The Power To Pardon
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In his final week in the White House, Barack Obama announced that he was commuting the sentences of more than 500 federal prisoners and issuing 64 pardons. Combined with clemency granted earlier in his term, that meant Obama used these powers more frequently than the previous 13 presidents combined. Though the case that attracted the most attention (and controversy) was the commutation given to Chelsea Manning, convicted of stealing a massive cache of military documents and leaking them to WikiLeaks, many other prominent figures had their clemency requests denied. Still, Obama’s liberal use of his clemency powers was often driven by the twin interests of justice and mercy -- something he referred to when he defended his commutation of Manning’s sentence by noting that its length was “disproportionate” and that “I feel very comfortable that justice has been served.” In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Dean Feldmeyer notes that justice and mercy are touchstones of this week’s lectionary readings from Micah and Matthew. The prophet reminds us that what the Lord requires of us is “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with [our] God,” while mercy is one of many key tenets Jesus lifts up in the Beatitudes. While Obama has certainly done his part, Dean suggests that mercy is an element all too often lacking in our justice system -- one more often focused on exacting punishment than on achieving justice.
Team member Chris Keating shares some additional thoughts on Micah’s themes of justice, mercy, and Godliness, and how they can serve as basic benchmarks in our own lives. In a world filled with marketing slogans and self-aggrandizement, Chris notes that the prophet’s request for us to be mindful of our relationships with others and with God could well be distilled down to a simple maxim: “Watch your step.”
The Power to Pardon
by Dean Feldmeyer
Micah 6:1-8; Matthew 5:1-12
The presidential power to pardon is granted under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution: “The President... shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”
During his presidential term, Barack Obama was somewhat stingy with pardons (212), but he granted more commutations (1,715) than any president in history -- and some of them created a whirlwind of controversy.
Alexander Hamilton said that the power to pardon was an absolutely essential check to balance the power of the courts, and Chief Justice John Marshall called it “an act of grace.” Oliver Wendell Holmes said that it was not just a personal act of grace but one that was part of the “constitutional scheme.”
As a people who are acquainted with the concept of grace, how should Christians who take their faith seriously behave when it comes to acts of pardon and commutation? How do we bring Micah’s admonition to “do justice and love kindness” through the courthouse doors? How do we bring the fifth Beatitude -- “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” -- onto the stage of American jurisprudence?
In the News
Contrary to what we may have heard, when it came to granting pardons (212) Barack Obama was somewhere in the middle of the pack when we consider the actions of other modern presidents. With commutations, however, it’s a different story. He commuted more sentences than any president in history (1,715), and more than the past 13 presidents combined.
Pardons are relatively easy. They usually go to people who have already served their time and are out of prison. The pardon just restores the privileges of citizenship that they enjoyed before their conviction. They can vote, run for office, etc. They still have to overcome the felony conviction that remains on their record, however.
Commutations are another matter -- they actually shorten prison sentences and set people free. Many of Obama’s commutations were for non-violent drug offenses or other cases where people received harsh, even draconian prison sentences for relatively minor offenses. But the commutation of Chelsea Manning’s sentence from 35 years to the six-plus she has already served caused a hue and cry that receded only because of the wall-to-wall media coverage given to Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Manning was arrested in 2010 after leaking 700,000 military files and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks. Some of those communications proved claims of American war crimes, torture, and other nefarious behavior by the military, the intelligence community, and private contractors. Others revealed state secrets. But, said Obama, her sentence exceeded that received by other individuals recently convicted of releasing classified material.
The president offered this justification even though he was under no obligation to do so. No president is required to explain his reasons for pardoning or commuting a sentence. Any person who has been found guilty of a crime is eligible, and pardons and/or commutations can be given for any reason or no reason. The only exception is that people who have been impeached cannot be returned to office.
Political considerations, however, have made pardons and commutations very rare in recent decades -- so much so that even conservative commentators are calling for a more liberal application of this presidential privilege.
In a legal memorandum written for the conservative Heritage Foundation, Paul Rosenzweig writes: “For much of America’s history, the President used his pardon power to correct wrongs, forgive transgressors, and temper justice with mercy.... Today, those instincts have died, buried under a legacy of prosecutorial zeal and a fear of adverse political criticism.”
Sometimes the presidential pardon is the only curative for mandatory sentences which take any kind of judicial discretion off the table. Judges’ hands are tied. They are not allowed to consider any mitigating factors before sentencing. Other times the power to pardon is the only hope of a person who is in prison only because they received inadequate or incompetent counsel and are poor and couldn’t afford an attorney to file and follow through on appeals.
This is one area upon which liberals and conservatives seem to agree. As Josh Marshall says in Talking Points Memo: “Without that possibility of mercy, acted on with some frequency, justice can’t be justice.”
In the Scriptures
The lessons for this week from the Hebrew scriptures and the gospel drive us to the topic of mercy -- what it is, and how it is applied by God and by the People of God.
Micah 6:1-8
This wonderful passage comes to us as a dialogue between Micah, who speaks for God, and the people of Judah, who speak for themselves.
It begins with God demanding to know why Judah has not been obedient to God’s will. “Well,” God seems to say, “What do you have to say for yourselves?” He goes on, “What have I demanded of you that’s too heavy for you to carry? Or have you forgotten all the times I have saved you and taken care of you?”
The people respond that God’s appetite for sacrifice is insatiable and they’re beginning to think that no matter what they do, even if they sacrifice “ten thousand rivers of oil” or “thousands of rams,” it will not be enough. Indeed, even if they sacrificed their firstborn children God would not be satisfied.
In the final verse of the passage, Micah shakes his head and drops his voice to a whisper. “Don’t act like you don’t know what the Lord wants. God has told you: do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.”
Humility, justice, and kindness. These are the hallmarks of righteousness. This is what it means to live the good life. The People of God are called to be like God: humble, just, and kind.
Matthew 5:1-12
A beatitude is a state of supreme blessedness.
But for most of us that definition doesn’t help much, because we aren’t really clear what “blessedness” means. Biblical scholar David P. Scaer is helpful in this regard: “Blessedness should not be seen as a reward for religious accomplishments, but as an act of God’s grace in believers’ lives. Rather than congratulating them on spiritual or moral achievements, the beatitude underscores the fact that sinners stand within a forgiving relationship” with God.
The Beatitudes, then, could be reversed and lose nothing of their meaning. They are the same frontwards and backwards: Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are those who have received mercy, for they will be merciful.
Given and received mercy, then, is one of the natural outgrowths of God’s grace -- just as apples are natural outgrowths of the apple tree. Those of us who have been touched (or clobbered) by God’s grace as it comes to us in Jesus Christ are called to live a new style, one that is seasoned with spiritual hunger, empathy, humility, the desire for good, mercy, purity, peace, and self-sacrifice.
And we are called to this life not because these are laws that we “ought” to obey, but because this is what it looks like to be struck by grace. This, in Paul’s words, is what it looks like to “put on Christ” (Romans 13:14).
Today we focus upon one of these beatitudes or blessings.
Because we have been touched by mercy, we know how important and powerful mercy is, and we are free to exercise it in our own lives. We are free to pardon those who have done wrong and those who have done us wrong. We have the power to commute their sentences, to end their suffering, to shorten their grief, to relieve their despair, whether they deserve it or not.
That’s how grace works.
In the Sermon
We live in a time of prosecutorial zealotry, a time of mandatory sentences, maximum sentences, three-strikes laws, private prisons run for profit, and a desire for punishment and revenge. We are scared, even though the crime rate has plummeted steadily since 1993.
According to the FBI, the homicide rate has fallen by 51 percent; forcible rapes have declined by 35 percent; robberies have decreased by 56 percent; and the rate of aggravated assault has been cut by 45 percent. Property crime rates are also sharply down. The National Crime Victimization Survey reports that the rate of violent victimizations has declined by 67 percent since 1993. This reflects a 70 percent decline in rape and sexual assault; a 66 percent decline in robbery; a 77 percent decline in aggravated assault; and a 64 percent decline in simple assault.
It is, to a great degree, this irrational and unfounded fear that drives our desire for prosecutorial ruthlessness, merciless judges, and a police force steeped in warrior culture, even as it blinds us to flaws within and abuses of the legal system.
