Tyler Lynde: So we're in a summer series called Pastor's Choice, and I know I already spoke once, but the guys have given me the liberty of speaking twice during this series, so I appreciate that very much.
Tyler Lynde: So we're going to be looking at Micah chapter 6, verses 16 or 6 through 8, if you want to turn there.
Tyler Lynde: Each of the elders during this series are giving specifically speaking words that the Lord has given them for Trinity in this season at this time.
Tyler Lynde: And last week Scott did an amazing job of sharing a powerful testimony from his family experience and how God has used his daughter Jessica to help him learn and honestly to help all of us learn valuable faith lessons.
Tyler Lynde: Wasn't that impactful?
Tyler Lynde: If you haven't seen that yet, I encourage you to go back and listen to that.
Tyler Lynde: So today, like I said, I'm going to share a message from the Old Testament, from the book of Micah.
Tyler Lynde: And the title of the sermon is What God Wants From Us.
Tyler Lynde: What God Wants From Us.
Tyler Lynde: Let's read the word together, reading from the NIV.
Tyler Lynde: With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?
Tyler Lynde: Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Tyler Lynde: Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with 10,000 rivers of olive oil?
Tyler Lynde: Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Tyler Lynde: He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
Tyler Lynde: And what does the Lord require of you to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Tyler Lynde: Let's pray together this morning.
Tyler Lynde: Father, we thank you for your matchless word.
Tyler Lynde: We thank you, Holy Spirit, for what you've already done in this service.
Tyler Lynde: We give you glory and honor, Lord, for your heart, for your people.
Tyler Lynde: We say to you, Happy Father's Day, Heavenly Father.
Tyler Lynde: And we thank you that you have accepted us into your family, that you've chosen us to be your children.
Tyler Lynde: And we don't take that for granted.
Tyler Lynde: And Father, I pray that as we go through this message this morning, that you will speak words through me that you desire to speak to your congregation, to bring impact.
Tyler Lynde: And Father, we pray that you would transform our lives, transform our souls, and help us in every way.
Tyler Lynde: And we thank you for it in Jesus' name.
Tyler Lynde: Amen.
Tyler Lynde: So as tradition has it, on Father's Day, I tell a dad joke.
Tyler Lynde: And so I'm going to tell a dad joke this morning.
Tyler Lynde: And please don't boo until after the joke is over.
Tyler Lynde: I'd appreciate that, okay?
Tyler Lynde: So anyway, there was this country church, and there was the pastor who was preaching a sermon, and in that church there was a young family, and the young family had a young son.
Tyler Lynde: And the young son during the service was acting like young sons would, and was uh sort of interrupting the service.
Tyler Lynde: He was, you know, he was moving around, he was making noise, he was not completely interrupting, but he was distracting at least, right?
Tyler Lynde: And so in that distraction, uh the pastor was starting to sort of get distracted as well.
Tyler Lynde: And so he was trying not to look at the scenario and what was going on, but eventually he did look and he saw that the mom of the child leaned over to him and said something in his ear.
Tyler Lynde: And when uh when she said something in his ear, the child sat up straight.
Tyler Lynde: He got very quiet, and he even for the rest of the service said a couple of amens in the appropriate places.
Tyler Lynde: And so this preacher at the end of the service, he was first of all, he was blown away by the transformation within this child.
Tyler Lynde: And so he went up to the mom and said, I've got to know.
Tyler Lynde: I mean, I've been in ministry a long time, I've never seen this kind of parenting within the church service.
Tyler Lynde: I just have to know what you said to your son.
Tyler Lynde: Do you mind sharing that with me?
Tyler Lynde: She goes, I don't mind.
Tyler Lynde: I just told him that if he didn't stop, you were gonna start the sermon over and didn't finish it.
Tyler Lynde: So hopefully, is that all right?
Tyler Lynde: Now, here's the truth.
Tyler Lynde: Can I give you the truth?
Tyler Lynde: Somebody from within our church, and you know who you are, shared that with me this week.
Tyler Lynde: And so I did not come up with that on my own.
Tyler Lynde: I had some help from a friend.
Tyler Lynde: So anyway, hopefully you won't need uh to you won't need for us to start this the sermon over, right?
Tyler Lynde: We're just gonna go through it once this morning.
Tyler Lynde: But we are in the book of Micah.
Tyler Lynde: Micah was a minor prophet from the Old Testament before Jesus, and he was a prophet that spoke on God's behalf to the people of God, right?
Tyler Lynde: And if you read through the Old Testament, there are many of these prophets, and there was sort of sort of a pattern to what they spoke on behalf of God.
Tyler Lynde: The first thing was that they would usually communicate is the love that God had for his people, and then they would communicate something about a warning.
