9.21.2026 - Jody Duncan

September 21, 2026

God Builds his Church through Mercy

Micah 6:6-8

Our scripture today is Micah 6:6-8. Read the passage now or at the end of this devotion. Let it speak to you as you connect with God, the Father.

These three verses from Chapter 6 of the book of Micah are the focus of this week’s sermon. They are part of an imaginary courtroom scene in which God brings a legal case against the people of Israel. God’s charge is that his people have rejected true justice and integrity in favor of less meaningful religious rituals. The people respond by asking what extravagant sacrifice might make God happy and restore them to his good graces.

God’s answer to them is among the most well-known passages in scripture. What God wants is for them to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him.

Acting justly means that each of us, as individuals, strives for integrity, honesty and treating others fairly. We cannot create cosmic justice, righting the wrongs of the entire world. Only God can do that. But each of us can do our part by acting justly within our own circle.

God’s justice is our guide, and we see it in action from the beginning of the Bible, when God punishes Adam and Eve for their disobedience.

Reflecting on what it means to ‘love mercy,’ I realize we love, love, LOVE mercy when it is extended to us. We like it much less when we are commanded to offer it to others.

God’s mercy is, of course, perfect, and is revealed throughout the Bible. It is illustrated in the story of God forgiving David for his adultery, and again in the story of Jesus refusing to condemn the sinful woman as she is about to be stoned.

The ultimate act of God’s mercy was the offering of his Son to pay for our sins. It was mercy none of us earned or deserved, but God gave it to us anyway.

Finally, this passage encourages us to walk humbly with our God. This may be the most difficult of the three ‘asks.’ Human beings are so prone to thinking THEY are God, they have all the answers, they will do what they want and when they want to do it. Only when life humbles us do we crawl on our bellies to ask God for his help, when we should have prostrated ourselves before him all along, a physical expression of our surrender and deep reverence.

Today, and every day, let us work to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.