Sunday, June 9, 2013 - 6:10 pm

Today, Pastor Chris Jones spoke from Micah 2. He compared what Micah does for Judah with an intervention. It's as though he says, "You started out so well, you had God on your side! What happened?" We might ask why he bothers. Why not just move on? Why intervene with Judah? The answer is because they have a mission. Their purpose, and ours as God's people, is aligned with God's purpose, which is restoration. Not only restoration of relationship, but of everything, in all of creation. When we spend time with God, He births something in us that's in keeping with His purpose, His mission, and His vision of how things should be. As with Judah, we often live in the knowledge of that restoration, yet fail to live out the practical aspect. The 3 parts of an intervention that Pastor Chris spoke on are the truth, the consequences, and hope. The truth was that Judah was doing something very similar to what we see in our modern economy - things were made very easy for the rich, and very difficult for the poor. Some things about God's law for the Israelites that made it distinct were that there was no favoritism by class, there was no excessive interest, ancestral land was a gift from God and not to be taken away, leaving a family with no home, and loans were forbidden against members of the covenant community, especially against the poor. God's plan was, and is, that His people would not step on others and take advantage of them in order to increase their own prosperity. Our partnership with God in regards to the environment or the economy is a spiritual thing. We can worship God by looking out for the interests of others, and the care of His creation, rather than focusing on our own prosperity. In every area of our lives, it's important that we're willing to face the truth. The consequences for Judah were not the outcome they were hoping for. God was essentially telling them that the consequences of them treading on the poor would not be riches for themselves, but that they would become poor and downtrodden themselves. The people in Micah's day proved that the idea of only listening to those who say what we want to hear isn't new at all. However, the consequences of opposing God's mission were very real then, and are just as real now. The hope at the end of the intervention looks forward to the day when God will restore the earth and redeem the years of destruction and oppression. The hope we have also means that whether or not we participate in that plan for restoration is not what affects our right standing with God. There are still consequences, but our right standing is based on what Jesus has done for us. That means we have the opportunity to participate in His purposes without the element of fear. That doesn't negate the consequences of refusing to participate in the restoration God wants to bring about, we see those consequences all around us. The challenge is to participate in the mission that God has for us, and fulfill His purposes in the way He's called us to.