This is a special musical performance of Communion Meditation by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.
We are a people who love having the freedom to make choices, and we like to have multiple options before us as we make those choices. Quite honestly, having options to choose from in any given situation has become a staple of the American dream. We are daily confronted with dozens of choices like deciding on fries or chips, a large drink or a small drink, the list simply goes on and on. Right now, we clearly see that political agendas of all flavors are being sold on a platform of choices. And, quite frankly, we are blind to the privilege we have when we are given so many choices on a regular basis.
Today’s scripture readings are about the choices we make and then how we live with the consequences of our decisions. On the one hand, there are certain factors in life in which we don’t, or maybe even can’t, choose. We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents or our families. We do not choose the historical time or the country in which we were born. And, at the end of life, most of us do not choose to die; nor do we choose the time or the conditions of our death. On the other hand, in between our birth and our death, we make a myriad of choices about how we shall live our lives and how we shall spend our time here on earth.
In today’s Old Testament reading from Deuteronomy, we find Moses finishing his long list of instructions to the Israelites as they came to the end of their forty years of wandering in the wilderness. They were finally camped on the east side of the Jordan River, ready to cross over into the Promised Land. Summarizing what was most important for God’s covenant people to know as they are about to step foot into this unconquered territory without him, Moses instructs the people to “Choose life.” Choose life over death. Decide on a life of blessing over a life that is a curse. Moses gave these former Hebrew slaves a choice: “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying God, and holding fast to God; for that means life and length of days…” Yes, Israel was faced with a clear choice. They could follow the God-given commandments and trust God, or they could yield to the culture and multiple pagan gods of the Canaanites. The first option led to fullness of life, and the latter led to “death,” which wasn’t necessarily physical extermination but an existence that lacked joy, well-being, security, and a life with meaning. Such a death might better be described as the complete opposite of God’s shalom. However, if the Israelites chose faithful obedience to God’s laws, they would become fully alive, for they would know the love of God and experience the best life had to offer by living in healthy relationship with God and others.
In our gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus was teaching his disciples about what it means to live as citizens within God’s kingdom. It helps to remember from last week that Jesus said he came not to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them. Jesus then showed the disciples what the “fulfilled” life looks like. He informs all would-be disciples, then and now, that whoever seeks to follow him must choose to go further than merely keeping the letter of the law as did the scribes and Pharisees. His disciples must also keep the spirit and the intention of the Law. The law was not simply something that was to be observed outside of oneself, it was something that needed to be internalized and come from a transformed heart. It must have meaning, showing forth in the way we live our lives and in the way we live in relationship to others. If the people kept the spirit and intention of the law, if God’s law of love was written in their hearts, they would be fully alive to both God and others. So, Jesus raises the bar by referring to several of God’s commandments, saying, “You have heard that it was said… but I say to you…”
We see in Jesus’ teachings that God does not want us only to avoid committing wrongs. God wants much more. God is all about right relationships, and God wants us to love our neighbors and one another from the innermost affection of our hearts. God wants us to love others based on the way God loves us. We are to live our lives from the inside out as we recognize that we are created in God’s image, as are all other people! Therefore, the divine stamp upon us must influence how we think, how we feel, and how we act. This isn’t about “being good,” but being alive in the fullest sense. Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly.” Joy and a great sense of fulfillment come from keeping God’s law. When we do as Jesus instructs, we find that we are intimately connected to God and all others, and we become fully alive. When we do this, our life of worship becomes deeply connected to the most vulnerable among us and to the starving world. And, quite honestly, as I mentioned last week, that is where liturgical practice or worship really begins. Worship really happens in our lives once we leave this place as we live our lives from Monday through Saturday. So, be reconciled to others and worship with all your heart.
Moses said, “Today I set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life.” History bears out, however, that many times the Israelites chose their own way and suffered the consequences of their own decisions. Yet, we discover throughout the Bible that God remains faithful to the people in a myriad of ways, despite their wrong choices. Friends, choosing life is a lifelong process, sometimes only learned in the midst of struggle and challenge. And, as we see in today’s gospel reading, Jesus is always not only calling us to be reconciled as we live in relationship to all others, but to come to the altar and give our very selves to God. We are to choose life, turn toward God and give God our very hearts. And, as we come to this place and give our very lives to God, we receive in return all that we need not just to survive, but to truly live.
