39.039 is no longer my own. 00:32:39.139 --> 00:32:40.139 I have been bought, 00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:41.000 with the price, 00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:42.919 of the love of God, 00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:43.979 for me in Christ. 00:32:44.279 --> 00:32:44.919 And therefore, 00:32:45.279 --> 00:32:46.819 all of what I do, 00:32:48.059 --> 00:32:48.659 is now, 00:32:48.779 --> 00:32:50.119 reoriented, 00:32:50.299 --> 00:32:51.519 around the, 00:32:51.519 --> 00:32:53.159 gravitational center, 00:32:54.159 --> 00:32:54.839 of loving, 00:32:54.979 --> 00:32:55.859 and pleasing him. 00:32:56.019 --> 00:32:57.199 It is no longer, 00:32:57.199 --> 00:32:57.959 about me. 00:32:58.879 --> 00:33:00.399 It is about God. 00:33:00.959 --> 00:33:01.599 And that's true, 00:33:01.719 --> 00:33:02.879 of my whole life. 00:33:05.379 --> 00:33:05.899 Friends, 00:33:05.900 --> 00:33:06.620 how often, 00:33:06.620 --> 00:33:06.640 how often, 00:33:07.060 --> 00:33:10.240 do we act more like, 00:33:10.340 --> 00:33:11.000 a two-year-old? 00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:12.740 I can do it myself. 00:33:13.740 --> 00:33:14.540 How often, 00:33:14.540 --> 00:33:15.480 do we want to be, 00:33:15.480 --> 00:33:16.720 independent of God, 00:33:16.880 --> 00:33:18.800 in so many different ways? 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:23.340 But God calls us, 00:33:23.340 --> 00:33:24.259 to walk humbly, 00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:25.160 means, 00:33:25.820 --> 00:33:26.360 being open, 00:33:26.360 --> 00:33:27.400 to his instruction, 00:33:27.980 --> 00:33:28.759 being dependent, 00:33:29.240 --> 00:33:30.400 on his strength, 00:33:30.400 --> 00:33:32.040 and being aware, 00:33:32.040 --> 00:33:33.160 of our inability, 00:33:33.340 --> 00:33:33.720 apart, 00:33:34.060 --> 00:33:35.120 from his work, 00:33:35.180 --> 00:33:35.860 in our lives. 00:33:39.360 --> 00:33:40.240 How often, 00:33:40.320 --> 00:33:41.220 do we become proud, 00:33:41.580 --> 00:33:43.040 of our obedience, 00:33:43.620 --> 00:33:44.500 and of our righteousness? 00:33:45.580 --> 00:33:46.280 How often, 00:33:46.519 --> 00:33:47.500 do we see, 00:33:47.620 --> 00:33:48.280 our successes, 00:33:48.280 --> 00:33:48.940 as the fruit, 00:33:49.000 --> 00:33:49.920 of what we have done, 00:33:49.960 --> 00:33:50.580 and not a gift, 00:33:50.660 --> 00:33:51.140 from God? 00:33:51.180 --> 00:33:51.720 How often, 00:33:51.720 --> 00:33:52.460 do we proudly, 00:33:52.460 --> 00:33:53.620 refuse God's help, 00:33:54.120 --> 00:33:55.220 and try to live, 00:33:55.300 --> 00:33:55.820 on our own? 00:33:56.460 --> 00:33:57.019 How often, 00:33:57.099 --> 00:33:57.700 do we bristle, 00:33:57.839 --> 00:33:58.659 when God gently, 00:33:58.759 --> 00:33:59.419 reveals, 00:34:00.659 --> 00:34:01.619 our sin, 00:34:01.759 --> 00:34:02.519 and our failure? 00:34:04.200 --> 00:34:05.579 When he instructs us, 00:34:05.679 --> 00:34:06.399 we question, 00:34:06.779 --> 00:34:07.119 quibble, 00:34:07.279 --> 00:34:07.799 and doubt, 00:34:07.899 --> 00:34:08.900 and when he convicts us, 00:34:08.920 --> 00:34:09.440 of sin, 00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:10.980 we justify, 00:34:11.380 --> 00:34:11.819 excuse, 00:34:12.779 --> 00:34:13.779 and shift blame. 00:34:17.779 --> 00:34:18.500 So friends, 00:34:18.559 --> 00:34:19.420 this is what the prophet, 00:34:19.500 --> 00:34:20.799 Micah has for us today. 