Sermon Title: We Know Enough to Know God is Right and He is Good

(Micah 6:1-8)

Micah is the sixth minor prophet. His name means, “Who is like the Lord?” He prophesied the fall of Israel to the Assyrians, and the eventual fall to Babylon. Yet, Micah also offered hope, prophesying Israel’s future restoration and the Messiah’s birthplace, Bethlehem (5:2).

Prophets were like court bailiffs announcing lawsuits initiated by God against Israel. In chapter 6, God summons Israel to court to plead their case. They had embraced all sorts of sinful practices: idolatry (1:6-7), taking advantage of the poor/weak (2:1), and spiritual and political corruption (2:6, 3:5,11). God is just to judge us for our sin because he has given us everything we need to live a life that is pleasing to him. We know enough to know God is right.

But God is not just “right”. He lists all the “righteous acts” he has done for Israel (6:4-5). In the same manner, God has done many good things for the unbeliever and the Christian. We know enough to know God is right and he is good.

Israel responds to God by offering increasingly larger and more valuable offerings (6:6-7), but that is not what God wants. He does not want external righteousness, but hearts that do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with him. However, we know we cannot change ourselves. Thanks be to God, Jesus, the ruler “from ancient days,” has not only modeled this behavior, but also gave his life on the cross so that through faith and repentance we could be transformed from the inside out (Matt 23:23, 25-26). We know enough to know God is right and good. And we also know enough to know Jesus is the only one who can make us right and good.

Application Question: Ask God to give you grace, by his Spirit, to do one or more of the following: 1) Do what is fair/honest where you are tempted to cheat or lie, 2) Look for an opportunity to show mercy/kindness to someone who does not deserve it, and 3) Set aside intentional time to think of good acts God has done for you, even if you are in the midst of great difficulty.