Sermon in Minneapolis 02.09.2007

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, let us begin our services with opening prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, again this evening, we thank you for your everlasting word. We thank you for this moment and opportunity that we can gather together around the hearing of your word. We ask that you would be with us now and always. Bless our services according to your will. Feed our hungry, undying souls, and guide us along this narrow way of life. All of this we ask in the name of Jesus, your dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Today is the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, and this is known as Our Neighbor Sunday, the theme being our neighbor. The traditional gospel text is the verses of the Good Samaritan, where that Pharisee, that lawyer, asks, "Who is my neighbor?" But an Old Testament text that has been assigned for this Sunday, new after the rearrangement of the calendar, was taken from earlier in the church year and moved to this Sunday. It's from the prophet Micah, chapter 6, verses 6 through 8.

"Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with a thousand rams, or with ten 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 showed thee, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of thee? He has shown thee, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of thee? He has shown thee, O man, what is good, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." Amen.

The prophet Micah, who has written one of the so-called minor prophets, lived at the same time, or in other words, was a contemporary. He was a contemporary of Prophet Isaiah, Prophet Hosea, and Prophet Amos. These people all lived during the 8th century. It was during the time when the North and the South were divided into two nations. It was also soon before the time that the Northern Kingdom would be conquered and the people of the North would be taken into exile and disappear completely.

It was some years before this fall of the North took place, which was in 721. So this was perhaps a couple of decades, perhaps even three decades previous to this. It was during a time that was basically, at least in the outward sense, a time of peace and tranquility. But storm clouds were beginning to appear already on the surface. It was also during a time when there was a somewhat rapid turnover of kings, apparently both in the North and in the South.

This portion of God's Word that we read is at least the last verse, the first verse, verse 8, is perhaps one of the most well-known pieces of Scripture from the Old Testament. Often if people remember anything about the Old Testament, many people will refer to and quote Micah chapter 6, verse 8, even though they may not know anything else about the book of the prophet Micah.

So in the outward sense, it was a time of peace, a time of tranquility. And it was also a time of prosperity. The economic times were very good. And it was also a time of prosperity. But as often may take place with any nation and any people, during good times, it may happen so that people may, as if let down their guard, become unwatchful and begin a so-called backsliding in regards to their relationship with God, the living God.

So this portion that we read is very similar to other portions in the Old Testament, especially in the book of the prophet Isaiah in its first chapter. And Isaiah says, "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? Said the Lord. I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beefs. And I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of the he goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand? To tread my courts bring no more vain oblations. Incense is an abomination unto me. The new moons and the Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with. It is iniquity, even the solemn meeting."

So we could say that now God, the heavenly Father, who is the Almighty, the all-knowing, and the judge of all judges, is now calling together an assembly in his court. And he is bringing a lawsuit, a lawsuit against his own people. And he is calling witnesses. And the witnesses that are to be the jury to testify against his people are the hills and the mountains.

This is not the only time in the Bible where the writers of the Bible have alluded to this, that God calls witnesses. God calls to the hills and the mountains to be his witnesses. "Hear now what the Lord God says. Arise, contend before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, O mountains, the Lord's controversy, and you strong foundations of the earth. For the Lord has a controversy, or is bringing a lawsuit against his people, and he will plead with Israel."

So then God goes on to tell, after explaining his case, or that he is bringing his case before his people, he is saying that he has kept his contract. And he gives very many examples how he has been faithful and how he has kept his side of the deal. For example, he has brought them out of Egypt, and he has ransomed them from slavery there in the bondage of Egypt.

"O my people, what have I done unto you? And wherein have I wearied thee? Testify, attempt to testify against me. For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and I redeemed you out of the house of servants or of slaves. And I redeemed you out of the bondage there in Egypt."

Then God goes on to tell of past history that he also called leaders to be over and direct and guide his people. "And I sent before you," and he gives three examples, Moses and Moses' brother Aaron, and the sister of these two brothers, who was Miriam.

Then he also tells of some examples during the wilderness journey. "O my people, remember now what Balak, king of Moab, consulted." He was the king of Moab, and he wanted to forbid and prevent the people of Israel from passing through this land while they were on their wilderness journey toward the promised land.

