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Hey, well, good morning, Willow Ridge Church.
Glad that you are joining us again online and worshiping with us today.
If you've got your Bibles, go ahead and open up to Micah chapter 3.
We're going to continue on as we look at this minor prophet with something very important
to say to us today.
As you turn there, I want you to bring something to your mind.
This week on Monday, make sure that you pay attention to our social media sites.
We're going to be throwing out a question of asking you, what is God teaching you during
this pandemic, during this COVID-19 experience that we're all in?
And so I want to encourage you to go by, share with us what God's teaching you, teaching
you as a family, teaching you as an individual.
We'd love to learn from you and have us all share and encourage each other.
As you get there in Micah, I want us to go ahead and remind ourselves of something that
we talk about as we look at Scripture.
And really, I try to remind us this as we look at Old Testament Scripture, primarily in
the prophetic books.
What we need to understand is that how to read Scripture.
And here's what I mean by that, that we need to understand that you and I, that today,
that we need to acknowledge that Scripture was written for us, but not necessarily to us.
And here's what I mean.
Sometimes that there are things that are directed to in Scripture of things that are going to
happen to the people in which they are being written.
And so that's not written to us, that's written to them, but it is written for us, meaning that
we can take application from that.
So here's an example.
Like, this doesn't mean, as we read through this, that God's telling us that he's going
to send the Assyrians for us, right?
This isn't written to us, but it's written for us.
And so what we gain from that is that there are consequences of sin.
What we gain from that is that God's wrath is real.
And so as we read through, it's something that I want us to keep into our mind.
So last week, as we began to look through this book, Micah, as the prophet, comes before
God's people in two divided kingdoms and brings the same message to them.
They've wandered away from what God has called them to and their love for him.
They've allowed other religions to come into play, and they're beginning to morph their
faith into a pagan religion and the religion of God's people.
And so God's calling them away from that, calling them away from the idolatry and to love
him first and foremost is set in their heart.
But then the other aspect that we're going to look at is the aspect of social justice, that
God does love and that God sets a high standard for his people that we are to love in a sacrificial
way and that we're called to look at those that are most vulnerable.
So what we see in here in Micah is this concept of love God first, love others, and that you
cannot separate the two.
And so I just want to read in Matthew 22, starting in verse 35.
It says,
One of them, an expert of the law, came to Jesus with this question.
Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?
Okay, referring back to the Old Testament and asking him, like, what is the greatest of all
of these?
And so Jesus replied, love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind.
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And so we alluded to this interaction last week, but this is going to be the theme that continually
comes time and time again.
God's saying, love me.
God's saying, love each other.
Love me and love each other.
And we know that this is where God's been in the love me stage.
We know that God is a jealous God who is desperate for his people, who seeks them out, and that
this is who God is, and that God calls us to love him in return.
But when it comes to matters of social justice, we don't necessarily think of them in the same
light in a biblical capacity.
But yet in Exodus 22 and 23, there's a huge section of the law that just deals with that.
Now, last week, I challenged you to go and to read those, and I hope you're able to spend
some time in that, but if not, I just want to just to grab some of these and just point
out as we can understand the nature of God's heart and understand the calling that we have
of his people, of the importance of what God places for social justice.
In Exodus 22, God talks about the importance of caring for widows and orphans.
He says, do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless.
If you do, we're going to see the harshness here of God's heart in this commandment.
If you do, and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.
My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword.
Your wives will become widows, and your children fatherless.
Do we hear God's heart in that, in the importance that God places?
In the interaction between people and their neighbors, God comes to them and establishes
in Exodus 22, starting in verse 26.
If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset, because that cloak is the
only covering your neighbor has.
What else can they sleep in?
When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
God says, look, it matters what we do.
We're not to take from other people.
We're not to break our word that there's this peace that is there.
That God even, it says that this is important, not just for our friends or for our neighbors,
but there's even what God says in social justice for our enemies.
And if you jumped into Exodus 23, verse 4, it says,
If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, and he's talking about your enemy,
be sure to return it.
If you see the donkey of someone who hates you falling down under its load, do not leave
it there.
Be sure you help them with it.
So in this whole picture, God's saying like, look, there's the widows and the orphans.
Care for them.
There's your friends.
Care for them.
There's your enemies.
Care for them.