Bryan Stevenson, in his wonderful memoir Just Mercy, points out that this overwrought fear of crime has led us to become a country where “mass imprisonment has littered the national landscape with carceral monuments of reckless and excessive punishment and ravaged communities with our hopeless willingness to condemn and discard the most vulnerable among us” (p. 313).
Stevenson is the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, which is responsible for the reversals, relief, or release for over 115 wrongly condemned prisoners on death row. His book follows some of those cases, but the thread that runs through and connects them all is the case of Walter McMillian, who was wrongly convicted of murder and spent six years on death row. Lawyers of the Equal Justice Initiative proved that McMillian’s conviction was obtained through police coercion and perjury by witnesses, and brought to light evidence, including a score of testimonies by witnesses that were in the possession of prosecutors and police and was not shared with the defense as proscribed by law, that was ignored or disallowed in his trial. Even though the jury had recommended life imprisonment, the trial judge had overridden the jury and imposed the death sentence.
Speaking at Walter’s funeral in 2003, 20 years after his release, Bryan Stevenson said that while Walter was cleared of all charges, he was never treated the same by the community he had loved and for which he prayed for six years to one day return. Walter had lost his home, his business, his wife and family, his standing in the community -- everything that was of value to him.
Stevenson then spoke of the widow who was caught in adultery and how Jesus challenged those who would stone her to death to let the one who is without sin cast the first stone. When the crowd turned and walked away, Jesus forgave the woman and bid her go and sin no more. She would not die this day, but in God’s good time.
Stevenson concluded his eulogy: “Walter had taught me that mercy is just when it is rooted in hopefulness and freely given. Mercy is most empowering, liberating, and transformative when it is directed at the undeserving. The people who haven’t earned it, who haven’t even sought it, are the most meaningful recipients of our compassion. Walter genuinely forgave the people who unfairly accused him, the people who convicted him, and the people who had judged him unworthy of mercy. And in the end, it was just mercy toward others that allowed him to recover a life worth celebrating, a life that rediscovered the love and freedom that all humans desire, a life that overcame death and condemnation until it was time to die on God’s schedule” (Just Mercy, p. 314).
Josh Marshall puts it like this: “There are countless people in the criminal justice system who deserve mercy, for myriad reasons -- extreme sentences, injustices that are beyond the reach of the appeals process, simple mercy, exceptional transformations during incarceration. They are as unique as the millions who serve in prisons. This is not an indictment of the criminal justice system in itself. One can believe in punishment and accountability and yet recognize that there must be a pressure valve, a source of mercy that goes beyond the narrow confines of the letter of the law. Without that possibility of mercy, acted on with some frequency, justice can’t be justice.”
And let us not forget, as we cast our judgment gaze upon those who have been found guilty, that it was Jesus, the one we call Lord, who was himself found guilty and sentenced to death -- but who nevertheless reminds us that those who have been shown mercy, as have we all, are free to give it away.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Watch Your Step
by Chris Keating
Micah 6:1-8
Simon Sinek, author of the best-seller Start With Why, says that nearly every business consultation he leads ends with what he calls “The Millennial Question.” He says leaders confronted by waves of young adults entering the workforce are puzzled by how to manage this large new generation.
“Leaders are asking,” Sinek told an interviewer, “What do you want?” Sinek says that Millennials generally say they want a job with purpose, one that makes an impact and gives them free food. When employers give them these things, many still are not happy.
“Too many grew up being told they’re special,” Sinek told Inside Quest. He suggested that there are four primary reasons why Millennials are unhappy at work -- parenting, technology, impatience, and environment. As the video ricocheted around the internet, it created waves of conversations. A few saw Sinek’s characterization of Millennials as a hyper-connected, overly-coddled, everyone-gets-a-trophy generation as being a bit harsh, while others sang his praise.
Both groups missed his point, which was aimed at helping create pathways of meaning and purpose in workplaces.
Not long after the short “Millennials in the Workplace” video broke on Facebook before Christmas, it generated hundreds of thousands of views and comments. The wide-ranging response and conversations prompted him to make a second video. In the follow-up video, Sinek hinted at another purpose. What’s needed, he says, are not more self-help books but a new industry designed to help people succeed in life. “We need an industry called ‘help others,’ ” focused on creating leaders whose purpose is to help others get through life.
We need a guide for being kind.
Sinek speaks with the voice of a consultant, but his wisdom is nearly prophetic. Back in eighth century BC Israel, Micah recorded God’s struggle with a generation also beset by issues of connection and meaning. Many felt forgotten. The poor felt victimized and powerless, vulnerable to oppressive leaders and systems. Others had turned from God to find more immediate means of satisfaction.
Like Sinek, Micah’s words foretell a need for change. Micah points to a larger issue of recovering hope and purpose. Generations before us might have called this discipline the way of holiness. Jesus referred to it as seeking the kingdom of God. Micah sees it as simply watching your step as you walk with God. His admonitions are as timely today as ever.
In the winter of our discontent, Micah offers these simple instructions: mind your step.
Watch your step as you navigate pathways littered with rhetoric generated by self-aggrandizing leaders. Be careful as you walk pass the cult of celebrity and the icons of self-flattery. Don’t be caught off-guard by hyped-up marketing, overexaggerated claims to greatness, or be led astray by misleading “alternative facts.” Instead, simply watch where you are walking.
Be kind. Act justly. Be humble. As you go out walking in the world, let these words help you help others.
Micah’s familiar words sound nearly like a bumper sticker, or a cleverly worded tagline for some sort of campaign for discovering meaning in life. Indeed, the church has played around with these phrases for years, hoping to kindle new commitments to social justice campaigns. We’ve inscribed them on tote bags and printed them on conference t-shirts. They stir our hearts, replenishing our faith. They cause us to say, “What can we do in response to all of what God has done for us?”
“Quick,” we say, “look busy. Do something remarkable and God will be pleased.” Ideas are generated: maybe a fundraiser of some sort will do the trick. Someone says, “That’s it! A spaghetti dinner!” “No, no,” someone says, let’s just give the money. We’ll write a check.” The ideas are endless. God will be pleased, right?
That’s what Micah’s original audience thought. Yet the call to faith is a call to humility and an invitation away from self-promotion. Much as we try to make Micah’s words into glitzy slogans, they really don’t fit on bumper stickers. These words weren’t penned by Yahweh’s marketing team. Micah’s Volvo didn’t have “Do Justice” right above the “CoExist” sticker or below the one proclaiming “My Kid’s an Honor Student at Zion Middle School.” What is needed is a heart that is changed.
The tendency to reduce these words to a slogan or catchphrase robs them of their power. Yahweh expects God’s people to be the counter-cultural force of change in the world. The prophet calls God’s people to the demanding work of honoring God by their conduct and faithful living. Watch your step, help others along the way. Be kind. Don’t feed the trolls.
Micah’s corrective stanzas offer us hope and lead us to find new meaning and purpose. They invite us to speak words of justice in a world where power is abused, and absolute power is abused absolutely. Listen, the prophet says, and recall the story of your salvation. Listen and remember, retell the powerful stories of faith so “that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.”
Most importantly, those who walk with God and each other do so in humble partnership. We walk humbled by God’s grace, discovering the answer to our deepest questions of longing and want.
A quick Google search reveals that there are at least 16 million possibilities for finding “the secret to a good life in 2017.” It’s a quest as old as Homer (the Greek, not Simpson). The search leads some to downloading a meditation app for their iPhone, or seeking spiritual direction, visiting Mecca or exploring Celtic thin places. Others take a yoga class at the local community center, or sign up to have daily affirmations sent to their inbox.
But as but as Sinek stresses, knowing we are special may not be enough. This is not an individual journey. Pathways to meaning that are centered around the self are not sufficient. The pathway toward a meaningful life -- defined by one psychologist as a life that is both connected to something/someone and contributing to something/someone -- is not always just a trot down a happy path.
It’s a bit more than a detox diet or pithy bumper sticker (though “Suck it up, buttercup” may come close). It is instead a God-focused way of life that waits for God to guide our steps, to engage in acts of justice, and to pardon our iniquities. That is the way toward helping each other.
Micah sums it up nicely by telling God’s people to “Watch your step.”
