Micah 6:1-8 (NRSV)
Read Micah 6:1-8 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 6Hear what the Lord says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Verse 2Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for the Lord has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel. Verse 3"O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me! Verse 4For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Verse 5O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the Lord."
Verse 6"With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Verse 7Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" Verse 8He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Devotion
A woman once asked me if I had a favorite Bible verse. Without hesitation, I answered “Micah 6:8.” When I left that congregation, she presented me with those words ensconced on a piece of lace against blue matting in a gold frame. Twenty-two years later, it still hangs in my office.
Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God. That threefold requirement speaks of God's vision of peace for the world. It speaks of peace with God, peace in relationships and peace in the nations. Micah phrased it as requirement, but it was not given as a commandment or law. God invites his people to do what is good for them and for others.
Micah's words still speak to us. Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God. We can hear that as command or we can hear it as invitation.
Prayer
God of peace, humble us to walk with you so that we may humbly walk with others. Amen.