God’s Call to Do Justice
Micah 6:6-8 and Matthew 23:23-24 (NRSV)
By Rev. John Gill ~ March 2, 2025
When you think of ordained ministers, what comes to mind? If you’re like most people, the first image you have of a clergy-person is that of a man or woman standing in the pulpit preaching a sermon. While preaching obviously is not the only thing ordained ministers do all week, it certainly is the most public, and arguably, the most significant thing we do. For 20 minutes or so each week, you grant me your undivided attention (well, at least most of you do!) as I share with you a word from the Lord. There are few roles more important for any pastor than his or her role as a preacher. It is both a great privilege and a daunting challenge to preach God’s word.
All the pastors I know take their call to preach very seriously. I certainly do. And I find preaching to be very satisfying. For me, the process of developing my sermons is a labor of love, and the delivery of the message is a joy. But I think the most challenging part of preaching is NOT the writing of the sermon or its delivery. Often the hardest part of the process is deciding what to preach on. What does God want me to share with you?
Lots of pastors I know follow the three-year cycle of Bible readings called The Lectionary, and find it very helpful. But I have never been a lectionary preacher – I have found it too confining, too limiting. Instead, the first-step in my process of bringing you a word from the Lord is to prayerfully select the scripture texts or themes for my sermons.
Not surprisingly, those texts are often the ones that are most comfortable for me, ones I find easiest to preach. I suppose that is the danger of NOT following a lectionary – I could simply ignore any parts of the scriptures that I find troubling or that don’t support my personal theological persuasion.
But, it seems that lately in my Bible studies, I find the Holy Spirit leading me to difficult texts – a word from the scriptures that is hard to interpret or difficult for me to hear (and would be even more difficult for me to preach – and for you to hear). For a while now, God has led me over and over to the writings of the Old Testament Prophets and the New Testament Book of Revelation. I suppose this fascination with the prophets has come about within me because of all the turmoil taking place in our country and world over the past few years, months, and weeks.
The books of the Prophets and the Book of Revelation are filled with challenging messages from God, difficult and often painful words God placed on the hearts of his servants, but words the people needed to hear. The prophets saw just how far the people had strayed from living in faithfulness to God, and they called the people to repent and return to God. If the people did, the prophets declared that God would be gracious and forgiving. But if they continued to turn their back on God, they would pay the consequences of their sin. John, on the Isle of Patmos, delivered much the same message to the church in his day. And while these books were written primarily for the people living in ancient times, the truths they contain apply to all generations, including our own. Their call to return to faithfulness is as loud and clear today as ever. It’s a message we all need to hear and heed.
I mentioned that I develop my own sermon texts and themes based on what I hear God saying to me. As I was working on my preaching for the months ahead, I came across the two texts for our message today – one, the word of God through the Prophet Micah, the other, the words of Jesus himself. Both lessons are making the same point – a call for God’s people to “be about the business” of “doing justice.” And so, on this Sunday as we approach the most important event in the year for our Justice Ministry, preparing to attend FAITH’s Nehemiah Action Assembly on Tuesday, March 25th, I decided that we should focus on God’s call to “do justice.” Inboth the Old and New Testament passages read this morning, we are challenged to see how well we measure-up as we live-out ourmission from God.
The text we read from Matthew is one of those “difficult” scriptures. I have almost never preached on this chapter because it makes me a little uncomfortable (well, it makes me A LOT uncomfortable). Chapter 23 of Matthew takes place during Holy Week, just a few days before Jesus’ crucifixion. By this time, Jesus is just about fed up with the religious leaders who had challenged him at every turn – people who had become blinded by legalism and empty rituals. And because they had hardened their hearts, they were unable or unwilling to see the truth in Jesus’ teaching. Exasperated at them, and knowing his time was short, Jesus finally lets them have it! Jesus pretty-well seals his fate with these powerful accusations!
It’s like Jesus is channeling the prophets of old, when he stands before the crowds on the steps of the Temple in Jerusalem and exposes the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, with a series of seven “Woes.” “Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites…” and one by one, Jesus condemns them, calling them to task for the emptiness of their faith. Each blistering “woe,” although addressed to those religious leaders of his day, cuts us to the quick as well, exposing our shortcomings, and challenges us to a more authentic faith. In many ways, this extremely fiery sermon of Jesus is one of the most powerful chapters in the entire Bible! Go home and read Matthew 23 for yourself.
But, as I was thinking about Jesus’ call to do justice, it occurred to me that one of the prophets Jesus was drawing on was the Prophet Micah. Compare again the words of Jesus and Micah: First Jesus: “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.” And Micah 6:8: “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?”
Isn’t it fascinating that, of the three things God expects of his people listed by Micah and Jesus, they both include a call to “justice.” In fact, the other two characteristics of each list are also very similar, even though they use different words. Both Micah and Jesus agree that, as people of God, we are called to do three things: 1) to live humbly by faith; 2) to show mercy in dealing with others; and 3) to work for justice.
