Consider what others expect of you and remember how that has changed over time based on the various stages and moments of life. What are your expectations of others and think about how different they are depending on who you are thinking about. And finally, what are you own personal expectations?
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going to Heaven, we were all going to Hell.”
(from Dickens Tale of Two Cities)
Sounds like today in so many ways, but this was the reality of the northern kingdom of Israel in the days when a prophet Micah was making the rounds and sharing God’s guidance with people he loved so much. They were happy and healthy but had gotten lazy with faith and Gopd’s expectations of them had been forgotten and their lifestyles did not reflect the faith they had grown up with.
had failed to meet expectations of God and had disappointed themselves.
They were used to making sacrifices and praying when they were up against a wall but failed to allow the vision of faith to guide everyday loving. Micah sought to remind them that to restores the relationship of trusting faith took more than canned prayers and occasional sacrifices. In chapter 8, Micah offered a vision for a new lifestyle with these memorable words: “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” This single verse encapsulates a core theological truth about faith being lived out through relational and moral responsibility. It was true then, and it can be helpful today!
It is the best of times, it is the worst of times, ever and always. So what shall we do with the reality that faith is sometimes lacking and expectations are not what they should be? We are left, day after day, with the reality that our broken world remains broken. That we can’t change, but Micah says there is something we can do differently as we wait for God’s response. His words are clear:” do justice, be merciful, and learn humility before God.” In other words, love as you have been loved. That won’t restore a broken world but will remind you of God’s love!
Suppose a husband or wife has been unfaithful, would a dozen roses or a new diamond ring, undo or make up for the loss? What about a child who says, “I hate you!” to mom or dad? Can those words ever be taken back? One painful reality is we cannot change what we call sin. We can try to cover it up or keep it in perspective, but it will always be a symptom of the difference between the paradise God created and the reality which we impose upon each other. At the cross, Jesus’ sacrifice made possible what we cannot, and set us free to respond as changed people. Micah shares what the expectation of how that new life might look: do justice, be merciful, and learn humility before God.
Grace frees us so our living reflects the priorities of faith. God promises he does not love us more or less because of what we do, but out of love. In response he offers a lifestyle showing acceptance of my gift of grace. It is similar to a child who has been embarrassed by a parent, yet hugs anyway. Or a friend who has been let down yet continues to be a friend. Grace changes all expectations.
No one can ever make things perfectly right. Governments can pass laws. Well intentioned folk will promise to make things right. But no one can. The gulf created by sin is too great. The pain we inflict on each always will hurt. Only God who is capable of creating sun and moon, deserts and seas, polliwogs and puppy dogs and ordaining the purpose of life is capable of restoring what has been lost and renewing what has been corrupted. The Good News is God will pay any price to make things right and shows that through the miracle of Calvary’s cross and the garden’s empty tomb.
There is nothing we can sacrifice to make things right, but because God has made things right for us, we are now different people. In response God asks that we trust his love enough to begin to learn a new dance step, a new language, and a new lifestyle which daily attempts to love as we have never loved before.
Jesus is the last lamb ever to be offered on an altar and the only sacrifice with enough power to make a difference. And that is the love that has set us free!
So, what does God expect? Nothing more than knowing his love alone has changed a broken world. What does God expect of me? Simply to live unburdened by sin and living to reflect the light and peace of his love.
Doing justice doesn’t mean I am judge but that I live in the right way. Being merciful is not being weak but sharing the same love that has been given even thought I didn’t deserve it. Walking humbly isn’t being embarrassed but acknowledging that I am not God.
God really doesn’t expect that much, but what he asks makes perfect sense. He says, follow in the footsteps that Jesus has already traced on this earth for you. Do justice, be merciful, and learn what it means to be humble before God.
It is easy to turn to God when we have run out of options and forget God when times are the best. But what about a vision for daily living that keeps us on the path and prevents us from throwing up “hail Mary’s” when are clinging onto a ledge by our fingernails?
My first wife died of cancer. Facing the inevitable, she told me one day she was afraid she was not good enough to get into heaven. She hadn’t done or sacrificed enough. I couldn’t believe she (of all people!) felt that way. She was someone everyone loved and respected, and so I started to dismiss her fears. But she was serious Tearfully she told me that as a child, her pastor had told her that if there was ever a sin she had forgotten to confess, that could be held over her by God. (Are you kidding?) How had he forgotten about grace for people who will never do everything right and are brought into a relationship with God out of love which becomes the change of our living?
If anyone ever embodied the vision of Micah to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God it was this child of God who I was blessed to have as my wife. After we talked about many of the parables and promises of Jesus and God’s love for her, she said that for the first time, she was beginning to understand grace – undeserved love and undeserved forgiveness. But the fact that she felt she hadn’t done enough to earn God’s favor troubles me to this day. Grace is all about what God has done for us, rather than what God needs us to do for Him. Our actions are a response to God’s love, not a motive for God to love us.
In the end, there is nothing we can do to make right our relationship with God. We can’t restore the paradise that is lost or avoid the death that ends every life. Even if we were to sacrifice the greatest gift of all, our very life, we could not undo what is broken, and the righteousness of God would remain offended. But God’s love has changed what we cannot and offers a new expectation for living that responds to such an unbelievable love.
It is always the best and the worst of times, but the love of God allows each moment to be overwhelmed with the incredible love, joy, and peace that only he can bring. And this gift offers us the freedom for new expectations for each today and tomorrow, as his peace overwhelms everything else.