GEREJA GRACE BATU PAHAT

SUNDAY WORSHIP 03.07.99

Speaker: Rev. Wong Fong Yang Topic: What does God require of us? Text: Micah 6 : 1 – 8

Micah was a prophet living in the 8th Century. What kind of reception would he get if he were to come here today? He was a prophet who wouldn’t hesitate to deliver God’s message; even if people don’t like what he had to preach.

What exactly was Micah saying? God has a case against his people. This was not a pleasant thing to say.

What exactly was the charge? It is that the people of God had become weary of following after Him. God’s charge was: "What have I done to burden/exhaust/weary you that you don’t want or are unable to walk with me?"

God listed the things he had done for them to remind them that:

    1. when they were in slavery, God delivered them
    2. when they were lost, God provided spiritual leadership for them
    3. when they were threatened, God intervened for them
    4. when they were in the wilderness, God protected them.

Why was it that they did not respond positively? We tend tohave a short memory of what God has done for us and forgetfulness leads to ungratefulness. The people of Israel had no answer to the charge. They could only plead guilty and offered to make amends. "What can we do, what can we give?" Expensive offering, costly sacrifice? What they said seemed so impressive. Yet, what was God’s response? Does God require all these things? No! God has shown us what he really wants:

    1. act justly
    2. love mercy
    3. walk humbly.

Is there then no need for offerings and sacrifices? Sacrifice is not wrong. BUT if devoid of a proper relationship with God, it is meaningless.

What then does God require of us? Mission, prayer, religious activities? It is not the external religious exercise that God really wants. Often, we want to give a good impresion to the people of God – BUT God is not impressed with our external religious activity if our relationship with HIM is not right. External religious exercise can be a camouflage for a serious spiritual defect.

God has shown his people long before Micah’s time what he really wants of us (commandments). God looks for inner righteousness. An inner righteousness that is reflected in our conduct and behaviour.

To act justly: We need to be fair in our dealings with others.

To live mercy: We must be kind and gracious, not "an eye for an eye" but to show mercy to those who don’t deserve it.

To live humbly: We are able to live a liftstyle of humility in recognition of who God is. We mustn’t allow anger and bitterniess to consume us because of our pride.

700 years after Micah, Jesus said the same things to the Pharisees in Mt. 23:23. They were told to practise the latter without neglecting the former. They had an inverted sense of priorities.

Conclusion:

What is God saying to us? Let us not focus on the exteral. Le us search our hearts together. Have we been focussing on the more importing things of life or have we been substituting the lesser of the greater? Let us plead for God’s mercy.