"RYTHM" - Matthew 5: 1-12; Micah 6: 1-8
A Sermon by Alex Evans, Pastor
Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA
Sunday, February 2, 2020
Matthew 5:1-12; Micah 6:1-8
“RHYTHM”
A certain trial has captivated the American public – and much of the world - in recent weeks. A large swath of the nation has been super attentive as the house managers, like Congressman Adam Schiff, have made the case of the US House of Representatives for impeachment against the President.
The President has had his defense team in this trial. His lawyers have been arguing that the facts remain inadequate for anything near conviction or impeachment of the President.
All this, as you know, has been taking place in the Senate Chambers in the US Capital. The US Senate functions in these unusual circumstances as the jury. Trial, prosecutors, defense team, jurors – and then there has been the big question of witnesses, and whether you can even have a trial without witnesses. You know about that!
The judge’s seat is occupied by Chief Justice John Roberts, from the US Supreme Court.
Perhaps all of this recalls for us our high school classes in civics and government and how our Constitution is supposed to work. We are clearly in unusual times. . . .
And all of this reminds us too about so many complexities of life: 1) partisan politics can become so powerful that we no longer see real truth and goodness; 2) self-interest is always a dangerous thing, making it so very difficult to live with integrity and justice; and 3) we really need and depend on checks and balances that work well, that help to counter-balance partisan politics and self-interests. Otherwise, we find ourselves in a mess of things, to say the least.
As one commentator put it recently, there may be the acquittal of the President by the partisan jurors in the US Senate. But the Senate verdict is not the only verdict being rendered in these days. The more important verdict comes from the jurors in the court of public opinion. Where will all of these proceedings leave us as a nation, a democratic republic, a community of people. We keep watching, waiting, and . . . praying. (see L. Pitts, Miami Herald, 1/21/2020)
We have an opportunity to consider today another trial – not the one playing out in the news, but the one that keeps playing out in life, . . . . a trial before God, (a trial even MORE important than the impeachment trial). . . and a trial about what it means to be God’s faithful people. This is a trial that always applies to our lives – not as citizens of this great nation – but as people who belong to God.
Our second text today comes from the book of Micah – the prophet from the 8th century BC – around 2700 years ago. Micah is a small book in the Old Testament with an enduring message that extends far beyond its limited context. Micah, for instance, states that all worship of God is false unless it incorporates a zealous concern for social justice. Micah affirms that none of us just live life – free to do whatever we want, free to take what we can, free to decide what we want to decide – No! Micah talks about an all-encompassing view of God. How we worship and how we live always go together. What we say and what we do have to line up. God blesses us but God expects us to be a blessing. God showers us with love and mercy, but absolutely judges us when we do not live with love and mercy.
Micah wants us to get the RHYTHM of life in line with the RHYTHM of God. RHYTHM is a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound. Micah’s goal - the RHYTHM of our life line up with the RHYTHM of God.
Listen now to these words from Micah 6. Some of these words are very familiar – but listen, especially today to the tone:
Hear what the Lord says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. 2Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for the Lord has a controversy with 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! 4For 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. 5O 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? 7Will 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?” 8He 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?
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Do you get the feel? The setting, the context, is a trial. “Plead your case.” Bring your witnesses to testify before the judge.
The year is sometime in the middle of the 8th century BC. Those were fervent times. Israel had emerged across nearly 300 years as a strong nation in the region. Israel had a line of kings – people like Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Israel had a capital – Jerusalem – and a ruling class and a working class. Israel had a vibrant religious community with religious leaders. Israel had borders and business ventures. And guess what? Partisan politics and self-interests were a big part of the scene too.
This is how the book of Micah opens, chapter 1, verse 1:
The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
Micah, the prophet, has come to speak God’s word – to make a case against God’s people – to try to help them re-discover faithfulness and fidelity for their lives with God. Micah reminds them that God’s blessings cover life. God’s presence surrounds life. God’s intentions determine how life is lived.
When Micah comes on the scene – there is lots of room for improvement in what it means to live in faithfulness and fidelity as God’s people. The chapters in the book of Micah make the case, name the violations against God’s intentions.
- The people have created images and worshipped idols.
- The people have coveted fields and taken them.
- The people have received abundant blessings from God only to want to steal and oppress others.
- The people have claimed themselves as faithful, only to take from the vulnerable, namely women and children.
- In the midst of this condemnation, Micah punctuates his message with words of hope: the Lord will intervene; the lame will become a remnant; those who were cast off will become a strong nation.