And so what this king Balak did is he tried to get one of the preachers, one of the priests of the people of Israel, to come to his side and to have him curse his people. And so, Biliam came and went on to Balak, and Balak said, "Curse my people." Even though God told Biliam not to go, and even called him, and even caused that donkey to begin to speak, the animal, the donkey began to speak, and saw that angel in front of Biliam riding on the ass with a flaming sword.

And the donkey said, "Biliam, don't you see that angel with a sword? He is telling you not to go. Don't go." But still, Biliam was disobedient, disobedient to God, but obedient to that enemy king, Balak.

So finally, when he comes to Balak, Balak says, "Curse your people." But here then, Biliam does not do, finally, in the end, what Balak requests, but he blesses the people, rather than curses the people.

So here the prophet takes this as another example of how God is just, and God is faithful. "So, Balak, the king of Moab, consulted in what Biliam, the son of Baor, answered him from Shittim," which was the last place of lodging there during the wilderness journey, onto Gilgal, which was the first place of lodging once the people of Israel crossed over the River Jordan and were now in the Promised Land. "That you may know the righteousness of the Lord."

So these are examples of how God has been good, faithful, and just. Faithful, and has kept His promise. So, this is the background, the earlier verses in chapter 6, leading up to the verses then that were assigned as our text for today.

So then, he asks this rhetorical question. He is as if asking the question, on behalf of the people. God is speaking, or the prophet is God's advocate, speaking to the people, and asking the question as if it is coming out of God's mouth. "How then shall I come before the Lord, or my God, and bow myself before the High God?"

And as we know, during the Old Testament times, it was very common to practice sacrificial worship. It was their way of living. It was their way of worship. But it was not in the offering, presenting or doing the offering, in the work of the offering itself, that had any benefit. But it was always, in the end, the matter of the heart. What was the condition of the heart?

And so, God asked this question as if the people were asking this question. "How then shall I come before my God? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?" Typically, people would come with one animal, a calf, or an oxen, or a sheep, or maybe even a bird. But then, He multiplies the number of offerings, that perhaps if I would bring many offerings at one time, perhaps it would be a better, more pleasing sacrifice.

"Will the Lord be pleased with a thousand rams? Or perhaps, He will be pleased with ten thousands of rivers of oil." Oil, I suppose, that would be extracted from the sacrifices that were offered.

And then He even goes on to say this surprising matter, "Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression?" At that time, it was very common that neighboring countries would even offer human sacrifices upon their altars. And I don't know if it's in the Bible that there has ever been any allowance for this. There were at times when the people of Israel wanted this or attempted to do such.

But now God is asking this question as if they were asking, "Well, should I give my firstborn then, as a sacrifice for my transgression?" Not saying that this is the thing to do, and that this was being allowed, or this was done. But no, they even went to that extreme to ask such a question. Or the fruit of my own body for the sin of my soul.

Now this leads us up to the most, one of the most well-known verses in the Old Testament, as I mentioned. Many people, if they could quote anything from the Old Testament, it would be this next verse from the prophet Micah. Even though they may not know anything else about this book of the prophet Micah, or about the prophet himself.

So herein is the summary of God's will. And there are three things. "He has showed you, O man, what is good." And this is what God likes and is pleased in. Not in an offering of a bullock or a lamb. Not even if it is a thousand at one time. Not even if you would offer your firstborn or offer your own selves. No, this isn't what I am looking for or pleased in. But this is what I like and wish.

"O man, what is good? He showed thee, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?" And now it boils down to three things, which he will go on to list.

In the Old Testament times, at least the interpretation of the Old Testament by the rabbis, they would summarize the Torah, which are the instructions in the first five books of Moses, into 613 commands. There was a negative command for every day of the year. In other words, the rabbis said there was 365 do not dos or don'ts. But then in addition, there was 248 dos. And this adds up to 613.

So this is what the rabbis would do to summarize the will of God. But then during the New Testament time, Jesus was wishing to show the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. And Jesus summarized these 613 commands down to three. And this is what he said: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees and hypocrites, for you pay the tithe of mint and anise and cumin and have omitted the weightier matters of the law."

