Receiving

Jeremiah 7:1-7

" Jeremiah Proclaims God’s Judgment on the Nation

​ The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah, you that enter these gates to worship the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your doings, and let me dwell with you in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.”

For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever."

On this, The Reign of Christ Sunday, the last Sunday of the Christian Year before we set out on an Advent journey, we pause to think again about the notion of kingship as Jesus modelled it.

Often the reading on this Sunday is the Matthew 25 passage -

Matthew 25:35-40

for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

These verses underpin the work of Broken Chains.

A ministry that reaches out to the least of these.

In our reading this morning, the prophet Jeremiah urges us to amend our ways. And to truly act justly with one another.

This, after cautioning us not to hide away in our sanctuaries. 

Spending time with God's people, hearing God's word, singing God's praise is not an end in itself. The time we spend here week by week, motivates us to go and serve God in our world.

But more than that, listening to God's word reminds us that, as well as being able to serve others, we can allow others to serve us.

Those on the margins of society today aren't there just so we can reach out and feel good about ourselves, feel that we're better Christians because we change the lives of others.

People existing on the margins of our society today are there because we subscribe to a system that is flawed at best and, often, is broken. While it may not be intentional on our part, our life style and our affluence is won at a cost to others. Spending time with those who have to turn to food banks. Spending time with those who have sought alternative life styles to help them cope with an unfair society teaches us some valuable lessons and reminds us of what is important in life.

So often, when we set out to "truly act justly" we find ourselves ministered to in ways we had never imagined.

But that goes against the grain.

"It is more blessed to give than to receive" has been drummed into us from early days that we've almost forgotten how to let others minister to us.

We're so used to being strong that we avoid any sign of weakness.

Yet God minsters to us through those we'd least expect when we own our vulnerability and when we open ourselves to the gifts of others.

Truly acting justly with one another!

May God show us this week how to minister and how to be ministered to.

For the glory of God.

Amen.

Radical Relationship

Micah 5:2-4

" The Ruler from Bethlehem

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,

who are one of the little clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to rule in Israel,

whose origin is from of old,

from ancient days.

Therefore he shall give them up until the time

when she who is in labor has brought forth;

then the rest of his kindred shall return

to the people of Israel.

And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,

in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.

And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great

to the ends of the earth;"

Micah 6:6-8

" What God Requires

“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?

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?”

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?"

Our meanderings through the Old Testament this autumn have taken us from the story of Noah and the flood, onto Abraham and his pilgrimage, following where God led. We've looked, briefly at Joseph and his role in saving a nation from famine, with a few hiccoughs along the way. Then Moses, leading God's people to freedom from the Egyptians, followed by a 40 year wander in the wilderness, picking up God's laws of love on the way. 

We saw how Moses was succeeded by Joshua who was the one to actually lead God's people into the promised land - remember Joshua's "Choose you this day whom you will serve" speech as he led God's people? 

From there we saw God's people plead for a king and saw them settled for a time under the reign of David and Solomon. 

But after this brief time of settlement for the people of God, infighting resulted in their splitting into two kingdoms. And, of course that left them more open to attack by other, foreign powers. And it is in the midst of this war filled time that the Prophet Micah appeared with his message of peace and a message of hope. Gods people, once more, find themselves living in an occupied country, their leaders have been defeated and their religious practice and even identity have been eroded. Into this melee, the prophet speaks. Micah wants to offer them a new way of seeing power and a new way of experiencing relationship.

Sadly, the people have once again been exploited by those in authority. They have been led into war and defeat. And, even those in religious authority have used their faith against them and demanded higher and greater sacrifice in order to fulfil their skewed ordinances of religion. So these words of the prophet:

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,

who are one of the little clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to rule in Israel,

whose origin is from of old,

from ancient days.

These words of the prophet come from left field.

For they promise something unimaginable.

A defeated clan, insignificant on the political stage of its day, although having a rich and ancient heritage. From this little clan will come a ruler promises the prophet Micah.

It is inconceivable to those who languish in the jaws of defeat and near extinction.

But the prophet proclaims a message of hope - from this little clan will come a ruler - nothing like the rulers now known - but a ruler who:

shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,

in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.

And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great

to the ends of the earth;"

And that brings us to the second part of the prophecy that we read today.

Micah has proclaimed hope in the leader who will emerge from this little clan.

Now he turns to how we should live to honour that ruler and to attain peace.

The message these people have heard for so long is that they can somehow appease God.

That they can try harder. That they can make ever more elaborate offerings to win God round.

Micah draws their focus away from the teaching of corrupt religious leaders.

And reminds them that God has made clear what is required:

What does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?"

Sounds simple, doesn't it?

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with your God.

And it's certainly a message with which Micah's listeners were all too familiar.

They had heard this message all through the years, from all sorts of teachers and preachers.

But, somehow, they had become sucked into the notion that God was a God who could be bought, a God who could be coaxed and cajoled into giving rewards by strenuous religious practice.

But the alternative of which Micah reminds them, to do justice, to love kindness, to walk humbly with God is certainly not by any stretch an easier route than performing rituals.

Doing justice, loving kindness, walking humbly with God are a way of life, a way of being.

Demanding much more than fulfilling a check list of religious practice.

Doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God speaks of not just a new way of living but a new way of being in relationship with God.

Someone asked me last week - what is the point of all these ancient Bible Stories - these fanciful tales from the Old Testament.

I have to confess that I have been amazed as we have travelled through the Old Testament this autumn at how much and how piercingly acutely these ancient stories speak into our lives, our communities and our societies today.

And so the prophet Micah's words - calling into question our actions and our relationships are incredibly incisive for today.

Incisive for us who keep score of our goodness, who compete in our point scoring in our relationships, working out the best ways to get what we want and to manipulate others to do our bidding.

Incisive for the communities of which we are a part and which we serve, communities disappointed in political leadership and hungry for change.

Micah points to a new kind of ruler and a new way of being in relationship - with God and with one another.

We cannot pray for the hungry and refuse to share our food.

We cannot pray for the homeless and refuse to offer shelter.

We cannot pray for peace and refuse to forgive others.

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God - is not a prescription to be fulfilled but a radical way of living to be embraced.

And, on this Remembrance Sunday, when we acknowledge that the hope of those who gave their lives - that peace would be born - has not been realised, we know that something much more enduring is called for.

War does NOT bring peace.

The message of hope that the prophet Micah preached - Doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God, if followed not as a rote or as a ritual but as a revolutionary way of life is a message of hope for us today.

As we remember and as we move forward toward Advent, preparing to celebrate the birth of that ruler called out from the littlest clan, we are assured of a new kind of leader and a new way of relationship.

A relationship that, if we embrace, will lead us to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with God.

In that, will our Remembrance, instead of bringing despair at how little has changed, rather be filled with hope - the hope of peace in our time. 

Doing justice, loving kindness, walking humbly with our God.

For the glory of God.

Amen