It's All About the Sin (Micah 2:8-13)

We are listening to Micah speak for God about the false prophets that come and seduce the people into thinking that sin has no real consequences.  

But what if we knew that the sin we were about to embark upon did have consequences?  

If the man who is drinking at the bar, knew that in 30 minutes after leaving, he would hit and kill two teenagers with his car, would he stop, order no more drinks and wait in his car until he felt sober?

If a man, who is screaming at his wife, knew that in 30 minutes after chasing her into the kitchen, he would grab a knife off the counter and plunge it into her back, would he stop, go outside for a long walk and wait until his anger abated?  

Does knowing something for sure the only way we can grasp the consequence of sin? 

Or would we, with this startling revelation of assured consequences, still deny its truth and say, 

But I wouldn't do that!  I am not the kind of person!  I might think about it, but I wouldn't do it!  

Or someone, dismissive of the weight of the sin might say,

Oh, c'mon!  You are making too big a deal out of this!  It's not that bad.  The vast number of people are doing it, so are you saying they're all wrong?

Whatever the reaction, people will not admit that they are breaking God's moral code. They are either too "good" to do that, or what they are doing does not constitute a big sin.  A little one, maybe, but not the big ones out there.  

But James zeroes in on the heart of the matter:  

You unfaithful people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world's friend becomes God's enemy. (4:4)

Micah says that the people, unwilling to believe that God will bring judgment, keep acting in sinful ways. If we do not listen to what God tells us, we become an enemy to Him. The word "enemy" in Hebrew means, "one who hates." [1]

Lately my people have risen up
like an enemy. (v.8) 

Sounds harsh? 

Think about it.  If you are an enemy of God, you hate His people, His ways, His prophets and His truth.  In the Israelites' effort to be friends to the pagan world around them, they have become enemies of God.  They wouldn't see it that way, because they would justify their sin, but their actions would speak volumes:  

You strip off the rich robe
from those who pass by without a care,
like men returning from battle.
You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.(8-9) 

You are acting like a conquering army, who takes whatever it wants from people.  You don't care that, because of your greed, you steal from your fellow Israelites.  Worst of all, you fail to teach your children the richness and blessings of the covenant.  They live and die not knowing who they truly are. 

God tells them, in no uncertain terms, what state Israel is in:  

10 Get up, go away!
For this is not your resting place,
because it is defiled,
it is ruined, beyond all remedy. (10)

Why?  Because the people do not want the truth.  

Truth is not condemnation.  It is liberation.  Deception drives people deeper and deeper into more deception, and soon people have utterly lost their way.  They are then vulnerable to suggestion and become even more willing to listen to falsehood. 

Then false prophets says exactly what the people want to hear, and thus the people go deeper into deception:   

If a liar and deceiver comes and says, ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’
that would be just the prophet for this people! (11) 

Paul will address this in his day and warns Timothy what a false teacher does and why people gather around him: 

There will come a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. They will collect teachers who say what they want to hear because they are self-centered. (2 Tim. 4:3) 

Self-centered.

Greedy.

Unwilling to admit a departure from God's moral code.

Teachers who tell lie after lie, and have no trouble attracting followers.

Sounds like the northern kingdom of Israel. 

Sounds like us.  

[1] https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/enemy/

 

It's All About the Spin (Micah 2:6-7)

I was on vacation!  Glad to be back and looking forward to diving into the book of Micah!

Paul, a man completely immersed in the river of the Hebrew Scriptures, may have been echoing what Micah (and many of the prophets, such as Jeremiah) had said of the people of Samaria when he wrote to Pastor Timothy about the people in his day: 

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear (2 Tim. 4:3 NIV).  

The Message says it this way: 

You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant.

Micah takes direct aim at the utter nonsense the "prophets" are saying. He knows that this nonsense has a deadly sting:  The people will justify their actions by what these "prophets" are saying and not look any deeper.  Why?  The message fits with what they already believe.

They can now point and say, 

See!  God is totally fine with what we are doing. His prophets are saying so!  Why should we then listen to that naysayer, Micah?  He's the odd man out--he's the false prophet.  Those men of God all agree.  Majority rules, huh?

