WHAT WILL SATISFY HIM? 6:6-8

SERMON NOTES FOR LIFE GROUP DISCUSSION

INTRODUCTION

At the heart of the question in today’s passage is an honest desire to know how God wants us to respond. And the suggested responses show our tendency to attempt to do something spectacular, but ultimately something that doesn’t require our personal involvement.

God does not call us to do the spectacular. He calls us to do the ordinary in a spectacular manner. Spectacular in its simplicity. Spectacular in its consistency. Spectacular in its aim. Spectacular because it flows out of our love for him and for others.

THE CONTEXT OF MICAH’S MESSAGE

Context is essential for right interpretation and application.

There is a local business I trade with on a frequent basis. I have a friend who works there, a young black man. Over the past ten years we have developed a good relationship filled with lots of joking. Over the years, I have noticed other people watch us go back and forth at each other. Some knew that we were joking, and they grinned. Others, at times, have looked very concerned when they heard us talking to each other and looked around to see if anybody else was hearing what they thought they were hearing.

The last time I saw my friend, I wanted to talk about the recent racial conflict in America. So I said, “You know what bothers me about these recent troubles?” He raised one eyebrow and cocked his head at me, obviously not knowing where I was going with this comment. He said, “What’s that Mr. Barbee?” I said, “People might hear us joking with each other and misunderstand the nature of our relationship.” With a straight face he took a step back and began holding up his hands, and said, “Mr. Barbee, if that happens, I have already decided that I’m going to step back, hold up my hands, and say, ‘I don’t know who this man is and why he’s saying these things to me.’ “And we couldn’t speak for a couple of minutes because we were laughing so hard. It’s important that we be careful what we say to one another. It’s equally important that we understand the context in which things are being said.

The basic context of the is that he is ministering at the same time as Isaiah, during the days of Jotham, , and . As he writes to Israel and Judah, Micah is addressing two issues: one external and one internal.

The external issue was the spreading power of the Assyrian empire. They had briefly stopped their expansionism as they heeded the prophetic call of Jonah in the previous generation. But time has passed and now they are bent on world domination. According

Micah 6:6-8 6.28.20 Page 1 of 9 to Bruce Waltke, they are invading and subduing kingdoms in order to use the wealth and resources of the other nations to fund their expansionist efforts. This was a serious issue, but it was not as deadly as the internal issue they faced.

Richard Phillips says the prophets saw the political and military problems as mere symptoms of a graver problem; Judah was rotting at the core. She clung to an outward show of religiosity but her heart no longer belonged to God. In the midst of this turmoil, Micah is ministering faithfully among the nation. God gave him favor with Hezekiah, who took his advice and briefly averted disaster. (Jeremiah 26:17-19)

1. WHAT KIND OF A SACRIFICE DOES GOD REQUIRE? – 6:6a

God rescued Israel from Egypt. In 6:1-2, God tells Judah and Israel to plead their case before the mountains. In 6:3-5 he lays out the evidence against them; He brought them up from Egypt, he rescued them from the curse of , and he delivered them across the Jordan into the Promised Land. And what have his people done? They have abandoned him.

God spared Israel from the curse of Balaam. The story of Balaam is found in Numbers 22- 24. Balak is concerned about the size of Israel as she is marching toward the Promised Land. So he sends for Balaam to come and curse Israel for him. Balaam seeks God’s direction and God tells him not to go. But Balak is offering Balaam a sizable sum of money if he will come and curse Israel. So he inquires of God again. God tells him to go but to only say what God specifically tells him to say. Once in place, he refuses to curse Israel, and infuriates Balak in the process (Numbers 24:13). Balaam gives the appearance of being faithful, but he was disobedient in going at all. In the end, Balaam loses his life (:8). Peter tells us that it was Balaam’s love of gold that caused him to disobey God. And it cost him his life. (2 Peter 2:15-16).

Jerusalem is now guilty of the same sin. Her love of gold has caused her to walk away from God. She has retained the appearance of religiosity but her heart is elsewhere. It was a time of prosperity, and Micah denounced the wealthy, who were oppressing the poor, and warned of impending judgment. (K&D)

It is in this context of the deliberate disobedience of God’s people that the questions come forth; what does God require of them?

2. HERE ARE SOME POSSIBILITIES – 6:6b-7 God desired his people to seek restoration with him, so what will it take? What evidence can they produce to prove their love? Micah’s hearers know that they should not come empty-handed, so what gift should they bring to the Lord? (Phillips)

Micah 6:6-8 6.28.20 Page 2 of 9 BURNT OFFERINGS

Each of the proposed offerings is expensive. The petitioner knows that they cannot bring a cheap gift to satisfy God.