- All of this is to assert – even if things look terrible and the people are acting terrible - that God is in charge.
- The Lord will redeem the people.
- The Lord’s plans can get messed up but they will not be thwarted.
It is a good time – these days of crisis and chaos, of confusion and uncertainty - to review the words of Micah. Micah calls us to faithfulness and fidelity – as God’s people. All of life is accountable to God - our lives!
We are invited to think about the RHYTHMS of our lives – and discern whether they link up with the RHYTHMS of God. Micah reminds us of this big God who encompasses all things, and how this big God has the last word about everything.
When we get to chapter 6, the trial scene continues: “Rise up and plead your case, . . . for the Lord has a controversy with his people.”
Do you think that might apply in these days? . . . .
God says, “I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, . . . that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.” The Lord is making a case – the people have failed the Lord. The people have fallen away from God’s plans and intentions in living, in serving. They are out of RHYTHM with God and God’s plans for life. Whenever we are out of RHYTHM, it is awkward, ugly; it can even be dangerous.
There are lots of RHYTHMS and movements in the world. God’s people are called and expected to live according to a distinctive RHYTHM – worship God and serve God. There are lots of ways to live – selfish, for personal gain, for political power, for pleasing others, and more. God’s people are called and expected to live according to the distinctive RHYTHM of God – trust God’s promises, spread God’s light in the world; receive God’s blessings and live as a blessing in the world. God’s people are expected to live subject to God’s care and steadfast faithfulness, and striving for God’s love and justice everywhere. The RHYTHM of our lives intends to match the RHYTHM of God for hope and wholeness, justice and joy for all.
Then we get to verse 6:6: “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?” And Micah gives a simple answer: it is not about what you say, . . . or how you worship, . . . or what party you are in, . . . or what you wear, . . . or the color of your skin, . . . or the nation to which you belong. “What does the Lord require but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
RHYTHM – does the RHYTHM of my life align with the RHYTHM of God? . . . . “To do justice, to love kindness, to walk humbly with God!”
This is our constant calling – God’s expectation for us.
Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God.
“Doing justice” means absolutely participating with God against the systems and structures that thwart God’s plans for the world. We are called to be engaged, with our hearts, our bodies, our prayers, our actions in God’s reconciling and redeeming work. It is a process. It is a journey. We may not see the end of it, may not even see the fruits of our labors, but we do it – participate, work, strive, advocate, serve.
Loving kindness is how we do it – be swift to love; make haste to be kind. This is God’s work – love and kindness have to be at the center.
To walk humbly – that reminds us that it is not finally about us or up to us. We have to trust God. We give and serve – share love and kindness, but with humility. We are humble enough to know we do not have all the answers. We are humble enough to know that God has the last word.
So, we cannot just live, we strive to live in ways that align with God’s great plans for justice in the world. We keep working on it in the areas and ways that we can – with people we encounter, the places we find ourselves, the things we do.
We cannot just live – go to work, do our jobs, breathe the air, take up space on the planet – we are to get in RHYTHM with what God expects of us – do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God.
We cannot control much of what happens – our leaders disappoint us, crises keep building across the planet, illness and challenge come our way. We are called and expected to align our lives with the distinctive RHYTHM of God: we have been blessed; we are to be blessing. We have been loved; we are to love. We have been given life and eternal life; we are to spread life and light in the world.
What is the current RHYTHM of your life? Think on that.
It is so easy to get out of sync, out of RHYTHM with God’s love and God’s plans – focused on self rather than service, focused on power rather than peace, focused on something other than shalom, and for all.
This is Micah’s mantra – the intended RHYTHM for our lives – “do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God.” That is the RHYTHM that leads to faithfulness and fidelity and life. That is the RHYTHM that gives wholeness and hope. It applies to everything: what we worry about and what we can do, . . . . our children and our parents, . . . our city and our deepest concerns – do justice, love kindness, walk humbly. RHYTHM.
We keep saying it to ourselves to stay on track – do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.
We keep encouraging each other with it – do justice, love kindness, walk humbly. This is our RHYTHM. This is God’s RHYTHM. AMEN.
Prayer of Commitment:
O God of all the nations, may those who lead us see/ that justice is your blessing, that truth will set us free./ Give all of us the courage to seek the nobler way,/
So in this land we cherish, the good will win the day. (Carolyn Winfrey Gillette)
Amen.
Alex W. Evans, Pastor, Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA preached this sermon during Sunday morning worship on February 2, 2020. This is a rough manuscript.