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.