PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
For Love In a Time of Conflict
When the gentleness between you hardens
And you fall out of your belonging with each other,
May the depths you have reached hold you still.
When no true word can be said, or heard,
And you mirror each other in the script of hurt,
When even the silence has become raw and torn,
May you hear again an echo of your first music.
When the weave of affection starts to unravel
And anger begins to sear the ground between you,
Before this weather of grief invites
The black seed of bitterness to find root,
May your souls come to kiss.
Now is the time for one of you to be gracious,
To allow a kindness beyond thought and hurt,
Reach out with sure hands
To take the chalice of your love,
And carry it carefully through this echoless waste
Until this winter pilgrimage leads you
Towards the gateway to spring.
By John O’Donohue from To Bless the Space Between Us
Micah 6: 1-8
Hear what the Lord says:
Rise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2 Hear, you mountains, the case of the Lord,
and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the Lord has a case against his people,
and he will contend with Israel.
3 “O my people, what have I done to you?
In what have I wearied you? Answer me!
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.
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 “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?
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?”
8 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?
Someone asked me a couple of weeks ago what sermon I would preach this Sunday after the election if a certain person won. I responded that I would probably preach the same sermon even if the other person won. It is a sermon today that I am preaching from the Old Testament. I don’t usually do that, but I think it gives us hope and also a reminder of the goodness that we all share in our humanity. Micah is a part of the prophetic writings in the Old Testament like Amos, Hosea, Jonah, etc. These prophets were speaking bold to the religious and political power structures of their day that they had gone astray and were not pleasing to God who wanted them to remember that power is not something to use over folks, but to use for the common good.
I was also reminded of something this week that I shared with Bill Ringshauser when we met to plan out Diane’s memorial service. I had shared with him and his sister a quote from my friend Cormac Russell, which I think is VITAL for us at Westwood First Presbyterian, and the world really: “It’s better to be connected than correct”. If we are connected, and not worried about having correct arguments or opinions with can be dehumanizing to others, lead to identity politics and religious dogma, etc. then we we will continue to be unified and come together to work for the common good of everyone. I believe that’s what we are about at Westwood First, amen?!
What is the common good? That’s a great question isn’t it? The term “good” can be defined from the world wide webs as:
“better or best…having admirable, pleasing, superior, or positive qualities; not negative, bad or mediocre: a good idea; a good teacher. morally excellent or admirable; virtuous; righteous: a good human.”
And, of course, the word common has a connotation of what is best for everyone in a community.
This is the gist of our passage today, that if we live lives of awareness in the universal presence of Christ, then we will want to know what God requires of us, our what being and living for the common good looks like.
Our passage this morning is a conversation between three different groups of folks:
- God (verses 1-5)
- Worshippers of God (verses 6-7)
- Micah (verse 8)
It seems like God is wanting to convey a message about being upset that folks aren’t getting a message in verses 1-5. God’s making a statement that folks are not listening or being what they were created to be. God’s telling them that God’s brought them out of slavery, out of the empire that was telling them that they were less than human. That’s been the story throughout history really, God created us to be free and to live in equity and love with all of creation…and not stuck in a system, or an empire way of thinking that dehumanizes us and others and reduces us to simply being cogs in a wheel…or living in the proverbial rat race…
So, God is a bit frustrated.
In verses 6-7, folks are asking, what do you want God? Sacrifices? I mean, look at what they are offering! Their firstborn, the fruits of their body? All sorts of things.
Talk about missing the point. God is frustrated, and I think that frustration leads God to a deep sense of sadness. We try to make it up to God, but God simply wants us to be a better version of ourselves…to be persons who love ourselves and others well.
It reminds me of a time when I was a kid. I was in Canada on vacation. Our family would vacation with my best friends family, Rob Waddles! Loved Rob. One day were playing and I accidentally gave him a black eye. I felt horrible. I did not know what to do…I asked him if there was anything I could do to make it up to him. He simply replied in his 10 year old self, it hurts. Trying as hard as I could, I could not make it right on that level. I think God can relate to Rob…it hurts, but God is still our friend and is committed to us. Rob stayed my friend throughout his life…beyond this one episode. And, Rob just wanted me to be his friend, warts and all! God is saying the same thing…you can’t make it up to me, and those no need to be…just be YOU, the authentic you. As you do that, or be that, goodness will flow out of you.
Here’s the good news though, in verse 8, Micah, the prophet, reminds folks what God requires. Oh human, mortal, I have told you what is good…it is to love kindness, do justice, and walk humbly with God. God is not interested in our sacrifices, but wants us to be good.
When you meet folks who love kindness, do justice, and walk with humility within themselves and with others…with God and the Universe in which God resides, you know it. God wants Israel, and wants us, to simply do that…to be human as God intended, which, if you remember when God created humanity, and creation, he said it was good from the beginning…Micah is telling us what “good” looks like.
We just had our All Saint’s remembrance. We remember folks that have passed, and their memories and presence in our lives…even after their death. It’s actually an ancient practice that goes back thousands of years…our ancestors, like God, actually, in communion with God, are calling us to be the people were created to be as described by Micah. As it says in Hebrews, there is a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on as we run this race of life, to be the people that we are called to be, not identified by a political party, a religious dogma…but to be human. And, I know when I’m running a race, I’m not concerned with my image, I just want to finish!
I have been remembering many folks this week, especially my best friend Robbie who died of either suicide or an overdose of opioids that were prescribed to him by his doctor for a back issue several years ago. In his life, he had that humility, that kindness, and a deep sense of justice for all people, which he expressed through music in a beautiful way… He demonstrated that with me in so many ways over the years…and, it’s made me a better human and the desire to do the same. He believed in me and still does. Today, and most days, I remember Rob, and his spirit, his essence is still with me in amazing ways as he encourages me on my journey.
God’s spirit is also with us on our journeys. God is giving God’s self to us constantly, throughout history…God gets frustrated, but does not stop loving us and believes in us…just wanting us to be simply us…to be good. And, we can’t help but being good at our core because God lives in us from our core, our deepest, truest Selves…and all around us and God is good. We just have to live in that recognition and let that love flow. We can get into places where we get stuck from time to time…but, God is constantly working to get us unstuck and to remind us that we are connected with all things and people, we are in in communion.
That’s good news to me, and I hope good news for you.
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