Tyler Lynde: So, for example, because of disobedience and because of rebellion, and because God is a holy God and a righteous God, that there was going to be some form of punishment that was going to come on the people unless they repented, unless they changed, right?
Tyler Lynde: So there was a warning, but there was also always, I think, uh within these books, there was also hope.
Tyler Lynde: And what was the hope?
Tyler Lynde: The hope was that there was something futuristic, something that was going to happen in the future that was going to uh kind of create uh things whole again or going to make things right again.
Tyler Lynde: And that's the example that we have here.
Tyler Lynde: The hope in this book was based on their eventual return to their land and also a future hope which we have experienced on this side of the cross of Jesus.
Tyler Lynde: And that would that is that there would be another king like David who would come and that his reign would never end, and that he was going to make everything right again.
Tyler Lynde: And who is that king?
Tyler Lynde: Yes, that is the right answer.
Tyler Lynde: I try not to trick you.
Tyler Lynde: I'll tell you if it's a trick question, right?
Tyler Lynde: So that king is Jesus.
Tyler Lynde: And so they were going, there was a warning because they had rebelled against God, because they had turned to other idols.
Tyler Lynde: There was going to be enemy armies that were going to come and uh and basically take them as captives and take them out of their land, um, and that they were going to be punished because of their rebellion, but that in the future that God was going to cause them to return, and eventually, like I said, that there was going to be a new king, a new leader that was going to come forth.
Tyler Lynde: Um, so when we look at this passage this morning, think about it like in a courtroom setting, okay?
Tyler Lynde: Um, everything, all of the evidence has been put out, and now the judge is about ready to give sentencing.
Tyler Lynde: He's about ready to, he's already proven the guilt aspect of things, and he's about ready to tell them what the sentence is for the crimes that they have committed.
Tyler Lynde: And there's an interjection, like where the defense attorney stands up and says, Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.
Tyler Lynde: What about if we did this, or if we did this, or if we did this, or that?
Tyler Lynde: Is there anything that we can do to avoid the judgment or the punishment that's about ready to come our way?
Tyler Lynde: And that's sort of where we find ourselves.
Tyler Lynde: Does that make sense?
Tyler Lynde: All right, it will as we go forward.
Tyler Lynde: So let's start by asking ourselves the question, what God doesn't want?
Tyler Lynde: What does God not want?
Tyler Lynde: We're going to answer that question, what God doesn't want.
Tyler Lynde: He does not want religious stuff instead of obedience.
Tyler Lynde: This passage includes this rhetorical escalation of sacrifices for the sins of the people.
Tyler Lynde: Did you hear this when we read it?
Tyler Lynde: Did you understand what was being said?
Tyler Lynde: They said, Would it be enough if we sacrificed a young calf?
Tyler Lynde: Would that, would the blood of a calf cover our sins?
Tyler Lynde: Or how about thousands of rams?
Tyler Lynde: Would that be enough?
Tyler Lynde: If we slaughtered thousands of rams, or how about if we poured out rivers of oil?
Tyler Lynde: You see how this is growing in escalation?
Tyler Lynde: And then finally, uh they said, What about if we slaughtered and sacrificed our firstborn children for the sins that we've committed?
Tyler Lynde: Now you have to understand that this is what worshippers of Molech did.
Tyler Lynde: They would actually sacrifice their children to attempt to appease or to honor the God, this false God, Molech.
Tyler Lynde: They are offering God, the children of Israel are offering God the very thing that is causing their judgment.
Tyler Lynde: The fact that they have disobeyed him, that they have rebelled against him, that they have pursued other gods and other idols, and now they're saying, let's do the very same sacrifice that the others do that are involved in this witchcraft and false religion.
Tyler Lynde: Talk about not reading the room well.
Tyler Lynde: They didn't understand who it was that they were talking to well enough, did they?
Tyler Lynde: We see another example of this principle.
Tyler Lynde: Remember the story of King Saul, the first king of Israel?
Tyler Lynde: And he was sent out against the Amalekites, and God told him to eliminate from the face of the earth all everything that belonged to Amalek, everything that was a part of that civilization was to be ruined, was to be wrecked, was to be destroyed completely.
Tyler Lynde: And remember that most of that was done.
Tyler Lynde: But what did they keep?
Tyler Lynde: They kept the king alive and they brought him back, and they also kept the best of the sheep, the best of the goats, they kept some of the gold and some of the silver, and they brought all of this back.
Tyler Lynde: And all of a sudden, the prophet Samuel, another prophet from the Old Testament, came to talk to Saul.
Tyler Lynde: And he was asking Saul if he had obeyed everything that God had asked him to do concerning the Amalekites.
Tyler Lynde: And Saul said, Oh, yes, of course.
Tyler Lynde: I absolutely obeyed all of that.
Tyler Lynde: And then Samuel asks a really uh amazing question.
