Justice, Mercy, Humility

I'd like to invite any children to Children's Church downstairs, ages 3 to 8.

You're welcome to head down there.

We've got some teachers there in the back.

Have the ushers.

Have an extra Bible or sermon outline if you'd like to have one of those for today.

Okay, an extra Bible or sermon outline If you'd like to have one of those for today.

I was sitting in my chair back there when the song ended and I didn't have an order of service.

I mean, you guys know me.

I'm like this social butterfly, right, I'm walking around talking to everybody.

Before the service I forgot to come over and get one.

I'm like you think it's time for the sermon?

Probably?

I watch the band or the orchestra as they start to move down.

I'm like, okay, I probably should go up there and I am not a social butterfly, by the way.

Okay, this morning we're going to take a walk through the book of Micah.

We'll learn some things about God and a few things that he expects of us.

Micah, whose name means who is like God, was a prophet who spoke to the southern kingdom of Judah during a time of moral decay and spiritual compromise.

This was around 740 BC to 690 BC, and Micah himself was preaching to the common people of the day.

In this time period, hosea, another prophet, was speaking to the northern tribes of Israel and this is actually during Isaiah's time too who was speaking in the south, but more to the inner court of leaders instead of the common people of the day.

Regarding Micah, his message remains very relevant for us today, as I think you will see, while kings and leaders sought power and wealth back in this time, micah reminded God's people of their true calling, their calling to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with their God.

Today, we'll look at this ancient prophet who could be speaking directly to us, challenging us to live out authentic faith in an often compromising world.

So, as we walk through this book this morning, there's three things we want to look at, and they're highlighted on the outline.

One God is a God who will judge injustice.

Two, god promises a future restoration.

And then the third point what does God require from his people and how we live?

Would you pray with me, father?

We thank you for this time to come together and read from your word and talk about your word a little bit, lord, and to get to know you more, father, and the expectations that you have of us, father, help us as we spend this time this morning, and your word goes out to do the work that you've sent it to do in each one of our hearts and minds, lord drawing us closer to you.

We pray in Christ's name.

So, like I said, we'll be walking through the book of Micah.

If you want to turn there, we'll be jumping around a little bit.

In Micah, this first point, god judges injustice.

The first main point, and under that we're going to talk a little bit about first, god holds leaders accountable for corruption.

And I'm going to step in at Micah 3, verses 1 through 4, and read there God holds leaders accountable for corruption.

Micah 3:1–4

And I said hear now, heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, is it not for you to know justice, you who hate good and love evil, you who tear off their skin from them and their flesh from their bones, you who eat the flesh of my people and tear off their skin from them and their flesh from their bones, you who eat the flesh of my people and tear off their skin from them, break their bones, chop them up as for a pot, as for meat in a kettle.

Then they will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer them.

Instead, he will hide his face from them at that time because they have practiced evil deeds, it says.

It says leaders who hate good and love evil face divine judgment and later on, when those same leaders call out to God, he will not hear them, he will hide his face from them.

Verses 1 through 3 that I read is really them, really this description of them living in corruption.

Verses 4 is the leaders themselves crying out.

When they will cry out to the Lord, he will not answer them.

Instead, he will hide his face from them at that time Crying out to God, but God turns his face from them as part of that judgment, because God holds leaders accountable for corruption.

I can't help but think, when I first read that of God turning his face away from them, of thinking of the blessing in number six, verses 24 through 25 in number six, if you remember this we hear this often the Lord is telling Moses how to tell Aaron to bless the people of Israel and he says to them the Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make his face shine upon you.

That's a positive thing.

We want the Lord's face to shine upon us and be gracious to you, but here, in this act of judgment for leaders who are corrupt, god turns his face from them.

Hebrews 13, 17 talks about leaders' accountability.

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls.

As those who will give an account, let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.

Often we hear that about how we should obey our leaders, but tucked in the middle of that is that they will give an account.

Leaders are held accountable and God is a judge.

God judges those who use leadership for corruption, and it falls under the category also of teaching.

Also in the New Testament, james 3.1 warns you will be judged more strictly.

Let many who become teachers my brethren, knowing that as such, you will incur stricter judgment.

God will judge injustice, and one of those ways he does that is by holding leaders accountable for corruption is by holding leaders accountable for corruption.

Under that first point, the second thing B God's hold those accountable who preach for profit.

Who preach for profit.

Again back to Micah, chapter 3, verses 5 through 7.

Micah 3:5–7

Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray.

When they have something to bite with their teeth, they cry Peace.

No-transcript.

And also verse 11 from that chapter.

From that chapter, her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe.

Her priests instruct for a price.

Her prophets divine for money.

Yet they lean on the Lord saying is not the Lord in our midst, calamity will not come upon us.

God condemns those who prophesy for money rather than for truth.

