I wanted to share with you some information about what Americans know about the Bible.  A recent survey showed that Americans generally could not recite the Ten Commandments.  The best was that a slight majority of people were able to name five of the Ten Commandments.  Shall we take the test on the Ten Commandments?

I – You shall have no other gods but me.

II - You shall not make unto you any graven images.

III - You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

IV - You shall remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.

V - Honor your mother and father.

VI - You shall not murder.

VII - You shall not commit adultery.

VIII - You shall not steal.

IX - You shall not bear false witness.

X - You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.

          The survey also reported that 12% of the people believed that Joan of Arc was Noah’ wife.  Joan of Arc is a national heroine of France, a peasant girl who, believing that she was acting under divine guidance, led the French army into battle in the 1400’s.

          The survey also found that 50% of Americans believed that Sodom and Gomorrah were married. Sodom and Gomorrah were, of course, cities destroyed by God for their wickedness.

          Now the other interesting fact is that the Bible was still the best-selling book in American in 2023 with 88% of all Americans owning one or more copies of the Bible.  The problem seems to be that we don’t open the book often enough and read it.  In not understanding what the Bible says, we become susceptible to others telling us what it says and that often leads to what is called Twisted Scripture.

          One of the most common expressions of Twisted Scripture that I have encountered reads this way, “God will never give you more than you can handle.”  This saying has been said so many times that those words are found in all sorts of merchandise such as greeting cards, coffee cups, t shirts, and wall hangings.  These words are often expressed to people who are grieving the loss of a loved one as a means of encouraging them through grief.  I can tell you almost every grieving person I have counseled has come to hate those words.  And they should hate those words because those words are wrong and are not found in the Bible.  Not only is this saying wrongly attributed to the Bible, but the saying is spiritually destructive to Christians.

          “God will never give you more than you can handle,” comes from a misquotation from the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth.  In that letter, Paul was covering a whole host of topics with one topic being the sin of idolatry committed by Hebrew ancestors. What is idolatry?  Idolatry goes back to our list of Ten Commandments in which the first and second commandments say, 

I – You shall have no other gods but me.

II - You shall not make unto you any graven images.

          Idolatry worshipping and loving anything or anyone more than God alone.

          Paul also addressed the sin of sexual immorality that had been committed by the ancestors of those in the Corinth church.  Paul reminded his listeners that those who engaged in the sinful behavior of idolatry and sexual immorality were punished severely.

          Now from this posture of addressing sins committed long ago.  Paul wrote, “13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). It is from these words of the Bible that we have today the Twisted Scripture, “God will not give you more than you can bear.”  There are here some remarkable differences in what the Bible says and what the Twisted Scripture says.

          Let’s take a close look at what the Scripture, the Word of God, says.  Once again, Paul wrote, “13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Immediately, we notice the subject matter of the Word of God is temptation.  And we immediately notice that the Twisted Scripture phrase, “God will never give you more than you can handle,” does not mention temptation at all.

What is temptation?  There are many definitions of temptation but the one I want us to use today is that “Temptation is the act of being enticed to disobey God’s will, which is to sin.”  We need to use some care here to make sure we remember that temptation and sin are related subjects, but they are not the same thing.  Temptation is not sin, and sin is not temptation. 

As to temptation, the enticement toward sin can come from the world around us, from another person, from within our own self, or from Satan.  Paul said to the church, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.” Said most simply, “Any temptation you and I face has already been faced by your ancestors.”  That was true when Paul wrote those words, and it is true today as well.  It may be easier with the Internet for us to receive some temptations than in the past, but they are not new temptations.  There is nothing unique about the temptations Paul’s listeners would have faced or the temptations we face today.

          Moreover, no one is above being tempted to disobey God.  Even sinless people were tempted.  Eve and Adam, in the Garden of Eden, were sinless people.  One day, while Eve was minding her own business, the serpent, Satan, tempted, enticed, Eve to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Jesus, another sinless person, after his baptism, was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness.  There Jesus fasted for 40 days.  At the end of his fast, Satan tempted Jesus first to turn stones into bread for Jesus to feed himself.  Satan then tempted Jesus to jump off the Temple in Jerusalem to prove God’s angels would catch Jesus before he struck the ground.  Then for a third time Satan tempted Jesus by enticing Jesus to bow before Satan and receive in return all the kingdoms of the earth.  Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation, sinned, and lost their state of sinlessness.  Jesus did not succumb to Satan’s temptations and remained sinless.  Everyone is subject to temptation but being tempted does not make you a sinner.

          Let’s go back to Paul’s words again, “13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.”  For the moment, I want us to focus on that first phrase of the second sentence of verse 13, “And God is faithful.”  In the Greek language of Paul’s letter, he wrote, “Theos pistos.” “God is faithful.”  Paul’s words here are unqualified, meaning that God is not faithful in listening to prayers, or in caring about his creation, or in helping in times of trouble, or granting mercy, or anything else we might think about.  Paul is saying some beautiful and life sustaining words here, “God is faithful,” without exception or reservation.  Paul’s words are not new here.  These words are found elsewhere in Scripture.  Such as:

• The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)
• For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. (Psalm 33:4)
• Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast.  (Psalm 119:90)

I just want you to think about those words for a moment, “God is faithful,” “Theos pistos.”  Who is God faithful to?  God is faithful to you and to me.  Let those words wrap around you for a moment and feel the security that those words bring to us.  “Theos pistos.”  “God is faithful.”

          Again, we note that in the Twisted Scripture phrase, “God will never give you more than you can handle,” the idea that God is faithful is never mentioned.  That is just so sad.

In recognizing the comfort of the words that “God is faithful,” we return to the words from Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth, “13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.”  There should be great joy in these words because what they say is that whenever we are tempted, that is whenever we are enticed to disobey God, then in that precise moment God is there with us.  Why is God with us in temptation?  Because in that moment of temptation, God, who is faithful, is not going to let us be tempted in such a way that we feel we have no alternative but to sin.

          In In 1969, Comedian Flip Wilson introduced to the world, Geraldine, the fictional wife of a preacher. The character, Geraldine, had a catchphrase, “The Devil made me do it!”  The idea that the devil made me do it is unscriptural.  The devil, Satan, certainly tempts us but the devil is powerless to make us disobey God.  Again, why is that?  Back to Paul’s words again, “13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he [God] will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

          All the power, 100% of the power over the temptations that come to us is held by God who stands right next to us whenever we are tempted.  But.  There is always a but.  But God does not use any of that power to make the temptation just disappear.  If a bottle of alcohol represents a temptation to you, God is not going to smash that bottle in front of you to end the temptation.  He could but that is not what Scripture says God will do.  Scripture does not say that God will make temptation go away. Instead, God uses His power to provide us a way out in the very face of the temptation itself.

          The Twisted Scripture phrase, “God will never give you more than you can handle,” mentions nothing about the power of God that is available to us if we would just reach out to God.  Even worse, that phrase says God is the one who has given us the burden to be handled in the first place.  I cannot tell you the number of grieving people I have counseled in the last ten years who have struggled with this expression.  Because they rightly ask, “Why would God burden me by taking away my loved one?”  “Why would God think I can stand losing my loved one because I can’t imagine one more day of this misery.”  “And if God gave me this burden, this death, why would I want to turn to him for healing?” Twisted Scripture is spiritually damaging.  True Scripture, the true word of God, however, tells us God does not give the problem, here, temptation.  Instead, God faithfully gives the solution, a way out of temptation.  And remember we can take comfort that in speaking of temptation, Paul says without qualification, without exception, “God is faithful,” “Theos pistos,” reassuring us that God will be present in all the trials of our life, not to inflict them upon us, not to make them disappear, but to guide us through those trials.

          In the Book of James, we would see this point reinforced.  James wrote, “13 When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:13-15).  Temptation does not come from God.  Burdens do not come from God.  Jesus made this point in when he said, “28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29).  Jesus does not give burden.  Jesus gives rest.

          “God is faithful.” When we are tempted God will give us a way out of that temptation so that we do not sin.  So, in every temptation God is present.  In every temptation, God provides a way out.  In every temptation from the world, from within ourselves, or from Satan there comes with it a spiritual test from God created by the presence of temptation.  That test is, “Will we trust God by reaching out and take his way out of the temptation?”  Will we grab onto that 100% of the power over temptation by reaching out to God?