So what are these men saying that is so seductive to their hearts?  Micah tells us:

“Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.

“Do not prophesy about these things;
disgrace will not overtake us.” (2:6)

Well, that sounds comforting.  The people are boasting: 

Nothing bad will happen, and we will continue to walk tall as God's people.

What?  You are God's people and yet you act no differently than those around you who could care less about Yahweh?  It's "God's people" when it suits you and is easy, but when that siren call of sin beckons, then away you go, and your part of the covenant--obedience and devotion--goes by the wayside. 

Now, the argument against Micah's kind of prophetic utterances heats up:

You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
“Does the Lord become impatient?
Does he do such things?” (v.7) 

The people are knee-deep in the "we're the chosen!" pride, even though their actions are quite the opposite from what that "chosen" label looks like. 

The people are probably thinking: 

C'mon, Micah.  God doesn't do the kind of things you say He does.  He's, well, God, and He doesn't lose His temper and come down in judgement, striding across the hills like you say He will.  We know God better than you do. You know why?  Yeah, this pagan thing has been going on for a while, and guess what?  Nothing's happened!  So if Yahweh is as torqued sith us as you say He is, then we'd all be like goats in a landslide--buried ten feet under His wrath, with no way out. So there.  

But if you are still willing to listen to the words of the prophets--those who are called by God, to speak for God--then His words will cut you to the quick and repentance, not pride, will be your reaction.  In other words, the messages of the prophets are meant to redirect the people's attention back to a holy God.  

God's words are balm to the soul that has lost its way.  Micah says, 

“Do not my words do good

to the one whose ways are upright?" (v.7)

Micah echoes Isaiah's words:

Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (55:6-11)

God's words are the truth.  That is one of many reasons Jesus is the Word of God.  He is the Truth. What He said is both the words of God and He embodies those very words, giving us life in His name. 

No spin. Straight up truth.

Refreshing to those who are thirsty.

Disgusting to those who are disobedient. 

It's Not Them: It's Us (Micah 2:3-5)

It is always easier to see evil and bad behavior in others.  It's a kind of distraction away from looking at ourselves too closely. Jesus made this clear in one of His more memorable metaphors: 

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, "Let me take the speck out of your eye," when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matt. 7:3-5)

If your gaze is always outward, seeing the what others should be doing or not doing, then you are not seeing your own shortcomings and not trying to remedy them. In fact your own failures will give you a kind of blindness, for you'll measure the person by your own standards, and not see how deficient your standards really are.  "I am not as bad as you!" is not a fair and just way to assess the behavior of others. 

That very blindness will cause you to do more harm than good. You think you are helping the person when in fact you are injuring or alienating them with your insensitivity. 

It is so easy for the Israelites to look upon their pagan neighbors and say, "Hey, we are not like those people!"  The more honest among them may have said, "Yeah, we are like those people, but we don't let things get out of hand."  

Either way, a plank of hypocrisy is making it hard for the Israelites to see the sin in their dealings with each other.  The injustice is coming not from pagans, but from the wealthy among them:

Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them.
They defraud people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance. (Micah 2:1-2)

Instead of railing about the evil pagan practices the Israelites engage in (that will come later), Micah is pointing out in no uncertain terms how the wealthy are defrauding the poor, after much planning and plotting. This is utterly reprehensible. The wealthy landowners have power and use it to hurt their fellow Israelites--the ones who have very little and now with such evil people dealing with them, have even less or nothing at all.

You'd think Micah would then go on and talk about the pagan practices that stir God's anger.

No.

This kind of injustice stirs God's anger:

I am planning disaster against this people,
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,
for it will be a time of calamity.
In that day people will ridicule you;
they will taunt you with this mournful song:
"We are utterly ruined;
my people’s possession is divided up.
He takes it from me!
He assigns our fields to traitors."
Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord
To divide the land by lot." (2:3-5)

What goes around comes around: You defraud your fellow Israelites out of land with no remorse. "Your" (you took it from the poor) land will now be taken from you. Who will do this? The Assyrians. You will be as to them what the poor has been to you.

