Spin Cycle

The Rev. Dr. Whitworth Ferguson III

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

January 30, 2011

Spin Cycle

Micah 6:1-8

Micah is one of those books in the Bible

we are none too keen to read from.

Micah sounds like a grumpy old man, a scold,

the kind of preacher who wears his reading glasses

well down his nose so he can glare with icy eyes,

at those he’s speaking to,

the index finger of his hand jabbing at the air

to make his point time and time again

as he speaks for God:

“Your wealthy are full of violence;

your people speak lies

with tongues of deceit in their mouths;

The faithful have disappeared;

There is no one left who is upright;

The powerful dictate what they desire and pervert justice;

The Lord God will be a witness against you.”

There must be a reason he’s lumped in with the “minor” prophets,

that he doesn’t have the standing of his contemporary Isaiah,

or Jeremiah or Ezekiel.

Read through the seven short chapters of the book

and it all sounds so terribly,… terribly,

well, so terribly Old Testament.

Much better to skip over a book like this,

and go right to the New Testament;

Or, better yet, look through the Bible

and find only those passages that promise us

riches and comfort as  sign of God’s blessing.

The prosperity gospel: that’s what we want to hear.

Who wants to hear from a curmudgeon?

Especially on a cold winter’s morning.

        

But the book of Micah is just as much the inspired Word of God

as every other book in the Bible,

and this Old Testament prophet has much to teach us in 2011.

Indeed, this book is so extraordinarily timely,

a wonderful reminder that the Bible is never dated,

but always a timeless book,

truly the inspired Word of God,

the fresh breeze of the Holy Spirit blowing through every page,

God speaking to us as though the words

had just been texted to us moments ago.

Let’s go back in time,

back more than 2700 years,

back to the land of Israel,

more than 700 years before the birth of our Lord,

more than 700 years before the first Christmas.

It’s been two hundred years since the end of Solomon’s reign,

when Solomon’s son Rehoboam succeeded his father,

and showed himself to be corrupt, cold,

brutal and ruthless.

The first words to his people as their King were:

“my father made your yoke heavy,

but I will add to your yoke;

my father disciplined you with whips,

but I will discipline you with scorpions.”

(1 Kings 12:14)

Each king who followed over the next two hundred years

seemed intent on showing the people

that he could be more ruthless, more corrupt,

more utterly faithless than the king before him.

After two centuries years of corruption

two centuries of faithlessness,

God slammed his fist down on the altar and said, “Enough!”

Speaking through the prophet Micah,

God confronted his children,

“Rise, plead your case before the mountains,

and let the hills hear your voice.

Hear, 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.” (6:1-2)

The response from the people was typical of humankind:

Words to the effect of, “Who? Us?

What have we done to upset you, O Lord?

Haven’t we made our sacrifices at the Temple?

Don’t our priests make you proud with their services?

They’ve developed such wonderful rites and rituals over the years,

elaborate, all designed to show you

that we’ll spare no expense to honor you.”

But God wasn’t the least bit impressed,

responding with such chilling words:

“I hate, I despise your festivals

and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

Even though you offer me your burnt offerings

and your grain offerings, I will not accept them…

Take away from me the noise of your songs.

I will not listen to the melody of your harps.”

(Amos 5:21ff)

Not surprisingly, the people reacted to these words with anger,

rage directed, of course, not at God,

and certainly not at themselves,

but at the prophets for daring to say such things to them.

The people were blind to their faults and their failures,

blind to their disobedience,

oblivious to how far they’d strayed from the will of God.

Had they responded,

their words would most likely have been glib:

“What’s got you so upset God?

We’re actually feeling pretty good about ourselves;

our businesses our prospering;

many of us are making a lot of money;

Our woman dress in exquisite fabrics

from the far corners of the world –

our nation is exceptional:

aren’t these all signs of your blessings?

Perhaps you can be specific about your concerns

exactly where you think we’ve gone wrong.”

And while the people didn’t say that,

God was specific, to the point,

straight to the heart of the matter

as he spoke through his prophets:

“You are so quick to lie,

your mouths flow with words of deceit;

You are dishonest and unethical at your businesses;

The rich and the powerful among you covet fields and seize them,

taking houses that don’t belong to them,

throwing the powerless and the poor on the street.”

