What does God want from you?

March 11, 2018 UMCOR Sunday 4th Sunday of Lent Micah 6:6-8 UMCOR Sunday Children’s Sermon Preparation: Bring four differently colored crayons. Good morning! How are you today? Allow children to answer. Did you know that today is a special day in the church? Does anyone know what day it is? If the pastor or liturgist has already mentioned UMCOR Sunday, ask the children if they remember what (name) said today is called. If no one knows, ask adults. That’s right. Today is called UMCOR Sunday. What does it mean to share? Allow children to answer. Do you like sharing? Is sharing a good thing? Allow children to answer. When you share something, does that mean you have more or less than you did before? Allow children to answer. If they do not understand, move on to the example to help illustrate. Give a child (at least 5 years old) four crayons. Ask the child: Can you share your crayons with (name of another child)? If the first child does not give two crayons to the other child, have an older child help. OK. Now, (name of first child), do you have more or fewer crayons than you did before? Child should say “fewer.” Allow child to elaborate if he or she wishes. You are right. You have fewer crayons. But now you and (second child’s name) can color together! Isn’t it more fun to color with a friend than to color alone? Allow children to answer. If you need that (insert color) crayon that you gave away, do you think your friend would share with you so you could use it? If your friend needed your (insert color) crayon, would he/she share with you? Allow children to answer. I think all of you would share your crayons so everyone could use any color they need. By sharing, it might look as if you have fewer crayons, but you’ve gained a friend to color with and still can use all the crayons. This is a hard lesson to learn for everyone, kids and grownups. Sometimes we forget that sharing helps everyone. Sometimes we don’t want to share because we think we would lose something and we forget we would gain something even better. Direct to adults in congregation: How many of the grownups here still have trouble remembering this sometimes? Here at church, we have people who can help remind us how important it is to share when we forget. You can help us remember too, OK? Today is a special day for sharing. Can you think of things we can share with others? Allow children to answer. Children will probably say crayons, toys, etc. Affirm their answers. That’s right. We can share many different things. Today we will take a special offering for people to share money. All the money we collect here at our church and that other churches collect in many other places helps people who need food, shelter, school supplies or other things they need to live and grow. When we share what we have with others, we help to share God’s love. Let’s pray. Dear God, thank you for sharing your love with us. Help us to share what we have with others. In Jesus name we pray. Micah 6:6-8 Common English Bible (CEB) What does the LORD require? 6 With what should I approach the LORD and bow down before God on high? Should I come before him with entirely burned offerings, with year-old calves? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with many torrents of oil? Should I give my oldest child for my crime; the fruit of my body for the sin of my spirit? 8 He has told you, human one, what is good and what the LORD requires from you: to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God. Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible If you go back and look at the Hebrew bible – you will see that a large percentage of it takes place in the context of a court case. Either the people are suing God for justice, or God is accusing them of not keeping their relationship. The word satan does not mean devil, it means accuser. The one who is reminding God of what we have done wrong. It is our faith that defends us in the eyes of God. It is not that we are innocent of wrongdoing – we are all sinners. But God is always merciful- God loves us no matter what. We may falter, but God is always God. As long as we promise to have a relationship with God, we are can leave the court and Go on with our lives. The book of Micah is one of those famous court cases. The people are standing before the throne of God, asking why there are in exile. What must I do to get back into the good graces of God. All of the evidence has been presented. The people are guilty, but they ask what God wants. God says that all that God wants is for the people to do justice, have mercy, and to walk humbly with God. Ben Powers is the name of a man that may not be familiar to you today. But, several years ago, he made headlines around the world. For the last fourteen years, Ben Powers has worked for NASA. He has been working on the solid rocket motor design and is considered an expert in his field. In 1987 the ill-fated Challenger blasted off for outer space. This was a special mission which included six astronauts and one school teacher, Christa McAuliffe. The astronaunts were to carry out scientific experiments and Christa was to teach some