So, let’s stand and sing from the depth of our hearts these words:
What have we to offer? What have we to give?
Eyes that are wide open; lies that we won’t live;
Truth that must be spoken; justice somehow.
Lay it at the altar now. What have we to offer?
What have we to give? Lives we will live.
There are people in my family, and probably also in yours, who, when they get hungry and need food, tend to get out of sorts, even angry. In other words, when they get hungry, their actions and behavior show it. Their hunger causes them to be cranky and snap at others. They develop that condition we often describe as “hangry.” When we see this condition arise, we usually quickly work to fix the problem as soon as possible.
Hunger is something that prompts a response. And, throughout history, people have used the sensation of hunger to prompt a certain kind of response, a deeper sense of spiritual awareness in their lives by practicing fasting. Fasting is spiritual practice utilized by people of many religious backgrounds in the belief that, by doing so, one will be drawn closer to God. When used as a spiritual practice, it can help create more space for worship and reflection in one’s life.
Fasting and worship are the spiritual practices described in our reading from Isaiah this morning as we find the people of Israel engaged in devoted acts of worship. The words of this passage were written around 520 BCE when the people had returned to Jerusalem following the exile. The people were longing to live into the promises that are hoped for after extreme hardships. Having been released from exile, they were trying extra hard to make things right because they did not want to return to the path that led them into what they perceived as great judgement and punishment. They truly were hungry for a relationship with God. So, they regularly and steadfastly gathered for worship. In the process, they made worship look good. That is where they put all their energies. But, it did not take long for them to become so consumed by this that they became isolated from the rest of the world, closed off to anything beyond the walls of their worship space. You see, what they did not do was let worship trouble their consciences and shape their way of living. They did not want to make connections between their worship and their neighbors. They ignored the poor and anyone else they wanted to choose to ignore. Even though their intentions may have been genuine, they missed some of the point of what worship is all about.
So, Isaiah critiques their worship practices, especially their fasting. He says their fasting is self-serving and hollow. They are just pretending to be righteous while allowing injustice to continue in their own backyards. He offers very stern reminders that the practices of fasting and worship are not just about going through the motions. It is about what happens after that, namely, how they are to live in the world. Isaiah tells the people that rather than being so focused on hunger as a spiritual practice of fasting, their worship and fasting should make them hungry for something more – for breaking the bonds of injustice. Then he gives several simple, concrete ways that they can accomplish this. He identifies basic human needs – food, shelter, clothing, and indicates that these are the hunger pangs in the world that need undoing and he calls the people to be a part of that undoing process. They are called to share bread, offer shelter, and cover those in need, even at the risk of exposing one’s very self.
Theologian, Walter Brueggemann notes something important for us to understand about this reading in our context. He writes that these instructions are not:
a theoretical debate about the merits of socialism or capitalism, a debate that is a smoke screen about human need and human resources. There is here no debate about governmental public welfare or “the private sector.” The poet does not care and would be likely to say, ‘Do it either way, but do not talk about the private sector in order to avoid public welfare, do not focus on public welfare in order to exempt the private sector.’ What we are in any case talking about is hunger, homelessness, nakedness, and your bread, your house, your self.
Isaiah gives us a definition of true worship, relative to how the people of God care for the most vulnerable in their midst. No doubt these words hit home with a people who had not too recently been in similar positions themselves, as strangers in Babylon, living in a foreign land, struggling to make it and longing to return to Jerusalem.
Isaiah brings the people of Israel back to their roots, with encouragement to plant and build and grow, and to help others do the same. In all of their attempts at worship and fasting, the people had been crying out to God, clamoring for a response and acknowledgment of how good of a job they were doing. The beginning of this reading echoes their frustrations that they are not getting the attention they feel they deserve. Isaiah says that perhaps it is because their worship has not been complete. By offering them the missing pieces, Isaiah helps again guide the people of Israel back home and into a connectional relationship with God – one that is only found when connecting with all of God’s children. And that means it is about the way we treat all others! The prophet concludes with the promise that when this is the kind of worship they choose to embrace, “light shall break forth like the dawn” (Isaiah 58:8) and “light shall rise in the darkness” (Isaiah 58:10).