They were telling nice, peaceful things to those who fed them.

If you read back to that verse, verse five when they have something to bite with their teeth, they cry peace.

When they were feeding them, the prophets would say nice things when they were giving them things.

But when they had nothing, them things.

But when they were had nothing in their mouths, they were declaring war, bad things.

To those who did not add.

To the profit of these priests, god says darkness will come on their visions, their ability to prophesy will stop.

So as we move through verse 5 and get to verse 6, here's that immediate judgment.

Therefore, it will be night for you, darkness for you.

The sun will go down on the prophets Because God is a God who judges injustice and he holds those accountable who preach for profit.

This thought is similar to some things that Jeremiah said in Jeremiah, chapter 23, verses 16 through 17.

Jeremiah 23:16–17

Thus says the Lord of hosts do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you.

They are leading you into futility.

They speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the Lord.

They keep saying to those who despise me, the Lord has said you will have peace.

And as for everyone who walks in stubbornness of his own heart, they say calamity will not come upon you.

False prophets speaking visions of their own minds.

God has seen false prophets speaking peace over and over again to his people, when often the message should have been repent and turn to the Lord.

Repent and turn to your God.

False prophets, false teachers, will be judged.

Jesus confronted similar corruption in Matthew 23.

I want to turn there, matthew 23, 13 to 15, as Jesus confronts some similar corruption.

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people, for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go.

In Verse 14, because you devour widows' houses and, for a pretense, make long prayers.

Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

15, because you travel around the sea and the land to make one proselyte and then he become one and you make him twice as much as the son of hell.

Woe to you, blind guides who say whoever swears by the temple.

And it just goes on and on.

Woe to you Pharisees, hypocrites.

As God says, he will judge those who lead people astray.

God is a God that will judge injustice.

Point C under here.

God holds accountable those who take advantage of the weak and the vulnerable.

Back to the book of Micah, chapter 2.

Micah 2 · chapter mention

We're always going to move back to Micah as he walks us through these thoughts.

God holds those accountable who take advantage of the weak and the vulnerable.

Chapter 2, verse 1.

Woe to those who scheme iniquity, who work out evil on their beds.

When morning comes, they do it for it is the power of their hands.

They cover the fields and they seize them, and houses and take them away.

They rob a man in his house, a man in his inheritance.

Therefore, thus says the Lord Behold, I am planning against the family a calamity.

And verses 8 and 9.

Recently, my people have arisen as an enemy.

You strip the robe of the garment from the unsuspecting passerby.

And verses 8 and 9.

However, woe to you, he says, to those who covet fields and seize them.

Woe to you, to those who evict women from their homes.

God holds those accountable who take advantage of the weak and vulnerable, like this in Exodus 22,.

God's a little more specific Exodus 22,.

22 to 24,.

You shall not afflict any widow or orphan.

If you afflict him at all, and if he does cry out to me, I will surely hear his cry, my anger will be kindled and I will kill you with the sword and your wives shall become widows and the orphans.

Another small prophet, amos, condemns the mistreatment of the poor in Amos 5, verses 11 and 12.

Amos 5:11

You have planted pleasant vineyards, yet you will not drink its wine, for I know the transgressions are many and your sins are great, you who distress the righteous and accept bribes and turn aside the poor at the gate.

The first thing that we learn about God is that God will have judgment on injustice in our world.

That should give us hope as we look around, because sometimes we see a lot of injustice, injustice that often we feel like we can do nothing about.

But God's got it.

But God's got it.

No one's sneaking under his radar.

God's judgment on injustice.

Daniel Webster lived from 1782 to 1852.

He was an American lawyer, a statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the US Congress, served as the 14th and 19th Secretary of State.

Us Secretary of State Webster was one of the most prominent American lawyers of the 19th century, arguing over 200 cases before the Supreme Court during his career.

When asked what is the greatest thought that's ever entered your mind, webster reflected for a moment and replied the thought of my personal accountability before God as a statesman and a lawyer before the Supreme Court.

He had power, but the thought of his personal accountability before God because he understood that God is a God who will judge in justice.

Back to the book of Micah, chapters 4 and 5.

Micah 4 · chapter mention

The second point isn't nearly as heavy.

It's awesome because our God is not only a God of judgment, he's a God of restoration.

God's promise of restoration is the second thing we want to learn about God.

First, point A the promise of a future peace.

Micah, chapter 4, verses 1 through 5.

Micah 4:1–5

It will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains.

It will be raised above the hills and the people will stream to it.

Many nations will come and say come and let us go to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.

For from Zion will go forth the law, even the word of the Lord, from Jerusalem, and he will judge between many peoples and render decisions for the mighty and for distant nations.

Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not rise against nation and never again will they train for war.

Each of them will sit under their vine and under their fig tree, with no one to make them afraid.

From the mouth of the Lord, the host has spoken.