God is warning His people that their callous injustice has blinded them to the storm clouds that are gathering around them. They are so busy scheming that they do not see nor care that there are other people who are scheming against them.

I am thinking of this important quote from Pastor Niemoller. He was "a prominent Lutheran pastor in Germany. In the 1920s and early 1930s, he sympathized with many Nazi ideas and supported radically right-wing political movements. But after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, Niemöller became an outspoken critic of Hitler’s interference in the Protestant Church. He spent the last eight years of Nazi rule, from 1937 to 1945, in Nazi prisons and concentration camps." [1]

Here is the quote:

"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."

The wealthy landowners in Samaria did not care about what they were doing, for they benefitted from the system they help to sustain. They never thought that what they did to others would one day be visited on them. They thought they'd always be in control and have resources to survive any challenges that came along.

Niemoller is making the very uncomfortable point that if we do not speak out about injustice being done to others, or worse, perpetrate injustice ourselves, the day may come when no one will care about what is being done to us. We alienated our neighbor with our callousness, and now our neighbor is either unwilling or unable to help us.

I am not talking about running out into the streets and screaming about injustice. (Is that the most productive way of solving a problem?) I think the people of God better serve injustice by providing resources and places where people can go to receive help, healing and compassion. Changed hearts change society. 

We need to cultivate relationships based on kindness and compassion. We love our neighbor as ourselves, because that very love is an extension of the love we have for God. We love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and spirit and our neighbor gets that overflow.

Remember how Jesus answered Peter's question about, "Who is my neighbor?" with the parable of the good Samaritan? Sometimes those who have felt the brunt of scorn and alienation can be the most sensitive to when it is happening around them. The Samaritan could relate to the man in the ditch, because he had been in society's ditch for a long time.

Maybe Pastor Niemoller's blindness came from the fact that he didn't rub elbows with any of the groups he mentioned; they were just people, not neighbors.

We must remove those planks from our eyes, if we are trying to help others and act justly. Our blindness may cause more harm than good, or perhaps inadvertently foment more injustice.

God wanted His people to have utter clarity about what being His people meant as they followed Him, and how that was best demonstrated by how they treated one another:

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 with your God. (Micah 6:8)

 

[1] "Martin Niemoller: First They Came For..."

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists

Prophets: Listen Up! (Micah 1:8-9)

Prophets react to the word of the Lord with fear and trembling; to those who do not know what is coming, (or do not want to know), the prophets seem crazy. They act in ways that are not part of the society's perception of how things are.  Prophets see how things are not, and the dire consequences that are on their way.  

Micah reacts to how the Lord is on His way, bringing judgment because of the transgressions of Judah and Samaria. Samaria is going to be reduced to a "heap of rubble" (v. 6).  Micah responds by saying: 

Because of this I will weep and wail; I will go about barefoot and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
and moan like an owl.
For Samaria’s plague is incurable;
it has spread to Judah.
It has reached the very gate of my people,
even to Jerusalem itself (1:8-9) 

Micah calls the people, "my people."  He is not standing at a distance, wagging his finger and saying that the people are getting what they deserve.  No. He identifies with them--not with their practices, which he detests--but with who they are.  They are covenant people, called to be a blessing to all the nations.  They have received a rich inheritance, one of blessings, abundance and God's presence. Yet, much to Micah's utter horror, they have thrown that all away to worship idols. 

Jesus laments in much the same way when He surveys Jerusalem, seeing what the future holds.  He has just finished excoriating the Pharisees for their utter disregard for the law of love.  These leaders have ignored this rich inheritance of blessings, abundance and God's presence by focusing on a kind of idolatrous worship of the Law, and not of the One who gave the Law.  Jesus says, 

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”(Matt. 23:37-39). 

Jesus is quoting Psalm 118:26 specifically.  But His audience knew God's word, and could hear, echoing in the verse Jesus quotes, these words as well: 

The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.

The Lord has done it this very day;
let us rejoice today and be glad.

Lord, save us!
Lord, grant us success!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
From the house of the Lord we bless you.