special science classes from the Challenger once they were in orbit. As you know, 73 seconds into launch, an O-Ring failed. A startled world watched in shock as the Challenger exploded and seven astronauts died, including the young school teacher. Ben Powers risked the wrath of his supervisors and the scientific community at NASA when he gave his testimony before the Presidential Commission investigating the disaster. Ben Powers was the only NASA engineer who had opposed the launch. He was the only NASA engineer who had expressed concern about a launch in cold weather. He was the only NASA engineer to appear before the Presidential Commission and say that the order to launch had been a bad decision. Because of his testimony, several key supervisors have been replaced at NASA and Ben Powers is treated like a "leper" by those with whom he works. He broke the code of silence, and former friends and colleagues now keep their distance. In an interview, Ben Powers was asked by a reporter if he thought he and his family had paid too high a price for his testimony. Ben Powers was silent for a moment and then he said, "My commitment to Jesus Christ is the most important factor in my life. I did what God expected me to do." Have you ever asked yourself, "What does God expect of me? How much does God demand of me? How will I know when I am doing what is expected of me?" There are very few verses in the Bible that are better known than Micah 6:8. It is a verse that attempts to answer the question, "What does God expect of You?" Micah asks: ... and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God? This particular passage is a profound statement of faith. It is known as one of the four mountainpeaks of spiritual faith in the Old Testament. It presents religion in an easy and understandable style. Micah points out that the only demands which God places on us are to do justice in our daily relationships, to show kindness to other people, and to walk humbly with God. This may sound like a very easy and simple way to live. But, it is a very costly lifestyle, because its demands are moral and spiritual. It is worth noting that in this statement of faith, two of the parts deal with our relationship to people and one part deals with our relationship to God. This is because it is rather futile to talk about God unless we come to respect the men and women that God created in his image. In 1 John 4:20, the writer says we are not likely to love God whom we have not seen unless we come first to love our fellow humans whom we can see. As we look at what God expects of us, we are going to be using the three biblical demands which Micah lifted up. The question of the day for us is what does God want from you? What does God want you to do in your situation? If you had to stand before the throne of God and face God, what would God ask you? How would you answer. Micah reminds us that God wants three things of us, no matter who we are, no matter what our situation. Do Justice, give mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. In Hebrew that is mishpat, Chesed, and Hasnea. These are the three pillars of what it means to be faithful, but these are also the three most important attributes of God. First and foremost God is the judge of all things. God’s first task is justice. God may not always be fair, but God is always just. I have to let that sink in for a minute. God is not fair – fairness is our perspective of a situation. God may see some things that are hidden from us. Fairness is how we feel about the situation. Justice goes beyond our feelings. The word in Hebrew for "justice" is "mishpot." It means, "Who is my judge?" "Who is my Lord?" "Who exercises sovereignty over me?" To "do justice" means to act, quarrel, walk, and pray in such a way that I constantly affirm that God is my judge, my Lord, and the sovereign in my life. Only that One exercises Lordship over me. I serve no other Master. The good news is that a God that is concerned with justice first, is concerned about mercy second. Hesed means loving kindness. When God judges us he judges in the spirit of love. Years ago, there was a wise and just ruler who established a series of laws for his people to follow. They were good laws, though sometimes difficult to follow. One day his own mother broke one of the laws and was brought to the ruler after being caught. The penalty for breaking this particular law was twenty lashes. It put him into a quandary. How could the ruler remain just and be the ruler of the Kingdom and still fulfill the demands of his love for his mother? He thought and he prayed about it and then on the day of his mother's punishment, this ruler took the lashes on his own back. And in so doing, justice was satisfied and his deep love for his mother was both honored and revealed in full measure. (10) That's what God did for us through Jesus. God doesn't want to contend with us as He does with Israel in this passage. He wants us to remember how much God loves us. Remember Grace is getting what we don't deserve. Justice is getting what we do deserve. Mercy is not getting what we do deserve. