Fields United Methodist Church

Thoughts Along the Way

Pastor Tom Joyce

August 3, 2021

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, seek kindness, and walk humbly with your God.”

Micah 6:8

With the world becoming ever so complex, all summer I have been thinking about the simple message of God through Jesus. Maybe the key to living a simple life of faith is to acknowledge that God’s love is the basis of our faith, not our own definition of spirituality or the whims of culture. In Micah’s day, the people were having a hard time making sense of God during especially hard times. When they looked to the prophet Micah, he responded with these words from God to summarize God’s expectations; “seek justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God.” “Doing justice” is simply living faith calling us to love God and to love neighbor, seeing all people as God sees them, as souls worthy to be saved. “Justice” is not the end result, it is the means by which Jesus works through each of us. Loving kindness is responding to the grace that has been instilled in each of us from the time of our conception and wanting from the bottom of our heart to share the joy of faith.  And in the midst of witnessing God’s love (justice) and sharing God’s love (seeking kindness for all), we walk humbly not by our own will but the will of God through Jesus Christ which is nothing less than sharing grace, peace, hope, and joy to all people.  Life may be complex, but we can live the simple life of faith by sharing the joy of faith with all people and celebrate the life we have received, grace upon grace.  Jesus was a pretty simple guy with a powerful message that has the power of the universe to transform lives and to set into motion a whole new and wonderful way to live.