Every person who believes in a god asks the same question. “How do I approach Him? What pleases my god?”

The uniqueness of our God - in how He deals with us - is that our God tells us what He expects of His people. God isn’t some impersonal deity that has a set of unwritten laws that if we unknowingly break one He’s going to send us off to hell. The Book of Micah in part is God laying out His expectations before His people and lovingly calling His people to return to Him - to the kind of relationship that He expects from them.

Micah 6:1: Hear now what the Lord is saying, “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Listen, you mountains, to the indictment of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth, because the Lord has a case against His people; even with Israel He will dispute.

God steps into a courtroom. On trial are God’s people. Have they lived before God as He expects them to live? The jury is all that God has called into existence. His Earth and hills that have stood silent from the beginning - silent and watching the actions of God’s people.

Verse 3: My people... Notice the intimacy of that. Imagine - Almighty God coming down to earth to speak lovingly with His people. My people, what have I done to you, and how have I wearied you? Answer me.

God asks, “Why? What have I ever done to you that you should reject Me?” Has God mistreated His people? Ignored them? Rejected them? And yet - as we’ve been seeing as we’ve gone through this book of Micah - God’s people had rejected Him. They’re worshipping other gods - abusing people God told them to show mercy to. From the priesthood to the civic leadership - the whole nation is corrupt and rejecting God. God asks, “Why? Present your case before the jury.” But there is no case - no justification for Israel’s behavior.

On the other hand God presents His case - three examples of how He has loved and cared for His people. First example - verse 4: Indeed, I brought you up from the land of Egypt and ransomed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron and Miriam.

God - instead of abandoning His people in Egypt - delivered them - lovingly saved them. The very existence of the nation is owed to God. God gave them spiritual leaders to guide them and maintain the relationship of the people with God. Moses the prophet - Aaron the priest - Miriam the prophetess.

Verse 5 - second example: My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered him,

During the Exodus - Balak king of the Moabites wanted Balaam the prophet to curse Israel so Balak and the Moabites could wipe out the Hebrews. Balaam the prophet - at God’s command - Balaam blessed the Hebrews instead of cursing them. (Numbers 22-24) God is reminding His people that while they wandered around in the desert during the Exodus - wandered around in unbelief, ingratitude, and sin - God protected His people.

Third example - going on in verse 5: and from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you might know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

When Israel marched from Shittim to Gilgal they defeated the Midianites. Then from their base at Gilgal they crossed the Jordan river on their way to conquer the Promised Land. While God’s people had been faithless - God - acting righteously - God had kept His promise and given Israel the land He promised them. The very land the people occupied was theirs because God gave it to them.

Three brief but meaningful examples of God’s love towards His people despite their rejection of Him. Verses 6 an 7 are how the people respond to God. There are four questions the people ask in response to God.

The first question is this - verse 6: “With what do I come before God to worship Him?” Put another way, “Why is God displeased with us? We’re doing all the rites and rituals you asked us to do. What more do you want?” Something was wrong but they couldn’t understand what it was.

Second question - verse 6: Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? In Leviticus God gives His people five offerings that they were suppose to make which were to be their way of approaching God. The question here is, “Is this enough?” Put another way: If I come to church on Sundays and serve on a committee and pay my pledge and live a Christian life - is that enough? How could God be upset with that?

Third question - verse 7: Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? The question deals with generosity. I treat my employees fairly. I give them bonuses at Christmas. I give to charity. I give a large donation every year to the church. God should be pleased with that.

Fourth question - verse 7: Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? These people were surrounded by peoples who worshipped their gods - Molech and Baal - worshipped them by offering human sacrifices. In Judah - King Ahaz and King Manasseh actually sacrificed their own children as burnt offerings. This is a real question for these people. If doing all the ritual and Leviticus law and going the extra mile in giving doesn’t work - how about some pagan sacrifice? What does God want from us? What does it take?

Have you ever stood on a balcony on a tall building? With the railing in place it’s not so scary. Take away the railing and any sane person would back away from the edge. There’s a tremendous security in knowing where the limits are. God is displeased. He’s angry. Judgment is coming. We’re staring out into the abyss. Where’s the boundary? What’s God’s expectation of us? How do we respond and appease this God who has loved us so greatly?

Verse 8. Here’s the bottom line. What God expects. Verse 8: He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Three expectations: First: DO JUSTICE.

A policeman pulled over a couple for speeding. The policeman comes up to the car and says to the husband who was driving, “Sir, did you know that you were going faster than the speed limit?”

The wife says, “He always speeds. I’m always telling him to slow down. But, he never does.” So, the policeman starts to write up the speeding ticket. And the wife starts in again, “He never wears his seatbelt either. I tell him its dangerous. But he never listens.”

The policeman, who now notices the missing seatbelt, says to the man, “I afraid I’m going to have to cite you for not wearing your seatbelt.”

At which point the husband turns to his wife, and yelling in language I won’t repeat, he says something like, “Will you keep your mouth shut!”

