Micah 6:1-8 :: Contemporary English Version (CEV)
Come and present your case to the hills and mountains.
2Israel, I am bringing charges against you--I call upon the mountains and the earth's firm foundation to be my witnesses.
3My people, have I wronged you in any way at all? Please tell me.
4I rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to be your leaders.
5Don't forget the evil plans of King Balak of Moab or what Balaam son of Beor said to him. Remember how I, the LORD, saved you many times on your way from Acacia to Gilgal."
6What offering should I bring when I bow down to worship the LORD God Most High? Should I try to please God by sacrificing calves a year old?
7Will thousands of sheep or rivers of olive oil make God satisfied with me? Should I sacrifice to the LORD my first-born child as payment for my terrible sins?
8The LORD God has told us what is right and expected of us: "See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and walk humbly with your God."
Did'ya ever notice how things in the Bible seem to come in threes?
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Jonah was said to be in the fish's belly for three days.
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Jesus predicted Peter would deny him three times.
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Later Jesus would test Peter three times by asking him, "do you love me?"
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Jesus was in the grave for three days (at least as we calculate it).
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Peter has a dream in Acts 9 in which he comes to learn that no food--and more to the point no people are unclean to God. In order for him to get the message, he has the dream three times.
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Paul said of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that they were all temporary, except for three lasting gifts--faith, hope, and love.
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And we think of God as being in God in three persons--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; or Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer.
And this is just a partial list. We'd be here all day if we explored the world of threes in the bible, and the Super Bowl pre-game show starts at...three!
This Sermon is on the third day of February. Sometimes, sermons come in threes. Long ago, I sat in a homiletics class and the professor asked, "how many points should a sermon have?"
A voice in the back of the room called out, "Oughta' have at least one."
There's an old joke that a sermon is three points and a poem. That's not true so much anymore. No one is really preaching the classic 3-point sermon these days. Oh, you might hear some sermons that contain three different ideas, but the true-to-form 3-point sermon is the same point in three dimensions: What the text says, what it means to me and what do I do about it--the same idea addressed to the mind, the heart, and the will.
But today's text is a poem with three ideas--all pointing to the same greater idea--what does it mean to be in relationship with God?
Micah was a prophet working in the nation of Israel about 8 centuries before the time of Jesus. The people of Israel were divided along ideological and political and economic lines--not unlike the world in which we live.
Micah is deeply concerned about the divide of rich and poor. The book of Micah tells us that he was from the village of Morosheth, a tiny, impoverished spot far off the well-traveled roads. And Micah is greatly concerned with the problems of the poor and the rural folk--especially when they've been taken advantage of by the city-slickers from Jerusalem. Elsewhere in the book, Micah bristles at the way that his neighbors are cheated by the big city folks--who have two different sets of weights for their scales when they buy produce from the farmers. One set for the city folks, and one set for the hicks from Morosheth. That way, all the transactions are in the advantage of the city folks, and the poor, rural people go home cheated.
And the city folk would go to the temple and make their offerings, and assume that everything they did was OK--as long as they made the right sacrifices and went to temple on the right schedule. You get the picture? The nation had so compartmentalized their religion that if they went to temple on Saturday, then it was as if God didn't exist from Monday through Friday. Jesus had a word for that kind of religionists--hypocrites.
And in the midst of this hypocrisy Micah comes preaching the word of God. It reminds me of a bumper sticker that has been around for while which reads, slide "Jesus is coming, and is He _ _ _ _ _ _ ! That's nothing new. Micah was saying that 29 centuries ago. According to Micah, God is --hacked off! slide off
There were 613 commandments in the law of Moses--and some thought that if they kept the right commandments, they could still be in God's favor, even though they were cheating their neighbors. To this, Micah says, no!
Micah says that God does not worship--at least not the kind where you go the worship and still act like it didn't mean a thing.
This passage is a 3 way conversation with God, the nation, and Micah.
After voices great displeasure with the people, the people ask about what is proper worship:
What offering should I bring when I bow down to worship the LORD God Most High?
Should I try to please God by sacrificing calves a year old?
Will thousands of sheep or rivers of olive oil make God satisfied with me?
Should I sacrifice to the LORD my first-born child as payment for my terrible sins?
The silence that follows each of these questions is an overwhelming NO!
Well, what is it then that God wants?
God has told you, says Micah, and what God expects is only this:
slide We are to Do Justice, Love Tenderly, and Walk Humbly with God.
Say that with me: Do Justice, Love Tenderly, and Walk Humbly With your God. slide off
But, what does it mean? What does it mean to do justice, or to act justly as some translations put it, to see that justice is done, as the Contemporary English Version put it today? Too often, we think of justice as criminal justice--the determination of innocence and guilt. slide
But the biblical sense of justice is related to the way in which the benefits as well as the penalties of society are distributed. Biblical justice--God's justice--is concerned with far more than punishment. It assumes a covenant relationship with God, and that doing justice or living justly is living the way God calls us to live.