But then God's going to dig even a little bit more in an area that we're seeing all over
our world and in our country.
We can go as broad as looking at this as oppressed people, or we can narrow it down and look at
how we're supposed to treat the refugee.
So look at the person who's been torn by war and by devastation and destruction.
Exodus 22, 9.
Do not oppress a foreigner.
You yourself know how it feels to be foreigners because you were foreigners in Egypt.
And so God continually lays before his people what it means to come alongside and to love
and to courage and to show the heart and the character and the nature of God.
This is what it means to love God.
This is what it means to love others.
And so the heart of God in social justice is desiring that he has a heart and that we
have a heart not to exploit, but instead to love.
To not to victimize more, but to show compassion and to show that we care.
And all of this is pointing us back to what is happening in Micah.
That this is what is pressing on.
That just as in the day there, that we all have an opportunity and a responsibility to embrace this.
We all have the burden that God places on us in our lives as followers of Christ to embrace of this is what it means to love.
And that you and I, that we have the opportunity to do this, to influence people, to shape lives where we live, where we work, where we play, and where we worship.
And so these are the different aspects of your life as we look through this passage of Micah that I want you to search in your heart today of how are you a person of influence where you live, meaning with your family, with your husband, with your wife, with your kids.
How are you leveraging the opportunity to display these things to influence where you live?
How are you using the opportunity to influence where you work?
Now, here's what you think about where you work, and I know for so many of us that has changed.
What I mean by where you work is where are you fulfilling the expectation of God in what you cultivate and in what you create.
So some of you that may be at your work office.
For some of you that may, you may be retired, so that's back at your home or where you volunteer.
For some of you, you may be a stay-at-home parent, so right now where you work is with your children and where you are.
But God has placed you specifically in an area where you can influence others because of this.
Talk about where you play, where you build your friendships, and where you establish other relationships.
God allows you and the people that he sovereignly brings into your life to give you the opportunity to influence them.
And then also where you worship.
And we're going to see this as we talk today, that you and I have the wonderful opportunity to influence each other for the sake of the gospel.
That you and I have the opportunity to influence, to push each other toward becoming more like Christ.
And so as we look through this, it's so important for us to realize that God's given us four areas of our life where we live, where we work, where we play, and where we worship to be used in a manner to influence others to love God and to love others.
So let's start reading Micah 3, verse 1.
It says,
We see in Micah's first group that he brings the allegations for is he brings to those governmental leaders.
Now, that's the best of my knowledge of who's watching with us right now is none of us in the room.
But the reality is while we are not governmental leaders, we all acknowledge that God has placed us in areas of leadership and in areas of leading where we live, where we work, where we play, and where we worship.
And so what I want us to see from this very beginning is what we need to do is we need to lead for justice.
We need to lead for justice.
Everyone has been given by God a circle of influence in their life.
And what we need to do, we need to make sure as we press people toward that, that we are holding each other responsible for what we do and how we do it to influence others.
Remember what is happening here in the setting of Micah.
Wealthy people are taking advantage of the poor.
And in doing so, they're becoming wealthier and wealthier while the poor become even more poor.
In the very beginning of Micah, what we read last week, the accusations are they're taking their fields, their source of income.
They're taking their homes, the place where they find security for their families.
They're even taking their inheritance at the very basis of where generational security is being provided for many generations of their families.
They're taking advantage of the poor in this way, but also the wealthy are taking advantage of the widows and the orphans.
And in doing so, they're preying on the most vulnerable.
And that this is what the leaders know are happening.
This is what they know is taking place.
And so Micah comes to the leaders, the leaders of Judah, the leaders of Israel, and he asks at the very beginning of this passage,
should you not embrace justice?
As people of God, as people who have been trusted with influence, should you not embrace justice?
And so what we have to ask ourselves today is the exact same question.
As children of God, as children of God, people who stand for truth, people who are called to love God and love others, should you and I not embrace justice, not only in our lives, but in the world that we see around us?
Where we are, this is the heart of God.
This is what he calls us to do.
And what you and I have to understand from God's word is that God presses in on this for his people.
And that what we begin to understand is that simply put, righteous people care.
Proverbs 29, 7 says, the righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.
Do you see the difference of what's there?
The righteous people, you and I, who have been made righteous, right?
