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After you've read David's thoughts, share yours! Send a reply email to David!!
DAVID'S EMAIL BIBLE STUDY:
A.
BACKGROUND...
We all have core beliefs, bottom lines, and non-negotiables. As parents, employers, citizens, neighbors, and Christians - something is at the heart of each of our activities. I'm suggesting 12 core pieces to being a practicing Christian, pieces that I can count on being part of a person's life it they say they are a Christian. The first four had to do with the absolute primacy of LOVE. We looked at the fact that YOU are SPECIAL to God.
B.
TODAY,
Amos 5:21-24 and Micah 6:4-8.
C. SUMMARY ... Amos and Micah are "prophets", spokespersons for God sent to Israel (and to us) to make clear God's heart, God's priorities. Amos expresses God's disgust with the religion of his day, with its emphasis on bloody sacrifices and exuberant music meant to show devotion. God wants justice and righteousness, Amos says. Micah makes the same points about meaningless worship, adding mercy and a humble relationship to what God wants.
D.
KEY POINTS:
1.
BAD Church. Both prophets provide similar intros to the verses they are famous for, Amos 5:24 and Micah 6:8. Leading up to those verses they condemn the emptiness of worship in their time. They target the offering, music, festivals, and traditions. All those things began as ways to connect people with God. But even holy things can lose their meaning if done without thought, or done only as obligations or habit.
"Mindfulness" is a popular word nowadays and a good one. Whatever we do we should do mindfully, with thought and focus. Since we are about to consider JUSTICE, let's use that as an example. If we come to church, sing the hymns, say the prayer, make an offering AND live the next week unjustly, what good was the worship? The prophets are telling us to connect our church and worship life with God's commands for justice, righteousness and mercy.
2.
"DO THE RIGHT THING". Your mother told you that; also, your favorite teacher, Spike Lee, and GOD. Amos and Micah both prioritize JUSTICE, RIGHTEOUSNESS and MERCY. "Righteousness" is doing the right thing according to God's perspective. A few years ago WWJD was a popular phrase, meaning: What Would Jesus Do? The prophets are urging us to gauge our actions by that standard, adding justice and mercy as examples. JUSTICE is the willingness to stand up for what is right, oppose what is wrong. MERCY allows us to move beyond an occasion of injustice in order to achieve reconciliation. WWJD is a good framework for justice, righteousness, and mercy.
3. HUMBLE is a quality most admire, perhaps because it is so rare. Humble does not mean weak, wimpy, wishy-washy. Truth is, it is mostly a strength. Micah tells us to "walk humbly with the Lord". A humble person does not put themselves front and center, does not see everything through their own self-interest, is not "puffed up" (to use an old Bible phrase), and is not full of themselves. A humble person makes room for others. In Micah 6:8 our humility toward God would result in listening, being open, willing to learn, and to be guided. In the Psalms it says, "Be still and know that I am God". A humble walk with God stills the cacophony and conflicts and chaos of daily life.
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