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