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:
Micah 6:1-8
Walking Humbly
Chef Nobu Matsuhisa is a renowned sushi chef and the owner of a number of restaurants. He has the vision, but he says, “I like teamwork, and my chefs give me a good education. My background is Japanese, but the people working in my kitchens are from London, New York, France, Italy, China, the Philippines, so I learn from them too.” He travels ten months of the year, constantly visiting his restaurants, and he says that every person in the restaurant is key to its success. “Launching a restaurant is easy: Find the location, spend $1 million to make it beautiful. But after the door is open, who makes it a happy place? Who’s cooking? Who’s dishwashing? Who’s taking the reservation? Any kind of vision needs people. That’s what makes a good impression.” He himself learned the business from the bottom of the bottom. “I was 18 and didn’t know anything about fish. My mentor taught me the basics. For the first three years, I didn’t make sushi; I washed dishes and cleaned the fish. But if I asked questions, he always answered.” The humble start has continued in humble management, continuing to learn now from his employees, as he once learned from his teacher.
*****
Micah 6:1-8
Humility
Golfer Arnold Palmer learned the hard way the importance of humility. He recalled, “One time at Augusta, I was going into the last hole with a one-shot lead to win the Masters, and a friend from the gallery hollered at me, so I walked over and accepted congratulations. And then I proceeded to make six on the hole and lose. My father had warned me about that. I was told all my life not to accept congratulations until it’s over.”
*****
Micah 6:1-8
Love Kindness
“Love kindness,” the prophet Micah says. The Smile Transaction Register both inspires kindness and keeps track of it. Invented by a bank employee, the transaction register looks like a checkbook, and the inside cover reads:
Congratulations! You are currently the bearer of the Smile Transaction Register. This kindness checkbook began its journey with $20. Your only job is to keep it going. Don’t keep it long. Look over the entries in the register to get some ideas of how to spread small acts of kindness. You can either make a deposit if the funds are low (as your act of kindness) and make that your entry in the register as such. Or you can make a withdrawal from the funds inside to make someone’s day and then log that withdrawal in the register. Please include: the date, the description of the transaction, and the amount. Finish the entry by writing in the ending balance. Before you pass it, share your story in an e-mail to smiletransactions@gmail.com and it’s your choice whom you pass it on to. Pass it on to someone who enjoys spreading smiles as much as you do!
The register travels around town, meeting needs and being refilled.
*****
Micah 6:1-8
The Immigrant and the Bride -- a Circle of Kindness
Kindness most often reaches beyond the first act of generosity, continuing to travel onward and touch more people. As Jo Du put on her wedding dress, the zipper broke. On a Sunday, no tailor shops were open, and none of the bridesmaids knew how to make the repair. “An enterprising bridesmaid knocked on a neighbor’s door to ask David Hobson if he might have a pair of pliers they could borrow. Mr. Hobson took in the situation -- the bridesmaid, the lacy white dress, and a request for pliers -- and said, ‘I’ve got better than tools. I’ve got a master tailor.’ David Hobson had a family of Syrian refugees from Aleppo living in his home for a few days: a mother, father, and three children. A local businessman, Jim Estill, has helped 50 Syrian families enter Canada and settle in the Guelph area -- people from one of the most hellish landscapes on earth, brought to live in one of the safest, tidiest, and most serene towns in Canada. The father of the Syrian family is Ibrahim Halil Dudu. He was indeed a master tailor in Aleppo for 28 years, and as soon as he saw the dress, Ibrahim Dudu got out his sewing kit and set to work.”
The wedding photographer later said, “Every weekend I take photos of people on the happiest days of their lives, and today one man who has seen some of the worst things our world has to offer came to the rescue.”
As NPR’s Scott Simon wrote, “The master tailor and his family, the wedding party and theirs: immigrants and families of immigrants, who came to Guelph from opposite ends of the world, and made new homes, and look after each other.” A rippling circle of kind acts brought their lives together on an important day, and enriched all of them.
*****
Micah 6:1-8
Teaching Yourself Kindness
Can you train yourself to be more kind, wondered friends Timothy Goodman and Jessica Walsh? The two friends set out to “create a yearlong social experiment to see if following 12 steps could make them more kind and empathetic people -- and they’re releasing details about each step on their website. ‘We created the steps based on what we read and learned that psychologists say can make you more empathetic,’ Walsh told NPR’s Rachel Martin. ‘And then after we had the steps set up, we asked ourselves what we wanted to explore for each of those.’
“Their first step was called ‘Can I Help You?’ The pair took the opportunity to ask every New Yorker they saw how they could help in some way.” As Goodman says, “We talked to so many people that day, from people who were losing their apartments in New York, to people that just wanted to talk about broken family ties. Relationship issues. Homeless people. I mean, we talked to so many people, it was pretty amazing.”
Some steps focused on strangers, and others on themselves. “Walsh says the fourth step, ‘Don’t Beat Yourself Up,’ about ‘learning not to beat yourself up about things from the past,’ was the most challenging for her. ‘Psychologists say you need to forgive yourself for things you are angry with, otherwise you can transfer that on to other people.’ ”
Other days were hard. “They tried just smiling at people on the street for one full day. People didn’t smile back. ‘I think it came off creepy. Maybe that’s why people didn’t smile at us,’ Goodman laughs.... ‘That’s one of the biggest things, when it came to those kind of steps that we did, the less personal stuff, was just witnessing yourself in relationship to society,’ Goodman says. ‘Every day, you know, there’s a heartbeat, and feeling yourself a part of that is truly amazing at times.’ ‘We just get caught up in our daily routines and doing the same kind of things,’ says Walsh. ‘And this experiment really allowed us to do things we would have never done before.’ ” The practice of kindness stretches us in unexpected ways.
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From team member Ron Love:
Micah 6:1-8
The very popular Fox television program 24 that starred Kiefer Sutherland is now returning as 24: Legacy. In the new series, the leading character will be a black counter-terrorist agent who is a former Army Ranger. Corey Hawkins, who will portray him, wants to present his African-American character as someone more than having black skin. Hawkins wants the audience to know where a black person comes from and the influences on his life. This is why his character comes from southeast Washington, where Hawkins grew up. Hawkins said the program will show “where he comes from, not just his skin color but where he’s from.” Hawkins goes on to say, “That’s the authenticity.”
Application: Micah understood where his people were coming from.
*****
Micah 6:1-8
A recent report by the Economic Policy Institute reveals that the earning gap between college graduates and high school graduates has reached the largest spread in the history of our nation. In the post-Great Recession economy, college graduates make 56% more in wages than high school graduates. The disparity between the two groups has nearly doubled. And the economic effects are not confined to income, they also affect housing, health care, marriage, and other aspects of societal living. While college graduates are getting all the new jobs being created in the new economy, jobs for high school graduates have greatly diminished. One solution offered by the Institute is to provide high school graduates with more training in technology.
Application: If society followed the teaching of Micah, we would be lifting everyone up into the new land that is free from bondage.
*****
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Outgoing Director of National Intelligence James Clapper recently presented his official report on the effects of Russian cyberwarfare on the 2016 election. In testimony before Congress, Clapper said: “The intelligence community can’t gauge the impact it had on the choices the electorate made,” but he went on to say that the Russian hacking “did not change any vote tallies.”
Application: Paul instructs us to not be fooled by those who try to influence us by secret and distorted ways.
*****
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
In a Frank & Ernest comic, the two motley characters are working the information desk in the genealogy section of the library. When a patron comes to the desk seeking assistance, Frank cautions her, “When we shake a family tree a few squirrelly characters are likely to fall out.” (Note: If your sanctuary has a projection screen, you may want to display this comic.)
Application: Paul cautions us that we will be preaching to foolish people.
*****
Matthew 5:1-12
President Dwight Eisenhower understood the message of humility, which is a constant theme running throughout the Beatitudes. His aides insisted that the president make more use of the new medium of television in order to market himself. Eisenhower refused, saying: “I can think of nothing more boring for the American public than to have to sit in their living rooms for a whole half-hour looking at my face on their television screens.”
Application: The Beatitudes instruct us on how to present ourselves with humility.
*****
Matthew 5:1-12
In a Ziggy comic, the main character Ziggy -- a rather non-descript individual with a large nose who often seems kind of confused about what is going on in his surroundings as well as on the national scale -- is standing, looking at the reader, with an exasperated look on his face as he says, “Last week, I had my consciousness raised.” He pauses and then continues, “Unfortunately, it passed out from vertigo!” (Note: If your sanctuary has a projection screen, you may want to display this comic.)
Application: We need to have our consciousness raised, but hopefully we will not become disoriented by our new orientation toward life.