That we're not righteous in and of ourselves, but we've been made righteous through the work of Christ.
That you and I, since we are righteous, what we're called to do is care about justice for the poor, those who can't fight for themselves.
But the wicked, they have no such concern.
Because when it comes down to this, compassion is at the very heart of the gospel.
It's what we see in the life of Christ.
Think back to Jesus with the woman who was caught in adultery.
Now notice, it's not that there was a woman who was accused.
It's not that there was a woman who was speculated.
But scripture is very clear that there was a woman who was caught in adultery.
Now as we read through that, there are details that God and his sovereignty leaves out in scripture.
Why did she make the decisions that she made?
What had been done to her to bring her to this point?
You know, there's lots of the story that we don't know.
But we know that she was caught.
And we know that Jesus met her with compassion.
As I wrote through this, I thought, you know, compassion, maybe we can define it as the combination of grace and truth.
Because that's what we see Jesus do with her.
Jesus meets her with grace.
Jesus doesn't punish her for what she has done.
Instead, Jesus says, I don't condemn you.
Jesus, as the one person who could, didn't.
He extends grace.
But Jesus also tells her to stop.
Stop doing this.
Stop committing this sin.
Stop bringing this destruction into your life.
And in Jesus doing that, he shows her compassion.
And so as you lead as a child of God, you cannot separate the two.
You cannot remove grace from truth.
And so Christ should flow in your leadership in every aspect of your life.
Where you live should be influenced by Christ as you lead.
Where you work should be influenced by Christ in how you lead.
Where you play should be influenced by Christ.
And absolutely where we worship.
And so we see compassion at the heart.
Continue on in Micah 3, verse 5.
This is what the Lord says.
As for the prophets who lead my people astray.
They proclaim peace if they have something to eat.
But prepare to wage war against anyone who refuses to feed them.
Therefore, night will come over you.
Without visions and darkness.
Without divination.
The sun will set for the prophets.
And the day will go dark for them.
The seers will be ashamed.
And the diviners disgraced.
They will all cover their faces because there is no answer from God.
But as for me, I am filled with power.
With the spirit of the Lord.
And with justice and might.
To declare to Jacob his transgression.
To Israel his sin.
And this is going to be the peace that we understand as us.
As a body of believers.
And that is weighed on me as a pastor.
As one who teaches.
You see, because what had been broken away from.
Was a wandering of the truth.
Of what the prophets were called to communicate.
And so Micah steps and proclaims the truth in the middle of the darkness.
Of what this means and what this looks like.
And so what we draw from this.
The application that we have.
Is regardless of what is going on around us.
Regardless of what we feel like we should do.
In a circumstance.
In a situation.
That we, as those who know the truth.
And who set our life by the truth.
Are called to teach the truth.
And so the prophets.
That Micah accuses.
Have done the same exact thing.
As the rulers have done.
They've been accepting bribes.
And in accepting bribes.
They changed the message.
And so what they've done.
Is they've elevated their agenda.
Over the will of God.
They've elevated their message.
Over the supremacy.
Of the message of God.
And they are acting in their benefit.
For their name.
And for their glory.
Instead of the name.
And the glory of God.
And so what you and I have to do.
Is that as we teach.
As we grow.
As we come together.
As we embrace discipleship together.
We have to make sure.
That we're centered in.
And focused in.
And making sure what we proclaim.
Is the truth.
And I want to tell you.
No one person in this church.
Carries that burden more than I do for myself.
I can't say what I want this to say.
I can't say what I hope this says.
I have to teach.
And I have to proclaim.
We have to preach.
What it says.
And what God says.
So truth.
Must be reclaimed.
By me.
And by you.
Where we live.
Where we work.
Where we play.
Where we worship.
We must all do this the same.
And it's so important.
Because in 2 Timothy 2.
What Paul writes.
What you've heard me say.
In the presence of many.
Entrust of faithful men.
Who will be able.
To teach others also.
Because we understand.
What happens with teaching.
Is when we teach God's word.
When we teach scripture.
We do not teach scripture.
So that others will learn it.
That's not what we do.
We teach.
So that others can teach.
We teach.
So that I.
Can share with you.
What's been shared with me.
And that you can do the same.
And that's how the gospel.
Contends.
Continues.
To spread.
And so what we see in teaching.
