Matthew 5:6
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Pastor Tom Johnson, January 29, 2017
Our Scripture from Micah gives us two rhetorical questions. That is to say, the answer is so obvious, God asks the question to remind his people of the truth of the good things he has done for them. He starts an argument with the questions: “O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!” God’s question is dripping with sarcasm. “What have I done to deserve your scorn?” “How have I beaten you down?” “What evil have I done to you?” We might ask ourselves. Do we have cause to be disappointed by God? What has God done to make us disillusioned with our lives? How is it that we can become so jaded and cynical in our faith journey God answers the first question. He lists all the good things he has done for his people Israel. They were being held hostage in Egypt and he delivered them from foreign captivity. They were slaves and he bought their freedom.
The defining moment for the Israelites is the Exodus. He rescues them from evil, injustice, and the misuse of power under Pharaoh. And he takes them from slavery, through the wilderness, and brings them into the Promised Land. They were refugees once; so they should have a heart for the refugees of the world. The defining moment for believers today is the good news of Jesus who died and rose again. He rescues his people from evil, death and sin. He delivers us from captivity to the power of sin that threatens to destroy us from the outside and within. We should also have a heart for those held captive by sin and death. What has God done to deserve our neglect…our disappointment…our scorn? Nothing. Quite the opposite. He has done far more than we could have asked or dreamed of.
The other question is from the believer: “With what shall I come before the Lord? What kind of sacrifices does he want? And how many is enough?” It is an exaggerated question. “Does God want thousands of animal sacrifices in response? Does he want a river of oil? Does he want human sacrifice?” And again, the answer is “Of course not.” “Does God want all our money and earnings to be poured into the offering plates? Does he want us to pay him back by showing up to church day and night? How can I possibly pay back God for all the good he has done for me and for his people?
The answer is “We can’t.” We do not purchase God’s goodness. We do not earn his love. God does not want our livestock. He does not need our oil reserves. He does not want us to purchase his love by the lives of our children. He does not need our money. His goal is not to win an argument with us. He wants to win our hearts. His plan is to do the right thing for us so that we, in turn, will do the right thing for those around us. He satisfies our hunger and thirst for justice in our personal lives so that we will grow hungry and thirsty for justice throughout the world. This is God’s original promise to the people of Israel. “I will bless you as my people and through you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen 12:3). Or as Scripture says, “We love because God first loved us” (1 John 4:19).It is God’s design to do right by us so that we will do right by our neighbor.
This is how we show our gratitude for the gift of his Son—the one who lived, died, and rose again for our salvation—this is how we live out our calling as believers—to show the same kind of compassion to others that God has shown to us. “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” God wants a genuine change of heart. He wants us to have an authentic desire for those around us to experience the goodness of God. The struggles of our neighbor should bother us. The suffering of refugees should disturb us. The captivity of slaves should grieve us. The premature death of the innocent should outrage us. Social justice should matter to Christ’s church on earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. What happens both across town and on the other side of the globe ought to matter to us. When it stirs up our hearts—when it impacts us—when those injustices and wrongs provoke our minds, prayers, and action we are developing an appetite for justice—hungering and thirsting for good in the world.That is the great commandment—to love God with our whole being and our neighbor as ourselves. God puts a yearning in our hearts for a better world. The Holy Spirit gives us a sweet tooth for a land flowing with milk and honey. We pray “Thy Kingdom come” and for God’s good and gracious will be done. Jesus tastes the bitterness of death on the cross to give us a craving for the sweetness of forgiveness. He steps out of the mouth of the empty grave to make us famished for eternal life—not just for ourselves—but that for the whole world. Pastor Dan Gilbert has often said that is the mission of Christ’s Church on earth—to do as Jesus did. He went around (1) doing good and (2) preaching the Good News. That is our mission on the back of our bulletin: to proclaim Christ, nurture faith, and serve others.
As you, Lord, have lived for others,
So may we for others live,
Freely have Your gifts been granted;
Freely may Your servants give.
Yours the Gold and Yours the silver,
Yours the wealth of land and sea;
We but stewards of Your bounty
Held in solemn trust will be.
(from "Son of God, Eternal Savior" LSB 842 v. 2)
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