As Christians, if we are doing deep study and really seeking God, we can wonder if we are doing what God wants us to do. Many people are looking for their purpose and trying to find what God has created them to do. As followers of Christ, we should be seeking out how we as a community of believers, can become more like him. We should find ourselves constantly reevaluating our actions and intentions. It is really easy to take our focus off of following God and instead, seek what we want. It happens so easily and without us even noticing, if we aren’t paying close intention. All of a sudden, the church becomes what we want it to be and does what we want it to do, rather than what God wants. And we don’t notice if we aren’t paying attention, seeking God in everything, and listening to him as he leads and guides us. We cannot get complacent in our walk with God. It is a continual work of seeking and hearing.
The Israelites in today’s scripture had gotten complacent. They know the practices of what makes them religious. They understand to show up for worship, to go through the motions, and to feel good about what they have done. They do it in the name of God, but it’s really for them. They want to be able to know they are doing all of the right things. But they have lost focus. They aren’t doing these things for God any longer. They are doing it for themselves. Their motives and intentions are tainted. They have turned inward and it is showing. God noticed and he is hurt, disappointed, and re-directive.
Micah 6 is one of the most familiar scriptures of the Old Testament. This particular chapter is set up like a courtroom case. God will speak his case, with witnesses listening (the mountains and foundations). The people will respond. And there will be a final verdict, so to speak. Follow the sequence as we read Micah 6:1-8.
God presents his case. And he presents it with compassion. He is asking questions of the Israelites to help them hear where they may have gone off track. He asks them how has he wearied them. What have I done to you? He reminds them of their story. It is one of redemption, one of deliverance, one of instruction, and one of salvation. They were brought out of a bad place and into the Promised Land. They were given all they needed and then some. God had rescued them and provided for them. Had they forgotten? And he reminds them with just a few key points that should spark memories and stories. This should help them to know who they belong to and what God has done.
The Israelites respond. They, of course, don’t understand. They show up to worship. They give. They sacrifice. They do all the right things. Their motions are correct. Their actions are following the law. They want to know what more could God possibly want? What was he expecting of them? What more could he possibly ask? And they do this with dialogue which is over the top. They want to know when is it enough for God. They want to know if they give all of this, will it ever be enough.
And God responds. The problem isn’t their actions, it’s their intentions, it’s their heart. They are doing what they are doing without real meaning. They are not really doing all of this for God. They are selfishly going through the motions. And so God responds with words they were not expecting. He didn’t want them to offer more sacrifices. He didn’t want them to show up for worship more or sing more songs. He wanted them to change their heart. He wanted their heart to be reflected in what they did. And this looked like 3 things:
They were to do justice. This looked like caring for the widows, the orphans, and the strangers. It looked like caring for the least of these. It was about not hoarding all of the resources and leaving others out. It was about giving and not receiving. It was about following the commandments God had given them.
They were to love kindness. This word has deep meaning beyond what the English language can contain. It is a merciful, loving kindness which is a characteristic of God. He wants them to love one another as he has loved them. He wants them to be merciful and loving. Their kindness should come from a place of deep love.
They were to walk humbly with God. Walking with God was the key to all of this. They had walked on their own. They had gone through the motions but without the heart of following God. They had not been walking with God through all of this. If they had, they would have done justice and loved mercy. They would have been doing the right things because that’s what God wanted.
To walk humbly with God is the starting place of it all. We all have a story. God has been with us in so many ways. We tend to forget this when all is going well. We can easily get off track. We can take our focus off of God and put it on the wrong things. But coming back to the core – walking with God – is vital. When we walk with God, we begin to do justice because God is a just God. We begin to love others because God is love. We change when we truly walk humbly with God.We could all use some humble walking with God. That probably takes some redirection and some deep seeking. It might take some admitting we are wrong and coming back to where he is. May God find us not simply going through the motions, but seeking him with all that we are and all that we do
SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY 
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