          Therefore, for every temptation that comes to us, there also comes with it a test of faith to reach out to God.  James, brother of the Lord, Jesus, wrote, “12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).  Every temptation we face will come to an end. That temptation will end either with sin, because we disobeyed God and followed the temptation, or it will result in coming closer to God because we passed the test and took the path and drew in the power of that our faithful God created for us to escape the temptation.

          Twisted Scripture is spiritually damaging.  To believe that ““God will never give you more than you can handle,” is to believe God is the source of all manner of evil and bad in the world. This is simply wrong because God is faithful to you and to me.  God is faithful.  “Theos pistos.”  God is faithful.  Amen and Amen. 

          What does God require of you?  He has told you.  Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.  We spoke two weeks ago about what it means to act justly and concluded that to act justly one must approach life with an uncorrupted heart seeking to do what is right without regard to favoritism toward anyone.  Last week we spoke about what it means to love mercy and concluded that we must seek, look, for those opportunities in which we can release others from situations they cannot free themselves.  And so we must forgive offenses against us.  We must enter the lives of those who are alone and those who are hopeless.  We must share the good news of Jesus Christ with those who stand at the very gate of hell. All these things we can do if we first love the mercy God has granted us through the salvation we have received through the completed work of Jesus Christ upon the cross.  Today, we will talk about what it means to walk humbly with God.

          These commands of God, to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God come from the voice of a man named Micah, the prophet.  Micah was called upon by God to read a charge against the people of God, the nation of Israel.  God saw that “11 Israel’s leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money” (Micah 3:11).  Israel had become corrupt.  The leaders were taking advantage of their positions of power, judges ruled by who brought the bigger bribe, priests taught but only if they were paid the right price, and prophets of God had become fortune tellers. Israel no longer believed in transcendent morality, that is morality from God.  Instead, Israel had become a nation in which everyone determined for themselves what was right, what was wrong, what was fair, and what was moral.

          Micah’s message to the people was that they must repent and return to the ways of God by returning to justice, mercy, and walking humbly with God.  What then does it mean to walk humbly?  The Hebrew words here are yālaḵ (ya-lack) ṣānaʿ(sa-nawh), walk humbly.  Firstly, the word yālaḵ (ya-lack), from which we get walk, means literally or figuratively to walk on your feet, or to move, to go, or to come.  We can understand this sense of motion because we walk in some manner every day.  Secondly, the word ṣānaʿ(sa-nawh), from which we get humbly, means to be modest and meek.  The word ṣānaʿ(sa-nawh), is used only one other time in the Hebrew Scriptures, our Old Testament, in Proverbs, “2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility (ṣānaʿ(sa-nawh)), comes wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2).  Pride then is presented as the opposite of humble. The combined effect of these Hebrew words, yālaḵ (ya-lack) ṣānaʿ(sa-nawh), is to suggest movement in a gentle and lowly manner not as the leader of the band, loud and proud, but in a reflective manner, waiting for guidance from another as to the next step.  The movement is done with a humility, a profound sense of being in the presence of someone significant.  Who is the someone significant?  It is God, 'ĕlōhîm, el-o-heem'.

          I want to try to give some sense to this expression of walking humbly with God through two related illustrations, both involving being rescued from drowning.  The first illustration will deal with the sense of walking or moving at the direction of another.  The second illustration will deal with the sense of humility.

          The first illustration comes from basic training in the United States Navy.  Part of the basic training involves water survival skills. The recruits, wearing their uniforms, are instructed to jump into a large swimming pool and to make their way from one end of the pool to the other.  This task is challenging because they are wearing their duty uniform.  The recruits are told that should they find themselves exhausted and in fear of drowning, then they should signal the lifeguards along the edge of the pool.  The lifeguards will then extend a long metal pole to the recruit.  The recruit is to grab onto the pole and allow the lifeguard to pull the recruit to the edge of the pool and thus safety.  But if at any time in that rescue process, the recruit pulls on the pole being held by the lifeguard, the lifeguards are instructed to let go of the pole.  The effect is the recruit will again flounder in the water only now holding onto a large metal pole. 

This rescue process teaches the recruit that in moving to safety they must allow the one who is safe to guide the one who is struggling to safety.  This illustration helps us to understand that the command in Micah 6:8 to walk, yālaḵ (ya-lack), must be seen as allowing ourselves to follow or be led by one who is in the position of safety.  We know this sense movement toward safety from the 23rd Psalm, “1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.  2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul.  He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:1-3).  There is a sense that the psalmist is following and being led to safety carefully and thoughtfully by the one who is safe.

The second illustration helps us understand the significance of being humble and, as I said, this illustration also involves a water rescue. Suppose now you are on a boat in the ocean, you fall overboard, and for whatever reason you are not able to swim. Another person comes along, and you grab his hand, and you realize that person, holding on to you is keeping you from drowning.  In that instant of realization, you would then both love and fear the person holding you. You love him because you are being held up by him.  And in the same instant, you fear him for if he lets go, you will perish. 

This illustration helps us to understand what it means to be humbled. To be humble is to have that mixture of love and fear coursing through your body as you are in the presence of one who holds your life in the balance.

And so, to walk humbly with God, is to hold on and allow God to move you carefully to safety as you experience a love for Him as Savior and a fear of Him for his ultimate power over you.  It is this sense that Micah is trying to get across to when he said it is good that you should walk humbly with your God.  Said another way, we need to trust God.

Why then do so many people, including many Christians, walk on their own or want to walk with God and try to do so without humility?  The simplest explanation I can offer is that humanity, including you and me, understand what Eve desired in the Garden of Eden.  Scripture tells us that in the Garden, Eve saw the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  This is the fruit that she and Adam were not to eat.  Eve saw the fruit as pleasing to the eye and good for food.  There is nothing wrong with that.  But Eve also saw the fruit as desirable for gaining wisdom, that is to be just like God.  And so, she ate the fruit as did Adam.  Eating the fruit is like pulling the pole out of the hand of your rescuer. Eating the fruit and believing you are like God is to lose your sense of love and fear of God.  All humility is gone and is replaced by pride.  Pride, the desire to be like God, is at the root of all evil and sin.  Prideful people do not have a desire to walk with God and do not have a love and fear of God because in pride they want equality with God.

And despite humanity’s the lack of humility and the desire to set its own path, God remains good, and God remains faithful.  God had shown what was good, that is to walk humbly with God. He did this through teachings of his judges, kings, and prophets and then he did it through his own son.  The Apostle Paul described Jesus and his relationship to the Father.  Paul wrote, “[Jesus] 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he [Jesus] made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  8 And being found in appearance as a man, he [Jesus] humbled himself by becoming obedient [to God] to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6-8).  Jesus, who was with God in the beginning and through whom all things had been created, came to earth and lived a life obediently walking humbly with God. 

Jesus went where God wanted him to go and Jesus did what Jesus saw God doing.  Jesus spoke the words that God spoke to Him through the Holy Spirit.  And what was the response from God to the way Jesus walked with God?  God said to those who had ears to here, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).  Jesus was walking humbly with God, following God’s desires and ways.  Jesus displayed perfect humility before God and therefore, Jesus could say, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

Without humility, “there can be no true abiding in God’s presence or experiencing of His favor and the power of His Spirit; without humility there is no abiding in faith or love or joy or strength.  Humility is the only soil in which virtue takes root; a lack of humility is the explanation for every defect and failure.  Humility is not so much a virtue along with the others, but is the root of all, because it alone takes the right attitude before God and allows Him, as God, to do all.”  (Andrew Murray, Humility, pg.17).

To walk humbly before God is not an easy thing to do, in part because of our nature, and in part because our culture is awash in pride. The marketing strategy for many products encourage us to buy it because we will be proud to use it.  Higher education uses pride infused words as more knowledge is acquired – master’s degree, doctoral degree.  Society envies those individuals in powerful positions of government because power brings out pride.  Even whole segments of our society claim an entire month to celebrate pride in who they are, with Pride Month.  Every step we take to express pride is one step further away from God.

