What Were You Thinking?
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series II, Cycle A
Object:
Late one night, Pastor Bill was driving home after spending the past 23 hours in the hospital with his wife, celebrating the birth of their son. It had been a glorious day. His wife was peacefully resting. His extended family was ecstatic. His son was healthy. Surely God was in heaven and all was right with the world.
As he drove through the city streets, Pastor Bill began to think about all the plans he had to increase parish worship attendance and multiply its Sunday offerings. He reflected upon the recent workshop where he learned new techniques for congregational success. In his mind's eye, Pastor Bill began to visualize a brand-new sanctuary and family-life center for his people. As he was formulating a newspaper article commemorating this marvelous achievement -- wham -- Pastor Bill's car collided with the rear bumper of another automobile that had stopped at a red traffic signal.
Fortunately, no one was hurt. The pastor's car had only minor damage. Unfortunately, the other vehicle was a police car. Oops! Pastor Bill waited in silence while the gruff police officer meticulously filled out the necessary forms that would label him guilty. A few scruffy, disheveled folks emerged from alleys and shop doorways surrounding the pastor and officer offering themselves as witnesses to this terrible offense.
Finally, the officer completed her paperwork, handed it to Pastor Bill and said, "Appear in court next week. The judge will hand down your verdict."
After several days of explaining to family and parishioners why his car was dented and why his name (also their congregation) appeared in the newspaper police reports, Pastor Bill finally appeared before the judge.
"What were you thinking?" demanded the judge. "How could a man of your status in the community be so stupid that he crashes into a police car?"
With fear and trembling, Pastor Bill began to justify his actions. He explained about the birth of his son. He described in detail his growth plans for his congregation. "I guess I wasn't thinking, your Honor," replied Pastor Bill.
"Of course, you weren't, sir," responded the Judge. "Pay your fine on the way out. And by the way, as long as you're not thinking, don't even think about teaching your son how to drive."
Poor, humiliated, Pastor Bill. How many times do we also find ourselves so pre-occupied with our own dreams and desires that we forget what is going on around us? How many times do we neglect the needs of others while we strive to attain our own personal success and happiness? How many times do we forget and neglect the desperate concerns of those on the margins of society while focusing on our own status and lifestyle? Sadly, all too often for me and perhaps for you, too.
What are we thinking, anyway? Just like Pastor Bill, too often our thoughts and our actions demonstrate that we are thinking only about ourselves.
This certainly describes what Micah was observing in today's Old Testament lesson. Micah was a prophet of Israel during the time of Assyrian conquest approximately 730 years before the birth of Christ. He became appalled by the greed of wealthy nobles who exploited their peasant landholders. His anger grew as he watched corrupt rulers oppress the nation's citizens. He was furious with overconfident religious leaders who ignored the unrighteous acts going on unchecked around them. Maintaining their status was more important than proclaiming God's will. After all, God had chosen Israel, no matter what. God would prevent Assyria from harming Israel. All the religious professionals had to do was keep the temple coffers filled, offer enough animal sacrifices, and provide the "right kind" of worship.
Hmmm ... does that sound a bit like Pastor Bill's driving daydream? Does that sound at all like our dreams for parish success and happiness? What was Israel thinking?
Our lesson today begins with God summoning Israel to court to explain just what exactly the people were thinking and doing. Here God is both judge and prosecutor. The nation of Israel is the defendant. The witnesses for the prosecution are the mountains and hills who are older than humankind. They know Israel's history and the righteousness of God.
In the first five verses, God presents the opening argument for the prosecution. "Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord ... for the Lord has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel" (Micah 6:2).
Israel had forgotten God's faithfulness of the past. The people had neglected their own faithful response to God's saving acts.
In his opening statement, God enters into evidence a review of his own saving deeds of commitment to the people. The Lord delivered them from Egyptian bondage and gave them powerful leaders (Micah 6:4). He foiled plots against them by the King of Moab and turned the curse of Balaam into a blessing (Micah 6:5). The Lord was with them as they camped at Shittim waiting to cross the Jordan River to possess their new land. The Lord did not abandon them after they entered the land and rested at Gilgal. The Lord did all these things, Micah declares, "... that you may know the saving acts of the Lord" (Micah 6:5).