On this Sunday we are focusing on justice, I’d like for us to reflect on these three expectations God has of us, as the Prophet Micah listed them, and see how well we are fulfilling our calling to “do justice.” I’m going to take them in reverse order from the way Micah lists them:
First, we are to live humbly by faith.
Micah tells us that we are to “Walk humbly with our God.” Jesus chose to use the word “faith.” According the The New Interpreter’s Bible commentary, the Hebrew phrase used by Micah literally means that: “we are to walk with God, careful to put God first and to live in conformity with God’s will. Our life pilgrimage is likened to a walk with God as our constant companion.” We are to live in relationship with God humbly by faith.
Second, Micah tells us that we please God by showing mercy in our dealings with others.
In the translation we read this morning, Micah says we are to “love kindness.” Other translations use the phrase “love mercy.” And, of course, Jesus simply used the word “mercy.” The Hebrew word Micah used was the word “hesed,” a common word in the Bible, but one that cannot be adequately translated into English. It has to do with love, loyalty, and faithfulness. It means to be in relationship as a covenant partner, either between two individuals or between humans and God. “It means to be committed to a relationship that is motivated by love.” In the context of Micah’s prophecy, it seems to refer to the compassionate way we relate to others, motivated by our love for God, and for them. It means that we are to demonstrate our love for others by showing compassion and by acts of mercy.
Finally, if we are to live up to God’s expectation for his people, we are also to “work for justice.”
Even though I’ve chosen to put justice last, it’s worth noticing that both Micah and Jesus list justice first. It’s like they are saying that working for justice in the world isn’t optional – it’s not something the people of God can choose to ignore or put-off until later. Justice is a primary concern for all who try to live a godly life.
The Hebrew word Micah uses is an action verb – justice is something we are called to DO. “It’s not enough to wish for justice or complain because it is lacking. This is a dynamic concept that calls on God’s people to work for fairness and equality for all, particularly the weak and the powerless who are exploited by others.”
If we want to show God we love him, we must not only be concerned for those who are victims of injustice, but must be actively involved in changing the systems that cause people to become victims. In Jesus’ words in the Lord’s Prayer, we are to work that God’s “kingdom comes,” that his “will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We are to do what we can to help our world reflect more and more the Kingdom of God that Jesus preached about so often. We do that by standing up with boldness and by speaking truth to power. We do it by organizing people of faith to work together to bring about positive change in our society or to impact the systemsthat cause people to be exploited. Or in John Wesley’s words, we are to “spread scriptural holiness across the land.” It is an especially urgent call in addressing our nation and world today!
When the young twelve year old Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, causing his parents to panic and search high and low for him – they found Jesus in the Temple talking to the teachers and priests. When asked by his distraught parents why he was there, do you recall how Jesus replied? “Didn’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business?”
According to Jesus (and Micah) there are three things you and I must “be about” if we are going to please God: We must 1) live humbly by faith; 2) show mercy in dealing with others; and 3) work for justice. We must be about “our Father’s business,” as well.
Another way to think about it is that it is like “a three-legged stool.” In order for us to be faithful to our calling, we as individuals and as a congregation need all three legs if the stool is able to stand. It’s not enough for us to have one or two of the legs in place for the stool to be complete. Both Micah and Jesus are saying that we can only please God if we are actively doing all three.
How stable is our “stool?” Are any of the legs missing? How faithful are we at fulfilling all three of these expectations of God? Are all the legs of our stool of equal length, or are we neglecting any one of the three, causing our Christian witness to be wobbly or lop-sided? Each one of us will have to answer that for her or himself. But let’s apply the words of Micah and Jesus to our church to see if we are pleasing God or not.
First, living humbly by faith. I believe that our congregation, like most congregations, focuses a lot of our attention and energy onhelping people come to faith and grow in their faith, and that is as it should be. Making and growing disciples is the primary mission of the church – it is the main thing we are to be about. And, we place a lot of emphasis on making disciples here at Tomoka UMC “walking humbly with God“ by faith. So, we do pretty well with that leg of the stool.
How do we do with the second leg of the stool – showing mercy? Again, I think our congregation does well here, too. We live together in a covenant of love with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. Tomoka is a very loving congregation, and our love for one another is certainly pleasing to God.
And our congregation has a growing love for others, as we minister to strangers beyond the walls of our church. More and more of our members are ministering with compassion to the hurting, the homeless, and those struggling through life. It is exciting to see “mercy ministries” growing in our congregation, and in the lives of our members. We do a very good job at fulfilling this leg of the stool, as well.
But what about God’s command to “do justice?” How successful are we as a congregation at “doing justice.” In many congregations, including ours to some extent, God’s call to “do justice” has been off the radar screen – out of sight, out of mind. In fact, most of us would have a difficult time defining what “justice” is, much less explaining how we go about “doing” justice.
I think the problem has been that most of us confuse the command to “do justice” with the command to “show mercy.” When asked to list justice ministries that their congregation is involved in, most church members will list food pantries, or homeless ministries, or other charities their congregation supports. Those are wonderful ministries, but they are not “justice ministries.” They are actually “mercy ministries.” They are important, - indeed we are commanded to show mercy and love in these ways, - but they do not qualify as “doing justice.”