The Lord is God,
and he has made his light shine on us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up to the horns of the altar.

You are my God, and I will praise you;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever (22-29). 

Wow.  The Psalm has captured this very moment being fulfilled in Jesus. He is the rejected cornerstone, seemingly unworthy but will be an essential part of the new foundation that God is laying. One day, about 40 years into the future, this very House of God, the Temple, will be destroyed by a conquering pagan army, the Romans, in 70 AD.  

Earlier, the people greeted Jesus when He entered the city of Jerusalem, and they praised Him with hosannas in abundance. "Hosanna" means “I beg you to save!” or “please deliver us!” [1]  God is going to deliver the people with His Son. The leaders are standing there, already in the midst of planning His death, but their scheme will come to no avail.  The tomb will be empty. 

Jesus is also being quite unsubtle in using this psalm, for it exalts God. He is willing to accept the people's praise for help and salvation. In the psalm, those very cries of the heart are directed at God. 

God does not delight in having to punish His children.  He warns them, through His prophets, that He is a just God, and He will not stand idly by while His children engage in sin. God is not a divine Policeman, who gets angry when we break the rules.  No. Sin is as Jesus describes Satan:  It steals, kills and destroys.

It steals our shalom.  Sin creates chaos with its whirlwind of bad choices leading to bad consequences,  and then more bad choices seeking to undo those consequences, in a never-ending cycle. 

Sin kills our love for God, for one another and for life itself.  It mars the image of God in us, to where we see only us.  We hide in the shadows and we deny that we were made for more.  Sins also literally kills, for violence, rage, envy and anger cloud our judgment and all we want is resolution--at any cost.

Sin also destroys. We know enough of history to see how sin has marched, trampled, manipulated, violated and abused humanity, only to sow the seeds for the next installment of the same.  Justice is perverted into revenge and that leads to more revenge.

Micah wept over the upcoming catastrophe that awaited Samaria, who, because the people would not repent, experienced the brutality of a pagan army.   

Jesus wept over the upcoming catastrophe that awaited Jerusalem, who, because the people would not repent, experience the brutality of a pagan army. 

The Holy Spirit is weeping over us.  

 

[1] "What is the Meaning of Hosanna?" Gotquestions.org. https://www.gotquestions.org/hosanna.html

What Is Justice? Or Is It Just Us? Micah 1:1-7

 Hatred does not fix hatred.

Oppression does not fix oppression.

Tearing down statues does not change history.

Protesting and yelling hateful things does not create peace.

Accusations do not create repentance but resentment.

In other words, our demands for justice are based on just us--what we think the problem is and what the solution is. 

But: "You must understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger, for human anger does not produce God’s righteousness." (James 1:19-20).  The word "righteousness" can also be translated "justice." 

This would imply that when we listen, choose our words with care and not allow our anger to fuel our search for justice, we demonstrate a heart that is sensitive to a standard greater than ourselves. We recognize and admit our failures, blindness, and shortcomings. This doesn't excuse us from seeking justice, but creates an environment where we acknowledge our need for humility and collaboration.  We must acknowledge that our opinions and beliefs have their limitations. 

In our anger over great injustices, we can make great mistakes. 

We are not the measure of all things. 

God is. 

God's standards, character and guidance for righting wrongs is essential in order to create society that reflects righteousness. Reflects justice.

  

His righteousness. His justice.

The prophets knew that trying to work with people who had actively rejected God for their own brand of justice and were trying to recreate a world made in their own image, would not succeed.  Why?  The flesh does create shalom.  Quite the opposite.  Paul shows us the fruit of the flesh: 

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:18-21). 

Now scale up from an individual to a society filled with such individuals. These attitudes and behaviors are found in a society where the people have rebelled against the idea that true freedom is found only in God. 

Unchanged hearts will not change society for the better. Hearts that remain the same will be led by the flesh and a counterfeit justice will emerge, that will only sow more injustice as it goes. 

Changed hearts change society.  Hearts made anew with God's leading is where true justice is found.

Justice doesn't like a vacuum; if we don't use God's standard, we will create our own. Woe to any society based on our flesh.

