By: Curtis Baker
One of our favorite genre’s of television is the court room drama. Whether one goes all the way back to the classic Perry Mason series or gets absorbed in the more recent dramas of Law and Order, it seems we are fascinated by the drama of the court room. In some ways this is kind of ironic. Lawyers are not the most popular people in our society. When polls are taken about the most hated professions, lawyers are usually right up there among the worst offenders. And yet, despite our disdain for men of the law, we are inexplicably drawn to drama of the courtroom.
As we move into our next study of the Minor Prophets, the book of Micah, I want to lead us to a text in this prophetic book where a court room drama plays out. In Micah chapter six, you have a court case that is being brought against the people of Israel. The prosecution is God himself, who, as you might imagine, has the greatest prosecution record of all time. As a matter of fact, he is undefeated. On the defense, you have the people of Israel, whose record is less than stellar. The witnesses in this drama are the hills and the mountains of Israel who have observed God’s relationship with the people of Israel from the very beginning.
As the drama unfolds, God, in the form of the prosecution, goes first. He says, “Witnesses, here is my accusation! You can attest to whether or not I have done wrong….” But just as he is about to lay out his case, there is a long slow silence in the court room, and rather than carrying out his accusations before the witlessness, with eyes full of hurt Yahweh looks to his people and asks, “What have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Did I not bring you up out of Egypt. Did I not send Moses to be your leader? Did I not protect you in the desert from the deceits of men like Balaak who wanted to lead his Moabites against you? Did I not guide you across the Jordan River on dry ground, even as the river roared in flood season?” (Micah 6:3-5)
You can hear a pin drop in the room. Nobody expected this. Everyone expected judgment and accusation, not tear filled questions.
Everyone is moved…and most of all, the people of Israel are moved. They realize their utter stupidity and they wonder how they could have been so foolish. However, here is the dilemma: they have been gone from him so long they have forgotten his ways. And so they ask in verse six: “With what shall we come before the Yahweh, and bow down before you as the exalted God? Shall we bring burnt offerings, or calves a year old. Would Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams or ten thousand rivers of oil. Should I give up my all, including my first born in sacrifice to you?”
They have been convicted by God’s appeal, but they have been gone from him so long, they don’t know how to approach him. They think it must be with some elaborate ritual or worship.
But Micah, jumping back in the picture, reminds them of what God has consistently wanted ever since his first days with them: “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly…to love mercy…and to walk humbly with God.”
As this court room drama plays out, we learn in a very important passage what it is that God requires of us. Is religious ritual important? Of course it is…it plays a very important role in the formation of our spiritual lives. However, if we think that observance of religious ritual is really what life with God is all about, we have sharply missed the point. Religious ritual is a means to an end. The true end for which we are all aiming is the formation of our character. And here in Micah, we discover what a true and godly character looks like. It is a character which acts justly…which loves mercy…and which walks humbly with God. This is what God truly desires of us. But what does it mean it mean to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God? We will turn our attention to that question next week.
(Don’t forget to join me for A Message From the Heart radio program Sunday evening at 8:00pm on KJAK 92.7FM, or streaming live at www.kjak.com) (curtisbaker@hotmail.com)
Write to: P.O. Box 157, Slaton, TX 79364
