Micah's Mic Drop: Worship, Justice, and Restoration

Micah makes it clear that this behavior is not just a social issue. This is not just something he's noting in the society of the time and asking for a redirection. He's saying this is a spiritual issue. You are misunderstanding who you are and whose you are and how you've been called to be in the world. He says, oh, I see you. I see you still participating in religious rituals and what I want you to know is that your worship is hollow if it's disconnected from justice. Right? Mic drop after mic drop after mic drop. It's meaningless. It's meaningless if you're performing worship. To who? Why? God's clear. God's clear on what God wants. He says when your religion is affirming what you already believe is right, you're missing the point. [00:32:20] (50 seconds)  #worshipAndJustice

And so taken together, these first two chapters of the book of Micah that you are going to read for yourself this week, they set the tone for the entire book. God sees. God sees what is happening. God cares deeply about how people are treated. Worship and justice cannot be separated. Those who use power to harm others will be held accountable, he says, but even even after that account, even after that justice, God is committed to restoration. God is a God of grace. God is a God who restores and a God who redeems. Micah begins with hard truth but he ends in a story of hope. [00:34:42] (42 seconds)  #GodSeesRestores

What's striking is that Micah doesn't even in the midst of this of this noting, Micah himself doesn't do it from a detached perspective. He does it as someone who is grieving, someone who's lamenting, someone who's mourning what he sees. He's heartbroken. He's sick over what he sees in the life of the people and so he's not just angry, he's sorrowful. And he's saying, I love you too much and God loves you too much and God wants me to tell you that God loves you too much for this to continue. It cannot stay like this. It is leading to destruction. [00:30:21] (41 seconds)  #griefDrivenProphecy

We do it. There's something else happening but we wanna be seen a certain way. We do it as individuals, organizations do it, communities do it, churches. We do it. I'd even say nations do it. Everything appears stable, everything seems successful, everything looks polished right on the outside, but but sometimes there's something underneath the surface that is deeply broken. Maybe something we're purposely hiding, we're trying not to acknowledge, maybe it's a secret life, secret behaviors, and into that gap. Into that gap, into those spaces between appearances and reality, the prophet Micah has something to say. [00:18:52] (39 seconds)  #appearancesVsReality