In part one we looked at what Jesus called the two greatest commandments. Now let us consider the call to follow from another angle. For, if we love God we will obey him. The question we must ask then is what does he want of us?
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
1. Jesus called his disciples with the words “follow me”. What does it mean to follow him, to follow his Way? In contemplating this question further I have chosen the above verse from Micah 6:8. In this verse we find three requirements the Lord asks of those who would follow his ways. In considering these three elements is there something that binds them together, that is common to each? I suspect that yet once more the thread that weaves them together is the importance of relationship.
2. The first requirement is to act justly. What is justice? One’s understanding and definition of justice cannot be determined arbitrarily. It must be based on God’s definition, for it is his standard of justice by which he expects us to live and act. What is this standard? How am I to act justly? It is not my desire to set out here a detailed description of a code of laws and rules which will ensure that we act justly, but rather by what means can we live so that justice is a part of our spiritual character and identity? So I would suggest that it is through relationship with God that we can live in this way, and through relationship with him that we will act justly. God’s character is such that he always acts justly, it is a part of who he is and he cannot act unjustly. To understand his justice we must understand who he is, and this understanding can only come through our knowing him in relationship. If I want to be a person who acts justly I must become like him in character. The New Testament teaches us that the Holy Spirit is continuously working within us, transforming our inner beings to become more like Christ. Our understanding of justice then will not be based on following sets of rules, but rather on displaying and expressing God’s just character in this life. It is true that Scripture shows us what is just and unjust, but to be people who truly act justly according to God’s standard of justice we must know him and become like him in character. When we know him we will share his heart and desire for justice and through his Spirit we will be spurred on to act justly and to respond to injustice as he would and does.
3. The second requirement is to love mercy. Mercy is undeserved favour; it is undeserved forgiveness. What is God’s definition of mercy? This is an important question, for just as he shows us mercy, we are to show that mercy to others. In fact it is vital that we follow his model of mercy as Christ makes clear in the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus states that if we do not forgive others who have sinned against us, then God will not forgive us for our own sins (Matt. 6:14-15). As far as I know this is the only factor which can bar us from receiving forgiveness. In another place Jesus illustrates this same principle through the parable of the man who’s large debt is forgiven him by his king. This same man then refuses to forgive the much smaller debt owed him by another man. The consequences of his action of unforgiveness and lack of mercy is that he is cut off from relationship with the king because he did not show mercy as he had been shown (Matt. 18:23-35). Indeed not only did he not love mercy, he despised it. So it is clear that this second requirement can not be taken lightly by any means. To understand mercy we must know God. It is in our relationship to him that we not only come to understand what mercy is, we also experience it in our own spirits. For we are sinful and we experience God’s mercy daily, and we will continue to experience it throughout our lifetime. We must realize that we have been forgiven much, and that it is an act of God’s mercy that we can be in an intimate relationship with him. It is clear that God’s character is such that he is merciful, and that he loves to show mercy. In order for us to be merciful people we must become like God in merciful character, a process that is occurring through the ministry of his Spirit within us. It is important for us to realize that there are two options before us in responding to this requirement. The reality is that I can be merciful through an act of my will. But the requirement is to love mercy. This would seem to mean that a grudging mercy is not enough. How can we come to love mercy? We can only come to love mercy as we become more like God in character, as I have said. Only through relationship with him can we become like him. It is in grasping the incredible measure of his mercy towards us that we can also fall in love with being merciful towards others. We need to be willing to become people who take joy in showing mercy to others, just as it is something of joy for the Lord to show mercy to us. When we begin to love being merciful then we will have begun to fulfill this second requirement to love mercy.
4. The third requirement is to walk humbly with God. At first glance this seems to be a straight forward principle, and perhaps it is. However, what is meant by humility? Humility is one of those words that can be difficult to pin down, but a clear understanding of it is necessary if we are to meaningfully fulfill this third requirement. First we must beware of false humility. By false humility I mean that understanding of humility which considers the Self as something to be loathed. That view which says “I am a lowly, sinful worm, unworthy to be in God’s presence.” This form of humility is false in regards to following the Way of Christ. Firstly, Christ’s death on the cross has defeated the power of sin and death and has redeemed our very Being from its lowly state. How can we be lowly creatures when God considered us to be of so much value that he sent his only son to suffer and die for us in order to win the great Victory? Secondly, Christ’s resurrection has initiated and commenced the transformation of our spirit to become like him. If we are becoming like him then we are not lowly creatures without dignity, rather we are glorified Beings able to stand tall and filled with both dignity and even nobility. God values us to an extent that is difficult to fathom and thus we are not Beings to be loathed either by ourselves or others. Therefore a false humility which abases and degrades the Self is not the humility in which we are to walk with God (One should also be aware that such a false humility is an insult to the redemptive work of Christ).
I would suggest that the humility referred to in this third requirement is a state possessed of confidence in who we are in Christ in relation to God. To walk humbly with God means to acknowledge two things. First, he is God and we are not. Second, we must accept what he says about us. We are his much loved children and we are great treasures which he values deeply. What does it mean then to walk humbly with God? It means that as we walk in relationship with him we acknowledge who he is and who we are in relation to him and who he has made us to be. Christ ultimately modeled this humility for us as described by Paul in Philippians 2:5-8: Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross! Jesus walked humbly with God. Though he was in very nature God he did not seek to become equal with God, rather he humbled himself. We, then, not being God in our very nature should not try to make ourselves equal to him (i.e. He is God, we are not). While on earth Jesus was confident in who he was and in his relationship with the Father (so much so that the religious men of his day were supremely offended by him!) So we too must accept who he has made us to be, and that is not something to be loathed, but rather to be greatly celebrated. We are to be confident in our relationship with God. Again relationship emerges as the central theme in fulfilling this requirement as it was in the first two requirements. It is only in the context of relationship that I can walk in true humility and grasp what that state of humility actually is. Ultimately the third requirement to walk humbly with God is a call to walk in a right and intimate relationship with him, and this is made possible for us through his son Jesus Christ.
Dear Brother,
I am Waseem Yousaf from Pakistan. I have studied your web site, and I found it the most wonderful site to get right to the True Word of God. My suggestion for you is to create your material in my language of Urdu and Punjabi also. It will bring lots of blessings of the Word of God for the Pakistani and Indian Urdu and Punjabi speaking people. For that purpose I as a translator will bring your material into Urdu languages and into Punjabi language as well. Although it will take your low expenses as well, as fund for the Word of God to reach out to the deserving people. I my self, work on a local radio station also. Many times it becomes difficult for us to keep doing this because of being minorities and because of the lack of the financial resources. I will wait for your response.
Sincerely,
Waseem
Posted by: waseem yousaf | November 30, 2008 at 05:22 AM