Micah 6:8 (ESV) - 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?
(READ MICAH 6)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a brilliant German theologian, writer, and
pastor, lived during some of Germany’s darkest years. He wrote
prolifically and spoke courageously against Hitler’s horrific
persecution and genocide of millions of Jews. He challenged and scolded
significant factions of the German church for its silent complicity with
the Nazis. He once said, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
Bonhoeffer went so far as to participate in the plot to assassinate
Hitler, but was arrested in 1943. Just 23 days before Germany
surrendered in 1945, Bonhoeffer was executed by the Nazis.
Micah, a prophet of the Old Testament, courageously wrote and
spoke to the divided nation of Israel and Judah—the very people who were
to represent the reality of a covenant-loving, compassionate, and just
God. Instead, their character as a nation was selfish, dishonest, and
oppressive. To make matters worse, the people thought they could earn or
buy God’s approval and forgiveness through empty, meaningless offerings
(vs. 7-8)—from sacrificing a few calves, or thousands of rams, or even
offering up their own first-born offspring.
Micah responds with a hard-hitting message of what true, worthy
worship looks like—a life characterized by three profound things:
justice, mishpat in Hebrew; mercy, chesed; and humility. Mishpat emphasizes action—giving people their due, putting things right. In the Old Testament, the doing of misphat was most often toward the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, and the poor— those on the margins of society. Mercy, chesed,
is a heart attitude of compassion and grace, out of which flows a life
of justice. A life devoid of such virtue and action made any attempt at
worship, sacrificial or otherwise, a waste of time.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “Only he who cries out for the Jews may sing the Gregorian Chant.”
For God’s people to truly worship, Gregorian chant or otherwise, we are
called to do justice (putting things right), love mercy (live out of
deep compassion), and walk humbly with God. Worship, reimagined in this
way, is what God wants and what the world desperately needs.
PONDER: Is there an injustice or a wrong somewhere in your world that God is calling you to put right?
REFLECTION or DISCUSSION:
Micah was a prophet who spoke God’s truth to a people who lived
contrary to God’s way of loving others. While living in the midst of
those people, Micah speaks the words in Micah 6:8. Find a way you can
serve this month. The best way to pass on a heart of service is
by serving together with/for others. Where can you serve? How can you serve?
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