[ For lo, the Lord is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. Then the mountains will melt under him and the valleys will burst open, like wax near the fire, like waters poured down a steep place. All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?] But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace. If the Assyrians come into our land and tread upon our soil, we will raise against them seven shepherds and eight installed as rulers. “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O mortal, 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? (Micah [1:3-5] 5:2-5a; 6:6-8, NRSV)
What do we need to do for God?
What do we need to do to follow God?
The good Lutheran answer is nothing. There is nothing I can do to earn God’s grace, but then the question wasn’t about God’s grace, it was about what we need to do for God and to follow God.
You see there is something those of us who are followers of Christ must do, and that is go where He leads us. Follow Christ everywhere. We need to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God.
How do we do justice?
When we see something that is wrong, we say something or do something about it. Whether it affects us or not we need to work for justice in the world.
How do we love kindness?
We love everyone as we wish to be loved and seek to share the kindness that we have been given.
And how do we walk humbly with God?
Do what God has asked us to do, which is do justice and love kindness without asking for anything in return. To not let the world know who did it, but just follow God and know that He has blessed us beyond all award we could ever earn here.
Follow God everywhere and share the blessing with which you have been blessed, because that is what God needs us to do…
aSacredRebel 