Please use these prayers and sermon with credit – I am both the author and photographer. With a donation, I can continue writing as well. Used in service Nov 2018.
Please use these prayers and sermon with credit – I am both the author and photographer. With a donation, I can continue writing as well. Used in service Nov 2018.
You raise up the poor, to give them the best rooms in your house;
you pull the broken from the dust of the world, brushing them off and clothing them with joy;
you exalt those we have pushed aside, and let them say grace at the feast in heaven.
You are our God, and we worship you.
When we are tempted to wander off after the rumors of sin,
you guard our feet so we can walk as faithful people;
when we think we need to pay attention to all the gossip around us,
you give us a double portion of good news, so we will not fear.
You are the Christ, and we will listen to you.
When no one else will listen to us, we can pour out our soul to you;
when no one notices us, you see our misery, and fill us with joy;
when everyone else forgets who we are, you remember us and call us by name.
You are our Spirit of Love, and we welcome you into our hearts.
Please use these prayers and sermon with credit – I am both the author and photographer. With a donation, I can continue writing as well. Used in service Nov 2018.
Sometimes in a relationship that has spanned a long time, a moment of truth arises. A moment where one partner in the relationship feels ignored, slighted – maybe the newness has worn off, the honeymoon period has dissipated. Perhaps one partner has waffled – sometimes they’re all in, and sometimes they get distracted by their work, the family itself, recreation, or chasing all the things culture says they’re supposed to have.
And sometimes, one partner flat out turns their back on the other. Sometimes the whole purpose of the relationship has been forgotten as one partner gets sidetracked, lulled in with promises of an easy life or a life of plenty. And the committed partner is left to wonder what went wrong – and wonder can things ever be set right?
I am guessing that some of us have been touched by this kind of scenario – either through a break up, or a divorce, or a separation with a marriage in our family. It can happen too in a work relationship – where a worker and a supervisor struggle to stay on the same page, or co-workers that once depended on each other cannot any longer, or a company makes promises to its employees and things just don’t play out the way they were supposed to. And – this scenario plays out in faith communities – pastors try to meet everyone’s needs and discover not only that they can’t, but they aren’t’ supposed to. Congregations discover that simply plugging bodies in where the empty spaces are on a list of names doesn’t serve anyone well. Communication breaks down. Walls build up. Assumptions form. And hearts break.
God takes Israel to court in Micah chapter 6, where we will focus today. And God is flabbergasted.
Let’s do a recap of the saga – back to Noah – looking across this enormous story from a 40,000 foot view. We started with Noah – where God changes God’s mind and saves one family to start again. Then God chooses to work through humans at an individual level, rather than from a cosmos level of all humanity – with Abram. Remember the blessing? God blessing Abram to be a blessing to all the nations? Then we learned about Joseph – and God’s presence in Joseph’s life and God blessing Potiphar’s household and the prisoners in the jail through Joseph. Next up? Moses – in two acts. We see Moses and God get the infant nation of Israel away from Egypt and then God makes a covenant with the people for the first time. And here is when we see their purpose – they are blessed and chosen to lead the world to God. Still are. Nothing has changed that fact. But this is the first time we see God say – not only am I choosing you, but you have a job to do too. You have a part to play in this covenant – that’s where the ten commandments came in – as a way to live, so the other peoples of the ancient Near East would see how differently the Israelites were living and say to themselves – whoa! Dude! Look at that! What’s up with these people – I want to know more, because they don’t live like we do and look at how peaceful and equitable and respectful and full of honor and loving the Israelites are! In Hebrew, the word we use to describe all that is shalom –
Then we see some folks trying to live in the covenant. David doesn’t do so hot and makes a mess. Then he repents but has to live with his choices. Solomon starts out better, but he manages to make things worse. By the time Elisha heals Naaman, last week – two things have become clear. 1) The political leaders of Israel are not getting what God wants from them. 2) The religious leaders of Israel are struggling to stay in the picture and keep God’s covenant and God’s ways in the conversation.
So now, we are about 200 years after Solomon, roughly. Which is roughly 750 BC – or not quite 3000 years ago. That was a loooooong time ago. But God and the Israelites had been in a covenant relationship since the ten commandments, which some folks guess might have been around 1200 BC? So – anyway, this relationship of God’s and Israel’s was not new. And let me add, neither are our problems with our relationship with God as Christians.
