Tuesday: Micah
“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8, NKJV). What are ways, right now, you can live out these words?
Micah 6:8 is perhaps one of the best known texts in Scripture. Yet, like many of the verses we make into slogans or “posters”, we are probably less familiar with the context of the verse than we might admit.
Read Micah 2:8-11 and Micah 3:8-12. What were the people doing that Micah condemned?
Micah
The reign of Ahaz as king in Judah saw God’s people reach a new low in the history and spirituality of their nation. Idolatry and its various evil practices were increasing. At the same time, as other prophets of the time also noted, the poor continued to be exploited and preyed upon.
Micah is no less a prophet of doom than were his contemporaries. Most of his first three chapters express God’s anger and sorrow at the evil His people had done, as well as the destruction that was coming their way.
But God had not given up on His people. Even the strident voices and harsh messages of the prophets were an indication of God’s continued interest in His people. He gave them warnings because of His love and care for them. He longed to forgive and restore them. He would not stay angry forever (see Mic. 7:18-20).
Such is the context of the well-known “formula” — act justly, love mercy, walk humbly. It might sound simple, but living such a faith in practical ways is much more challenging, especially when to do so seems so out of step with the surrounding society. When others profit from injustice, scoff at mercy and ride proudly, acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly requires courage and perseverance. Yet, we don’t do this alone; when we act this way, we are walking with our God.
| What is the link between doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly before God? |
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I have compelling memories of the Lindy Chamberlain case in Australia. For those who not know the story here is a brief summary. In the early 1980s, while the Adventist Chamberlain family were visiting Uluru (Ayres Rock), baby Azaria was taken and killed by a dingo. Lindy Chamberlain, her mother, was accused of murdering her and was convicted and imprisoned. Seventh-day Adventists rallied in support of Lindy and she was later released and the evidence re-examined at the verdict overturned. It took many years for the case and its aftermath to play out. It was headline news for months at a time. Credit must be given to those Seventh-day Adventists who supported her and in particular to the Adventist scientists who painstakingly dissected the forensic evidence and produced a report instrumental in finally securing Lindy's release.
A high court judge at the time, speaking to an Adventist audience, commended us for our work for justice for Lindy, but then came the sting in the tail. He asked us whether we were willing to work for justice and mercy for those people that are not Seventh-day Adventists, maybe even for people we do not like. It was a sobering, thought and the memory of that challenge has stuck with me ever since.
Justice and mercy sound good when it applies to us, but what do we do when we see injustice for people we do not like. Are we only interested in justice and mercy when there is a chance that we will baptize them into the church?
What is the horizon for our vision of Justice and Mercy?
Yep, I remember the case because of the movie that came out. What a terrible fate!
Thank God and the people that helped the mother was freed.
To "act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly" formula is a great moto for anyone! What's against these virtues? It may even represent salvation from deteriorated self. You all have a great day!
Thank God and you for this great illustration of what God truly requires of us...to do justly (to all regardless of who they are), to love mercy (just as we would want for ourselves and family), and to walk humbly with our God (follow in the footsteps of Jesus). He was abused and falsely accused for us, yet he muttered not a word, He is our example. We need to pray, for ourselves first to have the strength to stand for others, without thought of color, creed, or religion (or not) affiliation. We need to learn to love the Lord our God first, and then our neighbors as ourselves. Red, yellow, black and white are all precious in God's sight.
I remember the case. I have had dingos as pets all my life. They are great dogs and very loyal to a family; but they are wild animals like wolves, you must always be on your guard. I think we must apply justice and mercy to everyone, not just Adventist’s or people we think we can convert. Micah 6:8 applies to all.
I learned about the Chamberlain sad story a couple of years ago. Yet, as I read the whole story, it is my understanding from the facts that the reason why Lindy was released, was because the white jacket baby Azaria was wearing that night of her dead, was found in a dingo den by authorities while searching for a man who fell to his dead when climbing the Ayers Rock ... three years after Lindy in prison. That was the evidence that released Lindy ...and showed the complete deficiency of the judicial system on this particular case
Yet, to give the benefits of doubt, I searched after reading Maurice post to find about “those ... Adventist scientists who painstakingly dissected the forensic evidence and produced a report instrumental in finally securing Lindy's release”. I found nothing regarding so.
If you don’t mind, Maurice, can you please provide where is such info available? ...about those SDA scientists dissecting forensic evidences producing the release of Lindy? I’m very interested now on the story again. Thanks Maurice.
The real issue on the Chamberlain sad story, is that the whole judicial system fell completely. 100% wrong. I have learned that intelectual wordings sound convincing, yet, in many cases they are totally off .... which bring me to the following:
Even when the whole justice (and mercy) system fall around us, if we choose, we can see positive compassion and love from the Seventh Day Adventist Church to the non-SDA “world” e.g. ADRA just to mention one, because in reality, there are thousands of supported and self-supporting ministries around the world, bringing relief to millions of non-SDA people.
(My conference sponsors almost on a weekly basis, a dental, eyes, etc, free care to many non-SDA communities. They have a trailer full of health equipments and SDA health professionals working a full day for free, to help an average of 500+ people per week - all free of charge to those non-SDA people. My church has a community service offering food every week to about 50-100 non-SDA families. -Food provided by restaurants and groceries stores in the area)
Those above can be measured. You can count how many people are served and “loved”. But here is my question:
What about all kind of help, compassion, and love that millions of SDAs in a personal and quite manner bring to others? Can those be measured? Nope, they cannot be measured, which give the wrong impression we are doing nothing regarding the issue. Only our Heavenly Father can see them, take note of them, and only He can measure them.