Tyler Lynde: He said, What is the sound of the bleating of sheep that I hear in the background?
Tyler Lynde: And Saul all of a sudden finds religion in the middle of this conversation with Samuel.
Tyler Lynde: Oh, yes, yes, yes.
Tyler Lynde: We kept the best sheep and we kept the best oxen, we kept the best goats.
Tyler Lynde: And they've been out, he didn't say this part, but they've been out in the fields breeding with our stock so that we can improve the quality of all of ours.
Tyler Lynde: And then we're going to we're going to offer them as a sacrifice to God because he's the one that gave us this victory.
Tyler Lynde: Sounds like, I mean, that sounds like he kind of worked his way out of a problem, right?
Tyler Lynde: Nope.
Tyler Lynde: Listen to what the what Samuel says in 1 Samuel 15, 22.
Tyler Lynde: Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Tyler Lynde: Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
Tyler Lynde: You see, God doesn't want us to make sacrifices and outward shows of religion to try to make up for other areas of our lives where we are disobeying Him.
Tyler Lynde: He wants to deal with those areas of our heart.
Tyler Lynde: He wants to bring about transformation and change in the rebellious areas of our lives, doesn't he?
Tyler Lynde: Someone might say, I cheated someone in business, and so I'm going to give a large offering to the church, because that's my religious stuff.
Tyler Lynde: Others might say, I partied too much on Friday night, so I better go to church on Sunday.
Tyler Lynde: And then I'm sleeping with somebody that I shouldn't sleep with, and so I'm going to go visit people in the nursing home and uh bless them and pray for them and things like that.
Tyler Lynde: Now it's not wrong to give.
Tyler Lynde: In fact, we should give.
Tyler Lynde: It's not wrong to attend church.
Tyler Lynde: It's not wrong to visit those in need.
Tyler Lynde: But it doesn't, we shouldn't want to do those things to try to make up for willful disobedience in our lives.
Tyler Lynde: Now, I promise you we're going to get to good news in this sermon, but sometimes we have to start with the bad news before we can get to the good news, right?
Tyler Lynde: So God isn't interested in religious trap entrapment.
Tyler Lynde: God is not interested in us sounding a certain way.
Tyler Lynde: Sometimes we pray as if we're in the 16th century.
Tyler Lynde: Oh God, will thouest, and again, if that is your act, if that's the way you speak like to everybody else, then please feel free to pray to God that way.
Tyler Lynde: Um, but if not, I mean, let's get real.
Tyler Lynde: Just talk to God like He loves you and like you love Him, like you're related to Him, like He wants to hear from you, right?
Tyler Lynde: So, what does God want?
Tyler Lynde: We know what He doesn't want, but what does God actually want from us?
Tyler Lynde: And it says here that He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
Tyler Lynde: And what does the Lord require of you?
Tyler Lynde: Is this optional?
Tyler Lynde: Does it sound like this is optional?
Tyler Lynde: Require has a certain connotation to it, doesn't it?
Tyler Lynde: It doesn't sound like that's optional.
Tyler Lynde: It sounds like this is something that we must do or that he asks of us, that he wants us to do.
Tyler Lynde: So Micah here, the prophet Micah gives us three things that the Lord requires of his people.
Tyler Lynde: It's interesting when the original Ten Commandments were given.
Tyler Lynde: I just gave you a big hint.
Tyler Lynde: How many were there?
Tyler Lynde: Ten.
Tyler Lynde: Okay.
Tyler Lynde: And then the religious leaders took those Ten Commandments, and how many rules did they find to surround those Ten Commandments with?
Tyler Lynde: 613, wasn't it?
Tyler Lynde: 613.
Tyler Lynde: And uh and here in Micah, God sort of reduces it down to three.
Tyler Lynde: And then remember when Jesus was asked, he reduces it to what?
Tyler Lynde: One, or you could say two, love God and love people.
Tyler Lynde: Love God and love people, right?
Tyler Lynde: So let's look at this.
Tyler Lynde: Uh let's ask ourselves what is required of us.
Tyler Lynde: The first thing, according to this this verse, these verses, is to act justly.
Tyler Lynde: To act justly.
Tyler Lynde: Simply stating, acting, acting justly is doing what is right for the right reasons, even when others aren't watching.
Tyler Lynde: All of us could say, I can I can feel justified or I can feel like I'm doing the right thing as long as when I'm in public, when I'm around other people, especially on Sunday mornings.
Tyler Lynde: On Sunday mornings, I'm the best behaved person that I know.
unknown: Right?
Tyler Lynde: And and there's a lot of people that could say that, although we could rewind the tape, right?
Tyler Lynde: And if there were a camera in each of our cars on the way to church, especially those with young families, what might that car ride sound like?
