All for One and One for All

One for All and All for One

 

Micah 6:1-8

The offering of justice, kindness, humility 

 

6:1 Hear what the LORD says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.

 

6:2 Hear, you mountains, the case of the LORD, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the LORD has a case against God’s people, and will contend with Israel.

 

6:3 "O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!

 

6:4 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.

 

6:5 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."

 

6:6 "With what shall I come before the LORD and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before God with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

 

6:7 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?"

 

6:8 God 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?

 

 

“The Lord has a case against his people,” that’s what our text tells us in verse 2 today. I don’t know about you, but I’d be pretty concerned if the Creator of the universe, the Father of Jesus Christ, and the “Ancient of Days” was harboring a grudge against me. What could God have against Israel, in this text’s context, or against US, as the modern-day people of God?

 

Of course, one could answer WAY too simply by saying “sin.” Problem is, a lot of things get labeled “sin” that probably don’t even cause God to twitch; maybe even a few that God would actually bless. But thanks to human nature’s penchant for “one-upmanship,” people will accuse each other of infractions, hoping to gain a higher rung on the status ladder, and this may include labeling something a rival does, “sinful.” In my weekly preaching days, I defined “sin” as behaviors and/or attitudes that could distance us from God, others, or even from ourselves. “Sin” is that which has the power to delay or deter the forming of community, and even to dissolve one that exists. When God gave Moses the “top ten,” God was trying to give us all a universal guideline as to what sin actually was. Think about it: 

 

1)    I am the Lord your God – Remember who is your rock and fortress, but don’t throw rocks, and don’t sequester yourself in the fortress, thinking everyone outside is the bad guy.

 

2)    Don’t make idols – Israel had a thing for wanting these, as a God you can keep on a shelf is a God that is easy to control. This is a deal breaker for Yahweh. After all, even putting women “on a pedestal,” something that used to be thought of as a compliment, is not, as it turns out. Women want a sincere, equal opportunity with men, not to be “shelf candy.” God’s the same way. For Israel, making “gods” out of gold was an attempt not only to have a God they could control or own, but it was a way to justify hording wealth (the gold) “in the name of God,” just like those TV evangelists do with their mansions and private jets.

 

3)    Do not take the name of the Lord in vain – Don’t we all want to be treated with respect, and not have our name dragged through the mud? God is the same way. Disrespecting God is the first step toward abandoning our relationship with the Almighty.

 

4)    Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day – Relationships are fragile things. If you don’t spend time nurturing them, they tend to fall apart or become “rote” or obligatory in nature. Besides, even God knew that if we didn’t take a sabbath, we’d wear ourselves thin, and we don’t function well when spread thin with little depth.

 

5)    Honor your father and mother – Families that “forget” their parenting heritage, likewise don’t hold up well. Honoring our elders is one of the linchpins of a stable, supportive community. 

 

6)    Do not kill – Well, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand how destructive indiscriminate killing is to a community! And personally, I don’t allow much room here for “just war theory.” I think this commandment is in place to challenge humanity to do EVERYTHING in our power to avoid killing, even when we think it is justified. 

 

7)    Do not commit adultery – Again, not rocket science. Breaking the sacred boundaries of covenantal relationships to engage in extramarital relationships not only breaks community, but it cheapens marriage, something God sanctions as sacred. And no, I don’t believe restricting covenantal relationships (marriage) to just “between a man and a woman” as being biblically defensible. It’s not about whom you love, but about the commitment of a true love between two people. Since the earth has “been replenished,” marital relations are no longer just about population growth. Love wins. But breaking the covenant breaks down supportive community, hence this commandment.

 

8)    Do not steal – Stealing is a violation. Anyone who has been the victim of any kind of theft knows this well. Stealing is a betrayal of basic human values, harming or crippling community. Furthermore, the practice of stealing necessitates the forming of security forces to curb it, and these, too, cause division and separation between peoples that God wants to “live in harmony.”

 

9)    Do not bear false witness – In other words, don’t lie about someone and/or slander them, either to hurt them or gain an advantage over them. Lying destroys trust, and eroding trust seriously harms—even destroys—community. Since the Bible calls us to seek truth, succumbing to “false witness” (lying) sends us 180 degrees in the wrong direction.

 

10)         Do not covet your neighbor’s goods – The community-breaking thing here is that a focus on what your neighbor has, instead of being thankful for what YOU have puts your affections and desires on the wrong wavelength. The old expression, “Keeping up with the Joneses,” refers to the competition that can result from thinking what the Joneses have is better than what you have, so you must “catch up” with them by buying bigger, better, or more showy stuff. The KJV Bible adds “wife” and “ass” to this list of things not to covet, so you can make up your own story, here. I’ll just say it can be summarized by, “Be content with what you have, and thank God for helping provide it.” 

 

The first four commandments are about keeping our relationship with God solid. As someone has said, “The main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing.” Having a healthy relationships with God is indeed “the main thing.” Next, though, is “loving your neighbor as yourself,” which is an essential in building, nurturing, and maintaining ANY healthy sense of community, be it a family, a faith community, a civil community, or a global one. And remember that Jesus’ parable of The Good Samaritan defines “neighbor” a moral imperative, not a geographical one. Is it clear how the next SIX of the Ten Commandments prohibit behaviors and attitudes that harm community or make it impossible to form in the first place? Is it also more clear how Jesus could summarize all TEN with a simple command to “love God and love your neighbor”? And do you see how this stuff works together? All for one, and one for all! 