What then are we to do?  We must come to see ourselves as helpless and powerless, because in the end that is what we are.  I was thinking the other day how we can be so proud of accomplishments and our possessions. Someone might say to you, “Come look at my beautiful car or see my magnificent home.”  And the car and the home can be beautiful and magnificent but does that person really own them?  You see, immediately upon death, that person no longer owns anything. Upon their death we say, “That was their car or was their home.”  All the pride in those possessions evaporates with their last breath.  They are now a spiritual being only and are helpless to control what eventually happens to those prized possessions here on earth. The time we can control or believe we can control things on earth is limited and we are helpless to stop the inevitable end of our control.

We have heard it said, and likely have said it ourselves that, “Life is short.”  And life is short.  In that expression, there is a realization about the brevity of life and there is an acknowledgement of helplessness in that expression.  But perhaps the next time someone says to us, “Life is short,” we ought to say in response, “Yes, I know.  That is why I chose to make my life eternal.”  God has given us the opportunity and done everything necessary for us to live eternally not briefly.  All we need to do is to reach out and hold onto Him.  We must recognize God’s gift and not try to be God, as if we are going to pull the rescue pole out of God’s hands.  We must recognize that the difference between living briefly and living eternally is God and God alone.  We should live life on earth with that odd mixture of love and fear recognizing that it is God’s hand, strong and eternal, that keeps us above the water. It is by God’s hand that we can say, “Life is short.  That is why I chose to make my life eternal.”

This brings us to a deeper understanding that to walk humbly with God is not just a command of what is good to do, it is also a embodies a gift of eternal perspectives and eternal life.  To walk humbly with God is to imitate Jesus by moving through the full range of human experiences with the assurance of God’s presence and then to move seamlessly into eternity when our journey on earth is done.  To walk humbly with God is good.  It is very good.  Amen and Amen.

          What does God require of you?  He has told you.  Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.  These commands, act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God come from the Old Testament, specifically, the prophet Micah.  A prophet is one appointed by God to bring God’s Word to the people in the present so that they can repent and have a future.  Last week, we talked about what it means to act justly.  Justice starts with an uncorrupted life.  It is a justice that is uncorrupted by the status of others or the desire to obtain favor for the way we behave.  It is a justice that reflects the outward working of the Holy Spirit that is within.  It is not loud.  It is not proud.  It is a justice, a just way of behaving that does, however, let God shine in all things.  I believe that is the simple message of Micah’s first point of acting justly.  We are to imitate God, imitate Christ, Follow the Holy Spirit, not just in addressing the needs of others that are obvious but by being uncorrupted and continuously acting justly toward everyone in the house in everything we do.

          Today, I would like us to explore the second element of the Biblical statement, namely, “to love mercy.”  What is Micah speaking about when he said God requires three things, act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.  What is involved in the love of mercy?

          I think first we need to understand mercy.  The English word, mercy, comes from the Hebrew word, hesed.  What does hesed mean?  Hesed is an action taken by someone in a uniquely stronger position toward someone who is in a situationally weaker position.  And that behavior, that action, by the stronger toward the weaker is essential to the weaker because the weaker cannot remedy on their own or through other means an existential need, something that threatens their life or wellbeing. 

There are some fancy words in those definitions and often people confuse kindness and mercy.  So let’s consider two quick examples that might help our understanding.  Let’s say you are in the drive through line at Dunkin Donuts.  You place your order and drive up to the window to pay for coffee. You do so and then you also pay for the order for the people behind you.  In doing so, you have been kind to the person behind you but you have not extended mercy.  The person behind you is not in some in a situation they cannot remedy for themselves, a situation that leads or could lead to death or risk of their wellbeing.  The person behind you ordered coffee and perhaps something to eat and had the money to pay for it.  But you paid for it instead.  That is kind of you but not merciful.

Let’s look at a second example.  Let’s say you are alone with a friend.  Suddenly, you realize your friend is choking on some food.  Your friend collapses unconscious and is not breathing.  In that moment, your friend is in a situationally weaker position than you because they are not breathing, and you are breathing. You are in a uniquely stronger position than they are because there is no one else available to help them.  Your friend needs action because without it, he or she will die, or at the very least their well-being is threatened.  So, you act, and you remove the obstruction from the throat of your friend and he or she begins to breathe again and soon after regains consciousness.  This is an illustration of mercy.  You have been merciful to your friend.  By your actions, you removed your friend from a situation they could not escape from on their own and in doing so you gave them a new chance in life.  Hopefully these two illustrations help us understand the difference between kindness and mercy.  Said most broadly, mercy is acting to relieve a person from a threatening situation from which they cannot free themselves.

And so with that bit of understanding about the definition of mercy, we return to the Scripture from Micah, Chapter 6, verse 8 in which we are told one of the three things God requires is to “love mercy.”  We know what mercy is now but what does it mean to “love” mercy?  In this verse, in the Hebrew, the word for love is Ahava. This word, Ahava, is rooted, draws its meaning from the root word, the verb, Hav, which means “to give.”  This reveals to us that according to the original Hebrew usage, giving is at the root of love. To love then is to seek to fulfill, to give, to meet the needs of others.  So, to love mercy then is to seek to give to another to relieve that person from a situation from which they cannot free themselves.  The sense here is that we always should have a desire to give mercy.  Now that is a lot to take in.  In some ways, we might think, “How in the world can I exercise such love, such mercy to another person, that I relieve them of a situation from which they cannot free themselves?  How can I do what God requires when he says I must love mercy?”

          To answer those questions, let’s look at God’s Word as taught to us by Jesus, God, himself.  Let’s turn our attention to the Gospel of Matthew, which has significant interplay with the Old Testament.  In Chapter 18 of the Gospel of Matthew we find Jesus teaching his disciples using parables.  While together, “21 Peter asked Jesus, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?’ 22 Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times’” (Matthew 18:21-22).  Some translations have the number of times someone should be forgiven as seven times seventy.  In other words, Jesus is saying forgive often and so frequently as to make it impractical to remember the number of times you have forgiven.

          Now immediately following the exchange between Jesus and Peter about forgiveness, Jesus told this parable.  Jesus said, “23 Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he [the king] began the settlement, a man [a servant] who owed him [the king] ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him [the king]. 25 Since he [the servant] was not able to pay, the master ordered that he [the servant] and his wife and his children and all that he [the servant] had be sold to repay the debt.  26 At this the servant fell on his knees before him [the king]. ‘Be patient with me,’ he [the servant] begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master [the king] took pity on him [the servant], canceled the debt and let him go” (Matthew 18:23-27). 

Let’s pause there for a moment.  The servant owed the king 10,000 bags of gold.  Clearly the servant could never repay such a debt.  That was Jesus’ point in picking such a large sum of money. The debt could not be repaid, ever. Therefore, the servant found himself in a position in which the servant’s wellbeing was threatened and the servant could not free himself.  The king was in a uniquely superior position to the servant.  The debt was to the king and only the king could receive payment of the debt, or the king could cancel the debt.  In this parable, the king chose to pardon the servant, to relieve that servant, from a situation from which the servant could not free himself.  As the giver, the king loved mercy and gave mercy to the servant by canceling the servant’s debt. 

But by the end of the parable, we are going to find out that the forgiven servant did not love mercy. The servant did not have any sense of what it meant to love mercy.  We will also learn at the end of the parable that Jesus expects his disciples to understand that king in the story represents God and the servant represents the disciples of Christ, who now include us.  And so, through this story, Jesus was teaching his disciples that each of us owes a debt to God, a debt brought about by our own sin.  The cumulative effect of that debt is as if his disciples, we, owed the king 10,000 bags of gold, a sum we could not hope to pay.  But Jesus wanted his disciples to know, and for us to know, that God loves them, loves us, and that God is merciful.  If we ask God, “Please forgive me,” God is willing and merciful to cancel our debt.  God canceled our debt through the completed work of Jesus upon the cross.  When we repent, that is to turn toward God’s way, and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, accept what Jesus has done for us, then God grants forgiveness of our sins, not some of our sins but all our sins.  We have at that point then received mercy through the love of Christ.

