Pleasing God

Happy Sunday. Several years ago, one of my cousins had an interesting morning. He was in the kitchen with his family, and their family pet, a dog, had a seizure. The dog quit breathing. My cousin's youngest daughter looked at him like, what are you gonna do, Daddy?

Immediately he scooped the dog up and began to give it mouth-to-snout resuscitation. Believe it or not, it worked. The dog recovered. Would you do that? And wondering why my cousin would do that, I finally figured it out.

He put his mouth on the dog's mouth, well, because he loves his daughter. He wanted to do anything he could to please her. Today, as we continue in our series called Great Expectations, we're going to talk about pleasing God. I hope that matters to you. I hope it's a priority.

We're going to look at the Old Testament book of Micah. The prophet Micah lived around the time of Isaiah, around 750 BC or so. Micah was a common man. I want to read from chapter 6, verses 6, 7, and 8.

Micah starts with a question: "What can we bring the Lord? Should we bring Him burnt offering? Should we bow down before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves? Should we offer Him thousands of rams and 10,000 rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins?" That's verse 6 and 7.

The questions really are about pleasing God. What can we bring Him? What can we do? I want to read to you the answer found in verse 8. Micah says, "No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what He requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."

In Micah's day, many people were playing at religion. They would offer their sacrifices and go on and live like everyone else. Sound familiar? This disease is rampant today. Micah wanted the people to know that their attitudes were so important. He wanted their actions to be reflective of their attitudes.

And here are a couple of questions that we should ask ourselves: Do my attitudes please God? Do my actions please God? In verse 8 of Micah 6, we see some requirements for pleasing God. He begins with "do what is right." Other translations put that as "do justice."

The Hebrew language here makes this active. It means 24 hours a day, seven days a week, not just a one-time thing. Be fair to others and do good to others always. We cannot say that we love the Lord while we are being a scoundrel to others around us. So if you want to please God, if you want to meet His expectations, be good to all you encounter.

Several years ago, Jeannie and I took our grandson Jackson downtown Atlanta to the children's museum. My son and daughter-in-law were with us, and we parked the car and were walking to the museum, and we passed a man who appeared to be down on his luck. We all said good morning and smiled as we walked, and he said the most interesting thing to me. Is he stopped me, he said, "Thank you for acknowledging me."

That bothered me. I suppose many people would never speak to him, or they would cross the street to avoid him just because he looked the way he did. He just wanted people to treat him like a human being. In our society, that doesn't always happen.

Next, Micah tells us to love kindness. That goes hand in hand with justice, goodness, I think. There's no reason I can think of not to be kind, even if it is one-sided. Countless people have left churches, or have never even started, because the profession Christian had been unkind to them. There is no excuse. We're called to be kind.

Finally, Micah ends with how to please God by telling us to walk humbly with our God. This is interesting to me. Sadly, some may think that if they do justice and love kindness or mercy, that they're special. This behavior is God's expectation. It's not above and beyond what is required.

We cannot think we are special if we do this. We must stay humble when we meet God's requirements. Some religious people can be arrogant and snobbish if they're not careful, and we're plainly told to walk humbly with God, like a servant.

In the New Testament, Hebrews 13:16 puts Micah 6 this way: "Don't forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God." In this time of recession, it seems easier now than ever to focus on our own needs more than others. Be careful to keep focusing on others, and that will please God too. Thanks for listening.

Let's pray together. Lord, as we check our attitudes and actions, we pray that our goal, our desire, is to please You, not with sacrifices and shows, but with attitudes and actions that revolve around not ourselves but others. Help us to love and be kind, and then to be humble about it. Father, watch over us this day, and we thank You for all Your blessing. In Jesus' name, amen.

Thanks for being with me.