A Moment Aside for February 9, 2021

 A Moment Aside --- 9 February 2021

                                                                  

This quote from the Scripture is not quite complete. Here’s the entire citation:

“With what shall I come before the Lord,
    and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
    with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?   (Micah 6: 6-8)

This prophet asks what he and all of Israel must do to follow the Lord. Will sacrifies of calves and rams and oil do it? How about the sacrifice of a person’s child? The answer is “You already know. Live a just life; honour and act in kindness; live your life with God in mind and continue to be humble.

In our own day, these questions still come up. How should Christians dress? How should Christians speak? What sort of car should they drive and what foods are right for the Christian palate? What about movies and TV?

Some people worry about this. Maybe these things will make a difference. Maybe they won’t. What we do have to add to these words of holy wisdom from Micah are the words of Jesus when he was asked:

He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”  (Matthew 22:37-40)

Just about everything else is negotiable.

The Gospel of the Lord! Let us be attentive!