The lyrics in our opening song today, “My Life is Proof,” poetically put the act of mercy this way: There were things I couldn't quit.  Damage I just couldn't fix.  I couldn't do it on my own.  But Jesus did.  All of my sins are washed away.  Whoever I was ain't here today.  My life is proof.  Of all the stories I could tell.  This is the one that haunts me still.  How your mercy pulled me from the gates of hell.  No matter how long it has been.  Don't ever let my soul forget.  How you loved me back to life.  When I was dead.”  This is a song about the love of the mercy that singer has received through Christ.

 And so, we are left with an important question.  If I have accepted Christ, do we love the mercy I have received?  Do I love having been forgiven, brought back from the gates of hell?  Do I love mercy?

          We are going to learn that the forgiven servant did not love the mercy he had received and thus did not love mercy when given the opportunity to grant mercy.  Jesus said, “28 But when that [forgiven] servant went out [from the presence of the king], he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. The [forgiven] servant grabbed this fellow servant and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ the [forgiven] servant demanded. 29 His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him [the forgiven servant], ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’  30 But he [forgiven servant] refused. Instead, he [the forgiven servant] went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master [the king] everything that had happened.  32 “Then the master called the [forgiven] servant in [into the king’s presence]. ‘You wicked servant,’ he [the king] said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master [the king] handed him [the wicked servant] over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed, [which the wicked servant could not do] (Matthew 18:28-34).

          How quickly the situation for this servant changed. This servant was indebted to the king owing an amount he could never pay.  The servant was, if you will at the gates of hell.  The king gave mercy to the servant, forgiving the servant everything, if you will, giving life to the servant when he was dead.  The forgiven servant, when presented with the opportunity to love mercy by forgiving a fellow servant, did not.  Instead, the forgiven servant withheld forgiveness and became known as wicked.  The king then reinstated the debt the wicked servant owed and sent him to eternal punishment, to hell itself.  I suspect the disciples were quiet as Jesus reached this point in the story.

          In the tension of that quiet, Jesus then said, “35 This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart” (Matthew 18:35). And so we hear the words of Micah ringing loudly in our ears, “8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?” (Micah 6:8a) but “to love mercy.” Jesus was making it clear that the most obvious way for us to love mercy is to grant forgiveness to one another. When we forgive someone for their debt against us, for a sin against us, we are showing mercy because we have released someone from a situation from which they cannot release themselves.  If I sin against someone, it does matter how many times I say to myself “George, I forgive you, George,” it does not change my situation, my debt remains, because I need forgiveness from the person whom I offended.  And so, forgiveness is at the heart of the way that each of us can act to love mercy. Forgiveness is such an important part of the love mercy command that Jesus included it in what we now call the Lord’s prayer, “And forgive us our debts, pull us back from the gates of hell, as we forgive, show mercy, our debtors.”  The Lord grants us mercy so that we can too can love the mercy we have received and extend that love of mercy to those around us.

          Micah said, ““8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good” (Micah 6:8a).  God has shown you what is good because God loves mercy and, if you have accepted Jesus, then you have received God’s mercy.  Again, that leaves us with the question, “Do you, do I, love the mercy God has shown us?  Do you, do I, see that mercy as good in all regards?”  These are not questions that we should answer with our voices.  These are questions that we should answer by our actions.  If we love the mercy of God that we have received, then that should be evident in all our actions towards others because we have shown mercy to them.

          Do we forgive others for their offenses against us? If we do, then we love mercy.  Do we use our time to enter someone’s life to break the loneliness of another?  If we do, then we love mercy.  Do we come along side those who are hopeless and offer our tears of encouragement?  If we do, then we love mercy.  Do we share the good news of Christ and his mercy with those who if their lives do not change because at this moment they are at the gates of hell and stand before Christ the Judge not the Savior?  If we do, if we share Christ, then we love mercy. 

There are so many ways we can be merciful, but we will only do so if we first love the mercy we have already received from God.  If we treat the embodied in our own salvation with indifference, as though it is no big deal, then we will treat the hardships of others with indifference and not mercy.

          “8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.” (Micah 6:8a).  Love mercy. Amen and Amen.

          It is the first Sunday of September 2024 and as is our custom we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.  We set this Sunday aside as special.   We sing hymns of praise, we share prayers for one another, and we hear the Word of God proclaimed as we do each Sunday.  But before we leave here today, we share the bread and drink of the cup, as a remembrance of Christ Jesus.  What is it that Christ calls us to remember?

          I read some thoughts on this question and some said that the Lord’s Supper is a memorial of Christ's life and death. It is a symbol of Christ's work. It represents the union of all God's people; at the table of the Lord all human souls are on the same level. It represents the soul's constant dependence upon Christ for strength. Christ is the daily bread of life to the soul. It represents the mystic union of Christ and his people; he lives in them and they in him.  The Lord's Supper is a special communion with Christ when, in a particular manner, he reveals himself to the believing heart (Dr. Smith Baker).

The Lord’s Supper certainly is all those things and we certainly would do well to remember Christ in those terms.  I am just not sure, however, that those words and those thoughts quite do it for me.  I am not quite sure that was what Jesus was saying to his small band of intimate friends.

         Jesus and His friends were celebrating the Passover meal and it was an opportunity to remember God’s redemption of the people of Israel from the hands of the Egyptians.  And so the Lord’s Supper has come to be seen as a new Passover meal for those who follow Christ.  It is certainly that as well and we would be on solid theological ground to remember Christ in that way.  It certainly was something that Jesus asked his friends to remember. 

Yet I still wonder if we are stopping too early in our thinking about that night.  It was a night in which his friends had argued about who was the greatest.  It was a night in which they gathered and all but Jesus was too proud to wash the feet of the others.  It was a night in which one brother from this band would betray Jesus for a few silver coins. It was a night in which the most outspoken of them, the one with the biggest measure of self-confidence was told he would deny Jesus; not just once but three times.  Sometimes I think we need to pause and contemplate the scene a little longer before we conclude we understand it.  We need to enter the scene and see who is there, what is really said, and what those words meant to the people.  Sometimes we need to be willing to pay the price for doing so because whenever we spend time with Jesus there is a definite risk that he will change us.  Sometimes I think we don’t really want that to occur, and we approach Scripture in a manner that Tim Hansel wrote about in his book "When I Relax, I Feel Guilty."  He writes that sometimes we approach with a mindset that we would like to purchase $3.00 worth of God.  He says, "I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal, just put it in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please."   If we would be totally honest, the idea of transformation really scares us. That is because we know that such a radical change would be quite uncomfortable. We realize that with transformation comes a major overhaul of our lives and priorities.  Was there something then about the Lord’s Supper that was more radical and transformational that Jesus wanted his friends to remember?

I would like to explore that question a little beginning with some information from our Old Testament reading.  We find there in Exodus that God, working through Moses, was establishing a covenant with the people of Israel.  He was calling out Israel from the population of the world to be his people, set aside for a blessing of a relationship with God. It was a covenant given to Israel, not a contract.  The Israelites did not offer a deal to God, it was a commitment God gave to them. God made the choice.  The Israelites were to be His people, and He was to be there God.  The understanding of the covenant was spoken and put down in the words of the Law. They were words of life that were then bound by sacrifice and blood between God and His people.  Exodus 24 verses 4 through 8: 4 Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said.

He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.  8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words” (Exodus 24:4-8).

The blood on the altar and the people linked them together and symbolized the union of God and Israel in the covenant.  The sacrificing and sprinkling of blood would continue throughout the centuries by the Israelites as a reminder of that union. This scene from Exodus gives us some sense of history and context to God’ covenantal relationships.  They are an unmerited gift from God.

          Moving forward to the New Testament period we come to the evening in which Jesus and his disciples gathered for the Passover meal.  Unlike the scene from Exodus where the backdrop was a mountain, an altar, twelve pillars, burnt offerings, basins of blood, and the gathering of the nation of Israel, this evening was a very private moment.  All were assembled in a simple room.  Everything was in place as Jesus had wanted.  Luke tells us, 14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:14-16).   The King James Version of the Bible says that, “with desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you.”  It was an intense feeling.  The Greek word used here was ἐπιθυμία, epithymia, e-pē-thü-mē'-ä, meaning a craving or longing.  You see Luke said, “And when the hour came.” These words are so significant to the story.  They do not speak of a time of day or hour in which the preparations for the meal had been completed but really stood for just the right moment in Jesus’ journey. 