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once wrote these meaningful words: "The greatness of God lies in the fact that God is both tough-minded and tenderhearted. God has qualities both of austerity and of gentleness Justice, mercy and walking with God. It is interesting that these are the three most important attributes of God, but these are also the three things that God requires of us. God requires this of us as individuals, but also a church. What does God want from us? God wants our actions to mimic God’s actions. God holds us to the same standard that we Hold God. God can always hold us accountable to our stuff, but God will always give us the tools to do better. That is why whenever there is a confession, there is always a pardon. Lent is our time to think about the third quality – what does it mean to walk humbly with God? To be in relationship with God, knowing that we will never live up to God’s standard, but we have to live our lives in a way that we are always striving to that goal. To forgive others, to understand others and to be there in their time of need. That is why UMCOR Sunday is always the 4th Sunday of lent. It used to be called one great hour of sharing. But it is a chance to be reminded of how we can be what God calls us to be. Being in mission is the core of who we are as United Methodist. We care about the things that God cares about. God is so in love with the world, that not only does God care about what happens to people and what they need. But God is continually finding ways to make sure that people have the tools they need in life to be faithful.If we are the people who walk humbly with God, then we are the people to help with that process. In our Wesleyan tradition we acknowledge the grace of God placed in our hearts and at work in the world before any action on our part. In response we accept and proclaim grace that sets us upon the right path of obedience to the Word made flesh in Jesus Christ. This grace calls us to repentance, and to active faith and good works in Christ. Active faith participates in the perfecting and fulfilling grace of God, which claims and implements the promises of God to deliver exploited persons and oppressed peoples, to restore the sanctity and integrity of God’s creation, and to reconcile division in the households of faith and among the peoples and nations of the earth as all of creation groans for redemption. In other words, we have been charged to make a difference in the world, and to bring God’s salvation to all of creation, until all people mirror the face of God in justice, mercy and faith. As we give to help UMCOR go all over the world, we are participating in mission. Mission is the core of who we are as United Methodist. We have a faith in our heart, but our faith is an active faith , that does something, that gives something and that loves something. What is it that God is asking of you? What are we requiring of God? What is God saying? Please test me, God begs of us, as if to say, I dare you! Go ahead. Give generously to the causes I care about and see if I will not come through for you. Give generously to my church and see if you can handle all the blessings I pour out on you. He challenges us again in Psalm 81:10. “Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.” The Psalmist challenges us. “O taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8a) What will you do with God’s dare? How will you respond to God’s challenge to give generously and put God’s goodness to the test? How will we as a church respond? Will we dare to give and trust, or will we cling to God’s gifts and refuse God the opportunity to show love for us? Together, we do more when we give generously. When we put God to the test, we put ourselves in position to enjoy the abundant blessings God has so generously promised. Amen. Other illustrations……. I hope you will join us on March 11, 2018, when we celebrate UMCOR Sunday. When you and your congregation give on this day, you support the local, national and global relief efforts of the United Methodist Committee on Relief. In addition to disaster assistance, UMCOR provides support to refugees and migrants around the world through its partnership organizations. Today, more than 65 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced from their homes due to conflict, persecution or natural disasters. Over 21 million of those are refugees, more than half of whom are under age 18, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. Syria has been hit particularly hard with more than 6 million civilians displaced by the country’s ongoing civil war. A $90,000 grant from UMCOR recently provided hygiene and bedding kits for vulnerable people in Aleppo, Syria, forced to leave their homes because of the seven-year conflict. These kits offer a little help and hope amid the human suffering. Your generosity helps the United Methodist Committee on Relief make a difference around the world. Gifts on UMCOR Sunday help cover the agency’s administrative costs so UMCOR can continue to guarantee that 100 percent of all other donations go toward specific relief projects. Visit our resource section for UMCOR Sunday. There you'll find more