 

Or as Steve Smith (as the TV character, Red Green) used to say: “Remember, we’re all in this together. I’m pullin’ for ya’.”

 

Which brings us back to the text. Micah tells us plainly that God doesn’t want a lot of crap, be it sacrificial animals or a lot of personal groveling. As I have said in prior sermons, in the Christian context, what blesses God in our worship is not all of the “praise stuff” we do that we think might get God’s favor, nor is it the liturgy and ritual, which we often focus in God’s direction, thinking THAT might. No, what God gets off on, according to God’s prophets, is the GATHERING of God’s people, coming together in peace, unity, and for the purpose of caring for one another, loving one another, SERVING others together, and PRAYING for one another, and those in need. Forget the religious stuff; change it out for the other two “R” words: Relationships and Righteousness! These will get God going!

 

Oh, and forget that idea that “righteousness” is just trying to be “sin free.” I like that John Wesley didn’t talk as much about “sinlessness” as he did “going on to perfection,” which has a forward vector. Righteousness is a focus on “right living,” which is what Wesley meant by “going on to perfection.” God is perfect; we are not. The question is, which direction are we moving? If we’re moving in God’s direction, we are indeed “going on to perfection.”

 

Micah finishes this text up with a bang: God 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. There it is—our formula for “right living”! Number one on the list is “justice,” for God’s top desire for God’s people to live in harmonious, supportive community is IMPOSSIBLE when injustices go unanswered, especially by ones who may be experiencing justice. When some of the Beloved Community suffer injustice, we ALL suffer injustice! This is what Micah is communicating. Right now, immigrants are suffering, and their plight is dividing America. A fair and just policy concerning immigration is BADLY needed in this country; Congress needs to act, and the President needs to sign a bipartisan law. Absent that, we will continue to have strife, and many of God’s people will be oppressed and harmed. I lift this issue, since it is on the “front burner” in America right now, but there are so many others, such as hunger, poverty, RACISM, sexism, and rapidly growing income inequity—all things that divide us into the “haves” and “have nots.”

 

The second of Micah’s “trinity” is love kindness.” I confess that, while I like to think of myself as a kind person, the current warring over domestic and social issues is threatening to turn me into a not so nice person. I wish I could label it the proverbial “righteous indignation,” but sometimes I just get so angry at those that want everything their own way—a way that most benefits them—that I’m just nasty, especially on social media. Still, there is a bigger issue here than my own struggle with contrition. We cannot form ANY kind of Beloved Community, as God designed us to become, without building in a “kindness” default. Being kind is not about smiles and niceties. Kindness is ABOUT loving our neighbor “as we love ourselves.” One of my colleagues used to always end our exchanges with the unction to “Be good to yourself.” He was stating step one of loving my neighbor. We all need to not beat ourselves UP over our shortcomings, fears, or feelings of inadequacy, but purpose to IMPROVE, and take positive steps Godward, in this regard. As a nation (a community?), we have a command here to “love kindness,” not eschew it, as some do, thinking themselves to be “tough” or “strong.” The strongest people I have ever known were usually the kindest, too. Their kindness made them strong, and then their resulting strength removed the kinds of fears that cause kindness to be rejected. Kind, strong people become strong, kind people, capable of genuine love. The brand of kindness being “preached” by Micah isn’t fishing for compliments kindness or “what do I get in return” kindness. It’s kindness for kindness’ sake, as this is living into God’s plan for the creation. (Remember all that apocalyptic language about the “lion lying down with the lamb”?)

 

And finally, there’s walking humbly with God. We regularly butcher what it means to be “humble,” often equating it with self-denigration or pretending to reject the praise others may offer us when we do something nice or that demonstrates competence (kindness?). Humility here means “being comfortable in your own skin,” “knowing your limits,” “staying in your own lane,” or even just having a sober, accurate view of yourself. Humble people accept who they are now, but understand that we all are challenged to “go on to perfection,” not being satisfied with the personal status quo, nor the harmful entropy of the community at large. If you think about “false humility,” which most of us understand, then think of the opposite of it, and you are well on your way to a better knowledge of true humility! 

 

And what of the walking with God part? Well, first of all, we aren’t “walking with God” when we ignore God’s highest commands to love God and neighbor, which might be seen as the best definition of humility. God wouldn’t want the company of us when we’re all about ourselves and what WE want. Secondly, I’m not sure I’d want to walk with God without at having attained at least a level of humility that removed most of my “fears” of God and God’s judgment, settling in instead with the “God is love” thing. “Walking humbly with God” also means accepting that in Jesus Christ, God has promised to ALWAYS be available with that walk…ALWAYS. We are the hold-up on it, not Yahweh. When we know we have personal work to do, we advance by doing that work, incorporating our faith in Christ to affect the healing necessary, and grabbing God’s hand for a stroll to the next “level” of perfection. In this sense, we build God’s dream of Beloved Community one person at a time.

 

That said, it is paramount to also be paralleling our personal journey with our work for justice and peace in the wider human community. We don’t have to be “perfect” ourselves to know that others are hurting and that changes need to be made to alleviate at least some of their suffering. Do with that what you will, but we all have work to do in this regard. In both efforts, we truly are all in this together. Or, as we read in Dumas’ “The Three Musketeers,” “All for ONE, and ONE for all! Amen.