Tyler Lynde: Uh beautiful, I'm sure, but there may be some uh some reasons to talk about it, at least, right?
Tyler Lynde: Uh this so we are to act justly.
Tyler Lynde: This includes the way that we live our lives and the way that we treat others.
Tyler Lynde: Act justly in the way that we live our lives and in the way that we treat others.
Tyler Lynde: We should follow the golden rule, which is what yeah, do to others as you would have them do to you.
Tyler Lynde: There's a new version of that, which is I will do to others what they do to me.
Tyler Lynde: See how that's different?
Tyler Lynde: As Americans, we have an icon that helps us to sort of understand what it means to act justly.
Tyler Lynde: And we're gonna show a picture here of Lady Justice.
Tyler Lynde: And Lady Justice, as you see, is depicted in statues and paintings as being blindfolded.
Tyler Lynde: Why is she blindfolded?
Tyler Lynde: Because she's not supposed to pay attention to the uniqueness of the individual in the wrong way.
Tyler Lynde: She's not supposed to be prejudiced in any way, right?
Tyler Lynde: She's blindfolded, holding scales in one hand and a sword in another.
Tyler Lynde: In other words, it doesn't matter who the person is, justice is the same regardless, or it should be the same regardless of who the person is.
Tyler Lynde: That is what God is commanding us here.
Tyler Lynde: That we live justly, that we act justly.
Tyler Lynde: We should do what is right for all people.
Tyler Lynde: We should do justice for all.
Tyler Lynde: So let's talk for a few minutes about how Christians should handle injustice.
Tyler Lynde: How Christians should handle injustice.
Tyler Lynde: We live in a broken, fallen, devastated world.
Tyler Lynde: Am I right?
Tyler Lynde: The things that are being discovered about the behaviors, behaviors of humanity on a daily basis are more and more troubling and to be honest with you, sickening.
Tyler Lynde: There are atrocities being committed.
Tyler Lynde: There are miscarriages of justice happening all around us.
Tyler Lynde: And this is not okay with God.
Tyler Lynde: Injustice is not okay with God, and it should not be okay with us.
Tyler Lynde: Christians should be passionately opposed to injustice.
Tyler Lynde: And we'd like to stop there.
Tyler Lynde: But let's go on, especially when we're the cause of it.
Tyler Lynde: Christians should be passionately opposed to injustice, especially when we're the ones who cause the injustice.
Tyler Lynde: It's the easiest thing in the world for us to point out the way that others are being unjust.
Tyler Lynde: We can do that all day long.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you are people watchers?
Tyler Lynde: Some of you could go to the mall and just sit there and just watch people all day long and secretly judge them and secretly wonder about their lives and all of those things.
Tyler Lynde: And you walk away and you feel good about yourself in comparison to those people, right?
Tyler Lynde: Don't worry, I've done the same thing, so I'm not trying to put myself above anybody else.
Tyler Lynde: All of us.
Tyler Lynde: In some ways, our society has descended into a proverbial blame game where everybody is a victim.
Tyler Lynde: Everyone is a victim of something, even when we ourselves aren't truly innocent.
Tyler Lynde: Scripture teaches us how to approach this false sense of justice in Matthew chapter 7, verses 3 through 5.
Tyler Lynde: Why do you see the speck that's in your brother's eye?
Tyler Lynde: But do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
Tyler Lynde: Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when there is the log in your own eye?
Tyler Lynde: You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
Tyler Lynde: Again, it's so easy for us to identify injustice and atrocities and things that are horrible within this world, but sometimes we find it much more difficult to find those things within our own selves, in our own lives, in our own thoughts.
Tyler Lynde: Can you imagine if for one week's time there was a screen that was placed upon your forehead and everywhere in my forehead and everywhere that we went, every thought that we had was displayed in 3D color and in all and in audio and smell of vision even.
Tyler Lynde: By the end of that week, would we feel differently?
Tyler Lynde: Possibly feel differently about ourselves and about others in this world?
Tyler Lynde: I think we might.
Tyler Lynde: I know other people would feel differently about us, for sure, right?
Tyler Lynde: So after self-examination, there are other things that we can do to fight injustice.
Tyler Lynde: So let me give you just three things really quickly.
Tyler Lynde: Number one, we can pray.
Tyler Lynde: We can pray.
Tyler Lynde: Remember that the real villains of this earth are not flesh and blood.
Tyler Lynde: The real enemies of Christ and the real enemies of Christianity and the real enemies of justice and righteousness are not human beings.
Tyler Lynde: They are not flesh and blood.
Tyler Lynde: They are principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness of this age.
Tyler Lynde: They are spiritual wickedness in heavenly places.
Tyler Lynde: That is where the battle is fought.