So they have tried to observe faithfully and religiously these 613 commands written in the Torah. But in the end, they have neglected or have failed to observe the three most important. "You have omitted the weightier or the most important matters of the law, which are judgment, mercy, and faith."

So here we can see that Jesus is now condensing 613 down to three. And these, Jesus said to the Pharisees, you should have done and not to leave the others undone.

And so Isaiah already in the New Testament time, or in the Old Testament time, reduced these down to two. And he says, "Maintain justice and do what is right."

And actually, the prophet Habakkuk reduced it even down to one. And this verse is quoted by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans, as well as it is quoted in the epistle to the Hebrews. A very important statement. In fact, this was one of the main themes of the Reformation during the time of Martin Luther.

So the prophet Habakkuk says, "The just shall live by faith."

We remember Jesus, when he was speaking of the law of Moses, he summarized it into ten commandments down into two. "Love God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul." That's the first. And the second is, "Love your neighbor just as you would love yourself."

And then when the Apostle Paul writes to the Romans and expounds on the law and the meaning of the law, he said, "Love is the fulfillment of the law."

So here, already the prophet Micah says, "And what does the Lord in the end require of you? Is it sacrifice? Is it sacrifices? Is it even human sacrifice? Or is it self-sacrifice? Or is it the 613 commands in the Torah? No. None of these. But this is what the Lord expects and requires of you." And he lists three.

"But to do justly." It is very common, for the Jewish people and Judaism yet today, to stress and emphasize the walk. And as we can see in the third item here, "to walk humbly with your God."

So they would emphasize the walk part of it. What we as human beings can do on our own part, what is our own effort, what is our own abilities. Are we successful or unsuccessful in ourselves?

So when we read even these three items, you could get the idea that the prophet is emphasizing what we as human beings would need to do to accomplish what we need to do to try to attempt on our own part to become heaven acceptable.

But if we read the entire message of the Holy Scriptures, we can see that this is not even possible at all. Because after the fall, the Lord God looked down from heaven and he saw that every human being was such a person that there was no one that even seeks after God. There is no one who does good, no, not one.

We have all gone astray, just like sheep. When the shepherd is smitten, the sheep will scatter. We have all gone astray and fallen short of the glory of God.

And therefore Jesus had to say that no person can come unto me. It's not possible. We would be like Adam when God began to call Adam. "Adam, Adam, where are you?" Adam fled the opposite direction. Didn't come toward the beckoning voice.

Therefore Jesus said, no person can even take one step toward me with his own strength or power unless God, the heavenly Father, would call him and draw him.

And when a person then is able to accept this call and invitation, able to receive the grace of repentance, and then the Gospel writer says, and God gave them power, gave them that strength to become a child of God.

And then after a person is a child of God, then from faith flows forth good works. And as Jesus said, a tree that is made good will then produce good fruits.

And Paul then said, and Paul then writes to the Galatians and enumerates these good fruits of faith: love, long suffering, patience, faithfulness, and meekness, so on and so forth.

And so here, what does the Lord require of you but to do justly? Or to deal justly? It's kind of interesting that in the historical context at that time, when the people were living in times of prosperity, those that were living the good times overlooked and neglected those who were in need and were experiencing difficulties and having trials in life.

And so this also was one of the things that God was displeased in. And we could say that this was one point in the idea of here that to do justly or to treat people justly and correctly.

It's interesting, and I don't know where the old Finnish Bible gets this, but it says, in this sentence from this context, but if we would open up this Finnish Bible here and read what it says, instead of dealing justly or treating people justly, the Finnish Bible says, "Keep the word of God."

So, I can hardly find a close connection between these two concepts or ideas, but nonetheless, it is a very important statement to keep or preserve the word of God. The word of God, which is the highest authority and guide in life and in faith.

Heavens and earths shall one day pass away, but the word of God shall never pass away. Not one tittle, not one comma, not one dot over the I will even disappear or become null or void.

And so, of course, when we think of this word justice or being just, this is where we get the word righteousness from. And of course, we are righteous by faith. God is the only one who is truly just. He is the only one who is truly correct.

But it is possible, even though we are faulty sinners and unworthy human beings on our own part, it is possible for us to be just, for to have this righteousness. And it is possible only when we own that righteousness which God has prepared, which is through His Son, Jesus Christ.

