The Purest Religion

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,

In 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? 

He has told you, O man, what is good;

And what does the LORD require of you

But to do justice, to love kindness (Heb. "chesed" meaning lovingkindness or mercy),

And to walk humbly with your God?

What does the Lord require of His people? What does God want from me? The prophet Micah laid it out plainly in his oracle before the people of Judah: do justice, love mercy and walk humbly before God. Three imperatives, all three tied together. To do justice is to make things right, to be on the side of fairness and righteousness. But what is mercy/kindness? By definition it is the withholding of deserved punishment, or... dare I say... the opposite of justice. Be just, God says, but develop a love for showing mercy to your fellow man. They deserve justice but God chooses to show mercy. Blessed are the merciful, our Lord said. One who is just and kind will walk humbly, for he or she is fully aware of their own need for mercy and that God is a just being who demands perfection as a standard. Any spiritually broken person tends to be a humble person. Blessed are the poor in spirit.

I love Micah's prophecy, not just this chapter but the whole thing. When I first truly studied it at seminary my mind, heart and imagination went wild. I connected with the prophet and his subjects and the oracle came alive to me. Same thing happened with Habakkuk. Micah is prophesying to Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, which had lost its spiritual way. A couple of bad kings had come to David's throne, Jotham and Ahaz, and even though the nation had turned away from God it still found itself quite prosperous as a result of His divine blessing. People had become comfortable with their wealth and riches. Their economy was good. But Assyria was gaining power to the far north and Israel, the northern kingdom, had become militarily aggressive. All was not well. So the people complained to God.

In Micah 6, the Lord responded. In verses 1-5, God calls His people to trial. They consider Him unfair? God calls the mountains to the jury box and then recounts His mighty deliverance of the nation from Egypt and his faithfulness to them through the centuries.

Through Micah, the people respond in verses 6 and 7. What should we do to get back right with you, O Lord? They offer three options:

1. Shall we come with burnt offerings, with the very best calves?
2. Shall we offer a mass of offerings, quantity for our sin?
3. Shall we offer our most precious thing, our firstborn sons — our inheritance?

Micah says no. God has laid out what is good in His Law and sacrifices are good things but they are not the spirit of the Law. It's not about ritual and frequency. Ten prayers are no better than one if you're praying them for the sake of quantity. What is the Law really about? It's about the character and holiness of God. How is the character of God reflected by man?

To do justly — to be just in righting wrongs and defending the poor, orphaned and widowed. This is justice to God. It's also pure religion. Listen to Saint James: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world (Jas. 1:27)." Justice for the God-follower means defending the defenseless. It means being justice where there is an absence of justice. Not to judge the world, for this is not our job (it's God's), but to be God's ambassadors in upholding what is right and good and fair in God's eyes.

To love kindness/mercy/loving kindness — to be wanting to forgive the deserved-burden of others. After telling the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus asked a teacher of the Law: “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’  [hands]?” And he said,  “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.” Loving mercy is ingrained in the task of following Christ. Just like the blind men Jesus came across, we once cried out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us!" and He did. Now he asks us to to the same when others cry out for mercy. We should WANT to show mercy. This what it means to "love" mercy. It's not obligation. It's intention.

To walk humbly — to live in a state of brokenness mixed with healing. To know that God is just and you are not, by nature. To know that God has had mercy on you despite your unfaithfulness and His grace will sustain you. A person who lives in a constant state of self-awareness will walk humbly because they do not have any pride to stand on. Like Paul said in Ephesians 2, we were dead in our transgressions but, in His mercy, God has made us alive in Christ Jesus. Humbling ourselves before God is an acknowledgment of this transaction that has taken place — a transaction done only by God's power with no help from us.

The fact that spirit trumps ritual is seen in other places of the Old Testament, too. David, in Psalm 51:16-17, realized, "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." In Isaiah, as quoted by our Lord Jesus, God condemns worship without heart, "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men (Matt15:8-9)."

God is interested in our hearts more than our hands. Why do you act? What's your motivation? Back when I was a worship pastor I used to tell my congregation — gasp — that they should sing if their heart wants to sing but they should refrain from singing if they didn't mean it. For it was better to keep silent than offer empty praise. I was responsible to God first, my congregation second, and myself third.

On the flip side, what we do with our hands often directly reflects our hearts. If you truly believe something, you will act on that belief. This is where justice fits in. Justice is not just a belief. It is a cause that leads to action. If you see that brother on the side of the road, beat up and barely hanging on, don't just say a quick prayer for him. Help him! You may not have the money the Good Samaritan did but you can still help. Bandage the wounds, lift up the spirit, call for assistance. Minister unto the man. Be God's ambassador to him.

That is true religion. That is true justice. To right a wrong through the showing of mercy with an attitude of humility.

I wrote and performed a song half a decade ago called, "The Other Side." I don't have a good recording of it, otherwise I'd share, but here are the words.

The Other Side

Luke 10:25-37; Matt 5:7; 25:34-46; James 1:26-27

I am a stranger, I am a brother

I’ve fallen upon painful times

What I have had now is missing

How can you say that I’ll be fine?

Can’t you see my lowly condition?

Why pass me by on the other side?

Can’t you lend me some compassion?

Why pass me by on the other side?

I am a father, I am a neighbor

You see me struggle every day

For just a cloak or some cool water

Send some mercy along my way

Jesus said blessed are the merciful ones

For God has shown them great kindness

Tell me, dear brother, why do you wait

To bear your mercy, to show your faith?


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