Tyler Lynde: We should pray that the plans of the enemy would be confused and thwarted and that righteousness would prevail.
Tyler Lynde: We should take authority over the plans of the enemy in our lives, in the lives of our family, in the lives of our church, in our workplaces.
Tyler Lynde: We have authority to speak the word of God into those kinds of scenarios.
Tyler Lynde: And how many of you know we should pray that the enemy would be confused?
Tyler Lynde: That God would put up a wall of resistance against him.
Tyler Lynde: That the Lord would protect us and keep us safe from any of the schemes of the evil one.
Tyler Lynde: My friends, a Christian without prayer is in a dangerous place.
Tyler Lynde: We must pray concerning injustice.
Tyler Lynde: Now, before we go further, let me just add something that I didn't want to put in the notes.
Tyler Lynde: But it's in the Bible, so I needed to.
Tyler Lynde: We also need to pray for our enemies.
Tyler Lynde: Oh, I pray for my enemies.
Tyler Lynde: I pray that they get roasted and toasted, baby.
Tyler Lynde: Some people pray that they would go to hell.
Tyler Lynde: We can pray that about demons.
Tyler Lynde: But boy, you better never pray that prayer about a human being.
Tyler Lynde: If you pray that prayer, it means you don't understand what hell really is.
Tyler Lynde: Matthew 5, Jesus, our great Messiah, said, You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
Tyler Lynde: But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.
Tyler Lynde: For he makes his son rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Tyler Lynde: We are to bless our enemies.
Tyler Lynde: We are to pray for our enemies.
Tyler Lynde: That's countercultural.
Tyler Lynde: That goes against our very human nature.
Tyler Lynde: That goes against our own sense of justice.
Tyler Lynde: And yet, this is what God is asking of us.
Tyler Lynde: And how many of you know his way is the right way?
Tyler Lynde: You see, the quickest way for injustice to end in this earth is for the perpetrators of injustice to become children of God, to be born again, to become followers of Jesus.
Tyler Lynde: Pray for our enemies that they would be converted.
Tyler Lynde: You know, the church began to pray, not just our church, but many churches began to pray for the Middle East, especially back during the original Iraq War and all of those things surrounding it.
Tyler Lynde: You know what God has done in miraculous ways?
Tyler Lynde: He has sent dreams and visions to people who had never heard about Jesus.
Tyler Lynde: And all of a sudden, they're becoming followers of Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: I know missionaries that go to places and they always say this, I can get you in, but I don't know if I can get you out.
Tyler Lynde: They go to those kinds of places and they are hearing stories of an underground movement of Christianity happening within these places and cultures where it has been the exact opposite of that.
Tyler Lynde: This, my friends, is the kind of prayers that we should be praying.
Tyler Lynde: I know that prayer sounds like an oversimplified approach, but it is one of God's main prescriptions for us when it comes to how we handle injustice.
Tyler Lynde: We must pray.
Tyler Lynde: We shouldn't just pray, but we must act.
Tyler Lynde: We should act.
Tyler Lynde: There is a time for action when it comes to injustice.
Tyler Lynde: There is a time to stand up and be counted.
Tyler Lynde: There is a time for resistance.
Tyler Lynde: Our passage said it clearly, we are to act justly.
Tyler Lynde: There's some action, there's a verb involved in that.
Tyler Lynde: Edmund Burke nailed it when he said, the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do what?
Tyler Lynde: Nothing.
Tyler Lynde: We must act appropriately.
Tyler Lynde: We must act according to God's way of acting.
Tyler Lynde: We must not just react.
Tyler Lynde: We must act when it comes to injustice.
Tyler Lynde: Listen to Proverbs 24.
Tyler Lynde: If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.
Tyler Lynde: Rescue those who are beaten, being taken away to death.
Tyler Lynde: Hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
Tyler Lynde: If you say, Behold, we did not know this, does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Tyler Lynde: In other words, you're lying about that.
Tyler Lynde: You did know about it?
Tyler Lynde: Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it?
Tyler Lynde: And will he not repay men according to his work?
Tyler Lynde: God hates injustice, and we should hate injustice too.
Tyler Lynde: We should pray about it and we should act on it.
Tyler Lynde: We are to stand up and speak up for those who cannot stand or speak for themselves.
Tyler Lynde: That is not something that Christians should back down upon.
Tyler Lynde: Now, the problem with acting on injustice is that many times people do it from a place of anger and rage.
Tyler Lynde: You know what I'm sick and tired of hearing from every from a lot of people, and I even say this myself, how bad things are in the earth, how bad things are in the world.
Tyler Lynde: And just all that there is is anger about it, rage about it.
Tyler Lynde: We're enraged, we're angry.
Tyler Lynde: We just talk about it and talk about it, and we dive deeper into conspiracy theory, and we get worse and worse and angrier and angrier.
