Radically Different I - Micah

This week we have two familiar texts as the lessons for our Sunday worship.  Each of these texts reflect to us a world which is radically different world from what we know and experience daily, thus giving us an insight into God's vision and hope and ultimate goal for all the cosmos.

MICAH 6.1-8 - if you are looking for the punchline, scroll down to VERSE 8.

BACKGROUND:   Like all prophets, Micah's message throughout the book includes both judgment and hope, or destruction and resurrection.  Micah prophesied during a time of great unrest when both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel were under threat of occupation.  Eventually the northern kingdom fell and the peoples were scattered to the winds (often called the ten lost tribes of Israel).

Micah's judgment was focused on the leadership who too often told the people all would be well (the economy was going great guns so of course they were in the right!) who ignored their behavior, and who took YHWH's benevolence for granted (Don't worry, we have God on our side.)   Yet righteous living included both the ritual of Israel and the living of an ethical life, especially in the care of the most vulnerable (often phrased "the widows and orphans").

ENTERING THE TEXT:  This should help us enter the text in chapter 6.  In verses 1-5 God brings a complaint before God's people:  What I have done (besides rescue you from Egypt, give you Moses, Miriam and Aaron as a gift).  'Look around you, God says, remind each other of the times when I saved your.......life.'

Now the verses shift to the listener's response.  Verses 6-7 are spoken by the believer.  'Oh dear, if God is really that upset with me, what can I do to repair this relationship?  Should I bring abundant sacrifices (thousands of rams, rivers of oil)?  Should I offer up my first born?'  [Note:  there continues to be discussion regarding how prevalent child sacrifice was in Israel during this historical period.  When we hear 'offer my first born' we should not immediately take it as a metaphor, but rather consider that it meant something much more drastic.]

Verse 8 makes a shift again, as if the prophet is now speaking to the believer on the behalf of God.  This kind of shift in speaker is quite common in the prophets and so it is helpful to read closely and several times to get a sense of the rhythm of who is speaking when.

VERSE 8:   The prophet says:  "What does the Lord require of you?  Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God."

Here is the new vision.  Here is the new world.  When God's people follow this simple path {simple, not easy} then a new world will be created bit by bit.  THIS God, wants believers to act THIS way, because it will lead to a new world where justice is the number one priority, kindness is how we interact with one another and humility before the great creator is our SOP. (standard operating procedure).  Side note:  the emphasis on THIS God is important.  There were other gods actively worshipped by other nations at that time.  Not all gods had the same vision for tomorrow.

Justice is more than civil peace where folks are jailed for robbery.  Justice is about economics: the distribution of goods, the fairness of the market, the protection of each family's ability to provide for itself.  Justice is about social interaction:  who goes to the front of the line, whose concerns are ignored, who is considered less valuable to the whole.  Justice is about education:  who gets what resources.    No one person, because they can breathe, is to be discounted; no one person is to be elevated simply because of race, income, property, geographic location, gender, education.  In fact those with the most gifts are expected to use those gifts to care for those without.  You may earn a large salary, but it is intended to be a tool to give back, to  give away to those who need the help.

How do you do it?  Kindly.  Enough said.

What is your relationship with God?  Humble.  Because we don't know it all; we don't understand it all; and ultimately we aren't in charge.  Our generosity towards those in need is our responsibility, not a star on our resume, because in the end we will all stand before God .....and who will be blameless.

This powerful text works as a judgment on all God's followers, a reminder of the path we are called to follow, and a reassurance that God continues to seek relationship with us.....God keeps sending us notes on how to go about making this radical new kingdom.  It provides both a guideline for the individual and a mission statement for the whole body of believers.