Micah says, “What does the Lord require:
To act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with thy God.”
It’s interesting to read of the emergence of civilised society over the
last 500 years: how many Christians began to believe real social
change was an act of God’s grace and his working within us,
while over against this was the growing belief in the rise of reason
and free will to turn society around and bring about civility.
We’d like to think we live in a civilised society today
but is this what Micah was on about?
If we look carefully at the nation we live in, many wonderful things
have been done by people. Some will even be honoured this
Australia day but on the whole, justice and mercy is perhaps not one
of our distinctive marks as a nation unless self-interest is involved.
That may sound like a harsh statement but think of the need to
stop the boat people: was it driven by fear or justice and mercy?
And our prison system: is it concerned to keep the ‘bad guys’ away
from the ‘good guys’ or is it driven by the desire to encourage inmates
to become worthwhile citizens? Are we driven by self-preservation,
anger or mercy? And who brings Covid into the nursing homes;
the workers who arrive every day or the visitors
who in the end are locked out?
Without debunking a lot of what happens around us I think we realise
there are few easy answers but social justice often seems to go hand
in hand with many underlying self-interest perspectives whether it be
economic, winning votes, being seen to do the right thing, fear or a
need to preserve the security we have.
However, I ask, what is our perspective on ‘to act justly, love mercy
and walk humbly with thy God.’ Is it just a good idea or is it more?
Does your walk with God challenge you to see life issues differently
than you once did? How does the Spirit of God within inform our lives
today? And how do we answer the very hard questions
Mr. and Mrs. Public will raise if we oppose them?
Grace and peace to you, Rev Glenn