So, the prophets came to remind the people that they needed to return to God.  They needed to confess (acknowledge their moral failures and rebellious ways); repent (turn and go the opposite way of the flesh, and head towards God) and humbly wait upon God for guidance and direction (instead of relying on their own fallacious thinking). 

Enter Micah. 

He is coming during the reigns of three kings of Judah and was concerned with Samaria and Jerusalem.

No southern kingdom versus northern kingdom here:  Both are morally corrupt and need to hear from God to recreate a just society.  Samaria is denounced first.

Hear, you peoples, all of you;
listen, O earth, and all that is in it,
and let the Lord God be a witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.
For the Lord is coming out of his place
and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
Then the mountains will melt under him,
and the valleys will burst open
like wax near the fire,
like waters poured down a slope.
All this is for the transgression of Jacob
and for the sins of the house of Israel (Micah 1:2-5).

Do you notice here that the LORD God (His covenant name--Hey Israel, remember the covenant you have with God? NO? Well, He does!) is on the move in all of His majesty?  This oracle is not just from a man standing on a street corner, pointing a finger and wailing that the end is near.  

It is God Himself who leaves His temple and walks mightily into Israel and into its capital, Samaria. All creation trembles as He walks. But lest Judah feel relieved that only Israel is going to receive God's judgment, Jerusalem in the southern kingdom is going to hear from God as well.  

God's house is the temple at Jerusalem, but it cannot contain nor restrain Him.  The whole earth is His court and He walks out of His temple as a King, who surveys His kingdom and finds injustice, much to His utter dismay. 

What is the transgression of Jacob?
Is it not Samaria?
And what is the high place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem? (Micah 1:5) 

Is there a play on words here?  Jerusalem is on a mountain, and is indeed a high place, but high places were also where pagans engaged in reprehensible worship practices and were joined by God's chosen people.

Jerusalem has become indistinguishable from a pagan shrine.  God is angry because of the utter repudiation of His covenant, where He called His people to be a blessing to all the nations (Gen. 12:3).

Not partners. 

Not participants. 

But priests and prophets who model, declare and display the beauty of holiness that is found in Yahweh alone. 

Consequence?

Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country,
a place for planting vineyards.
I will pour down her stones into the valley
and uncover her foundations.
All her images shall be beaten to pieces,
all her wages shall be burned with fire,
and all her idols I will lay waste;
for as the wages of a prostitute she gathered them,
and as the wages of a prostitute they shall again be used. (Micah 1:6-7) 

It's as if God is saying: 

You want paganism, Israel?  You play the part of a prostitute who whores after foreign gods, act in despicable ways and yet call on Me?  Sadly, I will allow a pagan army (you admire their ways so much, as if you want to be them) to come and do what pagans do best: kill, steal and destroy. 

Why does Judah think it will escape God's judgment?  That only Samaria will be judged? Because both kingdoms are filled with His chosen people?

No.  Both kingdoms are compromised to the point where they do not care, and silence those who do. 

Why do we think we will escape God's judgment?  Because we were founded on Christian principles?  No.  We are compromised to the point where many do not care and many silence those who do.

Exploring Our Next Prophet: Micah

Let's move on from Jonah to Micah, as we continue in our "Majoring in the Minor Prophets."

Not minor as in having little significance, but in length. 

Micah was prophesying around the time of Isaiah, between the years of 750 and 686 BC.  He spoke during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, who were kings in Judah.  He also was active during the time of Hosea. Micah spoke of the condition of the poor, before Hezekiah instituted his reforms. He predicted the fall of Samaria, which was the capital of Israel.  He also spoke about how Judah would one day come to ruin. [1]

God speaks through His people.  He uses circumstances to warn, guide and call for repentance in those who call upon His name.  

When judgement rolls down, people act shocked or amazed.  The warning signs were there all along, but people chose to ignore them.  If you are a history nerd, like me, you see that all throughout history, before any major event, the signs were very apparent something bad was going to happen if significant steps were not taken to remedy or alter the situation. 