Tyler Lynde: And it's like we're waiting for a moment of breakthrough where we can jump in.
Tyler Lynde: But how many of you know that we are not called to do anything from a place or position of anger?
Tyler Lynde: In fact, Scripture says, be angry and do not sin or sin not.
Tyler Lynde: A lot of times people who deal with anger and rage when it comes to injustice end up dipping their toes in uh in just another term for in vigilante justice, blowing up the houses of doctors who have performed abortions, burning down places, creating uh havoc in scenarios and situations because of injustice.
Tyler Lynde: We as believers are called to live differently than that.
Tyler Lynde: We are to be angry and sin not.
Tyler Lynde: So, what does this action we're talking about look like?
Tyler Lynde: What does it look like to act concerning injustice?
Tyler Lynde: How about volunteering at a crisis pregnancy care center?
Tyler Lynde: If you are concerned about the levels of abortion in this world, and we should be, absolutely, it's one of the greatest atrocities that I know of.
Tyler Lynde: And we know that we want to do something about it.
Tyler Lynde: Instead of burning down houses, how about if we help to build people's lives that that and help them to change their minds concerning abortion itself?
Tyler Lynde: How about if we volunteered to help women who have gone through abortions in the past to heal, to be restored, and not just women, but men who have been a part of that scenario as well, who need healing themselves?
Tyler Lynde: How about we give to organizations that are fighting human trafficking that are on the front lines of that?
Tyler Lynde: How about we sponsor that and support that in different ways?
Tyler Lynde: How about if we become a police officer or lawyer or a judge and fight injustice through the legal system?
Tyler Lynde: In Romans 13, it says that God uses authorities here on this earth to carry out his justice in the earth.
Tyler Lynde: There are ways that we can act against injustice that are within the parameters of God's righteousness and holiness.
Tyler Lynde: How about being an advocate for someone in the margins?
Tyler Lynde: When we lived in North Carolina and I was a pastor there, we became acquainted.
Tyler Lynde: In fact, we had a Spanish-speaking church that met in our building.
Tyler Lynde: One of the things that I discovered is that many of the people in our culture, in our society, did not accept the people that were there, that were living there, even though they were working in the fields, they were working warehouse jobs, they were paying taxes, they were doing all of those things, but they did not accept them just because they looked differently and they spoke a different language.
Tyler Lynde: And I found out that there was an insurance company that happened to be my insurance company.
Tyler Lynde: And when these people were going in to get car insurance, for example, or house insurance, they were getting charged three and four times what I was getting charged as a white man who didn't speak Spanish.
Tyler Lynde: To my kids, I speak a little bit of Spanish, but not a lot.
Tyler Lynde: I wish I spoke more.
Tyler Lynde: But anyway, we'll move on past that.
Tyler Lynde: But the point, the point being, I went with several of those brothers in Christ and sat in the office of the same man who quoted me the price on insurance that I got.
Tyler Lynde: And I asked him a question: what's different here?
Tyler Lynde: And all of a sudden, their prices started changing.
Tyler Lynde: It was incredible.
Tyler Lynde: I don't have to threaten anything.
Tyler Lynde: I didn't have to say, I'm going to call a newspaper, I didn't have to say anything like that.
Tyler Lynde: I just said, wouldn't it be right?
Tyler Lynde: Wouldn't it be equitable?
Tyler Lynde: These people had their papers, they were here legally, all of those things.
Tyler Lynde: Wouldn't it be right for them to be able to have the same insurance that I have?
Tyler Lynde: You see what I'm saying?
Tyler Lynde: There are a lot of ways that we can act concerning injustice.
Tyler Lynde: It's not all, it doesn't all have to be vigilante, and it shouldn't be vigilante.
Tyler Lynde: How about reporting abuse that you encounter?
Tyler Lynde: If you see a scenario in a store where it looks like a child is in danger or in trouble, what is it going to hurt to report that?
Tyler Lynde: There'll be an investigation that will happen and either it will be proven to be right or be proven to be wrong.
Tyler Lynde: But at least you'll be your conscience will be clear.
Tyler Lynde: If you see examples of spouses and it seems like it's mostly wives that are abused and beaten, treated unfairly, if you were able to stand up for them and speak up for them and to help them in some way and even report that, what's going to be wrong with that?
Tyler Lynde: There are a lot of ways to act on injustice.
Tyler Lynde: So we should pray and we should act, and then finally we should trust.
Tyler Lynde: We should trust.
Tyler Lynde: We should trust human beings.
Tyler Lynde: No, we can trust Christians, right?
Tyler Lynde: But ultimately, as Christians, I just heard the voice of experience.
Tyler Lynde: All right.
Tyler Lynde: Ultimately, as Christians, we are to rest in the what?