At times throughout his ministry people sought to seize Jesus and do harm to him but could not because Scripture repeatedly tells us, “his hour had not yet come.”  This time was different.  The Gospel of John tells us, “It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father” (John 13:1a).  John was not referring to a time of day; he was referring to a precise moment in history.  Luke’s words and John’s words tell us this was not just a meal, this was a moment of history like no other.  And when that hour came, that moment in history, Jesus reclined at table, and the apostles with him. [15] And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you.”  Jesus knew he only had a few hours before he would face the cross and what he craved most at this precise moment in history was to spend some of those precious moments in a meal with his disciples.  There was no other place Jesus wanted to be than at this intimate gathering.

          I have tried to imagine being there and hearing his words, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”  I can imagine my feeling of pleasure rise rapidly as I hear Jesus’ craving to eat with me, and then just as suddenly drop as he says he is to suffer.  We want to hear the first part of eating together, but we do not want anything to do with the second part of Jesus suffering.  We want to say, “I only wanted $3.00 of God.  Given me only what I want to hear, I do not want to hear of your suffering.”  It must have been that way at that table that evening because no one asks of what suffering he was to endure. 

          The group began to eat the meal.  From our New Testament reading, Matthew writes, “[26] Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Imagining again, the room must have gotten very still and exceptionally quiet as they received the bread.  Jesus who craved this moment with his disciples was giving them bread and saying this is my body.  This was such an intimate moment, within this moment of history. Jesus who knew all of their follies and shortcomings better than they knew themselves still accepted them.  He was saying to them, I hold nothing back from you for I crave with the deepest longings of my heart for your closeness. “Take, eat; this is my body.”  Put yourself in that place.  When I did, I found myself, silently eating the bread wondering the meaning of the suffering Jesus was to endure and now the significance of eating bread, that represented his body.  Why are you doing this Jesus?  I find it hard to lift my eyes from the table and look at you Jesus for fear I will cry.

         Before composure can come over the room again, Matthew tell us, “[27] And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, [28] for this is my blood.” Jesus is moving them to a new level of intimacy.  He is offering this cup as a symbol of an inseparable union, and merging of their lives as one through the substance that gives us life itself.  They sip from the cup slowly as they drink in the rest of Jesus words.  “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”  As they drink, a new covenant was born.  It is not to be one of altars, pillars, and recurring sacrifice.  It is one formed by uniting believers with God and with one another through the suffering of Christ, through the giving of his body, and through the pouring out of his blood.  And for that we are forgiven of our sins. 

Why did Jesus do this? Why did he choose suffering?  Why did he choose to give his body?  Why did he choose to pour out his blood?  Why did he choose to forgive our sins?  He did so because of love.  He had come, to this moment in history for this hour to share love – unimaginable love expressed through the giving of the bread, giving of the cup, and giving himself in our place to suffer.  “Almost everything ever written on the subject of love indicates that at the heart of love is the spirit of giving.” (Chapman 82)  “Love is a choice.  Love is always feely given.” (96)  And Jesus came to earth to give.  “Love is something you do for someone else, not something you do for yourself.” (140)  Jesus came to love us and to give us life.

The disciples in particularly, at this moment in history, needed to know that they were loved. They who argued over greatness, who would abandon and deny Christ, who would witness his death, were heading to crisis after crisis like no other point in history.  Jesus needed them ready for what was to come ahead.  “In a time of crisis, more than anything, we need to feel loved.  We cannot always change events, but we can survive if we feel loved.” (113)  This was radical, transforming love beyond what they could have asked for.  With it they would choose to love one another and choose to overcome the hatred of their enemies with love. 

Many communion tables have these words etched into them, “This do in remembrance of me.”  We may forget at times the theology of the bread and the cup or even disagree with one another over the substance of the bread and the wine.  We may forget at times the details linking that evening with the history of Israel. But let us always share the bread and the cup remembering that Jesus made a choice.  He made the choice to love you and me, with all of our follies and shortcomings.  He made a choice to let us know that the even though the events of your life may not be changed, you know that you are loved.  How will you choose to respond to that love? 

As I thought about the scene at the Lord’s Table, I was reminded of the closing words from Exodus Old Testament reading today, which said, “and they beheld God, and ate and drank” (Exodus 24:11b). This day, come to the table, come to the Lord’s Table, feel his love, behold him, and eat and drink.  Amen.

          I was watching a short video the other day in which a Christian was publicly debating an atheist in about objective morality.  What is objective morality?  Objective morality is the idea that right and wrong exist; that right and wrong are not a matter of opinion.  To contend that objective morality exists means that we, as a human society, can agree that some actions are good, and some are inherently bad. The atheist, a well-mannered college student contended that objective morality does not exist.  We cannot say that any behavior is right or wrong.  He even contended that the holocaust, the killing of millions of people by the Nazis in World War 2, could not be said to be either wrong, bad, good, or right.  The rightness or wrongness of the holocaust was a matter of opinion.  This student did not believe that objective morality, the idea that some human behaviors are necessarily wrong, and other behaviors necessarily right, even existed.  Every behavior is just a matter of personal preference.  I would like to believe this student was alone in his beliefs, but I do not think that is the case.

In many ways, humanity has never been able to decide for itself what is objectively, meaning obviously wrong and obviously right.  Take for example what may have been the simplest of all times with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Here, the couple was made in the image of God, having God as part of their nature and that God told the couple that to eat of the fruit from the tree of good and evil was bad and wrong.  This means that human morality, knowing what is right and wrong, came from God.  We would then call this transcendent morality, meaning morality, the idea of what is right or wrong, was given to us by God, through being made in His image and being instructed by His Word.

But we know the story.  The first couple would come to want more than was necessary for humanity. They had the choice to choose between right and wrong and they chose wrong, by eating from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  One 17th Christian theologian (Balthasar Hübmaier) said that rather than acquiring the knowledge of good and evil by eating the forbidden fruit, the couple became like a horse or a mule in which there is no understanding of good and evil.  This lack of understanding allowed a plethora of sins to become possible.  The first couple, and we, no longer had the simple choice between right and wrong. Their choices, our choices, suddenly became choosing between wrong, and wrong, and wrong, and right.  With sin, humanity’s opportunities to make poor choices multiplied and with each set of wrong choices, our sense of inner peace, harmony, and tranquility diminished.  Anxiousness and strife entered God’s creation and humanity recalled less and less the transcendent morality of goodness and peace of God’s original creation and the image of God within us became more deformed.

Yet despite all of that, God’s plan was and is still the same.  God would provide us, re-equip us, with transcendent morality through His Word. God shared with a chosen group of people, the Hebrew people, the Ten Commandments and lead their judges, priests, and kings to understand and teach the Hebrew people what was right and what was wrong.  The Hebrews, God desired, would set the tone for all the other nations.  Yet, over and again, the Hebrew people slowly walked away from God’s transcendent morality and did whatever they wanted to do. 

Our Scripture reading today is from one of God’s prophets, a man named Micah.  Micah lived from about 750 to 698 BC.  He came from the city of Gath, located to the east of Jerusalem. The Old Testament book bearing Micah’s name is a powerful indictment of Israel and the Samaritans for having left the transcendent morality of God.

Micah prophesied, “2 Hear, you peoples, all of you, listen, earth and all who live in it, that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple” (Micah 1:2).  “1 Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds!  At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.  2 They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them.  They defraud people of their homes, they rob them of their inheritance” (Micah 2:2). “11 Israel’s leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money” (Micah 3:11).  Israel had become corrupt.  The leaders were taking advantage of their positions of power, judges ruled by who brought the bigger bribe, priests taught but only if they were paid the right price, and prophets of God had become fortune tellers.  Israel no longer believed in transcendent morality, that is morality from God.  Instead, Israel had become a nation in which everyone determined for themselves what was right, what was wrong, what was fair, and what was moral.  God said that Israel would be refined by fire.  Samaria would be destroyed and never established again as its own nation.  Israel would be laid waste until such time as God would allow the Israelites to return and start again.