We are “Doing Justice” when we are addressing the root causes of injustice in our communities, or in society in general. It is not just putting a Band Aid on a problem to alleviate some of the pain people are suffering. Doing Justice means - to work to change the systems that cause people to become victimized in the first place.
As I said, like many churches, many of us at Tomoka may not even be aware that “justice” is something we ought to be doing as a church. I think the main reason we may miss the boat when it comes to “doing justice” is that - “justice” is not an easy thing to do. We can have classes and Bible studies to help people grow in their faith, and get positive results. We can mobilize people to feed the homeless, or volunteer in other mercy ministries, or give money to causes that help the less-fortunate. But how does a congregationeffectively “do justice” when the problems plaguing our community, our nation, and our world are so massive? Is there any way we could make a positive difference? The task seems just too large. And so, we just throw up our hands. We conveniently forget that one of the three things God expects of us - is to work for Justice in changing our world.
But neither Micah nor Jesus will let us off-the-hook. The people of God they each confronted in the 7th century BC and in the 1stcentury AD, also had neglected God’s call to work for justice, and Micah and Jesus had harsh words for them. As I have been reflecting on the writings of the Prophets of the Old Testament, and the teachings of Jesus, I believe it is clear that God is saying the same thing to the church today. If we want to be faithful to God, our “stool” needs all three legs: faith, mercy, and justice. To neglect any one would mean that our stool could not stand.
So, how do we go about “doing justice?” Well, we can’t do it alone as individuals. And, we can’t even do much as an individualcongregation. If we try, we fail and get discouraged. That’s why we tend to do nothing to work for justice.
The only way to be effective in transforming our society to better reflect God’s Kingdom on earth is to join forces with all of God’s people to make our concerns known and get the attention of those who can make the changes needed to make our world a more just place.
We can work for justice in our nation and our world through the combined efforts of our denomination – As a network of thousands of congregations around the world, we have much more power than we ever would have alone. We do it through our denomination’s involvement in the National and World Councils of Churches. And we do it by joining together with other congregations and denominations around the world who share a concern and together petition our leaders to do what is right for all people.
But how do we do justice closer to home? In Volusia County, our congregation is working toward justice by being a part of the FAITH organization, “Fighting Against Injustice Towards Harmony.” FAITH is an interfaith alliance of congregations of many denominations and religions that have pledged to work together to address issues of injustice, and the root causes of injustice.
For the past 25 years, FAITH has acted as an advocate for those victimized by systems that cause them to be in need. Together we have made sure that those in the jails get the mental health and drug-treatment medications they need. We got the School Board to be more intentional about the teaching of reading. We worked with Halifax Hospital to open clinics so the poor would not have to go to the emergency room to get basic needs addressed. We negotiated with Votran to have them extend bus hours into the night so that the working poor can get to their jobs in the hotels on the beach. We worked with Volusia County Schools to get them to implement restorative practices in the schools, and with the Sheriff’s Department to give juveniles who commit non-violent infractions “civil citations” rather than arresting them – which would have given them a criminal record that would haunt them the rest of their lives. We worked with the City of Daytona Beach, Volusia County, and other cities throughout our area to fund and build the First Step homeless shelter. And we are working with governments in Volusia County to expand opportunities for affordable housing, and to finally do something to solve the flooding problems in our communities, especially in the only neighborhoods where the poor can afford to live.
Now, -- could Tomoka UMC do any of these things alone? Of course not. But together with more than 30 congregations representing around 25,000 citizens and voters who attend houses of worship, our voice is heard, and justice is being done.
I hope that when you hear about being supportive of our congregation’s involvement in FAITH, you will get involved, because FAITH is the most effective way I have ever seen to be obedient to the Biblical command to “do justice.”
So, what practically, can we do right now to make a positive difference in the cause of Justice? I’m glad you asked! On Tuesday evening, March 25, we all will carpool to Our Lady of Hope Roman Catholic Church in Port Orange to attend FAITH’s “Nehemiah Action Assembly.” We will be inviting our elected community leaders to be present as we seek their assurances that they will work for justice, just as hard as we do. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m., and we want all our members and friends to attend. We expect more than 1,500 people of FAITH to be present as a witness to our commitment to the betterment of our community. Friends, we come to worship 52 times a year, - every week, we try to walk humbly with God, and love others by showing mercy. We can certainly commit one evening to “doing justice!” I will be at the Action Assembly March 25th, and I’ll be looking for you!
It’s time we shore up that third leg of the stool, and “do justice.” And as we do, let us hear and heed the word of the Lord, -- this time through the voice of the Prophet Amos (5:21-24): “I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
The Scriptures make it pretty clear: God expects his people to do Justice. Maybe it’s time we finally took his command to heart.
(Quoted items are from The New Interpreter’s Bible commentary)
© 2025 by John B. Gill, III