00:34:20.920 --> 00:34:21.619 Do justice, 00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:22.799 love kindness, 00:34:22.980 --> 00:34:23.539 walk humbly, 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:24.380 with your God. 00:34:26.680 --> 00:34:28.200 This is how we can be restored, 00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:29.280 to a right relationship, 00:34:29.280 --> 00:34:29.880 with God. 00:34:33.080 --> 00:34:33.780 Now friends, 00:34:33.840 --> 00:34:34.620 it would be very easy, 00:34:34.660 --> 00:34:35.760 to end this sermon here, 00:34:36.280 --> 00:34:37.260 and you would hear, 00:34:38.000 --> 00:34:39.019 a great sermon, 00:34:39.420 --> 00:34:40.160 exhorting you, 00:34:40.260 --> 00:34:41.080 to live a life, 00:34:42.360 --> 00:34:43.140 that you will never, 00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:43.960 be able to live. 00:34:48.940 --> 00:34:50.260 We cannot do this, 00:34:50.300 --> 00:34:50.760 on our own. 00:34:51.100 --> 00:34:52.200 We cannot be, 00:34:52.200 --> 00:34:52.880 Micah 6, 00:34:52.900 --> 00:34:53.440 8 people, 00:34:53.880 --> 00:34:54.820 by trying harder, 00:34:55.059 --> 00:34:55.740 to do better, 00:34:55.820 --> 00:34:57.860 and being the best self, 00:34:57.940 --> 00:34:58.660 that we can be. 00:35:00.860 --> 00:35:01.760 In fact, 00:35:02.039 --> 00:35:02.880 it's a calling, 00:35:02.980 --> 00:35:03.840 that defeats us. 00:35:04.940 --> 00:35:06.100 If we've ever had, 00:35:06.200 --> 00:35:06.700 the courage, 00:35:06.800 --> 00:35:07.760 to actually try, 00:35:07.860 --> 00:35:08.620 to do this, 00:35:09.280 --> 00:35:12.420 we would see, 00:35:12.539 --> 00:35:13.160 how far short, 00:35:13.280 --> 00:35:13.740 we fall. 00:35:16.080 --> 00:35:17.000 And verses 6, 00:35:17.039 --> 00:35:17.880 and 7 point out, 00:35:18.039 --> 00:35:19.400 this futility, 00:35:19.480 --> 00:35:20.000 a little bit. 00:35:20.080 --> 00:35:20.280 It says, 00:35:20.420 --> 00:35:21.280 what can we give, 00:35:21.280 --> 00:35:21.860 our obedience, 00:35:22.019 --> 00:35:22.460 our devotion, 00:35:22.580 --> 00:35:23.140 our humility? 00:35:23.139 --> 00:35:24.599 If we're honest, 00:35:24.719 --> 00:35:26.279 none of it will ever be enough. 00:35:26.900 --> 00:35:28.159 Our commitment to justice, 00:35:28.159 --> 00:35:29.659 is marred by self-interest. 00:35:29.819 --> 00:35:30.279 Our commitment, 00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:31.359 to covenantal living, 00:35:31.359 --> 00:35:32.319 is foiled, 00:35:32.420 --> 00:35:33.480 by our wayward hearts, 00:35:33.539 --> 00:35:34.639 and our walk of humility, 00:35:34.639 --> 00:35:35.799 is scarred, 00:35:35.879 --> 00:35:37.400 by our insistent, 00:35:37.440 --> 00:35:37.719 ego, 00:35:37.859 --> 00:35:38.500 and pride. 00:35:38.859 --> 00:35:40.420 And we cannot do this. 00:35:40.420 --> 00:35:46.000 But there's one who can't. 00:35:47.680 --> 00:35:48.659 There's one who did. 00:35:50.920 --> 00:35:52.300 Because Jesus came, 00:35:52.740 --> 00:35:54.180 to do what we couldn't do. 00:35:55.559 --> 00:35:56.559 Jesus came, 00:35:56.820 --> 00:35:57.380 to be, 00:35:58.000 --> 00:35:59.280 the perfect son, 00:35:59.860 --> 00:36:00.539 to be, 00:36:00.760 --> 00:36:01.980 the true vine, 00:36:02.059 --> 00:36:02.659 of Israel. 00:36:03.680 --> 00:36:04.340 He lived, 00:36:04.380 --> 00:36:05.260 a perfect life, 00:36:05.260 --> 00:36:05.900 of obedience. 