The policeman asks the wife, “Does he always talk like that?” And the wife says, “Only when he’s drunk.”

Is there justice today? There is a growing consensus that right and wrong have no absolute meanings - I can do whatever I want as long as I don’t get caught. And, how I treat others is not important - unless of course it affects how they treat me. The end justifies the means.

The same was true in Micah’s day. In Micah’s day people were doing whatever it took to fill their own pockets with money. They didn’t care about what happened to anyone else. Widows were being foreclosed on -being thrown out in the streets - for profit. Those in need were being abused and robbed. Religion had become a profit making business. The civic and religious leadership - everyone who was in a position to do so was taking bribes. Justice was for sale to whoever could pay the lawyers or the court the most money.

Those who know God know that there is right and wrong - and especially in our relationships with God and others. If we love God we will act justly towards others.

Biblical justice defends the rights of those who are weaker and who have been wronged. Biblical justice lives by God’s declarations of the worth and dignity of man. Biblical justice is an expression of love which cares for the rights of others with the same intensity as we care for our own rights.

Second expectation: LOVE MERCY.

Yasher Ragimov is a Christian pastor in Azerbaijan. As a believer in Jesus Christ, serving in a Muslim country, he’s been arrested and repeatedly beaten and tortured for his faith.

Once, Pastor Ragimov arrived in a small Azeri village just as a funeral for one of the village leaders was beginning. He began to talk with the Muslim leaders - two of the Mullahs that were there - asking them questions about spiritual things and what had become of the deceased. The mullahs had no definite answers.

Ragimov asked, “Why are you here if you don’t know these answers?”

One of the mullahs answered, “If you’re so clever why don’t you speak at the funeral.”

So Pastor Ragimov - standing next to the body of a dead Muslim - in front of 150 Azeris - many of whom would approve of his torture - Pastor Ragimov spoke for two hours about the hope of eternity through Jesus Christ.

Speaking of his persecutors Pastor Ragimov says, “I can’t do anything about them. I just pray.” (1) By any worldly standard this man should hate the people he loves and is devoted to sharing Jesus with. But that devotion is loving mercy in action.

Each of us lives in sin. We can’t help it. We’re born in sin. Our sin will separate us from God for eternity. We’re helpless. Worthy of God’s judgment and condemnation. But, God is merciful to us.

The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2:4,5, “But God, who is rich in mercy....even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” God mercifully withholds His punishment so that by His grace He gives us salvation.

Those who understand God’s mercy towards them love to be merciful towards others. To love mercy is to be concerned with the needs of the those whom we would naturally reject. To love mercy is to demonstrate God’s love and to share the Gospel - even with those who have wronged us.

Third expectation: WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD.

When Paul and Silas were in Philippi they were stripped - beaten - placed in the most secure part of the prison - their feet placed in stocks. About midnight while Paul and Silas were praying and singing and praising God there was an earthquake. The doors of the jail sprang open and the chains are unfastened. The prisoners are free to go.

Do you remember the reaction of the jailer? If one prisoner escapes he’ll be held responsible - put to death - probably with torture. The doors are open. The prisoners are loose. He’s a dead man. The jailer takes out his sword and is about to kill himself. Paul yells at him, “Don’t do it. We’re all here.”

The jailer runs in to where Paul and Silas are and falls prostrate on the ground in front of them. Imagine, the jailer throwing himself on the mercy of his prisoners. This is a man who’s realized his situation - the precariousness of his life - held in the hands of Paul and Silas. He’s got no where to go. No one to turn. In desperation he ask them, “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:22-40)

It has been said, “They that know God will be humble, and they that know themselves cannot be proud.” (2)

To walk humbly with our God begins with accepting who we are before Him. That’s hard for us. We have to be honest about who we are. There’s no room for pride and ego here. To walk humbly with God means we agree with God as to our sinfulness - our desperate need for Jesus as our Savior. We receive what He has done for us - what we could never do for ourselves - our salvation through God’s mercy and grace in Jesus. To walk humbly with our God means daily surrendering our lives to God - seeking to live in obedience and complete devotion to Him alone.

In thinking this through for us today - do you remember these words of Jesus - the two greatest commandments. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.... (and) You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37,38) This really is the core of what God is saying to His people. Humble devotion to God with all that we are - from this comes justice and mercy to our fellow man. God dealing first with our hearts - the source of our actions towards Him and others.

So many people have that order backwards. The people in Micah’s day - and people of all times - have always asked, “How do I approach God? What are His expectations of me? If I can just do this or that will God be pleased?” But the bottom line isn’t about what we do for God - that isn’t how we have a relationship with Him. The bottom line is about what He’s done to establish a relationship with us. And that’s what He’s done on the cross through Jesus Christ.

When we trust Jesus as our Savior - turn our lives over to Him - God sets us free from the expectation that we must achieve righteousness - holiness - sinlessness on our own. That we have to produce His kind of justice and His kind of mercy on our own. Our meeting the expectations of God is found in Jesus Christ.