God’s contempt for Israel reached a high point in Chapter 6 wherein Micah described God calling Israel into a courtroom to charge Israel.  The jurors in the courtroom are the mountains and hills of God’s creation with God serving as the complainant.  We read earlier, “1 Listen to what the Lord says: “Stand up, plead my case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say. [Micah the prosecutor now speaks] 2 “Hear, you mountains, the Lord’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.  For the Lord has a case against his people; he [God] is lodging a charge against Israel.  [God’s charge is now read].  3 “My people, what have I done to you?  How have I burdened you? Answer me.  4 I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery.  I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam.  5 My people, remember what Balak king of Moab plotted and what Balaam son of Beor answered.  Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”  God in his charge against Israel was recounting his faithfulness and his provision of the Hebrew people.  God wanted to know when did He fail the people of Israel that they in turn would fail to keep God’s way?  God wanted to know when did God so burden them that they would leave the company of God and go on their own?  Did the people feel burden when God rescued them from Egypt?  Did God overstep and become offensive when He appointed gifted leaders to guide the people?  When exactly was God so offensive and so burdensome that the people felt the only recourse they had was to walk away from God and His ways?

The people had nothing to say in their defense.  Instead, Micah gave a series of possible Israelite responses to God’s charges and questions, with each response being more ridiculous than the prior one.  Micah wrote, “6 With what shall I [Israel] come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?  Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?  7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?  Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” (Micah 6:6-7).  The response was not to acknowledge wrongdoing but an offer of progressively greater ritual sacrifices to include the deeply disturbing suggestion of child sacrifice.  The responses are rejected because Micah says to these foolish people that God had already furnished the answer of what He desired.

Somewhat famously, Micah wrote, “8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).  To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God form the heart of transcendent morality.  To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God are not universal behaviors that everyone would agree are universally good.  But these are behaviors that are to mark the people of God as good.

Today, I would like to look at that first mark of the people of God and that is to act justly. We will talk about the other two marks, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God, over the next two weeks.

What did Micah mean when he said God had already shown humanity that God’s desire is that His people would act justly?  The Hebrew word used for justly is mispat, which has a variety of meanings but here means God or man acting with justice and rightness or righteousness.  It should be no surprise to us then that mispat, the capacity to act with justice and righteousness comes from God and is to reflected in the image of God through His people.  In today’s culture, there is a great temptation by many to hear the word “justice” and automatically assume that Micah is speaking as the original social justice warrior, or social justice organization, or political party championing any cause that it claims to be making right a wrong.  There is also a great temptation to equate justice to caring for the hungry, the thirsty, the imprisoned, and the ill.  To act justly certainly includes those things.  But exactly does Micah mean to act justly or act with justice or rightness?

Micah used that term mispat, three other times.  First, in Micah 3:1, “3 Then I said, “Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel. Should you not embrace justice?”  Justice means those in authority are to act with neutral judgment, offering no favoritism to the wealthy over the poor, men over women, or one tribe over another.  Second, in Micah 3:8, “8 But as for me [Micah], I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin.”  Justice means that those who align themselves with God, who are filled with the Spirit of the Lord, can clearly discern, can rightly decide, matters because their motives are pure.  Finally, in Micah 3:9, “9 Hear this, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right.”  Justice again means an uncorrupted application of the laws and standards of human behavior. 

What then is the justice that Micah is speaking of when he wrote, “Act justly or do justice.”  The justice that Micah refers to cannot be a mindset or behavior that is practiced as a human ideal so how separate from God, the giver of transcendent morality.  To act justly is to reappropriate an unmarred image of God and act with discernment and right motives not for any cause or political issue or segment of society no matter how noble the effort may be.  To act well on behalf of a cause, say homelessness, does not mean that person is acting justly.  It means that a person has acted with kindness toward another but still may well be in other circumstances and with other people quite miserable and self-centered. To act justly or do justice then involves the transformation of a person giving them a desire to imitate God in all human dealings, at the dinner table with family, dealing with a neighbor, and addressing a serious human condition.  The purpose of transformed life expressing just behavior is not to correct a wrong or even prevent a wrong from occurring.  The purpose of just behavior is to let God shine.  It is to express outwardly the behavior of God, and it must begin with those who are called God’s children and then extend from that community to the broader world.  Whenever God shines wrong and corrupt behavior withers and disappears.

Jesus spoke about acting justly or doing justice frequently with perhaps no greater record than is found in the Gospel of Matthew.  In the sermon on the mount, an address to his disciples and followers, Jesus said, “14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).  Jesus was saying that those who act justly are light, a bright light, that shines where there is no light.  But the light does not shine for its own sake.  It shines and gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, Jesus said shine for others through your good deeds for the benefit of everyone in the house, not for your own sake but so that everyone will praise God.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus explained justice must be founded in submission to God.  Jesus said, blessed are those poor in spirit, who mourn, who are meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who are pure in heart, who are peacemakers for they will be called children of God, inheritors of the earth, and the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3-9).  This is the beginning point of justice.  Justice starts with an uncorrupted life.  It is a justice that is uncorrupted by the status of others or the desire to obtain favor for the way we behave.  It is a justice that reflects the outward working of the Holy Spirit that is within.  It is not loud.  It is not proud.  It does, however, let God shine in all things.  I believe that is the simple message of Micah’s first point of acting justly.  We are to imitate God, imitate Christ, Follow the Holy Spirit, not just for needs that are obvious but by being uncorrupted and continuously acting justly with everyone in the house in everything we do, no matter the urgency or need for justice. This week, let’s take in the Holy Spirit of God and act justly in all that we say and do.  Amen and Amen.

          I have met and spoken with thousands of people in my life.  Those I have met ranged from senior executives in government and industry to laborers in a cemetery.  In all those thousands of interactions, I never met one person, not one, who wanted there to be pain in their life.  Not one of them who was in pain ever said, “Gee, I hope this pain gets more intense and last longer!”  Not one. In fact, everyone I have ever met has expressed the opposite.  They all hoped to stay well and heal quickly from any painful experience whether that pain came from a physical injury, loss of a loved one, a divorce, abuse, or illness. No one ever had to teach them that not being in pain is better than being in pain.  Whenever our children and grandchildren hurt themselves playing, whether it was bump or scratch, they did and still do two things.  The first thing they do is cry out to let you know they are in pain.  The second thing they do is to seek out the company of an adult, Mom, Dad, Papa, or Nonnie. These two actions are related.  We learn to cry out and we learn to seek out because we know that the company of another person will make the pain more bearable and that our healing, our restoration, will occur faster in the company and with caring support from another person.

          I remember a few years ago, a couple came to our home.  They had cried out in pain and sought out the company of others after their son was murdered. They needed and wanted to heal. Obviously, my wife and I could not change their circumstances.  Their son had died at the hand of another.  They came to our home on several occasions.  Sometimes just to talk but most often to eat dinner with us.  I can say with confidence that their demeanor and spirit when it was time for the couple to go home, was always a bit lighter, less despondent, than when they arrived.  The improvement in the couple was not because of anything my wife, or I said to them.  Instead, the improvement, the healing, came about because of fellowship, what Greek’s called koinonia.  In this context, the couple cried out and sought out the comfort available to them from others.  In doing so, they were beginning the healing process through koinonia.

          What then is koinonia?  Often the Greek word koinonia is translated into English as “fellowship.” In the Baptist tradition, as soon as we hear the word “fellowship” our minds turn to yummy casseroles at a fellowship meal.  While fellowship or koinonia includes eating together, koinonia goes far beyond casseroles. 

One of the most fascinating examples of koinonia is found in the Book of Acts or the Acts of the Apostles. That book is essentially the second volume of two volume set: Luke and Acts.  In the Book of Acts, Luke was describing the early Christian community in and around Jerusalem.  It was a fearsome time for the early church.  Afterall, Jesus had been crucified and his followers could expect the same treatment.  The Apostles, Peter and John, had been arrested.  A Pharisee named Saul was inciting people to persecute the followers of Jesus.  Saul’s behavior led to the death a man named Stephen, guilty only of following Jesus.  We would expect these followers of Jesus to be experiencing strong emotions such as anxiousness, anger, frustration, and hopelessness.  But Luke described something completely different.

