Micah 6:6-8 – Justice, Loving Kindness, Humility

/

Lectionary Readings for Jan. 02, 2021                 2nd Sunday after Christmas, Year C
Jeremiah 31:7-14        v9 Tears of joy will stream down their faces, and I will lead them home with great care. They will walk beside quiet streams and on smooth paths where they will not stumble.
Psalm 147:12-20         Peace for God’s People
Ephesians 1:3-14        v4 God chose us to be in a relationship with Him even before He laid out plans for this world; He wanted us to live holy lives characterized by love, free from sin, and blameless before Him.
John 1:(1-9), 10-18     v1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

But this week, let’s start the year with Micah 6:1-8.

Weekly Meditative Exercise

Christianity includes a long and rich tradition of embracing meditative practices as a way of keeping us connected with God, ourselves, and each other. I encourage you to spend some time each week (ideally 10-30 minutes) trying each weekly exercise. You will naturally find some more appealing and effective than others. You’ll like some but not others, and after 6-12 months you’ll better understand what’s available and what helps you.

This week’s exercise focuses on Justice (pages 218-220).
From Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun. InterVarsity Press, 2005.

  • Desire: to love others by working for their good, their protection, their gain and fair treatment

  • Definition: helping others through correcting and addressing wrongs. It treats others fairly and shows no favoritism.

  • Scripture: “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”  ~ God in Amos 5:24

As you engage with this exercise, I encourage you to consider how you can live “sacrificially in order to bring justice and freedom to others.” Many of you already do that by contributing your time, your talent, and your treasures to our HOPE Food Pantry as well as to other ministries around our nation and the world.

As we enter this new year, let us all consider new ways we can support those in need while holding those in power accountable for their actions.

Remember, the two most powerful votes you have are your time and your money. Let how you spend each reflect your values and your desires for justice. As much as you are able... Buy local. Live simply. Reduce how much you throw away. And always try to include others in aspects of your life.

Peace through Leadership Quotes

“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better person.”  ~ Benjamin Franklin

“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”  ~ Oprah Winfrey

This year let us resolve to be better people. NOT perfect people, but to incrementally be more like who God created and wants us to be. Every single day this year is a new opportunity to “get it right,” to recognize and follow God’s leading and thus find peace within ourselves and share peace with others.

Any time I preach or lead a group, regardless of age, I start the same way. I’m going to say three short sentences. Please repeat each sentence, with enthusiasm.
God made me. God loves me. God has plans for me.

Preface to Today’s Scripture Reading

Today verses are a snippet from the Hebrew Bible’s (aka Old Testament’s) book of Micah. Written about 750 years before Jesus was born, Micah is one of the 12 “minor prophets.” (You can find it just after the story of Jonah.)

A contemporary of Isaiah, Micah is clearly a prophet who is focused on social justice issues: holding leaders accountable, defending the rights of the poor and oppressed, and working toward peace for all people.

“While the book of Micah may be short in length, it is long on scathing attacks against those who use political, religious, or economic power to exploit their neighbors for personal gain. But despite its numerous threats of YHWH’s wrath and prophecies of doom, Micah also expresses God’s eagerness to maintain relations with God’s people” (Yee, Gale A., Page, Hugh R., Jr., and Coomber, Matthew J. M., eds. Fortress Commentary on the Bible : The Old Testament and Apocrypha. Lanham: Fortress Press, 2014. p871).

Which brings us to today’s eight short verses that narrate what is essentially a court case – God is charging the southern Kingdom of Judah with violating the spirit of the entire Mosaic Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant included the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17), as well as the 613 traditional laws found throughout the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible and thus the Christian Bible as well).

God is basically charging Judah (i.e. “southern Israelites”) with turning their backs on God by not following the laws that God gave them to keep them safe, healthy, and connected as a community. Rather than seeking punishment for their disobedience, God seeks reconciliation.

Let’s open our ears, minds, and hearts as we witness today’s proceedings.