Same as baptisms counts by churches and conferences as a “sign of growth”. Yet, can an act of love from a person planting a seed for salvation be measured? Nope, it cannot be measured. Yet, millions will be saved because those acts of love ...and yes, many of those saved, will never be baptized into a SDA Church.
Sure, there are also millions of SDAs who do nothing regarding the issue. However, I want to suggest we focus on the positive, and do our personal “mercy and love” ministry in the quiet. They can not be measured but only by our Heavenly Father ...and to talk positive as way of encouraging our SDA community. 😊
The definitive book on the topic is:
Young, Norman H, "Innocence Regained, The fight to free Lindy Chamberlain", The Federation Press, 1989.
I don't know where you will buy a copy these days as it has been out of print for a long time. The scientists involved were: Ken Chapman and Les Smith. I have a personally autographed copy of the book given to me by the author as I helped him with the indexing and table of contents.
Well, Maurice, your book is worth a lot of money, judging by the Amazon listing! It is currently available on Amazon for US$842.87 and US$4,382.58. 🙂
But a search for "Lindy Chamberlain" on Amazon finds several less pricey options, including a couple books on Kindle: Lindy's own The Dingo's Got My Baby (I can hardly imagine the horror of going through the trauma of having a baby stolen by a wild dog and then being blamed for the killing my own baby!!!)
Given that my copy is in pristine condition, autographed by the author, and has my name in the acknowledgments it's probably worth something towards the high end of that scale. Might have to sell it to finance my retirement. I will have to ask Norm if he has any copies left over.
Much of Micah’s book revolves around two significant predictions: one of judgment on Israel and Judah (Micah 1:1–3:12), the other of the restoration of God’s people. Judgment and restoration inspire fear and hope, two ideas wrapped up in the final sequence of Micah’s prophecy, a courtroom scene in which God’s people stand trial before their Creator for turning away from Him and from others (6:1–7:20). In this sequence, God reminds the people of His good works on their behalf, how He cared for them while they cared only for themselves. But rather than leave God’s people with the fear and sting of judgment, the book of Micah concludes with the prophet’s call on the Lord as his only source of salvation and mercy (7:7), pointing the people toward an everlasting hope in their everlasting God.
Much of Micah’s indictment against Israel and Judah involves these nations’ injustice toward the lowly—unjust business dealings, robbery, mistreatment of women and children, and a government that lived in luxury off the hard work of its nation’s people.
Where does the injustice dwell in your own life? Who are the lowly in your life?
Let’s determine to live as God desires—“to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8).
what is the name of this movie?
There is one movie, "A Cry in the Dark," starring Meryl Streep, that is still currently available for viewing on Amazon.
And you can buy an electronic or paper copy of the book on which the movie is based: Evil Angels, The Case of Lindy Chamberlain. You might want to click on the link just to read the description. (The paper copy is a bit pricey too.) According to the description, it was this book that helped turn public opinion in Lindy Chamberlain's favor. That is important because it was essentially public opinion that condemned her to prison without any substantial evidence.
After skimming the sample first 10 pages of the book available to read for free on Amazon, I was intrigued enough to buy it in Kindle format. I am now about one-third of the way through, but I also cheated and read the chapter including Lindy's release. The author is an excellent writer and gives enough detail to make the reader feel as though being on the scene. I am just a bit skeptical about an Adventist pastor saying that his dead child is "in the arms of Jesus." That seems like a bit of imaginative commentary. But there is a lot of detail on forensic work and the prejudices and assumptions at play in the investigation. It is a stark reminder that the human "justice system" can go dramatically astray. People who have been as unjustly treated as Lindy Chamberlain can find their emotions expressed in many of the biblical psalms whose writers look forward to the time when the God of heaven will make all things right.
It seems to me that the story of Lindy Chamberlain also fits into this series of lessons in a different way than Maurice intended. "To do justly" not just on a personal level, but also on a judicial level, was certainly addressed by the prophets. While western courts may not be subject to bribes, they can be swayed by public opinion and by political considerations that result in miscarriage of justice just as bad as happens with monetary bribes.
On the other hand, not many of us have the chance to serve jury duty, much less as lawyers and judges. Thus we need to focus on doing justly and loving mercy in our sphere of influence - our family, our church, our neighborhood and our place of work. Being a follower of Jesus should make a tangible difference to the vulnerable in the society around us.
Back to humbly walking with our Lord. Not only do we do justice, and love(show, give, partake) mercy, we are also to as we learned what walking with our Lord is Last week, and this week through Amos, “and the oppressed in her midst”, “who oppress the poor, and crush the needy”, you trample on the poor, and exact taxes of grain from them”, that is to help those in need. By doing so we are strengthening our relationship with our Lord. James put it this way: “What is the use (profit), my brethren, for anyone to profess to have faith if he has no [good] works(helping the needy, oppressed, poor in spirit ) [to show for it]? Can [such] faith save [his soul]?” James 2:14 AMPC
Remember faith without helping the needy, oppressed, poor in spirit is dead.