He is our righteousness, writes Paul to the Corinthians about Jesus. He is our redemption. He is our perfection.

So when we own Him by faith in our hearts, then as a fruit of faith comes forth this walk of life, the righteousness of life. Again, not for our own benefit, not of our own merits, but of the power and might of God by and through faith.

So do what the Lord requires of you: to do justly, and secondly, to love mercy. Again, in the old Finnish Bible it says, "Practice love."

Practice love. Again, love is not something that we can produce of ourselves, but it is one of the fruits of faith. As Paul writes, I think, to the Romans, that love is shed into our hearts by and through faith. It is the Holy Spirit.

So Jesus, when He is talking about the scribes and the Pharisees, He says, "Love mercy rather than sacrifice."

So love mercy rather than sacrifice. And what was one example of the expression of love? When Jesus is talking to His disciples about the last judgment. First He tells about the goats, those who are unacceptable, on the left side, and sent away, "Go away, I know you not."

Then He says to those on the right side, those who are heaven acceptable, He said, "When I was hungry, you fed me. When I was thirsty, you gave me drink. When I was without a house over my head, roof over my head, you took me in. When I was naked, you clothed me."

And so on and so forth. The right hand of a believer does not know what the left hand does. We do not even remember these good works. They are not as extra feathers in our cap. No, but they flow from faith as good works.

So the disciples said, "Lord, when did we ever do such things?" If we have done them, we have completely forgotten.

Jesus said, "What you have done to the least of my brethren, least of my followers, you have also done it to me as well."

So, do justly, love mercy or practice love, and then thirdly, to walk humbly with your God.

Of several of the Old Testament travelers, it is said how they were humble. Noah, we know, had this very difficult task of building that ark and preaching repentance to the unbelieving world around him for 120 years. They mocked him, they ridiculed him, and made fun of him. Not one person made repentance during 120 years, but he yet gave. He continued to do his work. He was obedient unto God, the Heavenly Father.

And therefore, God says of Noah, that he was a righteous man. He was blameless in his generation, and he walked with God. He was a humble man, obedient unto the will of God, the Heavenly Father.

Then the Bible says also of Moses, that he was a humble man, more humble than anyone on the face of this earth. Quite a statement about some person, but this is what the Bible said about Moses.

But Jesus, of course, above all, is the highest example. Of course, he is our Lord and Savior. He is our Master. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Then he says of himself, that "I am gentle and I am humble in heart. Come unto me, therefore, all of you who are burdened and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon me, for my yoke is light, and the burden is not heavy."

So, walk humbly with your God.

Therefore, Jesus once took as an example a little baby child up into his arms. And we could say that they are humble. They have no ability, we could say, to be proud or boastful and to begin to show off their feathers like a peacock, as we heard one brother say in one sermon in the recent past. But they are truly humble. They are meek.

So, Jesus takes a little child as an example up into his arms and he says that whoever does not become as a little child like this will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus has sometimes showed his emotions. A couple of times he cried, but sometimes he rejoiced. And he said, "I rejoice, O Lord, of heaven and earth, that you have hidden this matter of salvation from the wise and the prudent, but you have revealed it unto babes."

And we could say, to those with a childlike mind.

And therefore, the apostle Peter says that Jesus, that God is against the proud, but he gives his grace unto the humble. And therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.

So, dear brothers and sisters, I'm sure when we often look at ourselves, we see our black heart, but I'm sure we at times see things which are not like these three points or examples are as the prophet has here written.

Sometimes maybe pride comes to the surface. We may even feel boastful. We may do things that are not just toward another person. And I'm sure many times we are not one to hold on to. We are not one to always love mercy or practice love toward our neighbor. And we are not always one to always walk humbly with our God.

So I'm sure many times we feel our poorness and our weakness and our unsuccessfulness here on this walk of life. But our source of strength and our only perfection, our only perfection is in the merits of Christ Jesus. Our power is in the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe.

So even now we can cling with the hand of faith to these great promises of Christ Jesus and believe just as we find ourselves, sins forgiven in his name and precious atonement blood. And believe unto peace, freedom and joy. In Jesus name, Amen.