The burnt offering was expensive because it was totally consumed. When a worshiper offered a fellowship offering, a part of the offering was returned to him. But not so with the burnt offering; it was totally consumed.

The offer of a calf carried with it not just the offering of the animal itself, but also the sunk cost of all the feed and care that had gone into raising the calf. If a year old calf was to be offered as a burnt offering, the worshiper was also offering the feed and care that had been expended upon that calf for a whole year. (Phillips)

RAMS AND OILS

The idea of a burnt offering was centered on the idea of quality. The offering of rams and oils was centered on the idea of quantity. (K&D)

It is possible the questioner has in mind the example of a king like Solomon. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings at a time (1 Kings 3:4), and for the dedication of the temple he sacrificed 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep (1 Kings 8:63). Would something like that suffice, or oil offerings in the tens of thousands? (Phillips)

MY FIRSTBORN

What could be a more costly sacrifice to bring to God other than the offer of a family member? The very thought of it immediately brings to mind the horror of the pagans who offered up their children to appease the gods. (Jeremiah 32:35; Ezekiel 20:31)

Or else they have in mind the example of God calling to offer up Isaac on Mount Moriah. Except in that case God provided a substitute so that Isaac did not have to be offered up. (Genesis 22:1-2)

The problem with these offerings is that, even though they are expensive, none of them are personal. They are all attempts at appeasing God. God is not interested in us using the things he has created to appease him and buy him off; he does not want our things, he wants our hearts.

This was the problem with Israel’s attitude toward the Lord. They would offer burnt offerings, year-old calves, thousands of rams, and tens of thousands of rivers of oil. But they would not offer God what he asked for: themselves, their hearts, their undivided faith, their unfeigned devotion. (Phillips)

Micah 6:6-8 6.28.20 Page 3 of 9 3. NO, HERE IS WHAT GOD REQUIRES – 6:8

The impersonal use of “he” that is used here is in the giving of the law. So when we read 6:8, we might read it as “Moses has already shown you what you are to do.” (K&D)

Note the connection with this passage and that of Deuteronomy 10:12-13, which also speaks of doing righteousness and exercising love. In many ways it is almost a direct quote. This is a good reminder for us that one of our principles for understanding Scripture is to interpret it by using Scripture.

Note also that God addresses this to the singular man, not to the plural men. (Phillips) That is not to say that all aren’t held accountable for doing these things. But rather it is to say that each person must do them at an individual level rather than to sit back and expect someone else to do them, in their place, at the collective level.

DO JUSTICE

To “do justice” is to take action. The word used for “justice” here is “mishpat,” which puts an emphasis on action. Tim Keller tells us that the term is used more than 200x in the OT. Its basic meaning is to do justice by punishing wrongdoers. It also lays out the groundwork for treating people equitably (Lev 24:22). But it means more than just the punishment of wrongdoing; it also means going forward and ensuring that people are given their rights. (Deut 18)

In the OT there were four groups of people that made up the “quartet of the vulnerable,” for whom justice is to be enacted: the widow, the orphan, the immigrant, and the poor. (Zech 7:10-11) God is serious about his people doing justice for the benefit of the powerless. (Tim Keller, Generous Justice, pp 3-18)

To “do justice” is carry out personal civil administration in the manner in which God would carry it out.

It is in the thought life of wise men – Prov 12:5

It is spoken by wise men – Ps 37:30

It is used by righteous magistrates in their judgment – Prov 29:4

It means that, when we are in a socially superior position, we are to step in and deliver the weaker and wronged party by punishing the oppressor. Yet Israel’s leaders had done just the opposite. (Waltke)

To do justice means to treat people fairly, to give them what is due to them. It means to offer them respect, integrity and fairness. (Phillips) (Gen 1:26-27)

Micah 6:6-8 6.28.20 Page 4 of 9 LOVE KINDNESS

The kindness that is discussed here is that which is “especially extended to the lowly, needy, and miserable.” We gain some sense of what Micah is saying here by considering other verses that use the same word. (Jeremiah 31:3; Hosea 11:4)

To show kindness to someone means to deliver the person who is in a weaker position due to some misfortune or other, not out of a sense of reluctance, but with a spirit of generosity, grace and loyalty. Acts of justice and succour motivated by a spirit of mercy guarantee the solidity and durability of the righteous covenant. (Waltke)

The word translated as “kindness” is one of the hardest words in the OT to translate with just one term: mercy, faithfulness, and loving-kindness, according to the context. It is the great description of God’s faithful, kind and merciful covenant love. To love kindness is to look on the weak and vulnerable with the eyes of God’s love and give them not what they deserve, but what they need. (Phillips)

We “do” justice but we “love” kindness. Reflecting back on Ben’s sermon last week, loving kindness means we do not come up with a theory as to why they are not really hurting as they say they are hurting. Instead, we spend our time looking for a way to rescue them from their troubles with a sense of love.