What were they thinking? Didn't they know that God's faithful actions also required their own faithful response? Did they really think that God was some kind of magic genie who could be appeased by good and proper worship services, some holy oil, and the fragrant aroma of cooked meat? Did they really believe that they could get away with looking good on holy days and doing bad every other day? Did forgetting the Lord and neglecting the poor become commonplace for them? What were they thinking?
God expected, no demanded a response. "Rise, plead your case before the mountains; and let the hills hear your voice ... O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!" (Micah 6:1, 3).
Sometimes in our own, exhausting, stressful lives just showing up to worship is too much. Just keeping afloat in the storms of our own life is demanding enough. When we are able to attend worship, we want to experience some comfort. We want something that will make us happy. And now God expects even more! It seems like there's never enough time, never enough energy. What thing does God require now? It seems like nothing we do can please God.
Micah puts our complaints into the mouth of Israel, acting as its own defense attorney. Listen to the whining defiance inherent within Israel's response.
With what shall I come before the Lord ... shall I come before him with burnt offerings ... will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with thousands of rivers of oil….
-- Micah 6:6-7With what shall I come before the Lord ... shall I come before him with burnt offerings ... will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
Poor Israel, they just didn't get it. They were still forgetting God's faithfulness. They were trying to appease God by "good and proper" worship. From their perspective, nothing they could offer was enough for the Lord.
Friends, there is the crucial insight of today's lesson. Truly, nothing Israel could do, nothing we can do, is enough to deserve God's love and guidance. Indeed, God wants no thing from us. God wants us! God reminds Israel, and you and me, that our daily way of life is our response to what God has already done for us.
C. J. had lived a hard, difficult life. He ran away from an abusive home at age thirteen and "traveled the rails," as he called it, for fifty years. Some called him a hobo and a bum. Others had even worse names for C. J.
After his right leg was severed by a moving boxcar, C. J. was placed in government housing next door to a beautiful church. Although he often stopped by to chat with the staff and members, he steadfastly refused to attend any worship service.
"I ain't a worshiping kind of guy," he would comment to everyone who invited him. "Besides, y'all wear them fancy clothes and drive them big cars and recite them high-falutin' words I can't even pronounce."
One day when a church elder offered to help him understand the worship service, C. J. began muttering to himself. The elder said, "I can't hear you, C. J., you'll have to speak louder."
Now screaming at the top of his voice, old disheveled, smelly, C. J. yelled: "I said, Mr. High and Mighty, 'What about them kids over next door? They don't belong to your church. They don't belong to nothin' except some gang! I don't see y'all trying to invite them! Show me your religion and maybe I'll show you mine! There's nothing good here anymore!' " And C. J., our modern day Micah, limped away.
And God said to Israel:
He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly.
-- Micah 6:8— Micah 6:8
The prosecution rests. The case is airtight. Israel was guilty as charged. So was Pastor Bill. So were C. J.'s well-intentioned church friends -- and so are we.
For the Lord, justice is daily living according to God's will and not our own comfort. Justice includes the weak, powerless, vulnerable, and exploited.
For the Lord, to love kindness means to live in deep communal relationship with the weak and the strong, the alien and the citizen. It means demonstrating that we are all bound together in the mercy of God.
For the Lord, walking humbly means to pay careful daily attention to every relationship that God has given us.
"But this is impossible," we complain. "We just cannot possibly do this." And that is true. Our text today begins and ends with God's actions, not Israel's; not even ours.
In and through God's saving act, Jesus Christ, the Lord, has cancelled the destructive power of sin for us and for the world. Through Christ, God had declared us "not guilty." God invites us not to merely remember the crucified and living Christ of the past. He invites us to demonstrate Christ's saving, amazing grace in the present. And that's not all: God promises to continue to save God's own weak, vulnerable, weary children in the future.
What were we thinking anyway?
Because of our sin, we were thinking only of ourselves -- our wants -- our happiness. Because of our sin we have not been mindful of the needs of others.
Now, here's the good news. Because of our sin, God gave his only son to die for us, to rise for us, to cancel the power of sin, forever. Because of God's once-and-for-all saving act, the Holy Spirit of God calls and sends us into the world as his missionaries to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk daily with our God.