Though all the peoples walk, each in the name of his God, as for us, we will walk in the name of the Lord, our God, forever.

Visions of nations streaming to God's mountain, a restoration, promises of future peace.

There's a verse, or some verses that are very close to that from the book of Isaiah, isaiah 2, verses 2 through 4.

Isaiah 2:2–4

It's almost identical.

It's not quite, it's a little different.

And this is it.

Now it will come about in the last days of the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains and it will be raised above the hills and all the nations will stream to it.

Isaiah says, and many people will come and say come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob, that he may teach us concerning his ways and that we may walk in his paths.

For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and he will judge between nations and render decisions for many peoples, and they will hammer their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not rise up against nation and never again will they learn war.

The promise of a future peace, this is our God, a God who promises restoration.

Christ is given as our peace in the New Testament, and we see that in many places, but one of them is in Ephesians 2, verses 14 through 18.

Ephesians 2:14–18

It foreshadows the peace that Christ will bring to us.

It says this, for he himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, abolishing in his flesh the enmity, which is the law of the commandments contained in ordinances, so that in he himself he might make the two into a new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having put to death enmity.

And he came and he preached peace, peace.

I keep wanting to put a T in there for some reason today Peace to those who were far away and peace to those who were near, for through him we have both our access and one spirit, god the Father.

God's promise of restoration, a promise of a future peace.

Number two the promise of a Messiah from Bethlehem, micah, chapter 5.

Micah 5 · chapter mention

God's promise of restoration, point B the promise of a Messiah from Bethlehem, chapter 5, verses 2 through part of 5.

But as for you, bethlehem Ephratath, too little to be among the clans of Judah For you, from you, one will go forth to me to be a ruler in Israel.

His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.

Therefore, he will give them up until the time when she who is in labor has born a child.

Then the remainder of his brethren will return to the sons of Israel and he will raise a shepherd, his flock, in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord, his God, and they will remain, because at that time he will be great till the ends of the earth.

This one will be our peace.

God promises restoration.

The promise of a Messiah from Bethlehem is where that restoration comes through.

Later we see that prophecy fulfilled in Matthew 2.1.

Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod, the king magi from the east arrived from Jerusalem.

We know how that goes.

But the point of that verse in relationship to this message after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, god's promised peace coming through Bethlehem, jesus as our peace, connects to John 14, 27.

My peace, I leave you.

Christ says.

My peace I give to you, not as the world gives.

I give to you.

Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

He is a God of restoration.

And point C, the remnant preserved by grace, Micah 5, verses 7 and 8.

Micah 5:7

Then the remnant of Jacob will be among many peoples like dew from the Lord, like showers on vegetation which do not wait for man or delay for the sons of men, for the sons of men.

The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, among many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the field, like a young lion among the flocks of the sheep which, if he passes through, tramples down and tears and there is none to rescue.

God always preserves a faithful remnant Because he's a God of restoration.

In the New Testament, romans 5, paul talks about this.

It gives us a little more clarity for how it applies to us.

It connects to this concept of a remnant chosen by grace.

Romans 11.5 says In the same way, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice.

We see many times throughout the Old Testament God preserving a remnant, a stump, something that comes forward One of those areas in 1 Kings 19,.

It talks about God preserving the 7,000 who did not bow down to Baal.

God is a God of restoration.

Sometimes that restoration is immediate and partial and other times that restoration may feel like it's never going to come as we suffer through things and we may not see that restoration until heaven, and we certainly won't see it fully until then.

Sometimes there's long suffering and then a partial restoration.

One example of that is Corrie Ten Boom.

A lot of you know her story.

She lived from 1892 to 1983.

A Dutch Christian who lived with her family hid Jews from the Nazis during World War II.

After her arrest she endured Ravensbrück concentration camp where her sister died.

She survived.

As the story is told simply by a clerical error being released days before her age group was to be executed.

Being released days before her age group was to be executed.

After the war, she traveled worldwide sharing her testimony of God's faithfulness.

When asked how she maintained hope after such suffering, corrie simply replied there is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still.

This wasn't mere theology on her part of book-learning theology, but a lived experience of God's restoration after many dark days and many dark valleys, because God is a God of restoration.

So, as I said at the beginning, there's three things we wanted to go to regarding the book of Micah.

The first two are things God teaches us about ourselves.

We have seen God as a God of justice.

He will hold leaders accountable for corruption, he will hold those who use religion for profit accountable and he will hold those accountable who take advantage of the weak.

We've seen that he's a God of restoration His promises of people streaming back to God's mountain, his promises of sending a Messiah through Bethlehem for us and his promise of, and preserving of a remnant of his people.

The third point is God's requirement for his people.

Knowing all this, what does God require from his people?

And this comes from Micah, chapters 6 and 7, as we continue to move through the book, and I am going to read Micah 6, verses 6 through 8.

