“What Does the Lord Require?”

(Amos 5:18-24 and Micah 6:1-8)

          As we continue our sermon series on Old Testament prophecy by turning to Micah, we find that he shares a number of concerns with the prophet Amos, with whom some of you are now a bit more familiar, from our Bible study this past spring. 

          Though Micah preached in the southern kingdom of Judah, several years after Amos brought his message to the northern kingdom of Israel, both prophets spoke out against social injustices of their day.  So that in Micah we read of “wealthy landowners [lying] awake at night devising new schemes” for making money at the expense of small farmers (2:1-2).  Women and young children… evicted from their homes (2:9) … political leaders … [devouring] those over whom they have power (3:1-3)… Even the courts …are infected with bribery (3:11).” 

“The religious situation Micah addresses is equally corrupt.” The so-called prophets of the land are essentially in it for the money; priest and prophet alike have sold out to greed (3:5, 11).  “When a prophet who brings an authentic word from the Lord does appear, that prophet meets opposition (2:6-11).”[1]

          This morning’s readings are classic examples of the way both Amos and Micah speak words from the Lord directed to particular situations in Israel in the 8^th century B.C., words which at the same time echo with equal power down through the ages. 

In each, the central message is first framed negatively: it’s hypocritical, they say, to present ourselves before God in worship if the rest of what we do in life is entirely self-centered.  “If the sacrifices you’re bringing me are simply to soothe your conscience after what you’ve done all week in the marketplace, if you think this somehow makes up for your swindling and stealing, I want no part of it,” says the Lord.  But then that same concern is framed positively: the worship God does desire involves practical ministry in the world.  In Amos – “let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.” (5:24) And in those familiar words from Micah – “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (6:8)

          It’s a call that echoes throughout the Scriptures.  Worship isn’t just about what we say and do in here; it’s about what we say and do out there too.  Plenty of other prophets weigh in on this, as do the law of the Old Testament, Jesus himself, and the model of the early church.  It matters how we treat our families, our friends, and total strangers.  It matters how we spend our money. It matters that we seek to do what is right.  For all these things, the Scriptures tell us, affect our worship.

          Of course, all these things can also flow from our worship life together.  Because it can help us keep a healthy perspective, when we live under words like these from the prophets, when we let them get under our skin.  Not just sitting back and basking in the beautiful sound of them, feeling we’ve somehow bettered ourselves just from being in their presence for awhile on a Sunday morning.  Not simply appreciating the ideas presented in the Scriptures, but taking them seriously.  When taken seriously, prophetic words, like gospel words, demand a response.

          In a sermon on the Good Samaritan story from the Gospel of Luke, Barbara Brown Taylor notes how Jesus emphasizes right actions, as that which will bring life - not right beliefs or ideas or theories or words.  Remember, the young lawyer answers Jesus’ question readily enough – “Oh, I know!  I know!  It was the Samaritan, he was the guy who acted as neighbor to the man in need.” “Do this,” Jesus says to his eager pupil.  “Do this, and you shall live.”

Taylor says: “Here is a Great Commission that is at least compelling as the other one that we refer to by that name. Do love. Don’t just think love, say love, have faith in love, or believe that God is love. Give up the idea that your ideas alone can save you. If you know the right words, then bring those words to life by giving them your own flesh. Put them into practice. Do love, and you will live.”[2]

I heard a song recently in which each of the verses told a different story from the gospels – things Jesus had famously said or done.  What drew me in was the song’s refrain.  After each verse, the question was posed: “What shall we say to this? What shall we say to him?  Who shall we be, now that we see him as he is?”[3]  The gospel stories are great, but they’re also more than great stories.  They demand a response. 

So too the words of the Hebrew prophets.  Beautiful. Poetic. Inspiring.  But so much more than this.

          What shall we say?  Who shall we be, when we hear words like these?  It matters that we actually do justice and do kindness and do humility and do love. 

What does the Lord require of us? Plenty!  But “we discover [as we live under it for awhile], says William Willimon, that God’s word also “has the power to produce the readers it requires.”[4] And then these words of strong challenge become an occasion for celebration – when we look around and see the ways we are able to respond to that Word.

Opportunities abound everyday to live out these biblical priorities.  And clearly I’m telling you something you already know, because this congregation continues to teach me what can happen when we seize those opportunities.  When we gather hygiene supplies for Noel House, or pool our change to help the kids purchase a whole bunch of Heifer project bunnies, or serve dinners to homeless guests at Northminster Church, or pray for children orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Uganda. That’s doing justice, loving kindness, walking faithfully before God.

          You live out these priorities as individuals too.  I see busy people committing time to teach our kids, to offer rides, and food, and childcare to one another, to visit older members who aren’t able to be with us in worship, to haul groceries to food banks and diapers and high chairs to women’s and children’s shelters, to serve on nonprofit boards, to provide scholarships and support for disadvantaged high school students, and of course you also do many things I don’t know about.

          Now I know you don’t do these things because you’re bored – you all have plenty to do.  You do these things because you feel they’re important, because you’ve been called by God to do them, and in many cases because these acts of justice and kindness also bring you great joy.

          Just as they do for Christian brothers and sisters all around the world.

          Just this week I was reading about the Village Church in Nashville, Tennessee (which incidentally sounds like a fun place to worship sometime, a Presbyterian church with African drumming and members shouting out their Amen’s in Swahili).  For that congregation, as for this one, proclaiming a gospel of love is seen to be inextricably linked to living a gospel of justice…So that “early in the church’s history, the congregation took an unusual approach to the biblical story of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet.  The story, they decided, was about humility. So [Pastor Andrew] Stephens and about a dozen church members went to a [neighboring low-income] housing complex with a mop and a bucket, offering to clean residents’ bathrooms.  While one person went into the bathroom and scrubbed, the others sat on the floor and listened as the resident talked about their life.”[5]  What a powerful way to embody Micah’s call to do justice and love kindness and walk humbly before God.

          There’s a temptation in the Church to get caught up in trying to be sure we believe correctly – that we say and think all the right things about the faith. Or trying to be sure that we worship correctly – that we sing the right sorts of songs, use the right sorts of instruments, and pray the right sorts of prayers.

          To that part of us that wants to stay in our head, Amos says:

Come on out!  The life of faith is about doing justice and righteousness.  Your theology is fine; that’s a mighty impressive Book of Confessions you’ve got there.  Now let’s talk about the state of your checkbook, and how you could use your purchasing power to do some good in the world.

          To that part of us that wants to limit our understanding of worship to what happens here in this sanctuary, Micah says: Come on out!  The life of faith is about doing kindness and humility.  Your praise songs are beautiful, your hymns inspiring.  Now let’s go scrub some toilets in the projects.

          Even Jesus himself does not say, “Close your eyes and think really deeply about me until you [can] believe.” Jesus says simply, ‘Follow me.’  Put one foot in front of the other, stumble after me, imitate me, try to walk and live as I walk and live.  Act like you are a disciple, make believe that these folks beside you are your brothers and sisters.  Eventually, it will come to you.”[6]

          “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24)

          “Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

          Amazing things can happen when we let these words get inside us.

          For what does the Lord require? Plenty, as it turns out.  But “the word of God also has the power to produce the readers it requires.”[7]

     Thanks be to God.