All Saints' Sunday (OTA)

Micah 6:1-8

Hear what the Lord says: 

Arise, plead your case before the mountains, 

and let the hills hear your voice. 

²  Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord, 

and you enduring foundations of the earth, 

for the Lord has an indictment against his people, 

and he will contend with Israel. 

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

How have I wearied you? Answer me! 

⁴  For 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. 

⁵  O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, 

and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, 

and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, 

that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.” 

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? 

⁷  Will 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?” 

⁸  He has told you, O man, 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? 

God brought his people up out of the land of Egypt. He gave them requirements to show their loyalty. But even those who witnessed the power of God were turned away. Think about being in Egypt while the ten plagues are happening, and crossing the Red Sea, yet these people still turned back. So now we who do not experience this, know how God has redeemed his people.

He doesn't redeem his people through the blood of beasts. There are not enough beasts to be sacrificed for all your sins. Micah even asks the question whether there is anything we can do to actually please the Lord? Can you repay God what you owe for your sins? The answer is quit clear, NO! You are a fallen creature bent on sin. Therefore, we look to what God did in Egypt.

But for us today we can look at our real pascal Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Christ our Lord has laid down his life for you and your sins. He has paid the full price you owe and redeemed you from your sins. The work is not about what you need to accomplish, but what God has done for you through Jesus Christ.