It's not about what we are thinking; it's all about what God has done, is doing, and has promised to continue to do -- save and send. Amen.
As he drove through the city streets, Pastor Bill began to think about all the plans he had to increase parish worship attendance and multiply its Sunday offerings. He reflected upon the recent workshop where he learned new techniques for congregational success. In his mind's eye, Pastor Bill began to visualize a brand-new sanctuary and family-life center for his people. As he was formulating a newspaper article commemorating this marvelous achievement -- wham -- Pastor Bill's car collided with the rear bumper of another automobile that had stopped at a red traffic signal.
Fortunately, no one was hurt. The pastor's car had only minor damage. Unfortunately, the other vehicle was a police car. Oops! Pastor Bill waited in silence while the gruff police officer meticulously filled out the necessary forms that would label him guilty. A few scruffy, disheveled folks emerged from alleys and shop doorways surrounding the pastor and officer offering themselves as witnesses to this terrible offense.
Finally, the officer completed her paperwork, handed it to Pastor Bill and said, "Appear in court next week. The judge will hand down your verdict."
After several days of explaining to family and parishioners why his car was dented and why his name (also their congregation) appeared in the newspaper police reports, Pastor Bill finally appeared before the judge.
"What were you thinking?" demanded the judge. "How could a man of your status in the community be so stupid that he crashes into a police car?"
With fear and trembling, Pastor Bill began to justify his actions. He explained about the birth of his son. He described in detail his growth plans for his congregation. "I guess I wasn't thinking, your Honor," replied Pastor Bill.
"Of course, you weren't, sir," responded the Judge. "Pay your fine on the way out. And by the way, as long as you're not thinking, don't even think about teaching your son how to drive."
Poor, humiliated, Pastor Bill. How many times do we also find ourselves so pre-occupied with our own dreams and desires that we forget what is going on around us? How many times do we neglect the needs of others while we strive to attain our own personal success and happiness? How many times do we forget and neglect the desperate concerns of those on the margins of society while focusing on our own status and lifestyle? Sadly, all too often for me and perhaps for you, too.
What are we thinking, anyway? Just like Pastor Bill, too often our thoughts and our actions demonstrate that we are thinking only about ourselves.
This certainly describes what Micah was observing in today's Old Testament lesson. Micah was a prophet of Israel during the time of Assyrian conquest approximately 730 years before the birth of Christ. He became appalled by the greed of wealthy nobles who exploited their peasant landholders. His anger grew as he watched corrupt rulers oppress the nation's citizens. He was furious with overconfident religious leaders who ignored the unrighteous acts going on unchecked around them. Maintaining their status was more important than proclaiming God's will. After all, God had chosen Israel, no matter what. God would prevent Assyria from harming Israel. All the religious professionals had to do was keep the temple coffers filled, offer enough animal sacrifices, and provide the "right kind" of worship.
Hmmm ... does that sound a bit like Pastor Bill's driving daydream? Does that sound at all like our dreams for parish success and happiness? What was Israel thinking?
Our lesson today begins with God summoning Israel to court to explain just what exactly the people were thinking and doing. Here God is both judge and prosecutor. The nation of Israel is the defendant. The witnesses for the prosecution are the mountains and hills who are older than humankind. They know Israel's history and the righteousness of God.
In the first five verses, God presents the opening argument for the prosecution. "Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord ... for the Lord has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel" (Micah 6:2).
Israel had forgotten God's faithfulness of the past. The people had neglected their own faithful response to God's saving acts.
In his opening statement, God enters into evidence a review of his own saving deeds of commitment to the people. The Lord delivered them from Egyptian bondage and gave them powerful leaders (Micah 6:4). He foiled plots against them by the King of Moab and turned the curse of Balaam into a blessing (Micah 6:5). The Lord was with them as they camped at Shittim waiting to cross the Jordan River to possess their new land. The Lord did not abandon them after they entered the land and rested at Gilgal. The Lord did all these things, Micah declares, "... that you may know the saving acts of the Lord" (Micah 6:5).