Our system too easily aligns justice with retribution, but it is far more aligned with Grace in God's view. Justice is not getting what we deserve, but getting what God has in store for us. To deal justly with others, then, is to deal with them as God would deal with us. Remember the parable of the servant who wanted his own debts forgiven, but refused to forgive the debt owed to him? When we pray that prayer every Sunday--twice--we are placing ourselves in the midst of God's justice!
Justice is also concerned with the well being of the whole community. Justice doesn't limit itself to a certain sphere, but demands that all are included. The scale in Lady Justice's hand relates to that, that in order for there to be justice, there must be equality. There is a great concern in the scriptures--old and new--of caring for the widows and orphans. Not because it's the nice thing to do, but because it's the just thing to do. Because no one can be left out of the prosperity of the community. And because we are intimately connected to each other.
There's a great rhythm & blues song from the 1960s--written by a Jewish team of songwriters, interestingly enough--which captures the whole idea of biblical justice. The title is "None of Us Are Free." The refrain echoes it,
None of us are free,
None of us are free,
If one of us is in chains,
none of us are free.
We do justice when we give to Week of Compassion. We do justice when we work for Habitat or volunteer at the food pantry. We do justice when we support the rights of working people. We do justice when we serve breakfast on Saturday mornings. We do justice when we volunteer in schools. Why? Because we're working to see that everybody has a chance. Justice is not something we wish or hope for. Justice demands action. See that justice is done. Do justice. slide off
What does it mean to love tenderly, or let mercy be first? The word which is translated mercy is the Hebrew word chesed. It cannot be easily translated by one English word. Steadfast love is another way it is translated. Another Jewish commentary I found translates it as love beyond the boundaries. Jesus echoed that when he said that we are to love our enemies. Anybody can love those who love them back. But loving mercy, chesed, goes beyond the boundaries.
Coupled with justice, loving kindness, mercy, chesed, says it is not enough to elevate the plight of others; not enough to feed a hungry person; we are called to love them. To love them as we are loved by God. To be in relationship with God is to be in relationship with the whole world.
Which brings us to the third of three things for today. Relationship with God.
I couldn't help but think of two people as I thought about walking humbly with God--and those two people are Cesar Millan and Mother Theresa.
slide Please don't think I'm dyslexic. This is not about walking humbly with your dog. But, it is about relationship. Kate and I are devotees of Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer. Cesar says--and Cesar is the authority in our house--that dogs come into relationship with their pack leader through walking together. Moving forward. And the pack leader is always leading the way with the pack at the leader's side. The pack goes where the leader goes, to do what the leader is doing. And Cesar maintains that the intimate bond--the bond based on love, trust, and respect, that connects dogs and their humans--comes through walking--moving forward together. slide off
This is a wonderful metaphor for walking humbly with our God. To follow God where God leads, and engage in what God is doing. But to do that, we must be in tune with what God is up to in the world. That's where Mother Theresa comes in. slide
It has recently come to light through some of her diaries and letters that Mother Theresa had what some call "dark nights of the soul"--moments when you don't know if God is walking with you or not. Not knowing sometimes if there is a God. Not knowing with certainty where God is leading or what God is up to.
Some of our Catholic brothers and sisters thought that that should scuttle the effort to declare her a saint (a status she already has in my book, even though I didn't always agree with her). But thankfully, many other Christians of all stripes have gratefully acknowledged that this only makes her more sainted. That she could experience moments of doubt and always come back to God's side--walking with great humility. It helps me to see her humanity and her willingness to admit that she didn't have all the answers, which is a problem I have with some of my brothers and sisters in the wider church who think they do. She was willing to let her doubts bring her to even greater faith through prayer.
A reporter once asked her, "When you pray, what do you say to God?"
Mother Theresa: "Nothing. I just listen."
Reporter: "And what does God say to you?"
Mother Theresa: "Nothing. He just listens, too. And if you don't understand that, I can't explain it to you." slide off
Walking humbly with our God involves prayer, worship, study, giving, and listening. Listening--and sometimes coming away with more questions than answers. Moving forward together and forming a bond based on love, respect, and trust. It is this third point--walking humbly with God--that really is the first. Without it, we cannot do justice and we cannot love mercifully. Walking humbly with God is the cornerstone--the linchpin--of all that we are and do as Christians.
When Dick Hamm was elected as our General Minister and President 15 years ago, he put before the whole church the marks of the faithful church. He called the church to have a passion for justice, true community, and deep spirituality. Sound familiar? Dick didn't make that up--he was simply putting a new wrapper on a tried and true formula.
Micah's three points are timeless. They are as pertinent today as they were fifteen years ago and as they were 28 centuries ago. But, all three point to one--to Jesus. Follow Jesus, who took up for sinners and sought justice for all, who loved even to the way of the cross, and who spent much time in prayer walking humbly with his Father.
It is an overwhelming task to take on the injustice of this world, and an even bigger responsibility to love as we are loved by God. But, that's the thing. Even as we are commanded by God to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God, we are empowered by God to do so. We are empowered by the God who walks beside us, and who, in Jesus, promised to be with us always, even to end of the earth.
That's Good News, my sisters and brothers. Good News, indeed. Amen.
First Christian Church Sermons 
February 3, 2008
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