Luke wrote, “42 They [Jesus’ followers] devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship [koinonia], to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42-47 NIV).

The followers of Jesus had good reason to be fearful of gathering and being known as Christians and yet that fear was overpowered by a behavior known as koinonia, fellowship.  We need to let that sink in for a moment.  Fellowship, deep fellowship, within the Christian community drove out anxiousness, anger, frustration, and hopelessness.  This type of fellowship provided comfort and healing.

          Our reading today from the Book of Acts is rich in koinonia.  Let’s explore what happened and why this account gives us hope.

          We come to Chapter 20 of the Book of Acts.  Paul was in the city of Ephesus, and he was preparing to leave the people of the church after spending about two years with them.  Paul would never return to Ephesus.  Luke wrote, “7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread” (Acts 20:7).  The first day of the week in Paul’s day was the day after the Jewish Sabbath.  In their context, and our context, the first day of the week is what we would call Sunday.  Sunday was to the early church the day of celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.  They did not celebrate Easter as we do because they celebrated the first day of every week as a resurrection day.  And on the first day of the week, the church at Ephesus gathered to break bread.  To break bread meant to share a meal and to take time to remember Jesus through the breaking of the bread and sharing of the cup, what we would call a celebration of the Lord’s Supper.

The scene then began with koinonia, fellowship with three purposes.  First, it was to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.  Scripture tells us that by Jesus’ wounds we are healed and by his brokenness we are made whole.  There is in fellowship, in joining together to remember the power of being in fellowship with Christ, a wonderful sense of being very close to God.  Second, it was a time fellowship, koinonia, to continue to build bonds between believers.  Much like an athlete works out to improve her capabilities to compete, spending time together is a muscle building exercise for the body of Christ. We become stronger and more able to help one another in good times and in crisis when we share fellowship with one another.  Third, it was a time of fellowship, koinonia, to grieve together.  Paul had been with the church for two years and now `was leaving to go to Jerusalem.  Everyone recognized that going to Jerusalem was not just a dangerous journey for Paul, it was also a dangerous destination.  Paul had made himself a target for Jewish persecution by proclaiming Jesus as God’s Messiah.  And so, this gathering in Ephesus on the eve of Paul’s departure was rich in building a spiritual understanding of being in fellowship with God and in exercising the bonds of fellowship between believers.

Luke continued “7b Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight” (Acts 20:7b). Can you imagine showing up for worship service at 6:00 pm and I kept talking until midnight!  That seems a bit much.

Now amid celebrating God’s word, Luke observed, “There were many lamps in the upstairs room where they we were meeting.  [No doubt those lamps were generating some added heat.]  9 Seated in a window [probably trying to get some air] was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on.  [You can almost see this young man, perhaps a teenager, tired from working that day, warm from the lamps, trying to listen to Paul, and all the while drifting off to sleep.]  When he [Eutychus] was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. 10 Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘He’s alive!’” This is quite a remarkable account.

Let me make three quick points.  Through Paul, the young man experienced, and the congregation witnessed the power of God like few others.  God, using Paul as an instrument, resuscitated and brought Eutychus back to mortal life.  That is just an awesome moment from the history of the church.  Paul was used in the presence of the body of Christ to heal one of its young men.  What a joyful moment that must have been.  Second, this passage teaches us that we need to be mindful of our youth that worship services keep them engaged or at least keep them away from open windows!  Third, the warning from this account offered by the great 19th century preacher Charles Spurgeon still applies, “Remember, if you go to sleep during the sermon and die, there are no apostles here to restore you!"  So, stay awake.

This passage was an amazing moment but interestingly the raising of Eutychus is never spoken of again.  Instead, Luke concluded this short passage the way it began, “11 Then Paul went upstairs again and broke bread and ate.”  Think about this scene.  Paul was giving his farewell sermon.  A young man fell out of a third-floor window to his death.  Paul interrupted the service to rush down to the street with all the members of the church.  Paul threw himself on the young man who was dead and restored his life.  The group of worshippers were exhilarated and overjoyed. But when they reassembled, they did so not to celebrate but instead to celebrate the miracle but to break bread of fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ and with each other.

What then do we take away from this scene?  I think we must see that fellowship, koinonia, is an essential part of our having a healthy life.  Whenever someone asks to meet with me for pastoral counseling, I am always listening for how well the person is connected to the Christian community.

I had a phone call from a person who was angry, upset, frustrated, and exhausted.  For about 40 minutes, this person went on virtually non-stop recounting story after story of difficult interactions with doctors’ offices, merchants, and online support services all of which led to dissatisfaction because the people this person dealt with were cold, uncaring, and heartless.  This person said they were so angry they felt they were done. When I had a chance to respond, I said, “You have told me about your interactions with the world which is as you experienced cold, uncaring, and heartless.  What you have not told me about is your interaction with the Christian community who are called to be humble, gentle, patient, and loving toward one another.  Tell me about your interactions with fellow Christians.”  The person said there have been none.  This person was like a small child with a hurt.  They were just crying out in pain but was not seeking out to find genuine comfort in the company of others.  I stressed to this person that they are not likely to heal until such time as they engage in mutual fellowship with other Christians.  God has given us the gift of koinonia, fellowship, for us to be healed and remain well.

We then need to examine ourselves.  Are we being disciples of Christ by offering fellowship to others and by participating in fellowship with one another?  Until Jesus comes again, we all will experience moments of hurt and aloneness that was intended by God to soothed by the living body of Christ.  Look for the opportunities to be healed and the opportunities to heal others in and through fellowship.  Amen and Amen.

          When I was a child, we spent most of our summer vacations at my parents’ camp. For most of my childhood, that camp did not have electricity, so there was no television to watch.  Instead, we spent time doing things together and we played a lot of card games.  One of the card games was Concentration.  Perhaps you remember playing that game as well.  For those not acquainted with the game or who have forgotten how it was played, a deck of cards, or part of a deck of cards, was placed face down on a table in a series of columns and rows.  On a player’s turn, they would turn over two cards hoping the cards would match.  If the two cards matched, you got to go again and turn over two more cards seeking a matched pair.  If the cards did not match, the two cards were turned over and placed face down. In the television program called Concentration, as cards were matched and removed from the board, a picture was revealed forming a word riddle to be solved.  The key to either version of the game is remembering what was revealed and staying focused, concentrating on the objective of learning all of the cards as they were revealed.  In some ways, understanding the game of Concentration will help us in our understanding our walk as disciples of Jesus Christ and exemplified by the work Paul did in a place called Ephesus.

          The Apostle Paul had traveled throughout Greece and made his way to the city of Ephesus.  Ephesus was a coastal city in what is now modern-day Turkey.  There was a mixture of people in the city.  There were Jews and non-Jews.  The Jewish population of Ephesus was large enough to sustain at least one synagogue.

          When Paul arrived in Ephesus, Paul immediately set out for that synagogue to share the good news that Jesus had come as God’s long-awaited Messiah.  We read earlier today that Luke reported, “8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God” (Acts 19:8).  What was Paul’s point in his three months of preaching, reasoning, and apparently even arguing with those in attendance at the synagogue?

          We learn about what Paul taught from Paul’s letter back to the church sent years later while Paul was in custody in a Roman jail.  Paul wrote, “4 For he [God] chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he [God] predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he [God] has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him [Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he [God] lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he [God] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ” (Ephesians 1:4-10).  What was Paul’s point?

• God chose us to be holy and blameless (v. 4)
• God predestined us for adoption as His children (v. 5)
• Jesus redeemed us with His blood by forgiving us all our sins (v. 7)
• God made known to us the mystery of His will (v.9)
• God will bring unity to us all things in heaven and one earth with Christ (v. 10).

          The first thing we notice about Paul’s presentation in the synagogue at Ephesus is that everything about the good news of the gospel is an act of God not an act of humanity.  God chose us.  God predestined us.  Jesus redeemed us.  God was made known to us.  God will bring unity to us.  The development of the plan for us was and is God’s and God’s alone.  The fulfillment of the God’s plan was God’s and God’s alone. Now here is a rubbing point for many people.  The idea of God taking it upon himself to develop and complete a plan for our benefit, without our input, without asking us what we think, runs counter to human thinking and particularly our modern human thinking.  People want to co-create plans that involve them believing that is necessary for them to be involved to ensure their particular interests are addressed in the way they want them addressed.  We want things our way.  This is why so many people reject the salvation plan.  They do so because it is not the plan they would have created.  Why are we humans so insistent on having things our way?

