“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?”
It’s a favorite verse for a lot of people, but I’m reading it and trembling in my boots.
Now, I don’t deny that the new man reads of God’s Law and takes joy in the will of God that it reveals. The Law can work on us in a number of ways. But have a read-through of Micah 6, all of it, and then tell me that this verse is nothing but sweetness and light to you.
The first five verses of Micah 6 will probably remind you of the Reproaches used in the Good Friday service, if you have a connection with that tradition. Few elements in a church service convey such poignant grief as do these Reproaches.
What I’m reading in Micah 6 is a fearful accusation of God against his people, whom he has called, delivered, and upheld– and who have turned against him. It is as if he’s saying, “I’ve given you everything; given, and not demanded payment. You think you can pay me off, think that I need anything from you? What I have given you is good, for your own good and your neighbors’. And so I’ve called you to be my people and to walk with me, and to be just and merciful to your neighbor as I have been do you. This is precisely what you’re NOT doing. You are full of evil deeds.”
I mean, go ahead and like the verse; hear it as a call to repentance from a God who loves us. This is true. But let’s consider the gravity of this verse and its context, rather than approach it casually. As a word of Law, it accuses as well as instructs. Putting a happy face on the Law does not turn it into a word of Gospel, or even a word of motivational-speak. We need to hear the Law as Law. Good Friday is coming. Then we can also hear the Gospel as Gospel.
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