The lectionary provided a powerful Scripture lesson from Micah, particularly in the week when lots of executive actions by our new president had led to changes in policies and people talking a lot about whether these changes are good or not, moral or not. I would guess in the pews we had people who felt strongly on both sides of the issues. I was not trying to split the difference, but challenge all of us to bring theological reflection into what we do and how we articulate our positions. I do not believe either side (as if there are two sides; it seems more like as many variances of thoughts as there are people in the conversation) in the political debate has sole possession of God's will. I want the questions we ask to be about where do we see God at work in this or that policy, instead of the accusations being hurled back and forth.
I also played with the idea of our corporate nature. Israel understood itself as a group bound together by their faith in Yahweh. Is there a corollary in our world or country? Micah speaks to the group and holds them all accountable. Am I accountable for the actions of my country if I do not like the decisions being made? Do I need to be in conversation with those who disagree with me, or can I simply ignore them? no way answers.
Confession: I meant to do a little work on the Balak/Balaam and Shiitic/Gilgal references, but I never got to it. It might have had some interesting insights for the sermon.
Leading up the sermon in the service: The choir sang a beautiful anthem based on Micah 6:1-8, which used almost the exact words of verse 8 as part of the anthem. Our Call to Faithfulness (we say it after the Declaration of Pardon each week) since Christmas has been Micah 6:8. I shared during the Time with Young Disciples about how this verse was being repeated throughout the worship service and encouraged them to talk to their parents about it when they got home.
“A Call to Faithfulness” SAPC, January 29, 2017; Micah 6: 1-8
Hear what the Lord says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.
Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord,
and you enduring foundations of the earth;
for the Lord has a controversy with his people,
and he will contend with Israel.
“O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.”
“With what shall I come before the Lord,and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Introduction: I don’t know about you, but I am a bit overwhelmed right now with all the public discourse and outrage about whether the direction our country is headed is a good thing or a bad thing.
If we divided up in our pews this morning and had conversations about the correct approach to the major issues we face in our world, I suspect we would have a wide variance of opinion and perhaps some heated discussions.
I am not sure we could find common agreement.
Micah, the prophet whose words we read this morning was not looking for common agreement. Instead, he shares that the only approaches to issues which will satisfy God are ones which do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our god.
move 1: That may sound simplistic in the face of the complexities of the issues we face, but Micah makes it pretty simple.
a. God is not happy with how Israel is acting, so God sort of takes Israel to court.
1. God goes first.
2. God reminds the Israelites of what God has done for them.
2. “I brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
3. “I redeemed you from slavery.”
4. “I sent you leaders to guide lead you out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the Promised Land.”
5. God lays out a pretty good case for how God has redeemed and saved the Israelites.
6. In other words, who the Israelites are and all they have comes from God and binds them to God.
b. Imagine the God might make against us.
1. “I have sent my Son to die on the cross for you.”
2. i have forgiven your sins and offered you the hope of eternal life.
3. I have given you more resources than most of the people around the world.
4. I have given you a great place to worship and do ministry a block off the downtown.
5. In other words, who we are and all we have comes from God and binds us to God.
c. The Israelites respond to God by noting what they are doing.
1. sort of pleading their own case.
3. We have come before you with burnt offerings.
4. We will bring sacrifices for our transgressions.
5. Do you want me to offer my firstborn?
6. Sounds a bit desperate to me.
d. What might we offer to God?
1. Maybe promise to sacrifice some of your time each week to come to church?
2. Maybe pledge to give some of your resources back to God.
4. As we contemplate what we can give to God, we realize there is nothing we can give to match what God has given to us.
5. So what does God want from us? Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.
Move 2: This becomes the criteria by which we judge how we are doing.
a. After worship today, we have the annual congregational meeting.
1. you know the drill.
2. Discuss the budget.
3. Reflect on what has happened in 2016.
4. Look toward 2017.
5. Give you a preview — we will receive some info about what the SMART committee discovered in its work, and we will hear a little bit about what information was gathered at the town hall meetings we held the last three months of 2016.
6. Micah reminds us what lens we ought use as we evaluate what St. Andrew is doing.
7. how do the ministries in which we engage and the ministries we dream about beginning do just, love kindness, or allow us to be walk humbly with our God?
8. Our goal is not to do ministries we want to do, but to engage in God wants us to do.
b. Or take any hot button issue out there right now in the life our country and apply that criteria:
1. Immigration
2. health care
3. Social services
4. the economy
5. And then ask the question: how does the approach you support for any of those issues do justice, love kindness, or allow you to walk humbly with God.
6. That’s the question Micah puts before us.
Move 3: By the way, Micah reminds us that we cannot opt out.
a. Micah is speaking collectively to Israel.
1. It is not Seth an Israelite pleading his case before God.
2. Or Sarah another Israelite talking to God about how she has been doing.
3. it’s not Richard talking with God about how I’ve been doing.
2. or Lisa making her own case before God.
5. It is the second person plural you, which in TX lingo is y’all.
6. we are in this together.
b. Two priests served parishes in the same Canadian city. I forget their real names, so will call them Al and Sam. Sam liked to eat his lunch in a park near his church. He'd eat his sandwich and watch the birds and people. Over time, he became acquainted with some of the homeless people who frequented the park. As they began to know and trust Sam, they started asking him to share his sandwich with them. Sometimes he'd give away half his sandwich, sometimes all of it. So he started bringing two sandwiches, so he'd have more to share. The two grew to three, and four, and five, and pretty soon he had members of his parish involved in making and distributing sandwiches. The program grew until they were distributing hundreds of sandwiches every Tuesday to the homeless and destitute in the area. The newspapers got hold of the story and published an article about Sam's sandwich ministry. Al read the story and was impressed. He sent Sam a letter telling him Al and Al's parishioners were praying for Sam's ministry and wanted to support it. He enclosed a check from the church for $250. A few weeks later, Al received an answering letter from Sam. It read, "Dear Al. Thank you for your support and prayers. Make your own damned sandwiches." The $250 check was enclosed, unwashed (I read this story several years ago before I was tracking sources as well as I try to do now).
1. We are all accountable to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.
2. Not just in our personal lives, but in our corporate lives.
3. The God who called us into being and into relationship with one another demands that we all take responsibility.
4. It means we keep talking and working together, even as it shifts the conversation from what we want to happen to what God wants to have happen.
Conclusion: In two different settings in the last week, I heard the same question asked of both sides of the issues by someone on the other side of the issue.
“What are they looking for?”
Micah suggests that we should be a lot less worried about what we might be looking for and a lot more interested in what God is looking for.
the God who calls us “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
No comments:
Post a Comment