As we teach about justification.
As we teach that.
All human beings.
Under the raft of God.
But Jesus comes.
And dies on the cross.
And becomes our substitutionary.
Atonement.
And that he bore the punishment.
And the wrath that we deserve.
He takes on for us.
So that when you and I believe in him.
Even though we are still a sinner.
Even though we are still guilty.
Even though we are still in shame.
Our record is imputed to him.
And the rights and the privileges.
That Christ has.
Are then imputed to us.
So that we are fully loved.
And accepted before God.
And in that.
And in that justification.
Is where we see justice come from.
Justification.
Taught in scripture.
The gospel of Christ.
Will lead us to justice.
Justification.
Causes you and I.
To examine the word deserving.
I want to ask you this question.
When you think of justice.
When you think of what this means.
Did you deserve Christ?
Did you do anything.
For him to die.
Or did you do anything.
To make you worthy.
For him to die on the cross for you.
I know that answer for me.
Is absolutely not.
And so when I understand.
Justification.
I understand that I deserve.
Nothing.
And that everything that I get.
Is simply by the grace of God.
And that helps us understand justice.
It helps us understand.
Who we care for.
And who we love.
What we should do.
Or what we shouldn't do.
It helps us understand.
That if there's a bunch of us in a room.
There's not one of us.
Who's deserving.
And so that's what helps us.
Process through.
We also through justification.
It changes our attitude.
About those who we may have felt.
Were undeserving.
Because at the heart of the gospel.
It's not.
What do I get.
But at the heart of the gospel.
Is what do I gain.
And what do I give.
The continual process.
Over and over.
And over again.
Yes.
I help my enemy.
Yes.
I help my neighbor.
Yes.
I love the widow.
Yes.
I love the refugee.
Why?
Because I've received something I didn't deserve.
And so I continue to give it away.
And to give it away.
So what's the difference between a true teacher of truth.
And a false teacher.
Micah tells us in verse 8.
Here is what makes truth.
But as for me.
I am filled with power.
With the spirit of the Lord.
And with justice in might.
To declare to Jacob his transgression.
And to Israel his sin.
Being led by the spirit.
Church.
When we teach truth.
It's a hard message.
When we teach truth.
It's an offensive message.
But the only way.
That we teach truth.
Is it's a spirit filled message.
Don't confuse.
Ability.
With truth.
Don't confuse.
Engaging.
With truth.
Don't confuse.
Entertaining.
With truth.
There's lots of people who have ability.
There's lots of people who are engaging.
There's lots of people who are entertaining.
But are they teaching the truth of God's word?
Let's wrap up with verses 9 through 12.
Hear this you leaders of Jacob.
You rulers of Israel.
Who despise justice and distort all that is right.
Who build Zion with bloodshed.
And Jerusalem with wickedness.
Her leaders judge for a bribe.
Her priests teach for a price.
And her prophets tell fortunes for money.
Yet they look for the Lord's support and say.
Is not the Lord among us?
No disaster will come upon us.
Therefore because of you Zion.
Will be plowed like a field.
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble.
The temple heal a mound overgrown with thickets.
Always remember within the heart of God.
He desires for us to love him.
He desires for us to love others.
But there's always justice and accountability.
You know justice from God is God not forgetting.
God for sin.
Sin is a crime before him.
He can't sweep it under the rug.
He can't push it away.
Because God demands a penalty for that crime.
God demands a penalty for sin.
And that penalty is death.
And if we ended there.
Then it would be a sad day for all of us.
But God sent Jesus.
In his grace.
And in his justice.
In his truth.
Who died for us.
And who does something remarkable on the cross of Calvary.
He turns criminals into children of God.
The beautiful thing that he does.
And in that.
For us.
What we begin to see.
Is here's what justice communicates.
Here's what justice shows the refugee.
What justice shows your enemy.
What justice shows your neighbor.
What justice shows the widow.
Is hope.
Hope that is found in Christ.
In Christ alone.
Would you pray with me?
God give us the strength.
The ability.
And the discernment.
To be led by your spirit.
Or to speak truth.
Lord to lead.
Toward justice.
Lord and to understand.
The blessing.
And the responsibility we have.
As children of God.
Lord may us not wonder.
From who you've called us to be.
And what you've called us to do.
And it's in Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
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