          I want you to consider this.  The other day, I was reading a book by the 4th century theologian, Augustine, called Confessions.  Augustine wrote this book to God.  And Augustine’s style is to capture his thoughts as though he was speaking to God. Augustine said this, “Men [Humanity] corrupt or pervert the nature which you [God] ordained for them…They [Humans] make use of permissible things, but out of all good measure…They burn in lust for things that are not permitted...When held to blame [to account for their own conduct] they rave against You in mind and speech…They are glad to break the bonds of human society, and they come together in gangs or sects [factions and parties], according to something that pleases or offends them…And that is what men do when they forsake You…They love a mere part, which they mistake for a whole unity” (Confessions, III.8). These are some very profound words.

          Augustine helps us to understand that humanity cannot restore or redeem itself.  Humanity cannot create or co-create a plan of redemption because humanity is corrupt, greedy, lustful, angry toward God, and humanity is happy to break itself into identity groups based upon what pleases that group or offends that group.  Do you have the picture in mind that Augustine was sharing from the 4th century?  I don’t think it is hard to imagine what Augustine was describing because Augustine is essentially describing the life in the 21st century that we live in with its corruption, greed, lustfulness, anger toward God, and it is willingness to break itself along identity political lines.  Paul was saying in the 1st century, Augustine echoed it in the 4th century, and we should say in the 21st century that we are not able to restore or redeem ourselves.  Redemption can only come from God.  Therefore, any religious teaching that speaks of self-improvement, of sainthood or holiness through work must be completely rejected as a mere human philosophy destined to fail from the start.

          Paul shared God’s plan, God’s plan, with those in the synagogue of Ephesus and argued that, “11 In him [God] we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:11-14).  Paul reiterated that the redemption plan was and is God’s and God’s alone.  The human part of the plan is to be humble enough to:

• Place your hope in Christ (v. 12)
• Believe in the message of truth, the gospel (v. 13)
• Accept the Holy Spirit into your life as a deposit guaranteeing your eternal redemption (v. 14)

Augustine described that the way back to God is by humble piety, a submission and acceptance of God’s plan through Jesus Christ.  Any sense of restoration with God and unity within the human society requires that we first humbly placing our hope in Christ.  Second, that we humbly believe in the truth of the gospel.  And third that we humbly accept the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  Any other approach towards redemption and unity is and will remain an illusion, something that is not real.  This was Paul’s message.

          But as we know then as we know today not everyone can allow themselves to be humble enough to accept God’s plan.  Luke reported that “9 But some of them [who heard Paul’s message] became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them” (Acts 19:9a). We have seen this pattern as we have explored Paul’s evangelistic outreach in different cities.  Paul preached Christ crucified, some Jews and God-fear Greeks believe and were baptized.  But some refused to believe, and they became belligerent toward the evangelists and those who have given their life to Christ.  Those opposed to God’s plan did not argue against what the evangelists said using the strength of scriptures.  Instead, they created false allegations and attacked first the character of the evangelists and when that was not working, those opposed then attacked the physical safety of the evangelists.  As we have said in prior weeks, they did this to Jesus, Stephen, Paul, and they continue to do it today.  Here in Ephesus, Paul’s character was attacked and so Paul left them.  The attack on Paul’s personal safety came a bit later. 

          Now in between the attack on Paul’s character and the attack on Paul’s body, Paul had more work to do.  Luke wrote that after Paul left the synagogue, “He [Paul] took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 20:9b-10).  What do we make of what Luke has revealed to us in these few words?  I think there are three things for us to consider.

          First, Paul established a gathering of disciples separate from the synagogue.  This gathering of disciples we would call a church.  The church of Ephesus was born.  The church became a standalone living organism that existed in full view of the public but only had one purpose, to make disciples.  The church was not formed to champion social justice initiatives, or to provide a daycare, or soup kitchen, or any other noble purpose.  The church was the place where discipleship occurred.  How do we know this was the case?

          We look to our second point.  Luke said, “He [Paul] took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus” (Acts 19:9b).  We see here that Paul arranged to use a lecture hall, a building created for teaching, apparently owned by a man known as Tyrannus, which translates to “Tyrant.”  Likely, each day after Tyrannus completed the lectures for his paying students, Tyrannus opened the building for use by Paul for his daily discussions with the disciples of the Way, meaning Christians.  We still see this today where newly formed churches will rent space in a public school to hold worship services.  In Ephesus, Paul used the lecture hall to provide for discussions about what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  Think about that for a moment.  Everyday, perhaps after supper, or with supper, for two years, Paul and the disciples gathered to talk about God, God’s plan, and their part in the kingdom of God.  Everyday. What was Paul after in holding daily discussions?  Paul shared with us in his letter to the church at Ephesus two reasons for these daily discussions.

          First, Paul said, “3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).  The church of Ephesus was a new creation made up of people with differing backgrounds and differing religious practices who were now united in Christ.  In and through their acceptance of Christ, these differing people had been brought together, had been united.  Unity was a new thing to them.  Remember what Augustine said that absent Christ “People are glad to break the bonds of human society, and they come together in gangs or sects, according to something pleases or offends them.”  These disciples of the Way had previously broken the bonds of human society and lived as though each group was offensive to the other.  Now, in Christ, they were to live in unity that had been created by their individual acceptance of Christ.  Daily discussions were the way the people had to “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”  When we think about ourselves can we honestly say we make every effort to keep the unity with everyone who is a disciple of Christ?  I don’t think we do.  We Christians are still inclined to partition ourselves into different groups or to even avoid other Christians who make us uncomfortable, taking the stance of Augustine says is “They love a mere part [the part we occupy], which they mistake for a whole unity.”  We need to make sure that we are not loving only a part of the Christian community but all of our brothers and sisters.

          Secondly, Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, reminded the members of the church that, “21 When you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 3:21-24).  The daily meetings of the church were used to build disciples by teaching them two things.  First, the truth about Jesus Christ.  Secondly, how the truth and faith in Christ frees them from the sinful and ungodly ways of the past.

          This brings me back to the beginning of our conversation that I started with the game of Concentration.  Suppose you were playing the game of Concentration with three other people.  And let’s suppose you got to go first.  You turned over two cards, and they do not match. Then let’s suppose you turned the cards face down again and said, “I need to do something.”  Perhaps it is to place a phone call, check your email, see what is trending on X, whatever the reason, you need to do something.  And so you say to the three other players, “I am going to step out of the room, please continue to play,” and you leave the room. The other players continue to play, each turning over at least two new cards.  The other players call you for your next turn and you return to the room. You only know the two cards that you turned over.  The other players could know as many as eight cards.  You turn over two cards and let’s say they do not match.  You again leave play to take care of something and play continues without you.  When it is your turn again, you return for your turn.  You know four cards and the other players could know as many as 16 cards. It should be clear that you do not know very much about the game being played because you keep leaving the game to do other things. 

          This is the same situation we find ourselves in when we come just every so often to worship service.  Hebrews 10:25 teaches us, “25 Do not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.”  We make the situation worse for ourselves when we do not participant in Bible studies.  2 Timothy 3:16-17 teaches us, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."  When we don’t read the Bible, we are allowing ourselves to drift further from the truth.  Joshua 1:8 teaches us, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

          If we want to be disciples of Jesus Christ, then we need to do those things that disciples do.  We do it not out of guilt but out of joy for the peace and the assurance discipleship brings to our lives.  God chose you, he predestined you, Jesus redeemed you, God made himself known to you, and God will bring unity to your life.  God has done all these things for you.  In return, God asks that you place your hope in Christ, believe in the message of truth, accept the Holy Spirit to lead your life, and then to commit yourself and knowingly become a disciple, an imitator, of his Son, your Savior, Jesus Christ.  In this, we can have unity and a life in abundance now and forever with God.  Amen and Amen.