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus says a something similar. He continues his sermon on the mount with similar message. He says, “Let your light shine.” Jesus called the disciples, and calls each one of us, to do more than just hole up inside our Sanctuary walls and practice a private faith. Worship is not meant to be just a “me and Jesus” private moment. It’s meant to be a time when we recognize and experience the incredible relationship God has with the world through Jesus Christ, who connects us not only with God, but with all others and the world.
When talking about Jesus’ words to us today, Lutheran theologian and professor, Barbara Lundblad, connects his message to the words of the prophets before him, including Isaiah, when she writes:
For Jesus, salt and light came out of a long tradition of biblical teaching: salt and light were images for the law of God. Salt and light must take us back to the fullness of the law and the prophets, and the fullness of Jesus’ radical teaching in this Sermon on the Mount. The prophets plead for fullness of life: freedom from oppression, bread for the hungry, homes for those who have none, clothing for the naked. Is this not what it means to be the salt of the earth, to keep this prophetic word alive in the midst of our world? If we lose this vision, if we give in to other values, if we forget God’s longing for justice, our salt has lost its taste. If you think Jesus’ call is impossible, remember that the One who is our bread is with us and within us, empowering us to be salt and light in this world.
Friends, our worship should make us hungry for what is to come, eager and enthusiastic to go out and live as followers of Christ in the world. That hunger is represented each time we gather around the table for communion, as we demonstrate our longing for a closer relationship with Christ, and as we join together in the meal which Christ has prepared. We consume the “bread of life” and the “cup of salvation,” and are then refreshed by the Holy Spirit, filled and restored. But for what? Isaiah has some answers, and Jesus did, too. The answer is to go out. We are called to go out into the world and participate in relationships will all others, especially the most vulnerable in this world, doing so in the name of the One who came to be in relationship with us. Both of our readings this morning call us, good little worshippers in the pews, to NOT let our worship in this sanctuary be all that our faith is about. If we only focus on what is happening within these walls, and how good we are at it, we have missed the point. Our worship of God should not end when Bruce’s postlude is over; that is where it should begin. The truest sign of our worship happens on Monday through Saturday, as we live out our faith in the world.
Listen again to Jesus’ words to us today as I read them from Eugene Peterson’s translation, The Message. Listen as Jesus speaks to you:
Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand – shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
So, go my friends, leave here with a deep hunger, a hunger that drives you to go out to the world, living and proclaiming God’s justice, God’s love and peace for all people, and telling of a way of life that will bring healing to the world.
This is a special musical presentation of Chariot by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan
This is a special musical presentation of Eventide by the Faith Bells at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan
I know many of us have favorite passages in scripture, certain passages that have deep meaning for us. I also know there are some passages that are essential for all of us as we walk and live this journey of faith. And, one of those passages is today’s reading from Micah.
While we do not know a lot about the prophet Micah, we do know the justice issues he faced during the eighth century B.C. were not unlike some of the issues we face today. Micah lived in the land of Judah during a time of great wealth and prosperity. On the outside it appeared that God’s people were thriving, but on the inside, they were rotting to the core. Political corruption was pervasive. Economic exploitation was rampant! Ethical violations were voracious. The nation had drifted so far from God they could no longer tell the difference between good and evil. Even though they were going through the outward motions of worship, their hearts were far from the Lord. Much like America today, their society was characterized by overconfidence and self-indulgence. Most of the wealth was concentrated in the hands of the ruling elite while the poor were scraping to get by. Unbridled greed and arrogance made those in power callous to meting out justice fairly and evenly. People were talking the talk, but they were not walking the walk. Consequently, their words were empty.
So, Micah blew the whistle on this blatant hypocrisy by announcing God’s ensuing judgment on God’s people unless they repented from their sin. His whistle blowing prophecy blends a harsh message of judgment with the hope of future restoration at the coming of the Messiah. Through it all, he pleads with his people to come back to the Lord. And, Micah 6:1-8 forms the climax of his prophecy. He reminds the people that God is not interested in hollow sacrifices or empty acts of worship and he sums everything up in verse 8 saying, “Israel would please God by simply acting justly, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God.”
Micah’s words take the form of a legal controversy. And, as we look at verses 1 & 2, even the world of nature is asked to enter the dialogue. The mountains and the hills are the everlasting foundations of the earth and they are called to be witnesses of what has happened to the God-Israel relationship. They have been around longer than the Israelites and have witnessed the Lord’s faithfulness and Israel’s rebellion. This seems to heighten the drama and intensify the sarcasm of the passage.
