Micah 6:6-8 Sharing Hope

Micah 6:6-8 Sharing Hope

As we continue in the series “The Heart of God” through the Minor Prophets, we come to a very important set of verses in Micah. These verses describe how worship impacts your world. Let’s dig in and talk about how truly worshiping God can let you share hope with others who need God.

What can I give God in worship?

Sometimes when I worship, I can give:

The best

What is the best I can give? The most healthy

“What should I bring before the Lord when I come to bow before God on high? Should I come before Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves?” (Micah 6:6, HCSB)

The most

What is the most I can give? The most amount in number

“Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousand streams of oil?…” (Micah 6:7, HCSB)

The costliest

What is the costliest I can give? The most previous in personal value.

“…Should I give my firstborn for my transgression, the child of my body for my own sin?” (Micah 6:7, HCSB)

All of these acts have one thing in common – they are something to God, yes, but they do not impact other people at all. I can come in here today and stand and sing songs in worship and if I walk out of here without the attitude of sharing hope with others, then my worship is useless. My time here with God should challenge me, encourage me, strengthen me, weaken me so that I can share my experiences with other people who need hope.

I can give all that I have, but if it doesn’t share hope with others who need it, then it is not truly good. Outward acts of worship to God without any kind of impact that affects other people is just a show.

Worship is not about a show. God doesn’t want me to show off. He wants me to share.

All of these are important, but not what God considers good. What does God want from me? What does He value from me?

God has shown me what is good.

“Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you:.…” (Micah 6:8, HCSB)

What does God expect?

“…and what it is the Lord requires of you:.…” (Micah 6:8, HCSB)

The ancient prophet Micah isn’t exactly a household word. Too bad. Though obscure, the man had his stuff together. Eclipsed by the much more famous Isaiah, who ministered among the elite, Micah took God’s message to the streets.…

Micah states exactly what many, to this day, wonder about pleasing God. Teachers and preachers have made it so sacrificial, so complicated, so extremely difficult. To them, God is virtually impossible to please. Therefore, religion has become a series of long, drawn-out, deeply painful acts designed to appease this peeved Deity in the sky who takes delight in watching us squirm.

Micah erases the things on the entire list, replacing the complicated possibilities with one of the finest definitions of simple faith:

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

And what does the LORD require of you

But to do justice, to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God? (Mic. 6:8)

God does not look for big-time, external displays.… What is required? Slow down and read the list aloud: To do justice.… to love kindness.… and to walk humbly with your God. Period.1

He expects me to:

1. Do right (justly) – “stand up” for someone in trouble (worship + justice)

“Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly,…” (Micah 6:8, HCSB)

[Have everyone stand up while  you talk about this point]

This is sharing hope by standing up for others who can’t get justice. Justice is what is morally right. There are people who need justice. Justice is what someone does right for someone else. Many people are getting wronged by others. They are being cheated, hurt, exploited, and denied the help they need. As Christians, we need to stand up for them.

“He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.” (Deuteronomy 10:18, HCSB)

“Learn to do what is good. Seek justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause.” (Isaiah 1:17, HCSB)

This is part of the character of God, part of His nature. Notice that Isaiah also says that it is good.

Some like to “look down” at people. But God says to “stand up” for them.

2. Love mercy – “bend down” to help someone in need (worship + mercy)

“Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you:…to love faithfulness…” (Micah 6:8, HCSB)

[Demonstrate and ask everyone to bend down and reach their hand as if to pick someone off of the floor.]

Some people need justice. Others need help. This verse talks about sharing hope for those who have needs. Mercy and compassion are expressing kindness to others. Remember about the religious man who asked about who his neighbor was? Jesus told him the story of the Good Samaritan. How does he end the story?

““Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” “The one who showed mercy to him,” he said. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”” (Luke 10:36–37, HCSB)

Jesus showed us that the person who “bent down” was the person who really loved his neighbor.

3. Walk humbly – “walk” with God in humility (worship + prayer)

“Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you:… to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8, HCSB)

[Ask everyone to stand and walk in place – like the march that the kids do at the beginning of VBS singing “Onward Christian Soldiers.”]

God also expects us to walk with God. How we walk is very important. The faith journey requires a walk that is driven by humility, not pride.

Humility is the absence of pride and arrogance. God honors those who are humble. He tells us that He lifts up the humble, but tears down the proud.

“He mocks those who mock, but gives grace to the humble.” (Proverbs 3:34, HCSB)

“Better to be lowly of spirit with the humble than to divide plunder with the proud.” (Proverbs 16:19, HCSB)

“A person’s pride will humble him, but a humble spirit will gain honor.” (Proverbs 29:23, HCSB)

“Be in agreement with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation.” (Romans 12:16, HCSB)

“In the same way, you younger men, be subject to the elders. And all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5, HCSB)

The Bible is full of verses related to this principle. He wants us to to walk humbly with God. If we walk in personal selfish (“selfie”) pride, God will force humility on us.

The path to humility is paved by a thousand humiliations, someone once said. God wants us to share hope by eating humble pie.

The Bible shows us an example of people who were not doing these three good things that God wants us to do. One time, Jesus criticized the religious people of his day. He said:

““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.” (Matthew 23:23, HCSB)

They were giving their tenth of even their spices. So they knew how to give God their tithes. They gave their money but Jesus said that God cared more about how we treated other people. Jesus wants us to give to the church, but He also wants us to give to the community. He wants us to not just share our cash (like the calves, burnt offerings, rams, and oil) but to share hope with people who need to know that hope.