*****
Matthew 5:1-12
Steve Cooper, who established Paladin Training, an organization that trains individuals in the use of firearms for self-defense, recently gave a speech in which he advocated that individuals who attend church should carry concealed weapons. He noted that even though some churches have hired security officers, the officers are present only for a limited number of hours. In their absence, parishioners must defend their churches. Cooper said, “You need to depend on people who are willing to stay there and protect the people in the church because they see that as their family, not as a job.”
Application: Bringing weapons into the church seems to be a violation of the message of the Beatitudes.
*****
Matthew 5:1-12
In a Frank & Ernest comic, the two characters are dressed as priests. They are standing in front of the church marquee which reads: THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH. A passerby looks at the marquee and asks, “You say the meek shall inherit the earth?” Frank replies, “Yeah. If it’s okay with everybody else.” (Note: If your sanctuary has a projection screen, you may want to display this comic.)
Application: According to Jesus the meek will inherit the earth -- and it will not depend on everyone else, but only on the intervention of God.
*****
Matthew 5:1-12
Cult leader Charles Manson became famous when in the summer of 1969 he led his followers on a gruesome killing spree of a number of notable individuals in the Los Angeles area, including actress Sharon Tate (who was pregnant at the time of her death) and coffee heiress Abigail Folger. Today, Manson is an 82-year-old inmate serving a life sentence at California’s Corcoran State Prison. He has bad hearing, bad lungs, fractured bones, and prison-dispensed bad dentures. With the assistance of a cane, he shuffles when he walks. At the time of the murders Manson had hoped to start a race war, but instead he became the front-page face of evil.
Application: If we do not learn how to live by the Beatitudes, we too can become the front-page picture of evil. This may not a picture on the front page of national news, but it could easily be the picture for those who know us in our communities.
*****
Matthew 5:1-12
A recent study has determined that the moon is much older than previously thought. Examining rock samples brought back from the Apollo 14 moonwalk in 1971 -- pieces of zircon that are no larger than a grain of sand -- revealed the new truth that the moon is 4.51 billion years old and was formed 60 million years after the birth of the solar system.
Application: Though our life span will be smaller than a grain of sand when compared to the age of the universe, the effect that we will have by living by the mandates of the Beatitudes will be timeless.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: O God, who may abide in your tent?
People: Who may dwell on your holy hill?
Leader: Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right.
People: Those who speak the truth from their heart;
Leader: Those who do not slander with their tongue.
People: Those who do no evil to their friends, nor stand against their neighbors.
Leader: These may stand on God’s holy hill.
People: These shall never be moved.
OR
Leader: The God of Justice calls us to a just society.
People: As God’s people we will seek to do no harm.
Leader: The God of Mercy calls us to care for the hurting.
People: As God’s people we will seek to do good.
Leader: The God of Unity calls us to work through the Spirit.
People: As God’s people we will seek to live in God.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“God of Grace and God of Glory”
found in:
UMH: 577
H82: 594, 595
PH: 420
NCH: 436
CH: 464
LBW: 415
ELA: 705
W&P: 569
AMEC: 62
STLT: 115
Renew: 301
“The God of Abraham Praise”
found in:
UMH: 116
H82: 401
NCH: 24
CH: 24
LBW: 544
ELA: 31
W&P: 16
Renew: 51
“There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy”
found in:
UMH: 121
H82: 469, 470
PH: 298
NCH: 23
CH: 73
LBW: 290
ELA: 587, 588
W&P: 61
AMEC: 78
STLT: 213
“Breathe on Me, Breath of God”
found in:
UMH: 420
H82: 508
PH: 316
AAHH: 317
NNBH: 126
NCH: 292
CH: 254
LBW: 488
W&P: 461
AMEC: 192
“Make Me a Captive, Lord”
found in:
UMH: 421
PH: 378
“What Does the Lord Require”
found in:
UMH: 441
H82: 605
PH: 405
NCH: 659
W&P: 686
“God Hath Spoken by the Prophets”
found in:
UMH: 108
LBW: 238
W&P: 667
“La Palabra Del Señor Es Recta”
found in:
UMH: 107
(This is one of those hymns that, while it is only in the United Methodist hymnal, has such striking words that I recommend it for all. You can have it sung or read with great effect.)
“Great Is the Lord”
found in:
CCB: 65
Renew: 22
“As We Gather”
found in:
CCB: 12
Renew: 6
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who is justice and mercy: Grant us the grace to live in the power of your Spirit, that we may ensure justice is done in our world and that mercy is applied when justice fails; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, for you are justice and mercy. You call us to reflect your being in our world, and so we ask for the power of your Spirit to fall upon us. Help us to always seek for justice in our world, and when it fails help us to extend mercy. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our desire for revenge more than justice or mercy.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You call us to live in and through you so that justice and mercy flow from us, but we are far from you. When we do not renew our devotion to you daily, we slip from the path you have set before us. We become hardened and are more apt to look for revenge than justice. We seek punishment and forget about mercy. We fail to remember that you created us and you know us. You teach us how to make a good world, but we follow other paths. Forgive us, and call us back to your ways that we may honor you by offering justice and mercy to all. Amen.
Leader: God is our creator and knows us better than we know ourselves. God has designed us for justice and mercy. Receive God’s love and forgiveness, and seek God so that others will be able to live in a just and merciful world.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We offer to you, O God, our praise and our devotion, for you are the very essence of justice and mercy.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You call us to live in and through you so that justice and mercy flow from us, but we are far from you. When we do not renew our devotion to you daily, we slip from the path you have set before us. We become hardened and are more apt to look for revenge than justice. We seek punishment and forget about mercy. We fail to remember that you created us and you know us. You teach us how to make a good world, but we follow other paths. Forgive us, and call us back to your ways that we may honor you by offering justice and mercy to all.
We thank you for teaching us how to live in this world so that we can all find wholeness and blessing. You have given us your prophets and seers, your kings and psalmists, your Son and your saints to teach us your ways.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all your children, and especially those who find the world to be so unjust. We pray for all who work for justice in your world so that people are not harmed by others. We pray for those who find the world short on mercy. We pray for those who bring mercy to a suffering people. Help us to be your people of justice and mercy.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Talk to the children about justice and mercy. They can be very abstract terms. Talk about “justice” meaning that we set things up so that people are treated fairly and are not harmed. “Mercy” is when people are hurt and we try to take care of them. We have rules about how to play so that no one gets hurt. If someone breaks the rules and a person does get hurt, then we take care of them. Rules are meant to bring about justice. Caring is about mercy.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
What Does God Want Us to Do?
by Chris Keating
Micah 6:1-8
One of the struggles children may experience is understanding the virtue of humility. Their developmental perspective doesn’t easily accommodate being humble, yet there are ways we can help them understand why this is a trait God would want us to develop.
The classic Mac Davis song “Oh Lord, It’s Hard to Be Humble,” while amusing, isn’t suitable for a children’s sermon. But find it on YouTube and listen to it as a way of beginning to think about ways we can encourage children to live according to Micah’s call to “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly” with God.
As the children gather, tell them you have a story about two brothers (substitute names/genders as needed) named Patrick and Daniel. Patrick is the older of the two boys. Most of the time, Patrick and Daniel get along just fine. But one day Patrick has a friend from school over to play. The two older boys want to play a game that would be a bit too hard for Daniel, since he doesn’t know how to read very well yet. Daniel wants to play, but the two boys say “No, you can’t. We’re smarter than you!” Patrick and his friend laugh, and keep bragging about how they know so much about “stuff” and that they can do so much more than Daniel. This makes Daniel feel sad.
A bit later the two older boys are playing catch outside. Daniel wants to play with them, but Patrick tells him, “No, Daniel. You can’t play with us. We’re bigger and stronger than you!” Once again Daniel is sad. Then the older boys start laughing about how Daniel is too small to do anything.
How are the boys acting toward Daniel? Are they bragging, making the younger boy feel as though he doesn’t matter? Do the children know examples of when others may have treated them as if they were not important? Are there things that small children get to do that older children can’t? (In our home, when our son was small he could crawl behind a kitchen cabinet and retrieve a fork that had fallen from the drawer -- that was something only he could do because of his size.) How does God want us to treat each other?