Paul Miller has this to say about “hesed” love. Sometimes hesed is translated as “steadfast love.” It combines commitment with sacrifice. Hesed is one-way love. Love without an exit strategy. When you love with hesed love, you bind yourself to the object of your love, no matter what the response is. So if the object of your love snaps at you, you still love that person. If you’ve had an argument with your spouse in which you were slighted or not heard, you refuse to retaliate through silence or withholding your affection. Your response to the other person is entirely independent of how that person treated you. Hesed love is stubborn love. (Paul Miller, A Loving Life, p. 24)

WALK HUMBLY WITH THE LORD YOUR GOD

The first two directives told us how we are to act toward others. This one tells us how to act toward God. To walk humbly is to walk with modesty.

To walk humbly with God does not mean to walk in humiliation but to walk in conformity with God’s will. It is not enough to perform the rituals; we must address the heart and walk with God from the heart first. Walking humbly with God means we reject substitutionary monetary gifts and dead moralism for a radical and continuing repentance in response to God’s demands. (Waltke)

To walk humbly with God means to walk “carefully;” to act with an awareness of the holiness and grace of the Lord. It means to cultivate a lifestyle wholly devoted to him, seeking his

Micah 6:6-8 6.28.20 Page 5 of 9 glory in all things and enjoying his pleasure in our lives. Instead of trying to occupy first place in our life, we willingly give first place to God and we take the backseat. (Phillips)

SUMMARY OF EXPOSITION As we have already pointed out, this Micah passage so closely echoes that of Deut 10:12- 13. Which in itself is based on Exodus 20:1-17, the Ten Commandments. But Micah is not only looking back, he is also pointing the way forward, to the words of Jesus. In Matthew 22:35-40, Jesus dealt with this very topic.

Richard Phillips asks the question, “What was the problem with the Israelites’ desire to bring sacrifices?” The deliverance of Israel from Egypt and their safe delivery into the Promised Land was both a fulfillment of God’s promise but it was also a picture. It is a picture of what God does for each one of us when he rescues us from sin and delivers us into the Promised Land of forgiveness and peace and reconciliation with Him. Our land of milk and honey is eternity stretching before us with unfettered fellowship with God. In light of this reality, what is it that God wants as a sacrifice? Does he want us to offer him “things” or does he want us to offer him “our heart?”

God wants it all: all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our mind. He wants us to love him in such a way that we give him the only thing we can give him, which is ourselves. And then he wants us to love others, who are also created in the image of God as we are, out of the overflow of the love we have for him.

This bears repeating. It is easy for us to say we love God. But we cannot love God without also loving people; all people.

Love God; love people.

APPLICATION

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO DO JUSTICE?

To offer respect, integrity and fairness.

There is a second term for justice that is often joined to the term we have here in Micah 6:8. It is the word “tzadeqah” and it refers to a life of right relationships. Alec Motyer defines the “righteous” as those “right with God and therefore committed to putting right all other relationships in life.” (Keller, Generous Justice, p 10)

Keller goes on to say that these two terms are often used side-by-side and give us the idea of doing social justice in the OT. The one term is focused on punishing wrongdoers and caring for the victims of unjust treatment. The second term points out the need to be in right relationship with other people so that it will become increasingly unnecessary to punish wrongdoers.

Micah 6:6-8 6.28.20 Page 6 of 9 (Keller, pp 10-11)

Positive example: my daughter and son-in-law who live among the poor and the immigrant community.

They have experienced what happens when the police delay responding to a 911 call because it is coming from a poor and immigrant community. But God has used that disappointment as a way for them to build deeper relationships with their neighbors as they band together to create a safer living space that benefits everyone.

Negative example: Pilate caves in to the mob.

My reading yesterday was from Luke 23:23-25. In light of this sermon, I noticed these three verses in a way I never have before.

Pilate is to be commended for making an effort to do the right thing. But in the end he caved to the demands of the crowd because their voices were stronger than his resolve. He was in a position where he could carry out justice, but instead he perverted justice. And even though he escaped with his political life and reputation intact, he is today paying the ultimate penalty for his choice.

Do not be surprised if you are not congratulated for doing justice in your world. But understand that Jesus has walked that road before you and he knows the way.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LOVE KINDNESS?

To sacrificially love someone by binding yourself to them no matter what their response is.

