Part 1: Introduction | Part 2: Do Justly | Part 3: Love Mercy
Finally, Paul says, Walk humbly with God. There are actually two ways we think of walking. One is with the emphasis on where you’re going, and the other is with the emphasis on whom you’re with. The destination, or the journey. Let me illustrate.
You get into a crowded elevator. What happens the instant the door closes? Everybody turns around and faces the doors. And they probably stand with their hands folded in front of them, and they stare at something. What do they stare at? They stare at that little thing over the door that tells you what floor you’re on. They watch the numbers go up or down, and you would think that there was never anything so interesting in all the world to all those people on the elevator. They’re staring there: four … three … two …. What is so interesting about that? Why are they so focused on something so thoroughly predictable?
They’re staring because they don’t want to interact with anybody else on the elevator. They all feel very uncomfortable. Why? Because a trip on an elevator is not about fellowship along the way. It’s about getting from here to there. I want to get from the sixth floor to the first floor. I don’t care who else is on the elevator, and I’m not going to talk to him. There’s something about elevators that makes us all snobs.
Everybody’s that way in an elevator. As a matter of fact, if you do talk to somebody in an elevator, they start wondering. I saw on the internet one time a list of interesting things to do in an elevator. One of them was get on with a cooler, and on the side of it a little sign that says “human head,” and then just stand there. Or turn to the person right next to you and say, “I washed my socks yesterday!” And they wonder, what’s wrong with this guy? Why? Because a trip on an elevator is all about the destination. It’s not about who you’re with along the way.
But there’s another kind of trip. There’s another kind of walking.
When my wife and I were dating, sometimes we would go for walks. I would say to my then-girlfriend, “Do you want to go for a walk?” And she never said to me, “Where are we going?” Because when you’re going for a walk with someone you love, you don’t care where you’re going. It’s not about going anywhere; you’re going to end up right back where you started, except more in love than ever before. Going for a walk is about spending time with the person.
The night we got engaged, I took her out to a fancy restaurant and a nice couple next to us had a little baby and was kind enough to let us hear the baby cry all through the meal. Such a cute baby. After the meal I had the ring in my pocket, and I said, “You want to go for a walk?”
And she said, “You know, honest to goodness, I’m really tired. And I have kind of a headache. And I think I’ll just turn in early tonight.” She doesn’t understand what’s happening. And I said, “We’re going for a walk!” Got the ring in my pocket. And so we went for a walk. And later, she was glad that we went for a walk. And it’s become kind of a little story we tell about how she almost didn’t get married because she would rather take a nap.
But, you know, going for a walk is not about what floor you’re headed for. Going for a walk is about the person you’re with.
Now, every morning the God of heaven comes to you and he says, “Do you want to go for a walk?”
And almost without fail, we say to him, “Well, this isn’t really a good time. I got so much to do. I got to be in class at 7:30. And then there’s other things I have to do,” and it’s so busy, and you get to the end of the day, and you haven’t spent time in his Word, and you haven’t prayed. Oh, who has time to pray? And at the end of the day, God goes home alone.
And the next morning, he comes to us again, and he says, “You want to go for a walk?” And maybe you step back, and ask, “Where are you taking me?! Is this gonna hurt?”
And what does it do to his heart? What does it say about our priorities when we say, “Maybe another time”?
Do justly. Love mercy. Walk with God.
It’s not legalism to be really serious about doing these things. And deciding not to do these things deprives us of innumerable blessings.
These days a lot of people are angry, and afraid, and depressed.
Might this have something to do with that? Maybe?
Photo by Biegun Wschodni on Unsplash
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