Yes, hindsight is 20/20.  But the prophets tell us what God expects of His people.  Then, one day, after it is clear that people and their society are falling down a sinful rabbit hole, God will let His judgment come. 

Why?  

Because God is just.  He desires that "justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (Amos 5:25).

But I am not talking about man's definition of justice.  Far too often, people today are seeking to remedy injustice by blaming others and creating a new kind of oppression to remedy the old oppression: Because you did this to me, I have the right to do this to you.  But oppression does not fix oppression.  It creates resentment and one day, when people once again gain control, they will engage in payback.

It is similar to when people say, "Hey, I am a good person.  I don't do those terrible things that others do.  I am not a serial killer, criminal, bully, drunkard or abuser."  Rock on, and thank you for not engaging in those behaviors.

But we are not the standard, even those who live an admirable life.  

God is the standard.  

Suddenly, all of our self-righteous proclamations are seen for what they are: words that are come from hearts that are not humble.  Jesus gave us a wonderful parable that illustrates the kind of comparison  we make that pits us against others: 

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’"

But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted (Luke 18:9-14).

Paul makes it clear that God is the standard for us: 

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Rom. 3: 22-24). 

God is also the standard of what being "just" mean. We may come up with all kinds of definitions, but at the core, we feel we have been wronged and something/someone must do something about it.  That is not the part that is problematic.  The "do something about it" part is where our flesh can waltz right in and start making demands, regardless of the consequences.  We want a quick fix, one that makes us feel better, now that people know our pain. 

When we have been wronged, wanting justice is completely understandable.  How we handle our  demands for justice being met is where our fallen flesh can trade one injustice for another. 

Wanting justice for wrongs committed against us is ultimately a cry against the Fall, where sin entered  and broke the beauty of creation.  We bear the image of God, and that mirror was marred by sin. We were called to be in relationship with God and each other, but now, we find an enormous amount of brokenness around us. We want to be connected to one another, but very often instead of love and community, we find brokenness, abuse, hurt and emptiness.  

But God's justice is deeper than reparation. It is about restoration: of hearts, relationships and society.

Enter the prophets.  They called out injustice, based on the standard of God's character, where lies, abuse, violence, exploitation, and murder are not acceptable in any way.  God's character is one of truth, compassion, peace, caring for others and preserving life.  He expects those who call on His name to reflect that not only in their lives but in their society. 

The prophets' message can be summarized in these verses from Micah 6:8:

He has told you, mortal one, 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?  

Let's begin our next inquiry!

[1] The NIV Study Bible. Kenneth Barker, ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1985), 1370.    

 

How Can We Move From Fear to Faith?

How can we undergo His healing touch? An instructive story in the New Testament gives us a step-by-step process where we watch Jesus move a person from fear to faith.

It is found in Luke 5:17-26 (NIV): 

One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?  Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

Let’s unpack this story.

A man is paralyzed, and lies upon a mat. We don’t know how long he has been in this condition. No one needs to tell him of his affliction. Every day, when the sun rises, he cannot get up like the rest of the household. He needs someone to bring him food, help him to use the bathroom, and take him out of the house for fresh air.

Does he sometimes dream he is running and jumping, only to find that when he opens his eyes, the truth shakes him to his very soul? He knows his condition, and it saddens him deeply.

Our condition saddens us as well. We are all too well aware of our need.

He does have contact with his community. He isn’t isolated, staying in his house day by day, just hoping someone knows he is there. People know he is there. So, at some level, he is connected. He hasn’t yelled at people or raged at them to the point where, despite his pitiable condition, they ignore him.

He suffers and they know that. He doesn’t punish others for his affliction. He gratefully watches as they lift him up to take him to Jesus. Even with his limitations, he is willing to be a part of his community. He has not isolated himself so he eventually becomes forgotten.

We need to reach out to our community and connect with others. We need to be, even in our pain, gracious with the hands that lift us up. Their assistance should not be seen as a condemnation of us as weak; we need to thank God for those hands, for they are His.

Next, the men cannot find a way into the house where Jesus is teaching, for it is crowded. Do they give up?  Does the man on the mat say, “Oh, never mind. It’s not meant to be. Let’s go home. God doesn’t really care, or there would be a clear way into the house.”

