Love Mercy | Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly[a] with your God. -Micah 6:8
ACT JUSTLY & TO LOVE MERCY
1. In order to understand what acting justly and loving mercy looks like, we need to look at the perfect embodiment of justice, mercy AND humility – Jesus Christ
2. God’s justice is perfect
a. In God’s perfect justice, the payment for sin is blood.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23
For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.
Leviticus 17:11
b. BLOOD = LIFE
22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Hebrews 9:22
C. WHY?
d. Sin isn’t just a lie here or there. Sin is rebellion against God, and it is serious because of the greatness of the ONE we are rebelling against.
e. Our sin in THAT bad because God is THAT good.
f. The punishment for sin (death) is blood (life).
Think of it this way: the punishment for the treasonous crime of rebellion against the perfect king (sin against God), is the death penalty.
Death is the payment for the crime of rebellion against the KING.
WHY?
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.
Psalm 89:14
God is perfect, so it’s impossible for HIS justice to be anything but perfect.
3. You have to start at the beginning when Adam and Eve sinned (rebelled) against God. They sinned and realized they were naked and ashamed.
21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
Genesis 3:21
a. Out of God’s justice and mercy, He made skins to cover Adam and Eve’s shame...their sin. Something had to die to cover their sin and shame.
4. Later, we see it demonstrated again after 400 years of captivity in the Passover
Passover – Lambs blood over the door for protection and deliverance. They were instructed to take a spotless lamb...take care of it for 4 days. Then, they were to kill it and put it’s blood over the doorpost of their home. They were also instructed on how to eat it
12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
Exodus 12:12-13
5. Not too much later, we see it in the Law – God requires His people to make animal sacrifices to atone for their sin... a life sacrificed as a payment for death (sin)
The Point: God’s perfect justice requires a payment for sin. The payment for sin is death. God’s justice in perfect.
But why Jesus?
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Romans 5:6-10
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
a. Don’t you think that if it were possible for God to just ignore our sin...our rebellion, He would have done that? If there was any other way to forgive sinners while still upholding justice, don’t you think He would have taken that option rather than coming in the flesh and suffering the unspeakable agony of dying on the cross?
Godʼs mercy is perfect.
Sin is THAT bad, because God is THAT good. Sin is that bad, but God is THAT good.
Jesus represents God’s mercy shown through His justice.
a. God is just, and he wants His people to be just. God is merciful and wants us to be merciful.
Isaiah 1:17
17 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.[Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow
Luke 6:36
Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
b. God wasn’t giving His people a checklist by saying to act justly and love mercy, He was saying:
3. I’m not looking for people who play at religion...I want people who love Me, and because they love me, they want to be like me. Then, their lives, their families, their priorities, their nations and MY CHURCH will reflect ME to the world.
c. When we think of the concept of justice, we should keep 3 other ideas in mind:
1. Integrity – consistent application of the Bible
2. Honesty – commitment to God’s truth
3. Concern for the oppressed or those who cannot pursue justice on their own
d. If we aren’t passionate about the things God is passionate about, then all of our “religious activity” means nothing. We aren’t always going to get it right, but we must strive daily to treat people justly for the glory of God...especially in the spirit of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:18-21
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
1. Don’t just talk about justice, do the just thing yourself.
a. Acting justly is not the same as acting, then justifying your own position.
b. Using black celebrities who say there is no race issue in America to justify our own position. We’re not easing racial tension or uniting the church when we profess that it’s not an issue to those who have felt it all their lives. At that point, we’re not seeking justice, we’re seeking justification...we’re trying to justify ourselves.
Romans 3:21-26
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[a] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[b] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
a We are justified, declared righteous, through Christ at the moment of our salvation. Justification does not make us righteous, but rather pronounces us righteous.
2. Love Mercy - So, what is mercy?
One definition is: Love that responds to human need in an unexpected or unmerited way.
a. the Hebrew word used for MERCY is HESED. It’s used 250 times in Scripture and is loosely defined as “loyal love that contains mercy”.
1. This is a character trait of God
b. We know that we are LOVING MERCY when we begin to view the world the way God does.
Jesus paid for every single sin ever committed; thus, God was just in punishing sin, and He can also justify sinners who receive Christ by faith. God’s justice and His mercy were demonstrated by Christ’s death on the cross. At the cross, God’s justice was measured out in full (upon Christ), and God’s mercy was extended in full (to all who believe). So God’s perfect mercy was exercised through His perfect justice.
3. Jesus didn’t just come to die for us, he lived for us too.
a. The point of the Gospel is that the justice is real—God really laid our sins on Christ. And the mercy is real – He really transferred the righteousness of Christ to us. He is our Savior, not just because He died, but because He lived a sinless life before He died, as only the Son of God could do.
b. He lived for the same purpose for which He died – to reconcile us with God.
4. Make a list of 3 things / people / groups / beliefs that you would die for...these are our priorities.
a. Change the word “die” to “live”. Would we live for the same things you would die for?
1. Jesus lived and died for us in a perfect balance between justice and mercy.
b. How do our lives represent those priorities? Do those priorities match up with God’s priorities? Where is OUR balance between justice and mercy? Where do WE demonstrate the spirit of reconciliation talked about in 2 Corinthians?
1. Are we focused primarily on politics or those priorities? Look at our last social media post.
2. Are we focused on reconciliation with our black brothers and sisters or justifying our position?
c. What “hill” are we willing to “die” on that isn’t Calvary?
1. Our jobs? Our political party? Statues? A flag? Masks? Our rights? Our government? Any organization that does not honor God? Our history? Our future? The color of our skin?
The Gospel must inform the culture, not the other way around.
Romans 12:1-2
12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
5. Would we...would you...would I...in an effort to align our priorities with those of our Savior, to act justly and love mercy to the point of living and dying for unity in the church if it meant complete and final reconciliation with all of our brothers and sisters of color?...especially knowing that if we are unified, the world around us will know who Jesus is? Are we willing...
a. ...to put aside our biases and self-justification? To live like Jesus?
b. ...to bury our flawed past, and commit a racially divided present and any hope for a peaceful future to Jesus...just to show Him we’re serious?
c. ...to cling so hard to the justification that His life, death and resurrection bought us...in perfect balance of justice and mercy, that we let go of our idols?
d....to act justly and stand for our brothers and sisters of color who haven’t shared the same freedoms and privileges that we may have?
e....to love mercy enough to even show it?
6. Do you know what mission creep is?
When you have a mission (love God, love people)...(be the best neighbor ever where you live, work and play)...(to make disciples who make disciples) Mission creep is where you end up spending a lot of resources, time and energy on something that ultimately was not what you were called to pursue and does not directly enhance the end goal of your cause. And often, it actually dilutes and discredits the efforts you have in place that are impacting your original intent.
1. What’s the mission of the church?
2. Be clear about the mission
3. Learn to say no to cultural influences
4. Use your mission as a filter for decision-making
5. Show the world that the church...that the members of the body of Christ, are willing...like our Savior...BECAUSE of our Savior...to humble ourselves, to live and even die for our God-given mission, for reconciliation within the Body of Christ, for everyone to know who He is by our unity. That we Love God...that we love ALL people, not just ones that look like us...That we prove it...that we’re willing to act justly and love mercy...just like Him.