Once the court scene is set and the witnesses are in place, the legal procedure begins with the Lord’s accusations against God’s people in verses 3-5. The Lord’s indictment begins with a series of scathing interrogatives and their tone is sarcastic, for God already knew God was not guilty of anything. God had been totally faithful to God’s own people, but the people had abandoned God. Not only has the Lord not harmed God’s people, God has also lavished grace and mercy upon them. Verses 4 and 5 provide three illustrations of the Lord’s faithfulness to the people, God was faithful to God’s covenant promises even though the people were not. That is always the story of God’s great love for humanity.
Then, after a direct address from God, the prophet speaks. In verses 6-8, we hear Micah speak some of what I believe are the most empowering words in scripture. Micah offers four rhetorical questions with increasing severity. The first question is vague and general: “With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?” Micah asks this question on behalf of the Israelite people. They wanted to know what they must do to please God. The second through fourth questions specifically ask about sacrifices, about giving “things,” stuff, even children to God. Micah employs hyperbole to heighten the effect of his line of questioning. And, the implied answer to all these questions is “no.” God was not impressed or interested in thousands of animal sacrifices, nor “things,” or any other form of empty religion. God certainly would not have been pleased with the pagan practice of human sacrifice. God wanted something much deeper. What does the Lord want from God’s people? How does God want them to live? What is pleasing to God? In verse 8, Micah finally answers the questions he raised – God wants people’s hearts.
If Judeo-Christian ethics had to be summed up in a short phrase that could be placed on a button, verse 8 is the verse that fits the bill. “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” The ultimate point of this passage is that we should be faithful to the Lord because the Lord is faithful to us. We show our faithfulness through right ethical actions, not empty religious rituals. If we want to live a life that pleases the Lord, we must act justly, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.
Now, like the land of Judah in Micah’s day, America is experiencing a time of abundant wealth and prosperity; but our country is plagued by the sins of overconfidence, self-sufficiency, self-indulgence, economic injustice, racism, bigotry, hatred, greed and much more. Outwardly, many have more money and resources than at any other period in history, yet we have drifted dangerously far from the Lord. Some people still go to church, but why are they there? Is it because they really want to worship and live for the Lord, or is it just the habit of empty religion and empty words, with no change in the way people actually live their lives?
So, what are we to do about it? How do we change from simply going through the motions to genuinely living for God? Does our relationship with God entail any expectations? How can we live a life that truly pleases God? Well, Micah answers these questions by showing us the three things God wants most: to act justly, love kindness, and walk humbly with God’s very self. In this answer, the orientation of our expected response is toward both neighbor and God. This is very clear.
To act justly means to do what is right and truthful according to God’s Word. We are each presented with decisions like this all the time. When we see injustice, will we do something about it and work to bring about change, or will we ignore it and pretend it isn’t happening? To act justly may mean blowing the whistle on unethical practices at our workplace, in our community or even in the country; it might require calling the authorities on a neighbor who is physically abusing his wife, children or girlfriend; it might mean refusing to laugh at an ethnic joke; it might mean confronting racism and bigotry when we see it. Justice is something we do. No concept is more Christian than is the demand for justice. Wherever there are people who face oppression – whether it is political oppression, economic oppression, racial oppression, or whatever form that oppression may take – we are called to raise our voices and do justice.
In addition to acting justly, we also please God by loving kindness and showing mercy. There are so many ways we can live showing our love for kindness and mercy. This is the most basic, minimal requirement of all religion, that we should treat other people as we would like to be treated. It can be as simple as volunteering at a homeless shelter. But it can also be as difficult as forgiving someone who has wounded you with their words or injured you by their actions.
These first two requirements emphasize our relationship with people, our horizontal relationships with all others. But, the third desire of God focuses on our relationship with God. To walk humbly with God is to live in awe of God, in relationship with God, and live honoring God.
Friends, we have three jobs: Do justice, Love Kindness, Walk Humbly. And, living into these ideals enables us to get a glimpse of the kind of world Jesus is talking about in today’s gospel reading, a glimpse of the world as God sees it. This, in the end, is the true goal of our discipleship – to be a part of the vision for the world that Christ already sees as a reality. And when we do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God, our very lives and beings become a part of that picture Jesus shares. We will become living depictions of what God’s presence in the world looks like.
This is a special musical performance of Offertory by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan