be ordinarily good

Micah 6:1-8 ....it is good to read this famous verse from the prophet Micah in its larger context, which is a pain-filled exchange between Yahweh and Israel. “O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you?” Sounds like a hurting parent trying to figure out an angry teenager. The relationship is broken. In verses 6-7 Israel responds, sounding very much like a surly teenager: “What is it you want from me?” “Burnt offerings . . . calves a year old . . . thousands of ram . . . ten thousands of rivers of oil???” Note that the amounts increase to the point of the ridiculous and that Israel seems to think God wants quantifiable stuff. No, answers God, it’s not about piles of stuff, it is about the direction and qualities of your life: to do justice, to love kindness, and walk humbly with your God. None of these can be reduced to specifiable quantities because it’s not about specific sacrifices; it’s about right relationship, with God, self and others. And it is not an extraordinary request. “This is all I ask of you! Be ordinarily good!”
This week, as people ponder about the horror of the murders in central Melbourne, it has been heartening to hear about the ordinary goodness of people just caring for each other in the midst of tragedy. 

The great preacher Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892) once expressed his deep gratitude to Mary King, a simple cook by trade:

I do believe that I learnt more from her than I should have learned from any six doctors of divinity of the sort we have nowadays...There are some Christian people who taste, and see, and enjoy religion in their souls, and who get at a deeper knowledge of it than books can ever give them, though they should search all their days.