(2:2; 2:9)

“You mock and disdain those who seek peace” (2:8)

Your children are corrupt; (Isaiah 1:4)

You mix water with your wine;

your leaders are faithless and companions of thieves;

everyone loves a bribe and runs after a gift.

(Isaiah 1:22)

You live lives of comfort and leisure

and show no concern for the poor or the oppressed.”

(Amos 6)

“Shall I continue?

Are you listening to me, the Lord your God?

or have you stopped your ears?

If you have any decency within you,

stand and hear my words:

You know nothing of justice.

You know nothing of compassion.

You know nothing of humility.

You know nothing of righteousness.”

“I didn’t bring you out of the land of Egypt,

out of slavery,

I didn’t make you my children

so you could live easy, comfortable lives.

I made you my children

so you would bring glory to me by your lives,

by your words,

everything you do.

“I said it this way through my prophet Amos:

‘Let justice roll down like waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream’.”

(Amos 5:24)

“I said through my prophet Isaiah:

‘Cease to do evil,

learn to do good;

Seek justice,

rescue the orphan,

plead for the widow’.”

(Isaiah 1:16)

“Do you understand now?

Do you understand what I expect from you,

my children?

Do Justice;

Love kindness;

Walk humbly with me your God.”

“My children, you seem confused

by what I mean by the term ‘justice’.

I mean the term in the broadest sense;

not just legal justice, what happens in a courtroom

I want you to seek moral justice,

economic justice;

health justice,

environmental justice,

social justice.

Why do so many mock those who even speak the words,

‘social justice’?

They mock me!”

“Have you heard how often I speak of the orphan?

The widow?

The oppressed?

Those who don’t have enough food,

those who lack housing?

My expectation is that you will seek justice

for every one of those individuals

until there is no more injustice.”

“Someone who cannot find work;

someone who is in danger of losing a home

someone who may be working but earning such a low wage

that he or she cannot feed their family

or provide adequate shelter:

that’s injustice,

and I expect you to correct it.

Charity is good, but charity alone doesn’t root out injustice,

and that’s what I want from you:

an end to all injustice.”

                                            

“Justice begins with your leaders,

and when Solomon took the throne,

I spoke through the Psalmist of my expectations for him

and all leaders with these words:

Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to a king’s son.

May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice.
…May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the needy,
and crush the oppressor.

… In his days may righteousness flourish
and peace abound….

For he delivers the needy when they call,
the poor and those who have no helper.

He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.

From oppression and violence he redeems their life;

and precious is their blood in his sight.

…Long may he live!”

(Psalm 72)

“You business people and merchants:

can’t you run your businesses honestly,

or is it that you are either that corrupt or that incapable

that you have to keep your finger on the scale

for even the smallest sale?

You property owners who foreclose to seize homes and land:

Do you think I consider it just that you put a person

on the street, in the cold and damp

to protect your investment?”

                                                                       

“I hear your voices, but I hear almost no one speaking of justice;

Who is talking of compassion for the needy;

Who is talking of feeding the hungry?

Who is talking of healing the sick?

If that’s not what you are talking about

then you are not talking of justice;

you are not talking of eliminating injustice.

Your excuses are only so much spin

and your constant cycle of spin is of no interest to me.”

“Remember, I the Lord your God have the last word.

I can punish you and,

and if you push me to the limit,

I will punish you,

so hear my words of what could happen to you:

You shall eat but not be satisfied,

and there shall be a gnawing hunger within you;

You shall put away but not save;

You shall sow but not reap

You shall tread grapes but not drink wine.

…you shall bear the scorn of my people.”

(Micah 6:14)

“This is the future that awaits you

if you fail to live up to my expectations.

Beware, ‘All you who are wise in your own eyes,

and shrewd in your own sight.’

(Isaiah 5:21).

“My children, it is time to start seeking justice,

time to start doing justice,

time to start rooting out injustice

everywhere, anywhere.

It is time for you to work for kindness and compassion,

It is time for you to walk a little more humbly.”

These are not the words of a cranky, angry prophet

who lived 2700 years ago.

These are the timeless words of the Lord our God,

who speaks them to you and me even today.

As our Lord Jesus reminds us,

“Not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord”

will enter the Kingdom of Heaven,

but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven.”

(Matthew 7:21)

Let anyone with ears to hear listen,

for as difficult as these words might be to hear,

they are the Word of the Lord.

AMEN