Title: With What Shall I Worship?
Contents
♡♥♡ What shall I worship? / Mi 6:6-8
*** Introduction
This text is called the ‘golden rule of the Old Testament’. It means that it is a law as important as gold in the Old Testament. Do you know what the ‘golden rule of the New Testament’ is? This is Matthew 7:12. “Therefore, in whatever way you would like others to do to you, do also to them. This is the law and the prophets.” These words are God's law of justice and love that flows throughout the Bible.
The background of this text, which is called the golden rule, is Israel's complaint.
God had never afflicted Israel, but Israel complained and complained to God. God redeemed slavery in Egypt to set Israel free. But when Israel saw only the sufferings of the wilderness, they lamented, complained, and complained. At the time of the prophet Micah, Israel, like their ancestors in the past, was lamenting only looking at their own reality. He asked such Israel, “Think of what God has done so far.” The text is written in the form of a response to God's request.
To sum up the text in one sentence, he is saying, “What God wants from the saints is not a lot of wealth or a grand worship service, but the life of the saints.” In other words, we must fulfill the righteousness that God desires in the life of the saints.
A newly hired receptionist at a hotel in Hamburg, Germany, was working hard while cleaning the staff. At that time, an old man in shabby clothes was smoking a cigarette in a finely decorated chair in the middle of the garden for the guests. Seeing this, the receptionist sneaked behind the man and handed him a note that said, “Leave this place immediately so that no one will notice.” He didn't like having a well-decorated place dirty. A few days later, a note was delivered to the receptionist.
“I’m sorry, but please leave this hotel immediately today to avoid gossip.” -From someone kicked out of the garden a few days ago-
Surprised, the waitress recognized the old man in the shabby clothes. The old man was not only a conglomerate who owns 12 large corporations, but also the president of the hotel, Steiners. The waitress who judged people by their looks was fired.
Even in the world, even if you work hard like this, you will inevitably be fired if you do not know what the manager means and work arbitrarily.
Christians are those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and serve God. Therefore, of course, the method of serving must be followed as the God being served decides. In other words, worship to God must follow the method God wants, and the life of faith must also be a life pleasing to God.
However, the Israelites thought that they could only worship with good sacrifices while their hearts were far away. Those who served God were worshiping that had nothing to do with God. This stupidity is still happening today. So, what kind of worship does God want?
1. We need to find the priority of our faith.
See verses 6 and 7 of the text. “With what shall I go before the LORD, and worship the high God? Shall I go before him with a calf a year old for a burnt offering? Will the LORD take pleasure in oil like a thousand rams or ten thousand rivers of water? Shall I give my firstborn son for my transgression, and the fruit of my body for the sins of my soul?” Israel's interest is concerned with 'what kind of sacrifice is pleasing to God?' The sacrifices mentioned in this verse are of the highest quality. And in that amount, it's huge. He is even thinking of offering his own children as human sacrifices. As a person who serves God, what do you consider first and most important in worship, service, service, or life?
Then let's look at God's thoughts on sacrifice. Psalm 50:8-13. “I will not rebuke you for your sacrifice, for your burnt offering is always before me. I will not take a bull from your house or a he-goat from your pen, for all the beasts of the forest and the livestock of the heavens are mine, and the birds of the mountain are mine, and the beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Shall I eat the meat of bulls and drink the blood of goats?” And 1 Corinthians 4:7 says, “Who has set you apart? What do you have that you did not receive? Since you have received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” All things belong to God.
What God really wants is not material things. In Matthew 15:8, the Lord lamented, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” In the beginning of the book of Isaiah, God said that the Israelites were to offer only sacrifices that they did not even have in their hearts. It is an abomination of stepping on it,' he lamented. On the other hand, in 2 Corinthians 8:5, concerning the offerings of the Macedonian church members, which God was pleased with, he said, “Not only what we hoped for, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us according to the will of God.” I did. In other words, it is our own devotion that precedes worship and offering. A gift from an unconsecrated person has no effect. Rather, he said it was a heavy burden to God.
2. What is the first priority of your devoted life?
This is verse 8. “Son of man, the Lord has shown you what is good. What does the Lord ask of you, but not to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” The life of a person dedicated to God is expressed in three ways.
1) Doing justice.
Doing justice is the Christian social life. ‘Justice’ is the degree to which one stands upright and does not lean either to the left or the right. In other words, it is to work honestly and fairly based on the Word of God in the society in which the saints live. As the saying goes, ‘Your arms are bent inward,’ it means to treat yourself better as you are on my side, and not to violate fairness just because you like me.
2) It is loving kindness (仁慈).
Kindness is a kind and compassionate heart. This goes beyond the justice discussed earlier. It means caring for others and responding positively to their needs. This is the attitude of life to actively do good.
3) Walk humbly with God.
To walk with God means to live as a responsible being before God. In other words, it is a joyful obedience to the will of God. This is a lifestyle that requires constant effort to always seek close fellowship with God and to live in it.
There is this story in Kier Kegaard's writings. A lady, a Christian, rode a carriage in a cold winter to a theater where a drama was performed. The wife had the coachman wait outside, and she went into the theater. The wife got angry at the main character who turned away from the poor people in the drama and threw swear words at her. But at that very moment, outside the theater, the driver who had picked him up was freezing all over in the cold.
In a certain village, there lived a rich man who was full of money. Every time this man prayed, he took pity on the poor and the beggars and prayed that they might find a way to live. Sometimes I was so desperate that I prayed with tears in my eyes. One day, after praying, he got up and his son said, “Father, give me the key to the safe.” When my rich father asked the reason, he replied, “Nothing else, I want to show you that your earnest prayer is fulfilled.” Then the rich father rebuked his son, saying, "It is God's work to fulfill prayers!" Then the son said, “Still, we should pray like that while opening the safe and helping the poor and beggars.”
That's right. A life of true worship of God does not consist in the possession or power of man. It is an effort of faith to constantly unite me to the God whom I worship. In this season of thanksgiving, I pray that you will live a true life that is pleasing to God.