“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” — Micah 6:8
God brings a lawsuit against his people. The charge: counterfeiting. We mint false images of Jesus and call it worship. The dominionist creates a Christ of political conquest. The therapeutic sentimentalist shapes a Christ of personal comfort. The progressive molds a Christ who ratifies their social framework. The traditionalist clings to a Christ frozen in cultural amber. Each group stamps out a savior who thinks, votes, and prioritizes exactly as they do. We bow before these counterfeits while claiming to worship the true Lord.
The evidence appears throughout Scripture. Micah records God’s covenant lawsuit: “Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD’s controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his people.” The charge stands across the centuries. We replace the crucified Lord who calls us to die with a designer deity who affirms our existing commitments and baptizes our tribal loyalties.
These passages trace the biblical arc of revelatory worship—God establishes covenant terms, the prophet confronts religious formalism, Jesus embodies the kingdom life, and Paul declares the power that makes transformation possible. Together they expose our counterfeit worship and call us back to the genuine article: a Lord who will not be formed in our image.
Psalm 15: The Covenant Terms
The psalmist asks the question every worshiper must face: “LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?” The answer comes in concrete, embodied terms. Walk uprightly. Work righteousness. Speak truth. Keep your word even when costly. Refuse to exploit others financially. These requirements define covenant membership. Worship begins with God’s revelation of what he requires, and the worshiper responds by ordering life according to those terms. The psalm establishes that access to God’s presence flows from character conformed to his will. This worship text offers no separation between liturgy and ethics, between gathering and living.
Micah 6:1-8: The Prophetic Confrontation
Centuries after the covenant, God brings a lawsuit against his people. They’ve replaced obedience with ritual, justice with ceremony. The prophet voices their religious anxiety: “Wherewith shall I come before the LORD?” They offer thousands of rams, rivers of oil, even their firstborn children. God’s response cuts through the performance: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good.” The answer was given long ago. Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God. Micah confronts the persistent human tendency to substitute religious activity for covenant faithfulness. We design worship that requires less of us, that lets us keep our prejudices and power structures intact while feeling spiritually accomplished. The prophet calls God’s people back to the revealed pattern: worship means living as God has shown us to live.
Matthew 5:1-12: The Incarnate Standard
Jesus takes his seat on the mountain and teaches the kingdom life. The Beatitudes describe character formed by grace: poverty of spirit, hunger for righteousness, mercy, purity of heart, peacemaking. These qualities echo both Psalm 15 and Micah 6. Jesus embodies and intensifies the covenant requirements. He shows us what walking humbly, doing justice, and loving mercy perfectly look like in human flesh. The sermon also reveals the cost: persecution, reviling, false accusation. Following Jesus means conforming to his pattern rather than shaping him to our preferences. The one who teaches this sermon will hang on a cross, the ultimate demonstration that God’s way contradicts human wisdom and worldly power.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31: The Gospel Power
Paul declares the means by which an impossible transformation becomes possible. The cross appears as foolishness to human wisdom. Jews want signs of power. Greeks want philosophical sophistication. God gives them a crucified messiah. This confounds every ideology, every human system of thought. God chooses the foolish, weak, and despised things to nullify what the world values. Why? “That no flesh should glory in his presence.” The gospel dismantles our counterfeit religions by removing any grounds for boasting. We receive righteousness, sanctification, and redemption as gifts through Christ. The same cross that exposes our ideological idolatry also provides the power to live the kingdom life Jesus taught and the Word commands.
Living Into the Pattern
This worship cycle calls us to examine our own religious constructions. Ask yourself: Does my understanding of Jesus conveniently align with my political preferences? Does my theology affirm my existing lifestyle without calling for change? Do I emphasize the biblical themes that comfort me while minimizing those that challenge me?
The antidote starts with posture. Come to Scripture ready to receive rather than defend. Read passages that make you uncomfortable. Let Micah interrogate your ritual. Let the Beatitudes expose your heart. Let Paul’s cross-centered gospel demolish your ideological certainty. Then let the Spirit work transformation through the power of the crucified and risen Christ.
Embodied worship means Monday through Saturday looks like what we sang about Sunday morning. Justice becomes daily practice. Mercy shapes our relationships. Humility marks our posture toward God and neighbor. This happens only through gospel power, the same power that raised Jesus from death.
Points to Ponder
- Which version of Jesus feels most comfortable to you? Where does Scripture challenge that version?
- How does your weekly schedule reflect the integration of worship and ethics that these texts demand?
- What would change in your life if you truly believed God has already shown you what is good?
- Where do you see the cross as foolishness in your own thinking?
Prayer
Lord, you have shown us what is good. Forgive us for counterfeiting a Jesus who serves our agendas rather than submitting to the Jesus who calls us to die and rise with him. Strip away our ideological certainties. Conform us to the pattern of your Son through the power of his cross and resurrection. Teach us to walk humbly, do justice, and love mercy—through the Sunday gathering and into Monday morning. Give us grace to live the kingdom life Jesus both taught and embodied. May our worship be acceptable to you because it flows from hearts transformed by the gospel. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” — Matthew 5:6
Josh Cehulik 