Years ago, in the economic world an acronym was born that encouraged simplicity in business. Most of us remember the acronym as KISS, which at the time stood for, “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” The idea behind the acronym was to remind business leaders, engineers and others to avoid, whenever and wherever possible, creating any unnecessary complexity in design, planning, or development. It didn’t take long for KISS to become the acronym of choice. It’s still around today, although I would modify it for our purposes in saying, “Keep It Simple, Saints!”
Simplicity — or making and keeping our faith simple. By simple, I mean easy to understand. Faith in God is not defined by a bunch of rules and regulations, high holy days, special forms of dress, or abstaining from certain foods, etc. The prophet Micah introduced simple to the nation of Israel when he summed up God’s key expectations for them (and us) in Micah 6:8. Just three things. A challenge, yes, but simple to remember and a goal within the reach of all of us. God simply requires us to:
- Act justly (help bring about proper justice in the world). In the Biblical sense, justice means righteousness or moral rightness.
- Love mercy. Mercy means showing, compassion toward someone who may not deserve it. Jesus said to his followers: “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13).
- Walk humbly with God. Humility is the antithesis of pride. To be humble means not to be proud, or arrogant. It speaks of modesty. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). Pride just doesn’t have any place in God’s kingdom. What do we have to be proud about anyway since Jesus has done everything for us?
So let’s keep it simple saints. Justice — Mercy — Humility. That’s easy to remember isn’t it? Now all we have left is to do it and do you know what? God will help us. Maranatha!
Pastor Don