This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us

Oil & Water… Democrats & Republicans… Yankees & Red Sox…  Some things just don't seem to go together.  Try Justice & Mercy. Simply by nature, the concepts appear mutually exclusive.  Justice requires the administration of due punishment while mercy implies the waiver of that same punishment.  They stand in stark contrast and, should they ever meet in a bench-clearing brawl, it would seem one must prevail at the expense of the other.

Let's see what Micah thinks…  Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the LORD's wrath…  Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy."
(Micah 7:9 & 18)

Many Old Testament prophetic themes foreshadow Christ's work on the cross, and the frequent juxtaposition of justice (wrath) and mercy is an excellent example.

God, in justice, demands that the penalty of death be imposed upon all who break His law.  Yet God, in mercy, pardons those same lawbreakers and offers them eternal life. Did justice throw the fight… take a dive… forget to show up?  By no means!

Micah's contemporary, Isaiah, specifically foretold the solution to the justice/mercy dilemma: "He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows… He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:4-5).

Eight-hundred years later, the Apostle Peter confirmed the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy when he said, "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree… by His wounds you have been healed" (1 Peter 2:24).

The reason God did not simply wipe out Israel centuries ago is the same reason He does not simply wipe us out today.  The Messiah was coming/has come and would pay/has paid the price for all their/our sin!  God's justice would be/has been satisfied and His mercy could be/can be granted to them/us.

Praise God that, because of His divine perfection and plan, justice and mercy can coexist.  Now if we can just figure out how to help New York & Boston get along!

Now That's My Kind of Prophet

"Set 'em up for everyone!  This round's on me!"

Doesn't exactly sound like your typical oracle of God, does it? But it is in the Bible, and I happen to find Micah 2:11 one of the most humorous verses in Scripture.  I suppose it's also one of the most tragic.


"If a liar and deceiver comes and says, 'I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,' he would be just the prophet for this people!"

Now this is not a blog post to debate the age-old question of whether Christians should drink alcohol.  The point is that, as was the case in Micah's day, it is possible for us to become so self-absorbed and calloused to genuine spirituality that we lose our appetite for a true "thus saith the Lord" and begin feeding our own sinful desires on the words of "prophets" who are willing to say whatever we want to hear.

About those supposed mouthpieces of God, Micah says, "If one feeds them, they proclaim 'peace'; if he does not, they prepare to wage war against him... Her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD and say, 'Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us'."

Not a bad gig if I can get paid to say whatever keeps people happy and claim that God is on my side while I'm doing it.  The problem comes down the road when I stand before God saying, "Lord, Lord, did I not prophesy in your name?" only to hear Him reply, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoer!"

Of course it's easy to point the finger at "high-profile prophets" who proclaim the Prosperity Gospel or some other heresy that sounds spiritual while appealing to the flesh.  But the same travesty can be found even in our conservative, evangelical churches when we fail to confront sin or resolve conflict biblically, when we plan worship services to keep people happy rather than to glorify God, or when we pick and choose what we teach based not on the true spiritual needs of our people but on what we think will keep 'em coming in the door.

Paul picked up Micah's theme when he wrote to Timothy, "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction.  For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear."

I think that time has come.  So God help me to faithfully declare the whole counsel of Your Word in spite of opposition or pressure to please the crowd.  And God help us all to hunger and thirst after Your truth, even when it steps on our toes.

Now… Coffee for everyone.  This round's on me!

A Crying Shame

What's the last thing that really made you cry?  I was disappointed when the Celtics lost to the Heat… but I didn't cry.  I was frustrated when the tail pipe rusted loose from the muffler on my truck… but I didn't cry.  I'm disgusted, appalled, infuriated, etc. as I read headlines about social injustice, economic corruption, moral depravity, etc… but I don't cry.  Maybe I need to be a little more like Micah.

Looking at the social and moral decay in his homeland of Israel, and having received the Word of God about coming judgment, the prophet said this: "I will weep and wail; I will go about barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and moan like an owl.  For her wound is incurable; it has come to Judah. It has reached the very gate of my people, even to Jerusalem itself."

I know a lot of American Christians* (including myself!) who gripe & complain, rant & rave, spit & sputter about the social, economic and moral ills of our nation & world. But I have a hard time recalling the last time any of us were truly brokenhearted before God to the point of weeping, mourning, fasting & praying over it.

Now, being the good ol' premillennial dispensationalist that I am, I do realize, like Micah did in his day, that things are generally going to get worse before they get better.  But I also realize that's no excuse for not caring about the way things are.

I've been convicted by Micah's weeping… and even by the "Patriotic Prayer & Praise Service" I've been planning for church on July 1.  I know one guy like me can't change the world with a few tears.  But if I can be a little less self-righteously indignant and a little more spiritually sensitive to the sins of society, perhaps, like Micah, I'll be more likely to actually make a difference for God.



*Or should that be "Christian Americans"?  Maybe we've got it backwards, and that's half the problem.  Anyway, perhaps a topic for another post someday.