At the LCMS church’s Lenten service, the main text was Micah 6:8.
There, God exhorts the Israelites to “to do justly, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy God” (KJV).
Some items:
A. The pastor said that many people are outraged when they do not get
the good things that they justly deserve: if one’s brother gets a
larger piece of cake, for example, they are upset. Meanwhile, people are
equally outraged when others do not get the negative karma that they
think those others should receive for their bad deeds. In their view,
justice means good things for themselves and bad things for others. I
can see such a double standard within myself. I desire good things for
myself. I am told by Christianity, however, that I am supposed to desire
good things for those I cannot stand, but my negative emotions get in
the way of me doing that, at least authentically. Does Christianity ask
the impossible of me when it instructs me to sincerely desire good for
those I cannot stand? Perhaps. At the same time, is it logical for me to
say that I deserve good things while those I cannot stand do not? We
are both humans. I am not better than them.
B. The pastor said that Jesus willingly took our punishment in our
place. Looking back at our childhood, he asked, would we be willing to
take a spanking for somebody else’s misdeed, or to go to bed without
supper, or to go to the principal’s office, all for something that
somebody else did? The pastor asked this to get us to appreciate the
love behind Jesus’s self-sacrifice. He asked a good question. I would be
unwilling to experience punishment that someone else deserves, not only
because it inconveniences me, but also because I can picture others
gobbling that up as if it is their due, failing to appreciate my
sacrifice.
C. The pastor said that we should see others as people for whom Jesus
died, even if we do not like them or consider them friends.