{Prayer}
Two years, before his untimely death, the Los Angeles Lakers retired both of Kobe Bryant’s numbers … number eight and number twenty-four. At the event, an ESPN announcer said, “They will hang in the Staples Center forever.” Uh, no, they won’t. Kobe’s numbers won’t hang there forever because in a sports world where you need to have the biggest, best, and greatest stadium around … the Staples Center in Los Angeles will one day be torn down.
The Beatles sing a song entitled, “Strawberry Fields Forever.” Diamond Infused Skin Care says, “We invite you to become flawless forever.” A Google search of companies with “forever” in their name came up with this list: Forever 21; Forever Living; Forever Storage; Forever Young; Forever Resorts.
We all want forever. The problem is, only God, our God, delivers forever. The ESV, the English Standard Version of the Bible includes the words translated as “forever” 379 times. Among them are Psalm 136:1, “His love endures forever.” Exodus 15:18, “The LORD will reign forever.” Psalm 23:6, “I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Isaiah 40:8, “The Word of our God endures forever.” And from Micah 4:5, “We will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever.”
The sermon series we’re in for the season of Advent from the Old Testament prophet Micah is called “Fierce Judgment: Final Grace.” Today, Micah announces that final grace is forever. But before we get to the final grace, we first need to look at the fierce judgment.
In chapter 3, Micah calls out his nation’s leaders.
“{Jerusalem’s heads, their royal elite} give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the LORD and say, “Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.”” Hold on a second. Before we go on, realize what kind of faith these royal elite have. It’s fake, it’s a phony kind of faith. We call it pretending, posing faith. Our youth who play Among Us would say that these leaders are sus, their faith is not real, it’s not true. Okay, let’s go on. Micah says, “Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins” (Micah 3:11-12).
Notice the last line … Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins. That happened, that actually happened. In 587 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon leveled and dismantled Zion and Jerusalem. This is the fierce judgment. But remember our series theme? Fierce Judgment gives way to Final Grace. It gives way to final grace … forever.
There will be no more wars. Micah says, “In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come” (4:1-2a). “Peoples” and “many nations” in the Hebrew refers to non-Israelite people. So people like the Moabites, Edomites, Canaanites, and all the other ite like people. Final grace forever means no more war between nations. No more wars between black and white, republican and democrat, men and women, rich and poor. No more wars, no more hate, no more killing fields … forever.
It means, no more wandering. ““Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (4:2). God’s teaching, His Word, will go out and direct our feet to walk along his paths. Gone are the days of feeling spiritually lost. Gone are the days of feeling spiritually cold and lethargic and distant. God’s Word will teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths … forever.
This means, no more weapons. “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore” (4:3). This verse was the vision behind the League of Nations, born out of the ravages of World War I. Although the League of Nations was unable to prevent World War II, it eventually led to the formation of the United Nations whose charter was signed on June 26, 1945. Representatives from fifty nations signed this charter. The charter’s most important words? “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.”
These words are expressed in this sculpture in the garden at the UN. A gift from the USSR and presented in 1959, this bronze stature depicts a man holding a hammer in one hand and a sword in the other. The sword is being beaten into a plowshare. This sculpture symbolizes the universal longing to put an end to weapons by converting them into tools to benefit people.
Now that may seem a bit idealistic, a bit of a fantasy because the UN will never deliver. True, but God will. Forever. Fierce judgment. In 587 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar steamrolled Zion and Jerusalem. Then what? No more wars. No more wandering. No more weapons. Final grace … forever.
There will also be no more want. Micah says, “Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree” (4:4a). This is a direct quote from 1 Kings 4:25 which describes the days of King Solomon. 1 Kings 10:21 says in Solomon’s day, everything was made of gold and “silver was consider of little value.” There will be no more want or need, no more hunger or thirst, no more pain and aching and empty holes in our hearts … forever.
There will also be no more worry. Micah says, “No one will make them afraid” (4:4). Worry leads to the use of two words … What if? “What if I don’t close the sale?” “What if I don’t get the bonus?” “What if my child doesn’t get good grades?” “What if I get cancer?” “What if?”
You know, there was once a mouse who worried of cats … that is until he met a magician. The magician turned the mouse into a cat. That resolved his fear until he met a dog. So the magician turned him into a dog. The mouse-turned-cat-turned-dog was content until he met a lion. So, once again, the magician changed him into what he feared most. Now he was a deadly lion. But when the lion became worried about a hunter, the magician said, “I will turn you back into a mouse, for though you have the body of a lion, you still have the heart of a mouse.” We can have the looks of a lion, but inside, we can still have the heart of a mouse. “What if?” In the new age … all worry, all fear, all anxiety will be abolished … forever.
No more wars, wandering, weapons, want, and no more worry. How? Jesus. Jesus! Advent points to Christ’s cradle. Christ’s cradle points to Christ’s cross. Consider the irony here. The God whose love, kingly reign, house and Word are forever hangs dead on a cross. His body broken. His blood shed. All hope is gone. The heavens weep. The angels silent. Darkness descends. … And then the third day. The tomb is empty! Christ is alive what? Forever! Fierce judgment gives way to final grace and the final grace is grace forever!
What God promises in Micah 4 is described in our sermon hymn, in Isaac Watts’ hymn Joy to the World. Especially these words, “He comes to make his blessings flow, far as the curse is found.” Where is the curse found? It’s found in wars, wandering, weapons, want and worry. The curse is found in your heart and mine. The curse seeps into our homes, weaves its way into our heads and sometimes makes life a living hell. In the end, the curse kills everything and everyone.
But not forever!
“He comes to make his blessings flow, far as the curse is found.” God’s blessings are far more powerful than the curse! And this is Micah’s point! God will uncurse the creation! God will restore our lives and heal our hearts. God has actually already started this! “Joy to the world! The Lord has come!” Joy to the world, the Lord will come again to make everything perfect and beautiful … forever!
But now what? What about till that forever comes? “We will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever” (4:5). What does that look like? People are worth loving. Sacrifices are worth making. Hope is worth having. And life is worth living. “We will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever!” Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever! Amen!
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