 

Read Micah 6:1-8.

These eight short verses are like one of those “What’s your IQ?” puzzles you might get as a Christmas present – it looks easy at first, but once you start wrestling with it, you realize it’s more challenging than you thought.

In the first two verses, nature itself serves as a witness to this court case. Most commentaries skip over these verses as though they are simply an interesting or humorous minor detail. But if nature can witness, nature can also testify. How is nature witnessing our treatment of the environment? How might nature be testifying to God – and to us – about our activities?

In a metaphorical sense, might we interpret the recent weather extremes of wildfires, snowstorms, floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes as nature testifying to our last 200 years of global industrialization? On a positive note, when we plant bulbs in the fall, do the flowers of spring (and eggs in the chicken coop) testify to what our relationship with nature can be?

In our Bible Study this past Tuesday evening, we all found it interesting that God listed Miriam as one of the three people God sent to lead Israel out of Egyptian slavery. That verse alone should empower anyone who advocates for strong female leadership – especially within the church.

Verses 6-7 offer Judah’s sassy, over-the-top response to God’s heartfelt plea. But a lived reality is found within their retort. Pam pointed out, “if I were a poor Israelite, I would grow tired of having to pay for ritual sacrifices. [That’s an excellent point considering most people were just trying to survive.] What God is asking them to do here is harder, and more personal than just killing some animals. Jesus was the perfect example of living verse 8.” Yes! He was indeed.

The fact that God does not berated the Judeans for their snappy reply but rather responds with an offer of reconciliation should give us all comfort knowing that we can go to God with whatever attitude and words we might have, and God will not reject us. In fact, God will respond to our selfishness and insolence with understanding and compassion. God will work with us to find the best way forward – a healthy, healing way forward.

Today’s last verse is a perfect way to start any new year – a reminder of what God wants us to do each and every day. This single verse has been treasured by Jews and Christians alike for nearly 3,000 years. In fact, it is “considered by [one modern scholar] Northrop Frye (206) to be one of history’s greatest moral breakthroughs” (Yee, Gale A., Page, Hugh R., Jr., and Coomber, Matthew J. M., eds. Fortress Commentary on the Bible : The Old Testament and Apocrypha. Lanham: Fortress Press, 2014. p878). That’s really incredible when you stop to think about it.

Notice that the three elements of what God wants are all action oriented: pursue achieving justice, express “completely undeserved kindness and generosity” (Hebrew hesed), and walk humbly with God. Pursue, express, walk – all strong actions. Don’t just be humble but walk – in humility – with God. “Only when one walks humbly with God will one come to learn and understand how [best] to do justice and love kindness” (Bartlett, David L.; Taylor, Barbara Brown. Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 1. Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle 10520).

Debbie’s comment from Tuesday night rings true: “walking humbly with God means we’re listening to God, paying more attention to God than our own selfish desires. This goes back to God creating Eve to walk with Adam. God wants the same – to walk with us as He walked with Adam and Eve. But they got distracted by their own wants, and they forgot to listen for God.” We would all do well to learn from their mistake.

What does it mean for us today to live out our faith walking hand-in-hand with a God who wants us to seek justice, show “loving-kindness,” and remain humble? Inspired by this, our daily prayer might be, “Lord, show me where and when I can nurture justice by fighting wrongs and healing wounds. Show me every opportunity to plant seeds of loving kindness, even if it’s just a smile or a few encouraging words. And help me feel you walking with me today.”

Through this individual, personal prayer, we can all progress in our faith journey as we “walk the path [our] Creator has given [us] for being set free and made whole” (Philippians 2:12-13, First Nations Version).

If anyone asks you, “What is God’s plan for us? What does God want me to do?” the answer is simple, personal, and open-ended: humbly walk with God while you seek justice and show “loving-kindness.” If we do this, we will find ourselves welcoming others into the place of healing and wholeness that we call the Kingdom of God.

Amen? Amen!