Sermon for 11/13/22: Twenty-Second Sunday After Trinity

 CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

No sermon video this week. Sorry.

What God Does to You
Micah 6:6-8

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

It is man’s natural inclination to want to do something to earn God’s favor. By nature, man knows that there’s a problem; by nature, man knows that he’s a sinner. So by nature, man also knows to try and fix the problem; to mend the fracture and make things all better. “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?” Israel certainly knows better. God Himself has made the answers to these questions abundantly clear, again and again and again. This is just stubborn, obstinate foolishness and stupidity on full display. It’s enough to make God very frustrated and angry!

In the verses before our text, God Himself speaks to Israel, and He’s not happy. Micah gives us the image of a courtroom; God, the prosecuting attorney, questions the criminal defendant Israel. “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, O you mountains, the Lord’s complaint, and you strong foundations of the earth; for the Lord has a complaint against His people, and He will contend with Israel. O My people, what have I done to you? And how have I wearied you? Testify against Me.” God then lays out examples from their past where He has delivered them, not because they deserved it or earned it, but because they were poor and miserable. “Exhibit A: ‘I brought you up from the land of Egypt; I redeemed you from the house of bondage.’ Exhibit B: ‘I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam…’ as my voice; I have never forsaken you. Exhibit C: ‘Remember Balak king of Moab.’ Remember how I turned his wicked plans into your blessings. The evidence is clear. Why do you keep doing what you’re doing? Do you not hear Me? Do you not care?”

This is when Israel looks up from their phones and asks Micah, “Man…God sounds angry. What do we need to do to get back in His good graces?” You can almost hear Micah’s eyeroll. “God has already told you. ‘He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?’ What does the Lord require of you but to simply live faithfully; to be just and right; to rebuke sin and praise righteousness? What does the Lord require of you but to love as you’ve already been loved by Him?”

They just didn’t get it. And as we look throughout Scripture, this was a recurring problem. “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What must we do to be saved?” What do we need to do to make things right? Ever since the fall into sin in the Garden of Eden, man has been trying to figure out the answer.

Do not look down your noses, because we’re not immune to this foolishness. We think foolish things about God, too. “What can I do to get a little good karma headed in my direction?” “What can I do to get back on God’s good side?” “If I put more in the offering plate, do you think that would win God over? Do you think He’d answer my prayer then?” “How can I know God’s purpose for my life?” “What do I have to do in order to be a good Christian?” “What do I need to do in order to get a little peace and joy in my life?” “Am I going to heaven?” “Why is this happening to me?” “Don’t you care, God? Don’t you see?”

The answer to such foolish questions is simple, and I know you already know it. After all, I’m speaking to a bunch of Christians. You may not like the answer, precisely because it’s so simple, but this is the answer. Look here! Look to the cross of Jesus Christ! “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” Behold! “God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son…” In Him and because of Him, it is finished! You are saved by His grace, His mercy, His unconditional, cruciform love. Here is all of God’s wrath against sin; here is God’s unconditional love for you. Here is God’s love for all the world. Go and share and proclaim this life-giving Word to anyone who has ears; to anyone who is a sinner who Christ loved enough to die for! Go and tell all that Christ has done for you!

It’s that simple! And praise God that it is! May He grant us the wisdom and humility of faith to simply believe Him, hold fast to Him, and proclaim His Truth in all our daily thoughts, words, and deeds. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.