Micah, starting from the beginning, lays out a stern and pleading message to Jerusalem, as the capital of the southern kingdom. The northern kingdom is about to be wiped out by the Assyrians and Micah sees the same stuff happening in Judah. This is one of those spaces where a prophet takes on both the political *and* religious leaders and calls them on the carpet. There is no separation of church and state here – God speaks to all leaders through the prophets.
Divine judgment, lessons on social ethics, lament, and hope dance together across Micah’s message. God scolds, teaches, pleads, and shines hope for the people. And then we get to chapter 6.
God acts like a prosecuting attorney – turning to creation, the very creation God created – saying, listen, I have a bone to pick with Israel. Then God turns to Israel and says – what have I done wrong? Tell me. In fact, let me tell *you* what I have done – I brought you out of Egypt. I saved you from this king and that king. I have been gracious and kind and have cared for you, God says.
Then Micah takes over – and gets snarky with the people. The offerings Micah lists are ridiculous from their perspective, and they know it. Micah is making a point by being so sarcastic – he’s pointing out how the political and religious leaders of Israel do the outward things that “claim” they are Israelites, that they are God’s chosen, that they live in covenant – but Micah nails them with the over-the-top sacrifice lists, knowing their heart isn’t in this relationship. It would be like me saying, you talk the talk but you aren’t walking the walk.
What’s really going on here?
They’ve forgotten their story, they’ve forgotten their God – forgotten their most intimate best friend. The covenant was laid aside, like taking off your wedding ring and laying it on the dresser before leaving on a long trip – and then forgetting not where you left it, but forgetting that you even had one to begin with.
God calls them to remember – in chapter 6. Remember me? Remember Egypt? Remember all that we’ve been through together? I’m still with you, did you forget I am still walking with you through this story?
Although it comes last in verse 8, the last part is the most important for it makes the first two possible. Walk humbly with your God. In the Tanakh, it’s translated as walk modestly with your God. Others read as walk wisely, walk completely, walk carefully. The words that remain the same are walk and with.
Not lag behind. Not run ahead. Not stop and look at the roadside stands. Walk with. Not drop to the ground and sit cross-legged, arms crossed in defiance. Not dance all around. Not turn and run back. Walk with. Not stomp off in another direction. Not walk backwards in front of. Not walk immediately behind. Walk with. Side by side. Same pace. Same stride length. Same steps per day on your fitbit. Side by side. Walk with.
When we walk intentionally and humbly with our God – justice and love happen. The world that God envisioned from the beginning, the world that God hopes for each time a new human is born, the world that God dreams of every moment of every day – that world gets a bit closer each time we walk humbly with God and do justice and love mercy.
Because, Micah tells his people, God does not want sacrifices – never did. No matter how they might try to out-sacrifice each other, it won’t work. We can’t earn God’s love with sacrifices. We can’t pay God off. We can’t bribe, or swap out a bartering chip, or make a bet with, or deo extra credit assignments to get God to like us. Or to get God to not be mad at us. Or to get God to love us and leave us alone. We can’t placate God – the covenant isn’t about jumping through hoops to keep off our back or to turn God’s gaze on to others who are more troublesome … the covenant is about being chosen, choosing in return, being blessed, and blessing in return.
God chooses us. God chooses us forever. And God chooses us just because.
That’s where the dreaming and hoping come in. Because God chose us, because God created us, because Jesus untangles the sin that has our feet tied up, we can walk with God, humbly and side by side, and listen. We can listen when God points out where injustices exist in our world and how we as church can respond. We can listen when God points out where mercy and kindness are missing in our world and how we as church can respond. We can listen when God points out when and where we stop walking with.
We have dreaming to do, First Christian Church of Girard. We have a new building taking shape. When we start moving in, we aren’t going to agree on what to keep and what to toss. When we start putting up shelves and cupboards and lights – we aren’t going to agree on where and how and which ones to use. When we start planning worship for a new space, we aren’t going to agree on what and how and when. Because we’re humans and we struggle to find community in a sea of individuals. And we might forget our story – that First Christian Church exists without a new building, because church isn’t a building. We might forget that. BUT.
When we walk wisely, carefully, completely, and humbly with our God – together! We will sense God pointing us where we are to be, how we are to be, when we are to be, and why we are to be – exactly at the right moment, exactly in the right place, exactly in the right way. Our hopes and dreams will line up with God’s – and our dreaming and hoping will be divinely amazing.
Please use these prayers and sermon with credit – I am both the author and photographer. With a donation, I can continue writing as well. Used in service Nov 2018.
Switchbacks and Sunrises 
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