May 2004
Micah

What does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? -Micah 6:8

Doing Justice

Micah made his home among the farmlands and the low foothills of the countryside. Sun and soil were his companions. His world was honest, straightforward, and comprehensible … and so also his teaching. To the privileged beyond his village the prophet declared that to honor God with one's whole life was paramount. He called for a just and humble lifestyle and declared that to live for the good of others in the community was the ultimate expression of faithfulness.

His words are timeless and true, succinct and sacred. His teaching is really a code of ethics that makes absolute the ideals of justice, kindness, and humility. Micah knows that such a way of life is the fruit of faith, the consequence of belovedness. For having received God's justice and mercy, we must be champions of justice for others. Having been touched by God's love and forgiveness, we must have compassion for others. And being God's own beloved, we must walk in humility with honor.

Discipleship and leadership for the sake of the world that God loves requires a sense that "my life is not about me." It requires looking beyond the self to see God active in justice, kindness, and humility. Justice seeks another's welfare as part and parcel of our own welfare; it seeks an end to anything demeaning or oppressive. Kindness looks for all people to receive honor and all hurt to be soothed. Humility knows that power and authority are for the protection of the least among us, not the greatest among us. Just as we have known the gifts of justice, mercy, and love in Jesus, so others will know those gifts through us.

Where is the injustice around your congregation?

Prayer: Lord, make us instruments of your will and work on earth. May our efforts bring about the good that will hasten the day when your kingdom of justice and peace will be known in all the earth. Amen.