00:36:06.079 --> 00:36:06.700 I have come, 00:36:06.820 --> 00:36:07.980 to do your will, 00:36:08.139 --> 00:36:08.700 O Lord, 00:36:09.039 --> 00:36:09.780 he said. 00:36:09.780 --> 00:36:10.840 And he did it, 00:36:10.840 --> 00:36:11.740 with justice, 00:36:12.160 --> 00:36:13.240 loving the needy, 00:36:13.580 --> 00:36:14.240 the marginalized, 00:36:14.620 --> 00:36:15.280 the vulnerable, 00:36:15.660 --> 00:36:16.340 the oppressed, 00:36:16.440 --> 00:36:17.080 and the poor. 00:36:17.500 --> 00:36:18.380 He did it, 00:36:18.780 --> 00:36:19.820 loving and walking, 00:36:20.060 --> 00:36:21.580 perfectly in line, 00:36:22.260 --> 00:36:23.580 with his heavenly father. 00:36:24.780 --> 00:36:26.120 As he walked this earth, 00:36:26.380 --> 00:36:27.540 he lived a life, 00:36:27.580 --> 00:36:28.760 of perfect obedience, 00:36:29.260 --> 00:36:30.240 doing justly. 00:36:30.920 --> 00:36:31.440 He, 00:36:31.640 --> 00:36:32.180 also, 00:36:32.420 --> 00:36:34.019 showed perfect devotion, 00:36:34.620 --> 00:36:35.320 to his father. 00:36:35.440 --> 00:36:36.220 In John 17, 00:36:36.400 --> 00:36:36.740 he says, 00:36:37.040 --> 00:36:38.320 I have glorified you, 00:36:38.320 --> 00:36:38.640 on earth. 00:36:38.700 --> 00:36:38.940 That is, 00:36:39.019 --> 00:36:40.120 I have made my life, 00:36:40.320 --> 00:36:41.180 not about me, 00:36:41.260 --> 00:36:42.200 but about you. 00:36:42.920 --> 00:36:44.420 And I have served you, 00:36:44.500 --> 00:36:45.500 and your purposes. 00:36:46.240 --> 00:36:47.360 Not my will, 00:36:47.440 --> 00:36:48.559 but yours be done. 00:36:48.780 --> 00:36:49.640 It's what he prayed, 00:36:49.760 --> 00:36:51.000 in the garden of Gethsemane. 00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:56.440 He loved his father, 00:36:56.440 --> 00:37:00.380 and was willing to go to the cross, 00:37:00.380 --> 00:37:02.500 for his father's purposes. 00:37:04.220 --> 00:37:04.559 And friends, 00:37:04.599 --> 00:37:06.579 these were not at cross purposes, 00:37:06.579 --> 00:37:07.720 with Jesus' desire. 00:37:08.260 --> 00:37:09.380 But together, 00:37:09.900 --> 00:37:12.000 they chose this path. 00:37:13.139 --> 00:37:14.420 Jesus walked humbly, 00:37:14.420 --> 00:37:18.659 with God. 00:37:19.260 --> 00:37:20.639 Not counting equality, 00:37:20.920 --> 00:37:21.639 with God, 00:37:21.740 --> 00:37:23.019 something to be grasped, 00:37:23.420 --> 00:37:24.760 as Philippians 2 says. 00:37:24.860 --> 00:37:25.800 But he humbled himself, 00:37:26.200 --> 00:37:27.420 took on the form of servants, 00:37:27.559 --> 00:37:28.180 and suffered, 00:37:28.619 --> 00:37:30.019 and died on the cross. 00:37:31.480 --> 00:37:32.059 Why? 00:37:33.980 --> 00:37:34.880 For us. 00:37:36.460 --> 00:37:37.940 Because though we have, 00:37:37.940 --> 00:37:40.139 no firstborn that we could offer, 00:37:40.139 --> 00:37:41.739 that would make ourselves, 00:37:41.739 --> 00:37:42.719 right with God. 00:37:44.779 --> 00:37:46.619 God has his firstborn. 00:37:48.339 --> 00:37:49.179 He says here, 00:37:49.559 --> 00:37:51.500 I will give it up for you. 00:37:52.859 --> 00:37:55.099 I will give the perfect sacrifice. 00:37:55.719 --> 00:37:57.539 I will atone for your sin. 00:37:57.940 --> 00:37:59.379 He will die for you, 00:37:59.500 --> 00:38:01.480 for all of your injustice, 00:38:01.679 --> 00:38:03.319 and all of your pride, 00:38:03.319 --> 00:38:06.420 and all of your fickle devotion. 00:38:06.420 --> 00:38:10.619 And he will call you, 00:38:11.420 --> 00:38:12.900 and redeem you, 00:38:12.900 --> 00:38:14.000 from these things. 