What does God want from us? [Mc 6.8]

Micah 6.8 KJV

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

One of the bigger gags from Douglas Adam’s comedic sci-fi radio show, then book series, then TV series, then movie The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (H2G2 for short), was the meaning of life. Or as H2G2 put it, “the Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.” Some aliens built the best computer ever, solely to figure this out. After 7.5 million years of calculations, it turned out to be “42.” Bit of a letdown, but the computer pointed out it made perfect sense once you knew what the Ultimate Question was. But deducing that would take an even better computer—plus another 10 million years. Problem is, the whole H2G2 story begins with that computer getting blown up.

Adams was atheist, so he wouldn’t have taken his Ultimate Question from the prophets. I’m not, so I will.

See, when you believe in God, he’s part of the question. He created us, and since we recognize him as infinitely intelligent, he created us for some reason. There’s some purpose to our existence. Sp… what’s our purpose? What does God expect of us? That’s the question.

And Christians deduced our purpose is a relationship with God. He created humans specifically so he can interact with us, and because God is love, it’s to love us; and he hopes we’ll love him back. As the Westminster Catechism puts it, the main purpose of humanity (or, in 17th-century English, “the chief end of man”) is yea: “Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him for ever.”

So how do we respond to God’s love? Well, humans tend to think in terms of karma, and figure we owe God big-time for everything he’s given us, for everything he promises us; we have to deserve it somehow. We really don’t, and can’t; it’s all grace on God’s end. But ungracious people struggle to wrap their minds around that idea, and still wanna know what they can do to merit a relationship with the Almighty, and salvation. “Just trust Jesus” doesn’t feel like enough for them.

Well… you can follow Jesus. He taught us a bunch of stuff about his kingdom, and how we oughta live our lives as inheritors of that kingdom. We can do that. And some of those Christians who want God’s kingdom on merit try to legalistically do that, and find it a titanic struggle, or make things miserable for their fellow Christians around them, ’cause God’s kingdom runs on grace. We aren’t following Jesus because that’s how we merit the kingdom; we’re following him out of gratitude!

But if you want a short description of God’s expectation for us, that’s where the verse from Micah comes in. And unlike God’s commands—unlike the greatest commandment or the 10 commandments or the entire Law of Moses—it expresses the attitudes God wants his worshipers to have. Be fair. Be merciful. Be humble. Because Jesus is likewise all these things.

God’s only been good to us.

The reason this verse comes up is because, as usual, ancient Israel was doing a lousy job of following God, and suffering the consequences of their own actions. And, just as humans have always done, they were blaming God for their woes, as if he owed them a happy, suffering-free life no matter what awful things they’d done.

God’s response: What’d I do to you? Nothing but good.

Micah 6.1-5 NRSVue

1Hear what the LORD says:

Rise, plead your case before the mountains,

and let the hills hear your voice.

2Hear, you mountains, the case of the LORD,

and you enduring foundations of the earth,

for the LORD has a case against his people,

and he will contend with Israel.

3“O my people, what have I done to you?

In what have I wearied you? Answer me!

4For I brought you up from the land of Egypt

and redeemed you from the house of slavery,

and I sent before you Moses,

Aaron, and Miriam.

5O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised,

what Balaam son of Beor answered him,

and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,

that you may know the saving acts of the LORD.”

Like Christians nowadays, the Israelis figured they were God’s chosen people, saved from Egypt by his grace, and all they now had to do was go to temple and worship God. Nevermind God’s instructions to be good, and to be fair, merciful, and humble. They weren’t any of those things. But they figured they performed tons of ritual sacrifices, and that oughta make up for all the unfairness, mercilessness, and pride. And the sins.

So if God was displeased with them, a number of ’em figured hey—maybe we oughta ritually sacrifice more animals. Burn up more food and oil on his altar. Put more money in the offering box. Or maybe God wants my firstborn—although debatably this part of the scriptures might be hyperbole.You never do know; the pagan nations around Israel did sometimes do human sacrifice.

Micah 6.6-7 NRSVue

6“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?

7Will 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?”

Micah’s response: You already know how God wants you to be. Do that.

Micah 6.8 NRSVue

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?

Our answer to life, the universe, and everything—our purpose in life, as our Creator always intended—is to develop a healthy, loving relationship with God. And if we wanna know what God expects of us in return, it’s all in this verse. Do “justice”—which, in the biblical worldview, isn’t about criminal justice, but in doing right by everyone; by being fair. And love kindness. And humbly walk with God.

So here’s another useful bit of bible to put in your brain.