Explain that today we are learning what it means to be “humble.” Being humble means that we consider the feelings of other people. Examples could include being nice to others, holding doors open for others, sharing a special food instead of eating all of it. They can come up with more ideas. Being humble doesn’t mean thinking less of ourselves. But it means that we think about the needs of others.
Hold up a card that has the verses from Micah printed on it. Explain that Micah was a messenger from God who wanted to tell God’s people that being humble means we take time to think about how other people feel, and take their feelings into account. God wants us to be kind to others, to do what is right, and to think about how our actions may make other people feel uncomfortable.
Close with a prayer asking God to help us learn how to be humble every day.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, January 29, 2017, issue.
Copyright 2017 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
Team member Chris Keating shares some additional thoughts on Micah’s themes of justice, mercy, and Godliness, and how they can serve as basic benchmarks in our own lives. In a world filled with marketing slogans and self-aggrandizement, Chris notes that the prophet’s request for us to be mindful of our relationships with others and with God could well be distilled down to a simple maxim: “Watch your step.”
The Power to Pardon
by Dean Feldmeyer
Micah 6:1-8; Matthew 5:1-12
The presidential power to pardon is granted under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution: “The President... shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”
During his presidential term, Barack Obama was somewhat stingy with pardons (212), but he granted more commutations (1,715) than any president in history -- and some of them created a whirlwind of controversy.
Alexander Hamilton said that the power to pardon was an absolutely essential check to balance the power of the courts, and Chief Justice John Marshall called it “an act of grace.” Oliver Wendell Holmes said that it was not just a personal act of grace but one that was part of the “constitutional scheme.”
As a people who are acquainted with the concept of grace, how should Christians who take their faith seriously behave when it comes to acts of pardon and commutation? How do we bring Micah’s admonition to “do justice and love kindness” through the courthouse doors? How do we bring the fifth Beatitude -- “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” -- onto the stage of American jurisprudence?
In the News
Contrary to what we may have heard, when it came to granting pardons (212) Barack Obama was somewhere in the middle of the pack when we consider the actions of other modern presidents. With commutations, however, it’s a different story. He commuted more sentences than any president in history (1,715), and more than the past 13 presidents combined.
Pardons are relatively easy. They usually go to people who have already served their time and are out of prison. The pardon just restores the privileges of citizenship that they enjoyed before their conviction. They can vote, run for office, etc. They still have to overcome the felony conviction that remains on their record, however.
Commutations are another matter -- they actually shorten prison sentences and set people free. Many of Obama’s commutations were for non-violent drug offenses or other cases where people received harsh, even draconian prison sentences for relatively minor offenses. But the commutation of Chelsea Manning’s sentence from 35 years to the six-plus she has already served caused a hue and cry that receded only because of the wall-to-wall media coverage given to Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Manning was arrested in 2010 after leaking 700,000 military files and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks. Some of those communications proved claims of American war crimes, torture, and other nefarious behavior by the military, the intelligence community, and private contractors. Others revealed state secrets. But, said Obama, her sentence exceeded that received by other individuals recently convicted of releasing classified material.
The president offered this justification even though he was under no obligation to do so. No president is required to explain his reasons for pardoning or commuting a sentence. Any person who has been found guilty of a crime is eligible, and pardons and/or commutations can be given for any reason or no reason. The only exception is that people who have been impeached cannot be returned to office.
Political considerations, however, have made pardons and commutations very rare in recent decades -- so much so that even conservative commentators are calling for a more liberal application of this presidential privilege.
In a legal memorandum written for the conservative Heritage Foundation, Paul Rosenzweig writes: “For much of America’s history, the President used his pardon power to correct wrongs, forgive transgressors, and temper justice with mercy.... Today, those instincts have died, buried under a legacy of prosecutorial zeal and a fear of adverse political criticism.”
Sometimes the presidential pardon is the only curative for mandatory sentences which take any kind of judicial discretion off the table. Judges’ hands are tied. They are not allowed to consider any mitigating factors before sentencing. Other times the power to pardon is the only hope of a person who is in prison only because they received inadequate or incompetent counsel and are poor and couldn’t afford an attorney to file and follow through on appeals.
This is one area upon which liberals and conservatives seem to agree. As Josh Marshall says in Talking Points Memo: “Without that possibility of mercy, acted on with some frequency, justice can’t be justice.”
In the Scriptures
The lessons for this week from the Hebrew scriptures and the gospel drive us to the topic of mercy -- what it is, and how it is applied by God and by the People of God.
Micah 6:1-8
This wonderful passage comes to us as a dialogue between Micah, who speaks for God, and the people of Judah, who speak for themselves.
It begins with God demanding to know why Judah has not been obedient to God’s will. “Well,” God seems to say, “What do you have to say for yourselves?” He goes on, “What have I demanded of you that’s too heavy for you to carry? Or have you forgotten all the times I have saved you and taken care of you?”
The people respond that God’s appetite for sacrifice is insatiable and they’re beginning to think that no matter what they do, even if they sacrifice “ten thousand rivers of oil” or “thousands of rams,” it will not be enough. Indeed, even if they sacrificed their firstborn children God would not be satisfied.
In the final verse of the passage, Micah shakes his head and drops his voice to a whisper. “Don’t act like you don’t know what the Lord wants. God has told you: do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.”
Humility, justice, and kindness. These are the hallmarks of righteousness. This is what it means to live the good life. The People of God are called to be like God: humble, just, and kind.
Matthew 5:1-12
A beatitude is a state of supreme blessedness.
But for most of us that definition doesn’t help much, because we aren’t really clear what “blessedness” means. Biblical scholar David P. Scaer is helpful in this regard: “Blessedness should not be seen as a reward for religious accomplishments, but as an act of God’s grace in believers’ lives. Rather than congratulating them on spiritual or moral achievements, the beatitude underscores the fact that sinners stand within a forgiving relationship” with God.
The Beatitudes, then, could be reversed and lose nothing of their meaning. They are the same frontwards and backwards: Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are those who have received mercy, for they will be merciful.
Given and received mercy, then, is one of the natural outgrowths of God’s grace -- just as apples are natural outgrowths of the apple tree. Those of us who have been touched (or clobbered) by God’s grace as it comes to us in Jesus Christ are called to live a new style, one that is seasoned with spiritual hunger, empathy, humility, the desire for good, mercy, purity, peace, and self-sacrifice.
And we are called to this life not because these are laws that we “ought” to obey, but because this is what it looks like to be struck by grace. This, in Paul’s words, is what it looks like to “put on Christ” (Romans 13:14).
Today we focus upon one of these beatitudes or blessings.
Because we have been touched by mercy, we know how important and powerful mercy is, and we are free to exercise it in our own lives. We are free to pardon those who have done wrong and those who have done us wrong. We have the power to commute their sentences, to end their suffering, to shorten their grief, to relieve their despair, whether they deserve it or not.
That’s how grace works.
In the Sermon
We live in a time of prosecutorial zealotry, a time of mandatory sentences, maximum sentences, three-strikes laws, private prisons run for profit, and a desire for punishment and revenge. We are scared, even though the crime rate has plummeted steadily since 1993.
According to the FBI, the homicide rate has fallen by 51 percent; forcible rapes have declined by 35 percent; robberies have decreased by 56 percent; and the rate of aggravated assault has been cut by 45 percent. Property crime rates are also sharply down. The National Crime Victimization Survey reports that the rate of violent victimizations has declined by 67 percent since 1993. This reflects a 70 percent decline in rape and sexual assault; a 66 percent decline in robbery; a 77 percent decline in aggravated assault; and a 64 percent decline in simple assault.
It is, to a great degree, this irrational and unfounded fear that drives our desire for prosecutorial ruthlessness, merciless judges, and a police force steeped in warrior culture, even as it blinds us to flaws within and abuses of the legal system.
Bryan Stevenson, in his wonderful memoir Just Mercy, points out that this overwrought fear of crime has led us to become a country where “mass imprisonment has littered the national landscape with carceral monuments of reckless and excessive punishment and ravaged communities with our hopeless willingness to condemn and discard the most vulnerable among us” (p. 313).
Stevenson is the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, which is responsible for the reversals, relief, or release for over 115 wrongly condemned prisoners on death row. His book follows some of those cases, but the thread that runs through and connects them all is the case of Walter McMillian, who was wrongly convicted of murder and spent six years on death row. Lawyers of the Equal Justice Initiative proved that McMillian’s conviction was obtained through police coercion and perjury by witnesses, and brought to light evidence, including a score of testimonies by witnesses that were in the possession of prosecutors and police and was not shared with the defense as proscribed by law, that was ignored or disallowed in his trial. Even though the jury had recommended life imprisonment, the trial judge had overridden the jury and imposed the death sentence.
