Sermon Notes | 1.7.24
JUSTICE IS REQUIRED
A Relational Request
Micah 6:6a
from covenant to contract
The Resolutions
Micah 6:6b-7
The Requirements
Micah 6:8
walk humbly
love kindness
do justice
MISHPAT
Every leader and every community, whether we like it or not, is implicated in the cosmic rebellion that denies that vulnerability leads to flourishing…What could truly break the power of that rebellion? If someone were to dramatically empty himself of authority, voluntarily give up the capacity for meaningful action, be handed over to the most exploitative forces in our cosmos, and go to the land of the dead, the realm of those who have lost all capacity for action – and if that same person were to return, rescued, fully alive, indeed with far more authority than we had ever seen or imagined – such a complete sacrifice, and victory, might conclusively unmask the lie that is at the heart of all exploitation. – Andy Crouch, Strong and Weak
[4] Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. [5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:4–11
A CROSS-SHAPED LIFE
Will you embrace the downward descent?
We do not lack for authority. In Christ we have all the authority we need and more – “all things are yours” (1 Corinthians 3:21). But what unlocks that authority is the willingness to expose ourselves to meaningful loss – to become vulnerable, woundable in the world. For this, too, is what it means to bear the divine image – if the One through whom all things were made spoke into being a world where he himself could be betrayed, wounded and killed. What we are missing, to become like him, is not ultimately more authority – it is more vulnerability. – Andy Crouch, Strong and Weak
A Prayer for Salvation
“Heavenly Father, I admit that I am weaker and more sinful than I ever before believed, but through your Son Jesus I can be more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope. I thank you that he lived the life I should have lived and paid the debt and punishment I owed. Receive me now for his sake. I turn from my sins and receive him as Savior. Amen.”