A deconstruction of Micah 6:8

We see Micah 6:8 quoted so many times, and I wonder if it’s time that we took a deeper look at what it is directing us to do: I wonder if we need to flip it on its end and begin with humility, then wrestle with mercy, before we can do justice.  Is it any coincidence that Micah 6:8 is an anthem for social justice?  We too easily read it in terms of justice against the oppressor, mercy for the oppressed, and humility overall.  I think it is that, but I also think it’s more than that.  If justice is to be done, it must be just overall.

Micah 6:8b tells us to, “... act justly, love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

The Easy-to-Read version has the full verse saying: “Human, the Lord has told you what goodness is.  This is what he wants from you: Be fair to other people.  Love kindness and loyalty, and humbly obey your God.”

Let’s flip the ‘B’ part of the verse and deconstruct it.

WALK HUMBLY (WITH YOUR GOD)

Everything must begin from the vertical.  All relationships are framed rightly when we put God first.  Humility considers others as important as (and arguably more important than) itself.  If we are honest, we can’t do this for very long in our own strength.  This is why the prophet Micah calls us to walkhumbly.  In other words, it’s only in ardent dependence on God that we have any chance of actually walking humbly, and it is a paradox that the humble usually see that they are anything but humble.  In considering others as (or more) important as (than) oneself, we would not be caught dead lording it over another human being, even if by excuse of meting out ‘justice’.  I hope you can see the absolute imperative nature of walking humbly before we can execute justice.

LOVE MERCY (KINDNESS)

We are still not ready to execute justice just yet.  What is needed is a heart change, and our hearts must turn toward something that is absolutely foreign to us — that being, mercy.  The more hurt we have been in life, the more we can recognise that we must let go of the hardness of our hearts and propagate mercy.  It’s okay to have grieved.  It’s necessary.  It can take time to overcome bitterness.  Grieving bitterness isn’t sin.  It’s a heart recovering.  Once we’ve orientated ourselves toward God, however, and we are in a place of right relationship (for justice) — not by salvation, because if we’re Christian, grace has already given us that place with God — but by the orientation of our heart in the moment, i.e. that we’re not just going to cruel someone just because they’re against us or because they’ve sinned against us, we’re in a place devoted to mercy.  The fruit of mercy is kindness from the heart.

DO JUSTICE 

Only when we have walked humbly and have loved mercy can we do justice properly, that is doing justice through the truth in love.  Love is not always ‘nice’.  It’s often tough.  But it is just.  If we pretend that we can do justice without walking humbly or loving mercy, we fool ourselves. We execute a potentially dangerous justice; a violent justice.  And truly such a justice doesn’t exist, not as a godly justice, and Christians aren’t to be involved in anything else.  We are endeavouring to bring the Kingdom to earth.  If we have missed the mark as far as walking humbly, and we are not genuinely serving God, and we haven’t turned our hearts toward God to receive a mercy we feel compelled to give, we will certainly miss the mark as far as justice is concerned, and we cause detriment to the building of God’s kingdom.  We build in vain, as it says in Psalm 127:1.

But we walk humbly and love mercy so we can do justice.