Speaking at Walter’s funeral in 2003, 20 years after his release, Bryan Stevenson said that while Walter was cleared of all charges, he was never treated the same by the community he had loved and for which he prayed for six years to one day return. Walter had lost his home, his business, his wife and family, his standing in the community -- everything that was of value to him.
Stevenson then spoke of the widow who was caught in adultery and how Jesus challenged those who would stone her to death to let the one who is without sin cast the first stone. When the crowd turned and walked away, Jesus forgave the woman and bid her go and sin no more. She would not die this day, but in God’s good time.
Stevenson concluded his eulogy: “Walter had taught me that mercy is just when it is rooted in hopefulness and freely given. Mercy is most empowering, liberating, and transformative when it is directed at the undeserving. The people who haven’t earned it, who haven’t even sought it, are the most meaningful recipients of our compassion. Walter genuinely forgave the people who unfairly accused him, the people who convicted him, and the people who had judged him unworthy of mercy. And in the end, it was just mercy toward others that allowed him to recover a life worth celebrating, a life that rediscovered the love and freedom that all humans desire, a life that overcame death and condemnation until it was time to die on God’s schedule” (Just Mercy, p. 314).
Josh Marshall puts it like this: “There are countless people in the criminal justice system who deserve mercy, for myriad reasons -- extreme sentences, injustices that are beyond the reach of the appeals process, simple mercy, exceptional transformations during incarceration. They are as unique as the millions who serve in prisons. This is not an indictment of the criminal justice system in itself. One can believe in punishment and accountability and yet recognize that there must be a pressure valve, a source of mercy that goes beyond the narrow confines of the letter of the law. Without that possibility of mercy, acted on with some frequency, justice can’t be justice.”
And let us not forget, as we cast our judgment gaze upon those who have been found guilty, that it was Jesus, the one we call Lord, who was himself found guilty and sentenced to death -- but who nevertheless reminds us that those who have been shown mercy, as have we all, are free to give it away.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Watch Your Step
by Chris Keating
Micah 6:1-8
Simon Sinek, author of the best-seller Start With Why, says that nearly every business consultation he leads ends with what he calls “The Millennial Question.” He says leaders confronted by waves of young adults entering the workforce are puzzled by how to manage this large new generation.
“Leaders are asking,” Sinek told an interviewer, “What do you want?” Sinek says that Millennials generally say they want a job with purpose, one that makes an impact and gives them free food. When employers give them these things, many still are not happy.
“Too many grew up being told they’re special,” Sinek told Inside Quest. He suggested that there are four primary reasons why Millennials are unhappy at work -- parenting, technology, impatience, and environment. As the video ricocheted around the internet, it created waves of conversations. A few saw Sinek’s characterization of Millennials as a hyper-connected, overly-coddled, everyone-gets-a-trophy generation as being a bit harsh, while others sang his praise.
Both groups missed his point, which was aimed at helping create pathways of meaning and purpose in workplaces.
Not long after the short “Millennials in the Workplace” video broke on Facebook before Christmas, it generated hundreds of thousands of views and comments. The wide-ranging response and conversations prompted him to make a second video. In the follow-up video, Sinek hinted at another purpose. What’s needed, he says, are not more self-help books but a new industry designed to help people succeed in life. “We need an industry called ‘help others,’ ” focused on creating leaders whose purpose is to help others get through life.
We need a guide for being kind.
Sinek speaks with the voice of a consultant, but his wisdom is nearly prophetic. Back in eighth century BC Israel, Micah recorded God’s struggle with a generation also beset by issues of connection and meaning. Many felt forgotten. The poor felt victimized and powerless, vulnerable to oppressive leaders and systems. Others had turned from God to find more immediate means of satisfaction.
Like Sinek, Micah’s words foretell a need for change. Micah points to a larger issue of recovering hope and purpose. Generations before us might have called this discipline the way of holiness. Jesus referred to it as seeking the kingdom of God. Micah sees it as simply watching your step as you walk with God. His admonitions are as timely today as ever.
In the winter of our discontent, Micah offers these simple instructions: mind your step.
Watch your step as you navigate pathways littered with rhetoric generated by self-aggrandizing leaders. Be careful as you walk pass the cult of celebrity and the icons of self-flattery. Don’t be caught off-guard by hyped-up marketing, overexaggerated claims to greatness, or be led astray by misleading “alternative facts.” Instead, simply watch where you are walking.
Be kind. Act justly. Be humble. As you go out walking in the world, let these words help you help others.
Micah’s familiar words sound nearly like a bumper sticker, or a cleverly worded tagline for some sort of campaign for discovering meaning in life. Indeed, the church has played around with these phrases for years, hoping to kindle new commitments to social justice campaigns. We’ve inscribed them on tote bags and printed them on conference t-shirts. They stir our hearts, replenishing our faith. They cause us to say, “What can we do in response to all of what God has done for us?”
“Quick,” we say, “look busy. Do something remarkable and God will be pleased.” Ideas are generated: maybe a fundraiser of some sort will do the trick. Someone says, “That’s it! A spaghetti dinner!” “No, no,” someone says, let’s just give the money. We’ll write a check.” The ideas are endless. God will be pleased, right?
That’s what Micah’s original audience thought. Yet the call to faith is a call to humility and an invitation away from self-promotion. Much as we try to make Micah’s words into glitzy slogans, they really don’t fit on bumper stickers. These words weren’t penned by Yahweh’s marketing team. Micah’s Volvo didn’t have “Do Justice” right above the “CoExist” sticker or below the one proclaiming “My Kid’s an Honor Student at Zion Middle School.” What is needed is a heart that is changed.
The tendency to reduce these words to a slogan or catchphrase robs them of their power. Yahweh expects God’s people to be the counter-cultural force of change in the world. The prophet calls God’s people to the demanding work of honoring God by their conduct and faithful living. Watch your step, help others along the way. Be kind. Don’t feed the trolls.
Micah’s corrective stanzas offer us hope and lead us to find new meaning and purpose. They invite us to speak words of justice in a world where power is abused, and absolute power is abused absolutely. Listen, the prophet says, and recall the story of your salvation. Listen and remember, retell the powerful stories of faith so “that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.”
Most importantly, those who walk with God and each other do so in humble partnership. We walk humbled by God’s grace, discovering the answer to our deepest questions of longing and want.
A quick Google search reveals that there are at least 16 million possibilities for finding “the secret to a good life in 2017.” It’s a quest as old as Homer (the Greek, not Simpson). The search leads some to downloading a meditation app for their iPhone, or seeking spiritual direction, visiting Mecca or exploring Celtic thin places. Others take a yoga class at the local community center, or sign up to have daily affirmations sent to their inbox.
But as but as Sinek stresses, knowing we are special may not be enough. This is not an individual journey. Pathways to meaning that are centered around the self are not sufficient. The pathway toward a meaningful life -- defined by one psychologist as a life that is both connected to something/someone and contributing to something/someone -- is not always just a trot down a happy path.
It’s a bit more than a detox diet or pithy bumper sticker (though “Suck it up, buttercup” may come close). It is instead a God-focused way of life that waits for God to guide our steps, to engage in acts of justice, and to pardon our iniquities. That is the way toward helping each other.
Micah sums it up nicely by telling God’s people to “Watch your step.”
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:
Micah 6:1-8
Walking Humbly
Chef Nobu Matsuhisa is a renowned sushi chef and the owner of a number of restaurants. He has the vision, but he says, “I like teamwork, and my chefs give me a good education. My background is Japanese, but the people working in my kitchens are from London, New York, France, Italy, China, the Philippines, so I learn from them too.” He travels ten months of the year, constantly visiting his restaurants, and he says that every person in the restaurant is key to its success. “Launching a restaurant is easy: Find the location, spend $1 million to make it beautiful. But after the door is open, who makes it a happy place? Who’s cooking? Who’s dishwashing? Who’s taking the reservation? Any kind of vision needs people. That’s what makes a good impression.” He himself learned the business from the bottom of the bottom. “I was 18 and didn’t know anything about fish. My mentor taught me the basics. For the first three years, I didn’t make sushi; I washed dishes and cleaned the fish. But if I asked questions, he always answered.” The humble start has continued in humble management, continuing to learn now from his employees, as he once learned from his teacher.