00:38:18.760 --> 00:38:19.860 And yet we know, 00:38:20.039 --> 00:38:21.619 that he did not stay in the grave, 00:38:21.700 --> 00:38:22.920 having died for us, 00:38:22.980 --> 00:38:24.460 but he rose to new life. 00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:26.820 And he comes to us now, 00:38:26.920 --> 00:38:27.519 his people, 00:38:27.659 --> 00:38:28.280 and he says, 00:38:28.539 --> 00:38:30.420 what you cannot do in yourself, 00:38:30.720 --> 00:38:32.940 I am able to help you, 00:38:33.139 --> 00:38:34.360 to start to do. 00:38:34.360 --> 00:38:37.160 Because in my new resurrected life, 00:38:37.240 --> 00:38:38.260 I can give you, 00:38:38.480 --> 00:38:39.539 a new life, 00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:41.880 a new spiritual life, 00:38:41.940 --> 00:38:43.099 in relationship with God. 00:38:43.300 --> 00:38:44.380 I can bring you, 00:38:44.519 --> 00:38:45.539 into a new covenant, 00:38:45.740 --> 00:38:47.559 that is better than the old covenant. 00:38:47.900 --> 00:38:49.700 I can turn your heart of stone, 00:38:49.760 --> 00:38:50.800 into a heart of flesh, 00:38:50.940 --> 00:38:52.640 so that you can do justice, 00:38:52.800 --> 00:38:53.579 and love mercy, 00:38:54.019 --> 00:38:54.820 and walk humbly, 00:38:55.640 --> 00:38:56.480 with your God. 00:38:58.740 --> 00:39:00.380 And we don't do it again, 00:39:00.400 --> 00:39:02.019 by going back to an Old Testament, 00:39:02.340 --> 00:39:03.980 I am going to try to do this on my own. 00:39:04.360 --> 00:39:05.380 But we do this, 00:39:05.660 --> 00:39:06.900 in a New Testament way, 00:39:07.019 --> 00:39:07.900 of humbly, 00:39:08.059 --> 00:39:09.460 in dependence on the spirit, 00:39:09.920 --> 00:39:11.079 walking by faith, 00:39:11.160 --> 00:39:12.420 and treasuring Christ. 00:39:12.740 --> 00:39:14.120 When we do those things, 00:39:14.200 --> 00:39:15.140 when we see him, 00:39:15.519 --> 00:39:17.039 then God works in us, 00:39:17.079 --> 00:39:17.980 and we are able, 00:39:18.620 --> 00:39:20.200 to begin to be, 00:39:20.760 --> 00:39:22.720 the people that God calls us to be, 00:39:23.079 --> 00:39:25.039 in relationship to him. 00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:27.420 And this is how we have, 00:39:27.420 --> 00:39:29.940 a restored relationship with God. 00:39:29.940 --> 00:39:35.860 This is how we live out Micah 6, 00:39:35.900 --> 00:39:36.059 8, 00:39:36.139 --> 00:39:38.500 not in order to restore, 00:39:38.500 --> 00:39:39.980 our relationship with God, 00:39:40.420 --> 00:39:42.400 but out of the relationship, 00:39:42.400 --> 00:39:43.599 that God has restored, 00:39:43.740 --> 00:39:44.679 to us in Jesus, 00:39:45.440 --> 00:39:46.800 the one who has fulfilled, 00:39:46.940 --> 00:39:48.119 this passage for us. 00:39:49.700 --> 00:39:50.440 Let's pray. 00:39:52.380 --> 00:39:53.159 Lord Jesus, 00:39:53.159 --> 00:39:55.239 we come to you this morning, 00:39:55.879 --> 00:39:57.759 and we confess our need. 00:40:00.619 --> 00:40:01.579 Holy Spirit, 00:40:01.719 --> 00:40:02.000 work. 00:40:02.980 --> 00:40:04.239 Do your work now, 00:40:04.659 --> 00:40:06.859 as we sing, 00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:08.659 as we disperse, 00:40:08.739 --> 00:40:09.759 and scatter from here. 00:40:10.460 --> 00:40:11.739 Do your work in our hearts. 00:40:13.059 --> 00:40:13.359 Lord, 00:40:13.500 --> 00:40:15.099 show us where we are cold. 00:40:15.639 --> 00:40:17.480 Show us where we are rebellious. 00:40:17.480 --> 00:40:20.260 Show us where we are proud. 00:40:22.340 --> 00:40:25.240 Show us where we have become weary of you. 00:40:26.139 --> 00:40:28.059 And renew and restore us. 00:40:29.260 --> 00:40:29.740 Lord, 00:40:29.800 --> 00:40:30.699 by your spirit, 00:40:30.960 --> 00:40:32.519 draw us to Jesus, 00:40:33.679 --> 00:40:36.420 that we may be renewed in him. 00:40:37.780 --> 00:40:39.320 We pray this in Jesus' name. 00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:40.260 Amen.