What were they thinking? Didn't they know that God's faithful actions also required their own faithful response? Did they really think that God was some kind of magic genie who could be appeased by good and proper worship services, some holy oil, and the fragrant aroma of cooked meat? Did they really believe that they could get away with looking good on holy days and doing bad every other day? Did forgetting the Lord and neglecting the poor become commonplace for them? What were they thinking?
God expected, no demanded a response. "Rise, plead your case before the mountains; and let the hills hear your voice ... O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!" (Micah 6:1, 3).
Sometimes in our own, exhausting, stressful lives just showing up to worship is too much. Just keeping afloat in the storms of our own life is demanding enough. When we are able to attend worship, we want to experience some comfort. We want something that will make us happy. And now God expects even more! It seems like there's never enough time, never enough energy. What thing does God require now? It seems like nothing we do can please God.
Micah puts our complaints into the mouth of Israel, acting as its own defense attorney. Listen to the whining defiance inherent within Israel's response.
With what shall I come before the Lord ... shall I come before him with burnt offerings ... will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with thousands of rivers of oil….
-- Micah 6:6-7With what shall I come before the Lord ... shall I come before him with burnt offerings ... will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
Poor Israel, they just didn't get it. They were still forgetting God's faithfulness. They were trying to appease God by "good and proper" worship. From their perspective, nothing they could offer was enough for the Lord.
Friends, there is the crucial insight of today's lesson. Truly, nothing Israel could do, nothing we can do, is enough to deserve God's love and guidance. Indeed, God wants no thing from us. God wants us! God reminds Israel, and you and me, that our daily way of life is our response to what God has already done for us.
C. J. had lived a hard, difficult life. He ran away from an abusive home at age thirteen and "traveled the rails," as he called it, for fifty years. Some called him a hobo and a bum. Others had even worse names for C. J.
After his right leg was severed by a moving boxcar, C. J. was placed in government housing next door to a beautiful church. Although he often stopped by to chat with the staff and members, he steadfastly refused to attend any worship service.
"I ain't a worshiping kind of guy," he would comment to everyone who invited him. "Besides, y'all wear them fancy clothes and drive them big cars and recite them high-falutin' words I can't even pronounce."
One day when a church elder offered to help him understand the worship service, C. J. began muttering to himself. The elder said, "I can't hear you, C. J., you'll have to speak louder."
Now screaming at the top of his voice, old disheveled, smelly, C. J. yelled: "I said, Mr. High and Mighty, 'What about them kids over next door? They don't belong to your church. They don't belong to nothin' except some gang! I don't see y'all trying to invite them! Show me your religion and maybe I'll show you mine! There's nothing good here anymore!' " And C. J., our modern day Micah, limped away.
And God said to Israel:
He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly.
-- Micah 6:8— Micah 6:8
The prosecution rests. The case is airtight. Israel was guilty as charged. So was Pastor Bill. So were C. J.'s well-intentioned church friends -- and so are we.
For the Lord, justice is daily living according to God's will and not our own comfort. Justice includes the weak, powerless, vulnerable, and exploited.
For the Lord, to love kindness means to live in deep communal relationship with the weak and the strong, the alien and the citizen. It means demonstrating that we are all bound together in the mercy of God.
For the Lord, walking humbly means to pay careful daily attention to every relationship that God has given us.
"But this is impossible," we complain. "We just cannot possibly do this." And that is true. Our text today begins and ends with God's actions, not Israel's; not even ours.
In and through God's saving act, Jesus Christ, the Lord, has cancelled the destructive power of sin for us and for the world. Through Christ, God had declared us "not guilty." God invites us not to merely remember the crucified and living Christ of the past. He invites us to demonstrate Christ's saving, amazing grace in the present. And that's not all: God promises to continue to save God's own weak, vulnerable, weary children in the future.
What were we thinking anyway?
Because of our sin, we were thinking only of ourselves -- our wants -- our happiness. Because of our sin we have not been mindful of the needs of others.
Now, here's the good news. Because of our sin, God gave his only son to die for us, to rise for us, to cancel the power of sin, forever. Because of God's once-and-for-all saving act, the Holy Spirit of God calls and sends us into the world as his missionaries to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk daily with our God.
It's not about what we are thinking; it's all about what God has done, is doing, and has promised to continue to do -- save and send. Amen.