*****
Micah 6:1-8
Humility
Golfer Arnold Palmer learned the hard way the importance of humility. He recalled, “One time at Augusta, I was going into the last hole with a one-shot lead to win the Masters, and a friend from the gallery hollered at me, so I walked over and accepted congratulations. And then I proceeded to make six on the hole and lose. My father had warned me about that. I was told all my life not to accept congratulations until it’s over.”
*****
Micah 6:1-8
Love Kindness
“Love kindness,” the prophet Micah says. The Smile Transaction Register both inspires kindness and keeps track of it. Invented by a bank employee, the transaction register looks like a checkbook, and the inside cover reads:
Congratulations! You are currently the bearer of the Smile Transaction Register. This kindness checkbook began its journey with $20. Your only job is to keep it going. Don’t keep it long. Look over the entries in the register to get some ideas of how to spread small acts of kindness. You can either make a deposit if the funds are low (as your act of kindness) and make that your entry in the register as such. Or you can make a withdrawal from the funds inside to make someone’s day and then log that withdrawal in the register. Please include: the date, the description of the transaction, and the amount. Finish the entry by writing in the ending balance. Before you pass it, share your story in an e-mail to smiletransactions@gmail.com and it’s your choice whom you pass it on to. Pass it on to someone who enjoys spreading smiles as much as you do!
The register travels around town, meeting needs and being refilled.
*****
Micah 6:1-8
The Immigrant and the Bride -- a Circle of Kindness
Kindness most often reaches beyond the first act of generosity, continuing to travel onward and touch more people. As Jo Du put on her wedding dress, the zipper broke. On a Sunday, no tailor shops were open, and none of the bridesmaids knew how to make the repair. “An enterprising bridesmaid knocked on a neighbor’s door to ask David Hobson if he might have a pair of pliers they could borrow. Mr. Hobson took in the situation -- the bridesmaid, the lacy white dress, and a request for pliers -- and said, ‘I’ve got better than tools. I’ve got a master tailor.’ David Hobson had a family of Syrian refugees from Aleppo living in his home for a few days: a mother, father, and three children. A local businessman, Jim Estill, has helped 50 Syrian families enter Canada and settle in the Guelph area -- people from one of the most hellish landscapes on earth, brought to live in one of the safest, tidiest, and most serene towns in Canada. The father of the Syrian family is Ibrahim Halil Dudu. He was indeed a master tailor in Aleppo for 28 years, and as soon as he saw the dress, Ibrahim Dudu got out his sewing kit and set to work.”
The wedding photographer later said, “Every weekend I take photos of people on the happiest days of their lives, and today one man who has seen some of the worst things our world has to offer came to the rescue.”
As NPR’s Scott Simon wrote, “The master tailor and his family, the wedding party and theirs: immigrants and families of immigrants, who came to Guelph from opposite ends of the world, and made new homes, and look after each other.” A rippling circle of kind acts brought their lives together on an important day, and enriched all of them.
*****
Micah 6:1-8
Teaching Yourself Kindness
Can you train yourself to be more kind, wondered friends Timothy Goodman and Jessica Walsh? The two friends set out to “create a yearlong social experiment to see if following 12 steps could make them more kind and empathetic people -- and they’re releasing details about each step on their website. ‘We created the steps based on what we read and learned that psychologists say can make you more empathetic,’ Walsh told NPR’s Rachel Martin. ‘And then after we had the steps set up, we asked ourselves what we wanted to explore for each of those.’
“Their first step was called ‘Can I Help You?’ The pair took the opportunity to ask every New Yorker they saw how they could help in some way.” As Goodman says, “We talked to so many people that day, from people who were losing their apartments in New York, to people that just wanted to talk about broken family ties. Relationship issues. Homeless people. I mean, we talked to so many people, it was pretty amazing.”
Some steps focused on strangers, and others on themselves. “Walsh says the fourth step, ‘Don’t Beat Yourself Up,’ about ‘learning not to beat yourself up about things from the past,’ was the most challenging for her. ‘Psychologists say you need to forgive yourself for things you are angry with, otherwise you can transfer that on to other people.’ ”
Other days were hard. “They tried just smiling at people on the street for one full day. People didn’t smile back. ‘I think it came off creepy. Maybe that’s why people didn’t smile at us,’ Goodman laughs.... ‘That’s one of the biggest things, when it came to those kind of steps that we did, the less personal stuff, was just witnessing yourself in relationship to society,’ Goodman says. ‘Every day, you know, there’s a heartbeat, and feeling yourself a part of that is truly amazing at times.’ ‘We just get caught up in our daily routines and doing the same kind of things,’ says Walsh. ‘And this experiment really allowed us to do things we would have never done before.’ ” The practice of kindness stretches us in unexpected ways.
***************
From team member Ron Love:
Micah 6:1-8
The very popular Fox television program 24 that starred Kiefer Sutherland is now returning as 24: Legacy. In the new series, the leading character will be a black counter-terrorist agent who is a former Army Ranger. Corey Hawkins, who will portray him, wants to present his African-American character as someone more than having black skin. Hawkins wants the audience to know where a black person comes from and the influences on his life. This is why his character comes from southeast Washington, where Hawkins grew up. Hawkins said the program will show “where he comes from, not just his skin color but where he’s from.” Hawkins goes on to say, “That’s the authenticity.”
Application: Micah understood where his people were coming from.
*****
Micah 6:1-8
A recent report by the Economic Policy Institute reveals that the earning gap between college graduates and high school graduates has reached the largest spread in the history of our nation. In the post-Great Recession economy, college graduates make 56% more in wages than high school graduates. The disparity between the two groups has nearly doubled. And the economic effects are not confined to income, they also affect housing, health care, marriage, and other aspects of societal living. While college graduates are getting all the new jobs being created in the new economy, jobs for high school graduates have greatly diminished. One solution offered by the Institute is to provide high school graduates with more training in technology.
Application: If society followed the teaching of Micah, we would be lifting everyone up into the new land that is free from bondage.
*****
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Outgoing Director of National Intelligence James Clapper recently presented his official report on the effects of Russian cyberwarfare on the 2016 election. In testimony before Congress, Clapper said: “The intelligence community can’t gauge the impact it had on the choices the electorate made,” but he went on to say that the Russian hacking “did not change any vote tallies.”
Application: Paul instructs us to not be fooled by those who try to influence us by secret and distorted ways.
*****
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
In a Frank & Ernest comic, the two motley characters are working the information desk in the genealogy section of the library. When a patron comes to the desk seeking assistance, Frank cautions her, “When we shake a family tree a few squirrelly characters are likely to fall out.” (Note: If your sanctuary has a projection screen, you may want to display this comic.)
Application: Paul cautions us that we will be preaching to foolish people.
*****
Matthew 5:1-12
President Dwight Eisenhower understood the message of humility, which is a constant theme running throughout the Beatitudes. His aides insisted that the president make more use of the new medium of television in order to market himself. Eisenhower refused, saying: “I can think of nothing more boring for the American public than to have to sit in their living rooms for a whole half-hour looking at my face on their television screens.”
Application: The Beatitudes instruct us on how to present ourselves with humility.
*****
Matthew 5:1-12
In a Ziggy comic, the main character Ziggy -- a rather non-descript individual with a large nose who often seems kind of confused about what is going on in his surroundings as well as on the national scale -- is standing, looking at the reader, with an exasperated look on his face as he says, “Last week, I had my consciousness raised.” He pauses and then continues, “Unfortunately, it passed out from vertigo!” (Note: If your sanctuary has a projection screen, you may want to display this comic.)
Application: We need to have our consciousness raised, but hopefully we will not become disoriented by our new orientation toward life.
*****
Matthew 5:1-12
Steve Cooper, who established Paladin Training, an organization that trains individuals in the use of firearms for self-defense, recently gave a speech in which he advocated that individuals who attend church should carry concealed weapons. He noted that even though some churches have hired security officers, the officers are present only for a limited number of hours. In their absence, parishioners must defend their churches. Cooper said, “You need to depend on people who are willing to stay there and protect the people in the church because they see that as their family, not as a job.”
Application: Bringing weapons into the church seems to be a violation of the message of the Beatitudes.
