With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? (Micah 6:6)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Of all the prophets identified as “minor” in our Bible commentaries, perhaps Micah is the “minorist.”  You do know one famous line from this prophet, from the fifth chapter. “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2). And really, this one verse helps us understand our reading today. 

We know the fulfillment of the prophecy in Micah 5 is Jesus. He is the one born in Bethlehem of the woman, Mary, to be ruler of Israel. He ruled in humility from the Cross, thus fulfilling the ancient promise of a savior for all humanity. And He reigns in glorified humility at the right hand of God the Father. His is the sacrifice that pleases God. He offers up Himself in death for the sake of the sin of your soul. He executes God’s justice by becoming the sacrifice for our sin under the burning wrath of God. He loves kindness and displays it in patient love toward us sinners. He walks humbly with God by way of His Cross. And all of this is credited to you by God’s grace in Christ. 

So, Paul writes, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-9). You come before the LORD covered by the death of Jesus. His sacrifice is alone pleasing to the Lord. So you bow before the LORD as one who has been baptized into Christ and thus clothed with Christ (Galatians 3:27). You come to receive the fruits of Jesus’ sacrifice at the table of the Lord with Jesus’ own Body and Blood given into your mouth. You take heart that all the LORD requires of you has been done in Jesus! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord, you have raised me up To joy and exultation And clearly showed the way

That leads me to salvation My sins are washed away; For this I thank you, Lord.

Now with my heart and soul All evil I abhor. (“How Can I Thank You, Lord” LSB 703, st.3)