Tyler Lynde: The sovereignty of God.
Tyler Lynde: God is bigger than this earth.
Tyler Lynde: He's bigger than the problems that we face in this earth.
Tyler Lynde: He is the only one who is truly just.
Tyler Lynde: And even when we don't see the immediate correction to injustice in the world, how many of you know that he will make all things right in the end?
Tyler Lynde: He will make all things right in the end.
Tyler Lynde: Sin will be no more.
Tyler Lynde: Romans 12, 17 through 19, repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
Tyler Lynde: If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Tyler Lynde: Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.
Tyler Lynde: For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.
Tyler Lynde: We can release anger, we can release frustration, we can release rage, and we can put our trust in a sovereign God who sees all, who knows all, and is able to handle every situation.
Tyler Lynde: Amen.
Tyler Lynde: So God wants us to act justly.
Tyler Lynde: He also wants us to love mercy.
Tyler Lynde: Going back to our passage in Micah 6.
Tyler Lynde: One of the greatest ways for us to stay right in our attitude towards justice is for us to consistently remind ourselves of what?
Tyler Lynde: That we need mercy.
Tyler Lynde: If we want to be just towards other, we have to understand our own need for mercy.
Tyler Lynde: We are called to consider it precious and to love it wholeheartedly.
Tyler Lynde: So what is mercy?
Tyler Lynde: In its simplest form, mercy is the gift of God's undeserved kindness and compassion.
Tyler Lynde: How many of us this morning are living testimonies of the mercy and grace of God?
Tyler Lynde: Can we say thank you, Heavenly Father?
Tyler Lynde: Thank you, Father, for your loving kindness, your mercy toward us, that even while we didn't deserve it, that Christ died for us.
Tyler Lynde: One of my favorite examples of this, and I'm not going to quote it for the sake of time, I'm just going to tell it.
Tyler Lynde: But John chapter 8, verses 1 through 11, there was a woman who was caught in the act of adultery.
Tyler Lynde: And the religious leaders brought her before Jesus.
Tyler Lynde: And what was the remedy for this in the old covenant?
Tyler Lynde: She was to be stoned to death.
Tyler Lynde: By the way, where was the man in the scenario?
Tyler Lynde: If she was caught in the act, where was he?
Tyler Lynde: Let's not forget that, okay?
Tyler Lynde: That's bothered me.
Tyler Lynde: But anyway, they brought her before Jesus, hoping to trick Jesus into saying the wrong thing, to going against the law.
Tyler Lynde: And so they say, What should we do to this woman, Jesus?
Tyler Lynde: Jesus doesn't say a word.
Tyler Lynde: Instead, he bends over and he starts to write in the sand.
Tyler Lynde: And if you've ever seen the Passion of the Christ, when he leans over and that finger hits the dirt, it's like the creator of the universe.
Tyler Lynde: I don't know what he wrote, but whatever he wrote, boy, it had an impact.
Tyler Lynde: I wonder if he wrote names in the sand, names of people that they had been injust with or they had committed adultery with.
Tyler Lynde: I wonder if he wrote some of the Ten Commandments.
Tyler Lynde: I wonder what he wrote.
Tyler Lynde: But all we know is that at the end of that, what did he say to them?
Tyler Lynde: He who is without sin cast the first stone.
Tyler Lynde: And it said it started starting with the oldest to the youngest, they all dropped their rocks and walked away.
Tyler Lynde: They all dropped their rocks and walked away.
Tyler Lynde: You see, it wasn't until they understood their own need for mercy that they were willing to be merciful to this woman.
Tyler Lynde: Now, how many of you know that mercy doesn't leave a person as they are?
Tyler Lynde: Mercy brings about change and transformation.
Tyler Lynde: What were the last words that we hear that Jesus spoke to this woman?
Tyler Lynde: Remember, he said, Where are your accusers?
Tyler Lynde: And she finally found the strength to look up from her bowed position.
Tyler Lynde: And as she looked up and looked around, she said, No, they're nowhere.
Tyler Lynde: There's no one left.
Tyler Lynde: And he said, Neither do I condemn you.
Tyler Lynde: But then he said, Go and sin no more.
Tyler Lynde: That's how God changes hearts.
Tyler Lynde: That's how God changes lives.
Tyler Lynde: You see, we who have so generously received mercy from God should be the quickest to show mercy to others.
Tyler Lynde: How quickly we forget how great the Father's love is for us.
Tyler Lynde: Amen.
Tyler Lynde: And finally, walk humbly with God.
Tyler Lynde: So we are to act justly, we are to love mercy, and we are to walk humbly with God.
Tyler Lynde: Don't miss the radical nature of this statement.
Tyler Lynde: We are to walk with God.
Tyler Lynde: Did you get that?
