Again, in the New International Version the verse reads
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
I don’t know about you, but I’m guessing that many of us who are sensing a call to be abolitionists are particularly drawn to that second phrase, “to love mercy.”
I long to see justice done, especially when I read books like “Disposable People,” by Kevin Bales, and “This Immoral Trade,” by Caroline Cox. I can hardly describe the outrage I feel at the injustice, and I pray that God will bring justice soon. Pretty much every day I pray, “Lord, free slaves today, and thwart the plans of the human traffickers.”
But I think what really energizes me is mercy. With all the destruction that accompanies slavery, I want to reach out with God’s love to heal and restore people. (By the way, I think it is really cool that the Department of Health and Human Services has seen fit to call its anti-human-trafficking effort “Rescue and Restore.” It’s nice when a government agency gets the emphasis right!)
I’ve heard sermons that use a handy device to distinguish between mercy and grace. They say that mercy is when God doesn’t give you what you deserve, and grace is when God gives you what you don’t deserve. And when I look at the dictionary definition of the English word mercy, this seems to be a fairly accurate distinction.
But I get the sense that mercy in Micah 6:8 is talking about more than simply not getting the punishment one deserves; it feels more proactively good than that. And I think I’m right; some versions translate the Hebrew word, Checed, as kindness. And the word is sometimes also translated as goodness.
I’m on vacation for the next few days, and I don’t have ready access to resources that give the meanings of Hebrew words. The public domain resources available online don’t give much detail. If any Old Testament scholars (Jim?), pastors (Tony?) or all-around great researchers (Kristen?) are reading this and would be willing to look up Checed, it would be nice to hear more about the meaning of this word in Micah 6:8.
I’d also love to hear comments from other readers. Which phrase in Micah 6:8 really grabs you, in terms of your calling to fight modern-day slavery?