information and an opportunity to download free material to help you promote and celebrate this very Special Sunday! Please share this good news. God bless you, Thomas Kemper General Secretary General Board of Global Ministries UMCgiving.org/UMCOR Use the following Scriptures and reflections to jumpstart sermons related to each special offering. Share the goodness of life with those who hurt. “Whoever has two shirts must share with the one who has none, and whoever has food must do the same.” – Luke 3:11b, CEB It’s easy to give food to our church’s pantry or to share a spare coat with someone who has none. But how can we go an extra mile – to make a genuine sacrifice to help a neighbor in need – beyond today’s special offering? That’s what keeps our faith alive! When you contribute to the UMCOR Sunday offering this Sunday, you enable the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to keep the promise that 100 percent of your designated gift goes entirely to specific causes. On behalf of The United Methodist Church, UMCOR provides humanitarian aid in the United States and around the world. By responding whenever and wherever catastrophes strike, helping refugees reintegrate into their communities, feeding schoolchildren, establishing medical clinics and much more, UMCOR provides hope for millions. Please give generously. Thank you! Just do three things, Israel: mishpat, hesed, and hasnea (Micah 6:8). Will you say these words after me? We're going to learn a little Hebrew this morning: (Make this as interactive as you can.) Mishpat: Do justice. Hesed: love kindness. Hasnea: walk humbly with your God. Only that! I'm not asking much, Israel. Only this! Only make every facet of your lives, every institution in your communities, every encounter you have with others, be defined by mishpat, (justice), hesed (covenant love), and hasnea (walking humbly with God). Suddenly it becomes clear just how far Israel, and how far we, have fallen from the will of God. Suddenly it's clear how miserably the human side of the covenant equation has behaved. Suddenly it's clear how much easier it would be to produce those thousands of rams, or ten thousand rivers of oil, than it is to transform our lives into genuine expressions of . . . what are those three words . . . mishpat, hesed, and hasnea. Micah's three words in today's text are God's expectations for all who claim to walk in a covenant relationship with the divine. God doesn't declare that mishpat, hesed, and hasnea are characteristics found in the general world. No. Mishpat, hesed and hasnea are the qualities God expects of God's own people. God has a higher standard for us. Just as Micah spoke to the covenant community of Israel then, Micah speaks just as directly to the covenant community called the church today. The church claims to live in a covenant relationship with God through the gift of Jesus the Christ. Through Jesus, the only one who could wholly fulfill the qualities of mishpat, hesed, and hasnea in a human life, the door to a right relationship with God has once again been opened to us. But to stay in that covenant bond the requirements remain the same. We're still called by God to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God. We're still called by God to live these three words while our whole beings: remind me of these three words again: mishpat, hesed, hasnea. God expects you to show kindness to others. Here is the most basic requirement that God expects of us - that we treat other people as we would like to be treated. All good religion begins at this point. But kindness is much more than being harmless. Kindness in the Bible has backbone - it has guts - it is more than simply being tolerant of others. One person said, "Kindness isn’t really kindness until it costs you something." I don’t know if there is a price tag attached to kindness, but I believe that when we go out of our way in being kind to another, we usually bring out the best that is in them. It is the daily walk with God that energizes the commitment to do justice and go even beyond to treat people (even the undeserving) with loving-kindness; the ritual of the temple that was so important to Israel could give expression to the vitality of that walk, but it could never be a substitute for the daily companionship that is part and parcel of a life of faith. "Walking humbly with God is a call to do more than to come to God with offerings thinking to buy God's favor, but to spend the time walking, living life, with God in ways that would work out in every aspect of life. It implies a sensitivity to the things of God, a concern...to allow our heart to be broken by the things that break the heart of God. It is a deep desire to see the world through the eyes of God, to act in the world as God would act."(7) When this final requirement is placed cheek by jowl with the first two, walking with God becomes synonymous with having a heart for justice and compassion. The three cannot be separated, for walking humbly with God, living all of life in relationship to God, will result in both. An old proverb embraces that kind of giving, "The only true gift is a portion of yourself .