Micah 6 · chapter mention Micah 6:6–8

With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high?

Shall I come to him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves?

Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

There's three things in these verses that God tells us.

Michael lays them out Justice, justice.

More than simply religious ritual, god desires justice over empty sacrifices.

I want to turn to the book of Isaiah, chapter 1.

Isaiah 1 · chapter mention

Isaiah, chapter 1, verses 11 through 17.

Isaiah 1:11–17

Prioritizing justice over ritual in our lives, chapter 1, verse 11.

Isaiah, what are your multiplied sacrifices to me, says the Lord.

I've had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

When you come to appear before me, who requires of you this trampling of my courts?

Bring your worthless offerings, no longer incenses and abomination to me.

New moon and Sabbath calling of the assemblies.

I cannot endure iniquity in the solemn assembly.

I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts.

They have become a burden to me.

I am weary of bearing them.

So when you have spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you.

Even though you multiply prayers, I do not listen.

Your hands are covered with blood.

Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean.

Remove the evil deeds from my sight.

Cease to do evil.

Learn to do good.

Seek justice, remove, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.

Justice, righteousness, more than simply ritual.

Jesus echoes this in Matthew 23, 23,.

Justice, mercy and faithfulness.

God's requirements of his people is justice.

His second requirement from Micah, chapter six.

He has showed you, o man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you.

To act justly and to love mercy and my NASB says kindness, but I know the verses to love mercy and it seems to fit with what we are to understand here Mercy, reflecting God's character, micah 6.8,.

He has told you, o man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you.

But to do justice and to love mercy, also from Micah, chapter 7, 18 and 19,.

Micah 7 · chapter mention

Showing God's heart of mercy, chapter 7, verses 18 and 19,.

Showing God's heart of mercy, chapter 7, verses 18 and 19,.

Who is like you, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious acts of the remnant of his possession.

He does not retain his anger forever because he delights in unchanging love.

He will have compassion on us, he will tread our iniquities underfoot, but, yes, he will cast away all their sins into the depths of the sea.

God delights in showing mercy.

God delights in pardoning sin.

Exodus 34.6 talks of God abounding in loving, kindness and truth.

He has showed you, o man, what is good.

What does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy.

Jesus commands us in Luke 6.36, be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

The first two points of the sermon was just understanding some things about God.

This third point is the requirements for his people Act justly, love mercy.

And number three, walk humbly with your God.

He has told you, oh man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Walking humbly with God is a daily commitment.

It's not easy.

There's a verse we often lots of memorized to help us with things Proverbs 3, 5, and 6.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, and all your ways, acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.

But if we think about that verse, it really has to do with humility Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Can't trust in me, can't trust in anything outside me except for the Lord.

I can't trust in all the things we could line up in 2025 that we may have trust in, but we need to humbly walk with God and trust only in Him.

Do not lean on your own understanding.

I can't even trust my own thoughts, not if they don't align with the Scriptures.

We must humbly say my own thoughts could be wrong.

That's what walking humbly looks like.

And acknowledge him in all your ways and he will make your path straight.

He has shown you, oh man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you To act justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly.

The book of James, chapter 4, verses 6 through 10.

James 4:6–10

Let's turn there, because there's just one more book we need to turn to Last time Hebrews I'm sorry, james, chapter 4, verses 6 through 10.

James 4:6–10

Walk humbly.

Hebrews, chapter 4, verses 6 through 10.

Hebrews 4:6–10

But he gives a greater grace.

Therefore, it says God opposed the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Submit, therefore, to God.

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts.

You double-minded, be miserable and mourn and weep.

Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into gloom.

Verse 10.

Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Humble yourselves before the presence of the Lord, and he will exalt you.

We learned God has a judgment coming for all injustice and we can trust in that.

God has a promise of restoration, and God had a message for us to love justice, mercy and humility.

Micah's message should cut through the noise of our busy lives.

In a world where often we're obsessed with power or wealth or status, god calls us to something radically different Justice that defends the vulnerable, mercy that reflects his heart, and humility that acknowledges our total dependence upon him.

As we leave today, may we carry these words from Micah 6 and 8, not just in our minds but in our actions.

He has shown you, oh man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you To act justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with your God.

They're not just nice religious sediments.

They should be authentic expressions of our faith that honors God, a God who gave his very son for us.

Let's commit ourselves to being people who don't just hear God's word but does what it says, bringing justice, mercy and humility into our homes, into our church, into our workplaces and into our time of communion together as well.

Father, thank you for the privilege of supporting your work here and in places close by and far away, praise you for that opportunity and ask that you would use these funds to spread the word of God, the gospel, in our time, in Jesus' name, amen.

Amen into the world you created.

You traded your crown for a cross.

You willingly died.

Your innocent life paid the cost.