Tyler Lynde: The humbly part's in there too, but the fact that we have the privilege of walking with God should blow our minds.
Tyler Lynde: It should be an unbelievable thing that we hold on to with everything that we've got.
Tyler Lynde: Our approach to this opportunity that we're given to walk with God should be humility.
Tyler Lynde: We are to be completely dependent on him, regardless of our own abilities.
Tyler Lynde: When we are walking with him, we begin to act like him.
Tyler Lynde: It's a natural progression.
Tyler Lynde: Look at how God is described in Psalms 89, 14.
Tyler Lynde: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Tyler Lynde: Steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
Tyler Lynde: You see how these two things are not enemies of one another, they're actually friends.
Tyler Lynde: And both characteristics are found within God Himself.
Tyler Lynde: You see, we will not view others the right way or receive what we need from God unless we walk in humility.
Tyler Lynde: Jesus Himself, although he could have easily, if anyone in all of history could have said, I'm the man, Jesus chose to humble himself even to the point of death on the cross.
Tyler Lynde: James 4 says, Or do you suppose it is no purpose that the scripture says he yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us, but he gives more grace.
Tyler Lynde: Therefore it says God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.
Tyler Lynde: What do we have to do to please God?
Tyler Lynde: Here God has laid it out.
Tyler Lynde: The Israelites were wanting to sacrifice something to appreciate God, but no amount of personal sacrifice can replace a heart filled with humility, committed to justice and love.
Tyler Lynde: Now, I want to finish by saying this we cannot save ourselves.
Tyler Lynde: We can't do this enough to become righteous.
Tyler Lynde: We can't obey these words enough to be changed on the inside.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you know that without the shed blood of Jesus Christ, none of us can obey the scriptures?
Tyler Lynde: And even when we do obey them, we can obey them outwardly, but our hearts are far from them.
Tyler Lynde: You see, to do justly, we discover that we can't do it until we have been made just ourselves.
Tyler Lynde: We may try to love mercy, but we can't do it until we ourselves have experienced mercy.
Tyler Lynde: We want to walk humbly with God, and we can't do it until we have been brought into fellowship with God.
Tyler Lynde: You see, again, there's the only place that we can find sure footing and footing that is equal across the generations, across the races, across every tribe, people, and language is at the foot of the cross.
Tyler Lynde: We receive and experience this mercy that we're talking about through being born again.
Tyler Lynde: We come into fellowship with God on the basis of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us again and gave himself for us.
Tyler Lynde: These verses, if anything, should reveal to us how desperately we need Jesus.
Tyler Lynde: Would you pray with me?
Tyler Lynde: Father, I thank you that you have not left us alone.
Tyler Lynde: I thank you, Father, that you have sent your son into this world to be an example to us of who you are, to live a perfect life, to take upon himself our sins.
Tyler Lynde: Even though we weren't there holding the hammer or the nail, Lord, it was our sins that nailed him to the cross.
Tyler Lynde: And Father, I pray in Jesus' name that those who have not yet experienced your tremendous mercy.
Tyler Lynde: I love the verse in Romans that says that it's the loving kindness of God, it's the goodness of God that brings us to repentance.
Tyler Lynde: And Father, I pray in Jesus' name that you would help each one this morning, Lord God, to examine themselves, to acknowledge their need for a savior, to believe not just in the cross of Christ, but also in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: And the fact that he was with us and that he ascended into heaven, and that he's seated on the right hand of you, Heavenly Father, and that He's been given the name above every other name, and that He has sent the Holy Spirit to not only dwell with us, but to live in us, to lead us and guide us into all truth, to help us to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly.
Tyler Lynde: Father, I pray in Jesus' name that on this Father's Day that you would add children to your family in whatever way you choose.
Tyler Lynde: I also pray, Lord, for those who may have may find themselves today having known you and loved you, and yet recently there's been a falling away.
Tyler Lynde: There's been a different route that's been taken.
Tyler Lynde: There's been a journey of a different path.
Tyler Lynde: And Lord, your desire obviously is to restore.
Tyler Lynde: We ask for restoration.
Tyler Lynde: We ask that you would bring them back.
Tyler Lynde: Bring us all back in areas of our hearts where we wander.
Tyler Lynde: Bring us back, Lord God, to the straight and narrow path where you are, where we can walk with you.
Tyler Lynde: And Father, I pray in Jesus' name that you would help us to obey the words of Scripture, to do these things that are required of us.
Tyler Lynde: Because these aren't just things that you required of a people in a time in history.
Tyler Lynde: These are things that you require of all of us because these are the some of the main pillars of your kingdom.
Tyler Lynde: Justice, mercy, and humility.
Tyler Lynde: Help us to walk in these ways.
Tyler Lynde: In Jesus' name.
Tyler Lynde: Amen.