What to Bring Before God? —Lectionary Reflection for Epiphany 4A (Micah 6)

James Tissot, the Prophet Micah

Micah 6:1-8 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

6 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?

************

                What does God require of us? That is the question that many of us ask ourselves. The words of Micah 6:8 often come quickly to mind. It’s justice, mercy (loving-kindness), and humility before God. We sing these words, and we love to quote them (at least in my circle we do), but do we put them into action? In this season of light, we know as Epiphany, it is appropriate that we ask ourselves what does God require? What has God already revealed to us so that we might walk in the ways of God as revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus? These words from Micah help us discern what that path involves.

                The words of the prophet Micah are found among the twelve Minor Prophets. This prophet is understood to have lived and ministered in the land of Judah in the eighth century BCE. Born in a small village in Judah, Micah was active during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (742-686 BCE). The book as a whole gives evidence of Micah’s concern for the poor and powerless. We see this sense of indignance about how the powerful treat the less powerful in chapter two of Micah. Consider these words of the prophet:  Woe to those who devise wickedness and evil deeds on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in their power. They covet fields and seize them, houses and take them away; they oppress householder and house, people and their inheritance” (Micah 2:1-2). Thus, as Daniel Simundson writes: “He felt compassion for the poor and dispossessed, and held the leaders responsible for their suffering. We can learn something about the people’s social and economic situation from Micah’s condemnation of the rulers, merchants, and prophets” [“The Book of Micah, New Interpreter's Bible, 7:534]. You might say that Micah didn’t hold the 1% in high regard. Simundson also notes that there are similarities in Micah’s message to the prophet’s contemporary, the one we know as First Isaiah. It is good to remember that the eighth century BCE saw the rise of several prophets who sought to hold the nations of Israel and Judah accountable to the covenant principles, and these covenant principles called for the people to act justly with one another.

                Micah’s concern for the poor and powerless is evident here in chapter 6, the final chapter of the book. This chapter begins by taking us to a courtroom, where God brings a case against Judah (Israel). In this court case, God sues Israel for being unfaithful to the covenant.  In these opening lines, as Mary Donovan Turner notes, “The disappointed and disillusioned God recounts the story of salvation experienced by their ancestors in Egypt and how Moses and Aaron and Miriam were sent before them, how they were redeemed” [The Preacher’s Bible Handbook, p. 188]. We hear God’s summons to Israel rather poignantly in Eugene Peterson’s translation of the opening lines:

“Take your stand in court.
    If you have a complaint, tell the mountains;
    make your case to the hills.
And now, Mountains, hear God’s case;
    listen, Jury Earth—
For I am bringing charges against my people.
    I am building a case against Israel.” (Micah 6:1-2 The Message).

God brings this case against Israel in front of creation itself, which serves as the jury. God wants to know what Israel has to say about itself. What is its defense? 

                This is the word we hear in the designated reading for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany (Revised Common Lectionary, Year A). As I noted above, many of us know well the words of the eighth verse of the chapter, but these words as powerful as they are have a context. Micah continues from there to pound against the corruption of the people of Judah and Israel in the verses that follow. If we read to the end, there is a word of hope of restoration, but we’re not there yet.

                What we discern from our reading here is that God is angry with the people of God because they have failed to abide by God’s vision for humanity. God brings a case against them. When we listen to God’s case against Judah/Israel it’s clear that this God can get angry with those who fail to abide by God’s vision for humanity. At the same time, God makes it quite clear that we’ll not be saved by our piety. God demands actions. God isn’t interested in our burnt offerings, or even the offering of our firstborn child (suggesting that human sacrifice was present in the region). Instead, God demands that we attend to those in need. This is the backdrop of God’s covenant lawsuit against Judah. Before we get to the request for action, we first need to hear what God has already done for Judah. Micah reminds the people of God’s deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt. The prophet takes note of earlier leaders—Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Yes, Micah mentions the sister of Moses, suggesting that to Micah she is a co-liberator. We need to take note of this. All of this is meant to remind us that when it comes to covenants, God keeps God’s side of the bargain (verses 3-5). But do we?