No! These men get creative. Someone scouts out the roof and then returns, letting the rest know that they can come to Jesus through the roof.

Unconventional? Yes, but creative.

We need to be creative in how we look to the Lord for our healing. We may have to scout out different treatment plans, doctors, counselors or pastors, and be willing to look high and low for solutions. Rarely is there a clear way to solve a life-long problem. We have to be creative, flexible and take it step by step.

Now the men hoist the paralyzed man up to the roof. I’ll bet that took quite some time! They need to scout out the exact spot on the roof, get the man up to that spot, and then remove enough tiles to fit the man and his mat through safely. Then they have to lower him down, very carefully. Time. Effort. Maybe more time. Creativity. There are no quick fixes to our suffering. We may have to go through many time-consuming steps to finally get face to face with Jesus. But, hey, what’s the alternative? Back to that mat? I love this part: “When Jesus saw their faith...” Jesus always sees our faith and our efforts. They say a lot about us and what we consider important. If we see our healing as important, and are willing to work with Jesus to get there, He sustains and guides us. He may choose to use a counselor to be His voice. Or a pastor. Or a close friend. Or a doctor. God may use a combination of many people and many things to help us be whole. He rewards our seeking. If we earnestly seek Him, He awaits with open arms. This next part is quite interesting. Jesus tells the man that his sins are forgiven. Wait a minute, Lord! He came to you with a broken body. Why are You focusing on his sins? In reality, we are all spiritually broken. Our lives may be shattered, but deep within all of us, we need reconciliation with God. The man on the mat may have secretly blamed God, or his parents, or himself. He may not have forgiven God, his parents or himself, and his lack of forgiveness may have driven him further from God. He may harbor angry thoughts and a sense that God doesn’t care. His soul needs Jesus’ touch way before his physical healing. Remember Jonah? He was delivered from death, but his attitude towards God needed healing, for it drove him away from God. He may have been safe physically, but his attitude was putting him on a crash course with isolation and hell. It’s the same with the man on the mat. Jesus can heal him physically, but he still would have walked away with sin paralyzing his heart. Trust Jesus to diagnose your true area for healing. Trust His timing. Trust His ways as He seeks to achieve healing in your life. The spiritual healing may come way before any other kind of healing. Embrace that, and accept His priorities. People are murmuring at what Jesus said to the man. Not everyone will celebrate this man’s encounter with Jesus. Jesus sees their jealous anger. Jesus sees the Pharisees grumbling about the time He is taking with this man. He sees their self-righteousness as well. He knows that God alone can forgive sins. Jesus doesn’t need a Sunday school lesson from them. But they are furious that He is presuming to do God’s work. What if, for one moment, they really think about it and say, “The Promised One, our Messiah, is truly here. Let us embrace Him!” What a difference! They would have been able to enjoy the work of Jesus. But just like the jealous older brother, who sniped at the father and his prodigal brother, the Pharisees are losing out on the blessings freely flowing from God. Sadly, they demean the healing taking place in front of them. Many church folks will demean your quest for healing. Don’t listen to them. Feel sorry for them, for they are missing out on watching God’s blessings. They will have lots of advice, based on their limited knowledge and possible jealousy. Seek out a Godly counselor or pastor. Seek wise counsel from a few select people. Not everyone needs to know about your quest. You can always request prayer, however, without sharing details. The man, with his soul forgiven and his body healed (the best order!) picks up his mat and heads for home, praising God! He carries his own mat. God will not do for you what you are perfectly capable of doing yourself. You are a partner with Him, and where you can do something towards your wellness, He will expect you to do it. Praise Him as you do your share, knowing that He is right behind you. The people then praise God for what they witnessed that day. The man, no longer on his mat, is a walking testimony to the power of God. You, as you walk this journey towards wellness, will be visible testimony to God’s faithfulness. You may stumble and fall, but keep walking. Keep praising Him as you head for home. You are not alone: You have the Holy Spirit as your Guide, Advocate and loving Companion. If He sends, He defends. Stand on that.