Listen:
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”. (Micah 6:8)
Reflect:
First and foremost, we are mortals – the “flowers who are quickly fading”, here today and gone tomorrow. We are in a place of utter dependance on the God we trust.
What God requires has a lot to do with how we see others as compared to ourselves.
To act justly means we are fair and impartial, not putting the “people like us” in our preferred places of power and leadership, but to be caring about the outsiders, the newcomers, those who have “no voice” and no power. It means to look in new places for who is going to be “our voice” and leaders.
Loving mercy means loving the mercy and forgiveness that God gives freely to all people, and to forgive in the same way God has forgiven us. God is very clear what gets him angry (Matthew 18: 21-35).
Humbleness stems from the fact that we are only here by and through God’s great mercy for us. It means that we are content for our position and unconcerned about power or prestige (Mark 9: 35-37), and I remember that Jesus is our model of humility. In Philippians 2 we see that Jesus didn’t care about his power and humbled himself to death on a cross.
Finally, we walk humbly with God. We go with God, as it was planned from creation; we walk moment by moment in communion with God who loves us so much he gave us his only son.
We are blessed to be called to act justly, love mercy and humbly walk with God.
Prayer of Response:
“Dear Lord, thank you for Jesus who models humility and gives us mercy. Help us to love and to be just and merciful as we walk with you in true humility. Amen”
Questions to Ponder:
- Where are the people I need to see in my life? How can I do acts of justice both within my church and in my community (or the world)?
- How can I be more merciful in my relationships at home, at work, at church and wherever it is needed?
- What small step can I take now to walk with God in a more continuous way?
—Submitted by Patty Jehle
Patty Jehle, MA, is a US/Swiss citizen who has been living in Switzerland for almost 30 years, is married to Patrik and has three adult children. She’s currently a university lecturer, a certified spiritual director, and a certified business coach/supervisor and trainer with her own practice. She attended the first LSM and helped with LSM-Zürich. (www.jehle-coaching.com )
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