*****
Matthew 5:1-12
In a Frank & Ernest comic, the two characters are dressed as priests. They are standing in front of the church marquee which reads: THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH. A passerby looks at the marquee and asks, “You say the meek shall inherit the earth?” Frank replies, “Yeah. If it’s okay with everybody else.” (Note: If your sanctuary has a projection screen, you may want to display this comic.)
Application: According to Jesus the meek will inherit the earth -- and it will not depend on everyone else, but only on the intervention of God.
*****
Matthew 5:1-12
Cult leader Charles Manson became famous when in the summer of 1969 he led his followers on a gruesome killing spree of a number of notable individuals in the Los Angeles area, including actress Sharon Tate (who was pregnant at the time of her death) and coffee heiress Abigail Folger. Today, Manson is an 82-year-old inmate serving a life sentence at California’s Corcoran State Prison. He has bad hearing, bad lungs, fractured bones, and prison-dispensed bad dentures. With the assistance of a cane, he shuffles when he walks. At the time of the murders Manson had hoped to start a race war, but instead he became the front-page face of evil.
Application: If we do not learn how to live by the Beatitudes, we too can become the front-page picture of evil. This may not a picture on the front page of national news, but it could easily be the picture for those who know us in our communities.
*****
Matthew 5:1-12
A recent study has determined that the moon is much older than previously thought. Examining rock samples brought back from the Apollo 14 moonwalk in 1971 -- pieces of zircon that are no larger than a grain of sand -- revealed the new truth that the moon is 4.51 billion years old and was formed 60 million years after the birth of the solar system.
Application: Though our life span will be smaller than a grain of sand when compared to the age of the universe, the effect that we will have by living by the mandates of the Beatitudes will be timeless.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: O God, who may abide in your tent?
People: Who may dwell on your holy hill?
Leader: Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right.
People: Those who speak the truth from their heart;
Leader: Those who do not slander with their tongue.
People: Those who do no evil to their friends, nor stand against their neighbors.
Leader: These may stand on God’s holy hill.
People: These shall never be moved.
OR
Leader: The God of Justice calls us to a just society.
People: As God’s people we will seek to do no harm.
Leader: The God of Mercy calls us to care for the hurting.
People: As God’s people we will seek to do good.
Leader: The God of Unity calls us to work through the Spirit.
People: As God’s people we will seek to live in God.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“God of Grace and God of Glory”
found in:
UMH: 577
H82: 594, 595
PH: 420
NCH: 436
CH: 464
LBW: 415
ELA: 705
W&P: 569
AMEC: 62
STLT: 115
Renew: 301
“The God of Abraham Praise”
found in:
UMH: 116
H82: 401
NCH: 24
CH: 24
LBW: 544
ELA: 31
W&P: 16
Renew: 51
“There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy”
found in:
UMH: 121
H82: 469, 470
PH: 298
NCH: 23
CH: 73
LBW: 290
ELA: 587, 588
W&P: 61
AMEC: 78
STLT: 213
“Breathe on Me, Breath of God”
found in:
UMH: 420
H82: 508
PH: 316
AAHH: 317
NNBH: 126
NCH: 292
CH: 254
LBW: 488
W&P: 461
AMEC: 192
“Make Me a Captive, Lord”
found in:
UMH: 421
PH: 378
“What Does the Lord Require”
found in:
UMH: 441
H82: 605
PH: 405
NCH: 659
W&P: 686
“God Hath Spoken by the Prophets”
found in:
UMH: 108
LBW: 238
W&P: 667
“La Palabra Del Señor Es Recta”
found in:
UMH: 107
(This is one of those hymns that, while it is only in the United Methodist hymnal, has such striking words that I recommend it for all. You can have it sung or read with great effect.)
“Great Is the Lord”
found in:
CCB: 65
Renew: 22
“As We Gather”
found in:
CCB: 12
Renew: 6
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who is justice and mercy: Grant us the grace to live in the power of your Spirit, that we may ensure justice is done in our world and that mercy is applied when justice fails; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, for you are justice and mercy. You call us to reflect your being in our world, and so we ask for the power of your Spirit to fall upon us. Help us to always seek for justice in our world, and when it fails help us to extend mercy. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our desire for revenge more than justice or mercy.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You call us to live in and through you so that justice and mercy flow from us, but we are far from you. When we do not renew our devotion to you daily, we slip from the path you have set before us. We become hardened and are more apt to look for revenge than justice. We seek punishment and forget about mercy. We fail to remember that you created us and you know us. You teach us how to make a good world, but we follow other paths. Forgive us, and call us back to your ways that we may honor you by offering justice and mercy to all. Amen.
Leader: God is our creator and knows us better than we know ourselves. God has designed us for justice and mercy. Receive God’s love and forgiveness, and seek God so that others will be able to live in a just and merciful world.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We offer to you, O God, our praise and our devotion, for you are the very essence of justice and mercy.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You call us to live in and through you so that justice and mercy flow from us, but we are far from you. When we do not renew our devotion to you daily, we slip from the path you have set before us. We become hardened and are more apt to look for revenge than justice. We seek punishment and forget about mercy. We fail to remember that you created us and you know us. You teach us how to make a good world, but we follow other paths. Forgive us, and call us back to your ways that we may honor you by offering justice and mercy to all.
We thank you for teaching us how to live in this world so that we can all find wholeness and blessing. You have given us your prophets and seers, your kings and psalmists, your Son and your saints to teach us your ways.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all your children, and especially those who find the world to be so unjust. We pray for all who work for justice in your world so that people are not harmed by others. We pray for those who find the world short on mercy. We pray for those who bring mercy to a suffering people. Help us to be your people of justice and mercy.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Talk to the children about justice and mercy. They can be very abstract terms. Talk about “justice” meaning that we set things up so that people are treated fairly and are not harmed. “Mercy” is when people are hurt and we try to take care of them. We have rules about how to play so that no one gets hurt. If someone breaks the rules and a person does get hurt, then we take care of them. Rules are meant to bring about justice. Caring is about mercy.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
What Does God Want Us to Do?
by Chris Keating
Micah 6:1-8
One of the struggles children may experience is understanding the virtue of humility. Their developmental perspective doesn’t easily accommodate being humble, yet there are ways we can help them understand why this is a trait God would want us to develop.
The classic Mac Davis song “Oh Lord, It’s Hard to Be Humble,” while amusing, isn’t suitable for a children’s sermon. But find it on YouTube and listen to it as a way of beginning to think about ways we can encourage children to live according to Micah’s call to “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly” with God.
As the children gather, tell them you have a story about two brothers (substitute names/genders as needed) named Patrick and Daniel. Patrick is the older of the two boys. Most of the time, Patrick and Daniel get along just fine. But one day Patrick has a friend from school over to play. The two older boys want to play a game that would be a bit too hard for Daniel, since he doesn’t know how to read very well yet. Daniel wants to play, but the two boys say “No, you can’t. We’re smarter than you!” Patrick and his friend laugh, and keep bragging about how they know so much about “stuff” and that they can do so much more than Daniel. This makes Daniel feel sad.
A bit later the two older boys are playing catch outside. Daniel wants to play with them, but Patrick tells him, “No, Daniel. You can’t play with us. We’re bigger and stronger than you!” Once again Daniel is sad. Then the older boys start laughing about how Daniel is too small to do anything.
How are the boys acting toward Daniel? Are they bragging, making the younger boy feel as though he doesn’t matter? Do the children know examples of when others may have treated them as if they were not important? Are there things that small children get to do that older children can’t? (In our home, when our son was small he could crawl behind a kitchen cabinet and retrieve a fork that had fallen from the drawer -- that was something only he could do because of his size.) How does God want us to treat each other?
Explain that today we are learning what it means to be “humble.” Being humble means that we consider the feelings of other people. Examples could include being nice to others, holding doors open for others, sharing a special food instead of eating all of it. They can come up with more ideas. Being humble doesn’t mean thinking less of ourselves. But it means that we think about the needs of others.
Hold up a card that has the verses from Micah printed on it. Explain that Micah was a messenger from God who wanted to tell God’s people that being humble means we take time to think about how other people feel, and take their feelings into account. God wants us to be kind to others, to do what is right, and to think about how our actions may make other people feel uncomfortable.
Close with a prayer asking God to help us learn how to be humble every day.
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The Immediate Word, January 29, 2017, issue.
Copyright 2017 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
