"What Does the Lord Require of You?"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sometimes it feels as though everyone is trying to take the fun out of life. That new sports car will do 0-60 in four seconds and top out at 120mph, but the state trooper is strategically stationed to make sure you get nowhere near that on the road. Desserts taste so much better with fresh cream, but the government says everything must be pasteurized and homogenized and sterilized and blasted beyond recognition, in the name of food safety. You savor the taste of sausages and rich soups and luscious desserts, but the doctor says that you have to cut back, cut out, cut down.

Sometimes it feels as though the Lord is trying to take away all your fun, too. You can't swear, can't sleep in on Sundays, can't join in the wild parties, can't do all kinds of stuff that looks like so much fun, at least on TV and online. The Lord does not allow you to say whatever you want to whomever you want. The Lord says you cannot keep all of your hard-earned money and possessions all to yourself. The Lord says that you have to respect the government and follow the laws of the land. The Lord says that you cannot believe whatever you want or worship whatever or whomever your heart desires. No man or woman, no bottle, no car, no child, no job is supposed to take the Lord's place in your heart. Kinda makes the Lord God sound like a big party-pooper. After all, why did God make all this fun stuff and tell us not to use it?

This was the very mindset of the people of Israel when the Lord spoke to Micah. The religions of the surrounding nations sounded like much more fun. No fasting and supplication. No strict kosher laws to follow. Temple prostitutes and ritual fornication to enjoy. Pork is a whole lot better tasting than unleavened bread and bitter herbs. And so the children of Israel, the people of the covenant, the chosen of God, ran off after idols. They forgot their husband and whored after foreign lovers. They forgot what the Lord their God had done for them in days of old, and simply focused on what He would not let them do in the moment.

And so the Lord speaks: “Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the LORD has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel.” The Lord brought an indictment against His people for the evil they were doing in His sight. The Lord pleads His case to the mountains and the hills because creation itself bears witness to the sins of the people. The people have failed to keep the covenant which the Lord swore to Abraham, to Jacob, and to Moses, that He would be their God and they would be His people. The people whom the Lord called out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, they forgot the many and various ways the Lord had protected them and sustained them, and instead went seeking after other false gods who would tickle their fancies, whatever those might be.

So the Lord demands of the people, “O my people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me!” Has the Lord harmed His people in any way? Has He deprived them of any blessing that He has to give? Has the Lord wearied His people? If the people have a grievance, the Lord is ready to hear and to answer. But what grievance is there to air? Do the children of Israel have any charge to present against the Lord God? What has the Lord done to His people?

“For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the LORD.” The Lord brought His people out of slavery in the land of Egypt by miracles at the hand of Moses and Aaron. Under the leadership of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, the children of Israel did not starve, nor did their shoes or clothing wear out, nor were they ever lost in the desert all the forty years of their wandering, as the Lord guided them and sustained them. When Balak, king of Moab, purposed to bribe the prophet Balaam, the Lord made Balaam's donkey speak to rebuke him, and He bound Balaam's tongue, so that the wayward prophet could only bless Israel and curse the Moabites. The Lord led the children of Israel from Shittim to Gilgal under the hand of Joshua to cross the Jordan and enter the Promised Land, the land flowing with milk and honey, which had been promised to their forefathers.

Through all the years of their history, through the good, the bad, and the ugly, the Lord God sustained His chosen people through whatever came their way. Though they were the least of all the nations, the Lord sustained them throughout their sojourn in the land of Egypt, throughout their wandering in the desert, and throughout their struggles to take the Promised Land. And now what? The people turned their back on their God because God is boring and a spoilsport.

How often do we think like the Israelites? We are quick to forget who we are and whence we come. We all-too-easily turn our backs on the Lord God in favor of the pleasure of the week. We want to have our cake and eat it too. We want to think that all roads lead to heaven, so we can practice our beliefs in private, and go along with everything that everyone else wants us to do in the public square. We want to be be able to say, “I don't believe in abortion, but I uphold your right to choose for yourself.” We want to be able to say, “Well, as long as you really love each other, I guess gay marriage is alright.” We want to be able to say, “I guess you can run your community according to Islamic law, as long as it doesn't bother me personally.” We want to worship at the altar of public opinion and envy of neighbor. We want to follow the religion of our sinful flesh and its prurient desires. We want to throw caution to the wind and do whatever we want, dashed be the consequences. After all, how can something that feels so right really be so wrong?

Repent. You are not a slave to your own wayward desires. You are not a godless heathen, following the winds of the world or the whisperings of demons. You are not free to bury your head in the sand while the world passes you by. You are not a slave to the whims of society and the clamoring of the masses.

No, you are a child of God, a son of the Lord Most High. You are one redeemed by the Lamb of God, the Holy One of Israel. You are one for whom Jesus Christ died. For you and for your sins, the King of Kings came to earth, was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered, was crucified, and was buried. For you and for your life, the Lamb of God who once was slain was raised from the dead by the glory of God the Father. For you and for your salvation, the Prince of Peace appeared in glory upon the earth to proclaim freedom to the captives and life to the dead. Into this glorious inheritance you have been baptized. Into this wondrous death and life you have been grafted. The indictment of the Lord no longer stands against you, because it was nailed to the cross and erased by the blood of the Lamb. The charges against your former life are history. The devil no longer has hold or claim upon you; he can harm you none, though fierce he roar.

You are no longer a slave to sin, death, and the devil. You are now a son of God, free from sin, holy and blameless before God our Father on account of the righteousness of Christ. The devil and the world, though they seek to devour you, have no hold upon you anymore. You need not bow to the demands of society. You need not capitulate to the requirements of modern so-called political correctness and cultural sensitivity.

So what is required of us? Since we are not to give in to the demands of this world or the seductions of our own sinful flesh. “He has told you, O man, 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?” The Lord has told you what is good. He has declared to you the wonders of His love and the works of His hand for you. Jesus Himself has come to you and gives you His gifts. He indeed comes to you this day to give you the forgiveness of your sins and the guarantee of your life. He has placed His very Name upon you, and today places His own flesh and blood upon you as the seal of your eternal life. Come, taste and see that the Lord is good. He is good, and His mercy endureth forever.

What does the Lord require of you? That you believe the Word which He has spoken to you. That you believe that you are indeed His own dearly beloved child, and He is your own dear Father. For when you walk as a child of God, you will of your very nature do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.

You will do justice because the justice of God has been poured out in mercy on your behalf. You will do justice because all creatures of our God and King are worthy of our love, just as they receive His. You will do justice because of the love that flows from Christ to and through you.

You will love kindness because of the kindness shown to you. You will love true kindness, the sort that leads in gentleness and corrects in love. You will love the sort of kindness that binds up the brokenhearted and leads the erring to the truth in love, and forgives all things.

You will walk humbly with your God because He is your dear Father. You will walk with Him, not as an abject servant under a harsh lord, but as a child walking hand-in-hand with your beloved Father. You will walk humbly with your God because of the wonderful things He has done while He has led you through the paths of your life, never letting go of your hand.

Praise, all you people, the name so holy

Of Him who does such wondrous things!

All that has being, to praise Him solely,

With happy heart its amen sings.

Children of God, with angel host

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

Alleluia, alleluia!

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.