If you have not read this book yet, you should place it at the top of your reading list: The Gospel Comes with a House Key, by Rosaria Butterfield. My thoughts here drawn upon some of her comments in Chapter 3 (“Our Post-Christian World, The Kindness of Hospitality”)

Know the distinction between acceptance and approval.

Unbelievers need to see genuine acceptance from us. They need to see genuine love. They need to see that being made in the image of God is a higher calling, bestowing a greater dignity, than inventing your own rules for faith and life. . . Respect the rules of the community. Know how they want to be called.

Have the grace to say a little rather than feeling compelled to say everything there is to say on a subject.

There is a connection between the way we conduct ourselves during a Life Group discussion and the way we pray in a conversational manner. We are considerate of the

Micah 6:6-8 6.28.20 Page 7 of 9 other person; we do not dominate the conversation by doing all the talking or all the praying.

Ben has talked to us about being willing to listen. This is good and it is right. Too often we communicate that we aren’t interested in listening to others when we dump on them rather than listening to them and taking the time to grow a relationship.

Are you willing to get out of your echo chamber, and spend time with people who don’t agree with you and with whom you don’t agree? Why do you post the articles and comments on Facebook that you post? Do they invite others to have conversations with you? Or do they require that others believe what you believe before they can interact with you? Do they win a hearing for the gospel, or only for your political views? Do they invite or do they repel?

Are you willing to show kindness to them, by initiating a relationship with them and becoming their servant through your love and service?

HOW DO WE WALK HUMBLY WITH OUR GOD?

To walk in conformity with God’s will means that you grow in your understanding of what God wants from you.

God began preparing me at the beginning of the year for the racial tensions we now find ourselves experiencing.

As I was doing the preparatory reading for my second doctoral seminar, I read a book called “The High Definition Leader” by Dr. Derwin Gray. I didn’t enjoy it at the time I was reading it. Let me explain why.

Dr. Gray is a native of San Antonio. He played football at Brigham Young University and then played six to seven years in the NFL. A black athlete, he had married his white college girlfriend. God saved him while he was in the NFL, before injuries forced him to retire. He now pastors a multi-racial, multi-ethnic congregation in North Carolina. None of that was bothersome to me. But I disagreed with the argument he was making in his book.

Dr. Gray said that God commands us to plant “high definition” churches out of obedience to the Great Commission. He defines a high definition church as one that is deliberately planted as a multi-racial, multi-ethnic body of believers. He kept saying that this is what Paul was doing. Yet he phrased it in ways that made it sound to me more like he was preaching Martin Luther King, Jr. than the Apostle Paul. I thought his idea of fulfilling the Great Commission was to carry on the work of the 1960’s civil rights marchers. That was my take on the book up until the time I was finishing it. Then God amazed me with a sense of understanding I did not see coming.

In January, we had taken our break from our study of the Book of Acts. Before Christmas we had finished looking at Paul’s amazing three missionary journeys. We had carefully

Micah 6:6-8 6.28.20 Page 8 of 9 studied Paul’s practice of planting churches among the Gentiles. And then it began to dawn on me. Paul deliberately planted churches among the Gentile populations, because the Jews rejected him. And who were the Gentiles? They were everyone who were not Jews. In other words, Paul was deliberately planting multi-racial, multi-ethnic churches. And then it really hit me, because we had been steeped in the missiology of the Book of Acts. I realized that I was guilty of reading the Bible with political eyes. Whenever I read “Gentile,” I saw the presence of a white, monolithic voting bloc, instead of seeing it for the diversity of races and ethnicities which actually made up the Gentile world.

To walk humbly with God means that he will grow our understanding in surprising ways. In the midst of our latest round of racial tension, please do not shut off your heart from growing in your understanding of how God wants to call people to him from every tongue and tribe. Seek him about how you are to be involved in that task.

CONCLUSION

You should keep this in mind as you plan your week.

You should make it your priority to worship and love God.

And then you should look for practical ways in which you can love others out of the overflow of your love for God.

Love God; love people.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

 What are your some of the offerings you have been tempted to offer to God in the past instead of giving him your heart? (What is your version of burnt offerings & calves, thousands of rams and rivers of oils, or giving your firstborn?)

 “Each person must do them (justice, kindness, and walking with God) at an individual level rather than sitting back and expect someone else to do it for them at the collective level.” What opportunities do you have to “do justice” in your world on an individual basis?

 There were two suggestions made for enacting the admonition to “love kindness:” (1) learn the difference between acceptance and approval, and (2) say a little rather than saying everything. Which of these is more difficult for you to implement than the other? Why? How could they help you to better express kindness to the hurting?

 The Micah passage says we are to “love God, love people.” How would you describe the link between the two parts to someone who was wanting to know how they could improve their relationship with God? Which part do you struggle? How have you grown in either or both?

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