Stoned-Campbell Disciple

Today is Day 209 of 2024. There are 157 days left in this orbit around Sol. Casper and I got up on Alaska time, grabbed our coffee and sat in gorgeous morning air in the backyard. We read today’s Psalm lection (Pss 131-136) and then did our “Thru the Bible in a Year” reading. Today that put us on page 733 which is Micah 7. With only a chapter left, we just finished the book on p.734.

Micah is the sixth in the Book of the Twelve (“Minor” Prophets) coming right after the Story of Jonah. Micah is a contemporary of Isaiah and preached during the chaotic years that saw the ending of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Assyrian conquest of much of the Ancient Near East.

Micah, like Isaiah, is crystal clear. The problem facing Judah is not Assyria. The problem facing Judah is INJUSTICE. Economic resources are in the hands of a few elite and they rake the powerless, the poor and the aliens over the coals. Injustice is the Vandalism of Shalom.

It is not that the people are not going to “church.” They are! As in Amos, they think by offering lots of offerings of calves and “rivers of oil” (Mic 6.6) they are loving God! They mistake the “Act of Worship” for living for Yahweh. They mistake the “Act of Worship” for Walking in the Way of the Lord. They mistake the “Act of Worship” for loving Yahweh. The rulers and false preachers (i.e. prophets) have convinced them that being wealthy is a sign of divine favor.

The entire ministry of Micah is against that false theology. The Acts of Worship are not where it is at and they are not enough. If I am actually offering an Act of Worship then such worship is seen by unswerving commitment to the powerless, aliens and poor in our communities. This is both hard and inconvenient but we cannot love God if we are not actively loving our neighbors. Churches are filled but but the poor, the powerless and aliens are ripped to shreds by the larger culture. Micah says, in effect, we have not paid attention to the words we sing in worship, see Psalm 15 and Psalm 24.

So Micah identifies literally with the shafted people. He will “lament and wail” and “go barefoot and NAKED” for as portent to Judah (1.8 ). The wickedness of Judah (in Micah) is not so much explicit idolatry but the society not protecting the powerless, “they covet fields and seize them; houses, and take them; They defraud people of their homes, they rob them of their inheritance” (2.2). (this does not deny that some idolatry is mentioned in Micah, 5.12,14 but that it is not a prominent theme. But idolatry is also associated with injustice).

The rich get richer. The poor get poorer. The rich get more power. The poor get more powerless.

The preachers (i.e. prophets) are castigated by Micah. All of chapter 3 is devoted to preachers who have an allergy to preaching about justice. “Should you not know justice? you who hate the good and love evil, who tear the skin off my people” (3.2). But they are constantly praying to Yahweh (!). But Yahweh, through Micah, refuses to hear the constant prayers. They (the preachers) speak of SHALOM (one of the most powerful words in the Bible) but there is no shalom (translated as peace) because neither the preachers nor the rulers love justice. In fact they “abhor justice and pervert equity” (3.9). This is plainly evident, Micah declares, by looking at the Courts (3.9-11).

A king, of David’s ancient house, shall come, Micah says. He shall establish Yahweh’s justice and “ways” (a term that hearkens back to Yahweh’s talk with Moses on Mt Sinai). He will destroy injustice, he will eradicate weapons of war (4.1-4; 5.1-2).

Micah depicts Yahweh as taking his Covenant People to court. Yahweh calls on the ancient prophets and redeemers named as “Moses, Aaron and Miriam” (6.4) to bear witness. Yahweh has been both faithful and gracious FROM THE BEGINNING. Israel has mistaken what God wants from his people. Micah brings the people back to Deuteronomy. What is it that God wants? (Deuteronomy is loaded here!). Acts of Worship ONLY have meaning when God’s people love the powerless, the poor, the aliens. Yahweh told Israel that was their very identity (aliens & powerless).

“Ask now O Israel, What does Yahweh require of you? … Love the Lord your God … circumcise your heart and be stiff necked no longer … love the aliens giving them food and clothing as I love the aliens” (Deuteronomy 10.12, 16, 19, read all of vv.12-22).

Micah, channeling Moses, Aaron & Miriam, says,

“He [Yahweh] has told you O mortal, what is good; and what does Yahweh require of you but to do justice and to love HESED [practice GOD’S sacrificial steadfast love] and to walk humbly with your God” (Mic 6.8).

For those with “ears to hear” this is actually what Jesus said we should pray for in Matthew 6, “your will be done on earth as is in heaven.” A society filled with justice is a society that is filled with shalom. It is filled with Hesed. No society in which the poor, the powerless and the alien is mistreated is God’s society.

In fact, Micah says, rather than walking in the ways of Moses, Aaron and Miriam as seen in Deuteronomy and Micah 6.8, Judah has rather followed “the STATUTES [note that word!] of Omri and all the works of the house of Ahab” (6.16).

The powerful never have enough. They eat and are not satisfied. They get stuff and never have enough (6.13-14). Like Ahab, who had unparalleled wealth and power, had to steal from the poor man Naboth (1 Kgs 21; cf. Mic 2.2). The powerful can use the court to get what they want and the poor are literally murdered – legally! Micah – through the Holy Spirit – says I don’t care how many times you go to church and sing the Shema! If you are not identifying with the poor, the powerless and aliens and defending them then your so called worship is not worship at all.

As we spent the last two days reading thru Micah his commitment to Justice in the face of Vandalizing of Shalom, four Truths about what makes God mad come to the forefront.

1) We are often (most of the time!) blind to OUR OWN participation in injustice

2) Justice is all encompassing: Fathers & Daughters; Mothers & Sons; Business; Government; Courts; and especially caring for the poor, the powerless and aliens.

3) There is no neutrality on Justice. We ARE involved simply because we claim to be God’s people. There are no Switzerland’s in the arena of Justice.

4) Justice calls for godliness. The goal of Justice leads to the God of Israel and Shalom and Hesed filling the world.

Jesus, James, and Paul are filled with the spirit of the Prophet Micah. Today is a good day to read Micah.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 27th, 2024 at 5:41 pm and is filed under Church, Discipleship, Hebrew Bible, Kingdom, Micah, Preaching. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.