                While we may embrace the call to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly before God, along with the reminder that God is faithful to the covenant, we may not be quite as happy with the words about anger and judgment. Yet that is part of the story as well. With this in mind, we can consider more closely God’s expectations of us. Regarding those expectations, Micah tells us that God isn’t interested in burnt offers, whether it’s a young calf or thousands of rams. Perhaps if calves, rams, and rivers of oil don’t warrant God’s attention, the offering of one’s firstborn should suffice. To hear that word, about offering “the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul,” should give us pause. This word reminds us that human sacrifice was still prevalent, even in ancient Israel. While that is true, Micah made it clear that God wasn’t interested in such offerings. But that will not suffice either. We might not sacrifice calves, rams, or rivers of oil, but are there “offerings” we bring to church we believe should garner us God’s attention, but which God has little interest in?

                Now, the prophet’s words might be difficult for good church people to hear. Surely showing up at church, week in and week out counts for something. If that’s not sufficient then serving on church boards and committees, surely that impresses God. According to Micah, God isn’t impressed with our church membership and Sunday piety, if that gathering together as the people of God doesn’t influence the way we live among our neighbors the rest of the week. But what does God require of us? Simply put, God requires of us that we “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Eugene Peterson’s translation of verse 8 can help us better envision what that means:

But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,
    what God is looking for in men and women.
It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
    be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously—
    take God seriously. (Micah 6:8 The Message)

Yes, let us hear and embody this call of God: “Do what is fair and just to your neighbor.” “Be compassionate and loyal in your love.” What could be any plainer than this? Is this not what it means to experience salvation in Christ? As we ponder this call, might we attend to Jesus’ call to love God with whole lives and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves? If we understand Micah and Jesus, it is clear that we cannot love God if we do not love our neighbor. The two go together. To love God and neighbor takes a great deal of humility. There’s no room for narcissism or hubris here. As Peterson puts it in his translation: “Don’t take yourself too seriously.”

                Now, humility is a character trait that is difficult to embody and maintain. To succeed in life, one usually needs a healthy ego. Humility would seem to undermine what we need to succeed in life. Yet, as we feel the need to be recognized and honored (I will confess that this need is real in my own life. I want to be recognized for my accomplishments. I want to stand out among my peers), to hear the call to walk humbly before God is challenging. Yet, it is God’s call upon our lives. To walk humbly doesn’t mean we should live with a poor self-image. That’s not the point. After all, we are God’s creation, and as such, we bear God’s image, and what God creates is good. What this call to walk humbly encapsulates, is a recognition that it will take humility before God if we’re to embrace God’s call to act with justice and with mercy. That’s because to do so, we must take our eyes off of ourselves, and look to the good of others, wherever they live and move and have their being. If we need a bit more New Testament support for this word from Micah, may we attend to this word from James: “Anyone who sets himself up as ‘religious’ by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.  [James 1:26-27 The Message].

                We hear this word at a time when the Christian community in the United States is in decline, and as a result, some among us are attempting to reestablish, in often triumphalistic ways, Christian supremacy that is mixed with “America First” sentiments. This often leads to narrow self-interested actions, that lack concern for justice, mercy (loving-kindness), and humility. To embody this word from Micah, as well as the words of James and Jesus, we would be well served to hear these words of Mary Donovan Turner:

The simplicity of the words is deceiving because doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly demands radical inclusivity and unconditional love, an understanding that God’s love is for every living creature. But as Micah’s name implies, “Who lives like Yahweh?” Who can? [The Preacher’s Handbook, p. 188].

As we ponder this word, we might want to drop down to the final verses of chapter seven, which closes out the book. In this, there is a word of hope that is rooted in God’s steadfast love.

¹⁸ Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
    and passing over the transgression
    of the remnant of his possession?
He does not retain his anger forever
    because he delights in showing steadfast love.
¹⁹ He will again have compassion upon us;
    he will tread our iniquities under foot.
You will cast all our sins
    into the depths of the sea.
²⁰ You will show faithfulness to Jacob
    and steadfast love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our ancestors
    from the days of old. (Micah 7:18-20)