People sometimes refer to poignant statements in Scripture as "nuggets." (The first image that comes to mind is a tub of chicken nuggets, although I am quite confident that the intended reference is gold nuggets.) Reason being, studying Scripture can be like mining for gold - you sometimes have to do a lot of hard work before you stumble onto the things of substance that drew you there in the first place. This sometimes frustrating reality is by Divine design, though I won't get into the reasons why right now. Rather, I want to polish a chicken, er, I mean gold nugget for Christmas.
Micah 6:8 is such a nugget. It is a summary passage, recapping basically the entire corpus of Old Testament theology. In the verses immediately prior a straw-man is built, who argues that he would do anything up to and including sacrificing his own son, if only God would be happy with him. He is begging God to reveal what He expects of humanity because, "I just don't know what God wants from me!" Through the prophet Micah we are reminded of the stunning simplicity of God's already revealed will. "He has already told you, oh man, but you weren't paying attention - do justice, love mercy, walk humbly" (my paraphrase).
Notice, it is all written in the singular - He has shown YOU. YOU do justice. Don't petition Washington for social programs or legislated morality and think you've done your Christian duty. YOU do justice. Care for the poor and sick. Lead with exemplary ethics and morals. Sacrifice, give, teach - from the overflow of your American abundance, YOU do justice.
YOU love mercy. From the Hebrew hesed (No, no, you've got to say the "h" while clearing your throat. Try that again.), which means, as my Hebrew prof taught us, "covenant faithfulness." The meaning of the word goes back to the Abrahamic covenant where God established His unconditional covenant with His fickle people (Genesis 15). We will fail, God will not. Loving this kind of mercy requires more than just resting securely in it. It demands that we act towards others in the same way. YOU love mercy means, treat people with the love of Christ regardless of their response to it or to you.
YOU walk humbly. This is really a prerequisite to the previous two. There is no way we can muster up the courage to do justice, or dig deep enough to love fellow sinners with hesed if we do not continually yield our stubborn will before God's immense wisdom and love.
This is not easy or light, but what a nugget it is! As we approach Christmas we are reminded of the incomprehensible sacrifice of Jesus Christ that far surpasses our concept of justice. God so loved an unlovely world that He was faithful to His promise and actually gave what Micah's straw-man arrogantly accused God of requiring of him. As we gaze on our beautiful nativities we must grapple with the depth of meaning in His lavish display of hesed both in the manger and ultimately on the cross. Let us be reminded throughout this season why walking humbly before our God is such a reasonable thing of Him to ask of us.
He has shown us, oh men and women, what He requires of us, and not just requires, but first gave to us. Let us make this Holiday season an offering of worship in justice, mercy, and humility.
