Sermon 22nd June 2014

Today, one of our Lay Readers, Adjoa Andoh Cunnell, continues our study of the Minor Prophets. This week it's Micah and the reading is from Micah 3: 5-12

God's Promises

A preacher arrives in a small town to be the guest speaker at a local church. He has a parcel he needs to post to his family back home, so he stops a young boy on a bike and asks him for directions to the post office. The boy gives him directions. “Thanks”, the preacher says, "If you come to church this evening, I'll tell you how to get to heaven.” I don't think I'll be there," the boy replies. “Why’s that?” the preacher asks. , “Huh!” mutters the boy as he cycles off, "You don't even know the way to the post office."

Getting directions ….we’ve all needed them from time to time and some of us are better at taking them than others..I will avoid observations about men and women …asking for directions..map reading and the testing of relationships on car journeys to unfamiliar destinations… or is that just me…as I said some of us are better at taking directions, than others…

In our current series on the minor prophets there are a lot of directions offered and frequently not well received..

But that’s what prophets do….

They are like the sign on the map at the tube station or in the park; you know the one with the big arrow that says - You Are Here.

The prophets tell us where we are in Gods eyes.

You are Here they say and…

This is how you got here, this is what God thinks about where you are and this is where you’re currently heading

The prophets hold up a mirror to our response to God and God’s response to our response x2

And today’s prophet Micah is no exception

So who is Micah?

The commentators seem to agree that there's not much concrete known of him,

We know the author of this book is “Micah of Moresheth” (1:1).

The word “Micah” in Hebrew means, “Who is like God?” Or ”Gift from God”

 Micah's hometown of Moresheth is probably the same town later referred to as Moresheth-gath in the rolling hills, of Judah.

So Micah was from Judah in the South.

Moresheth was one of many places captured by the Assyrian King Sennacherib in his attack on Judah in 701 BC.

Micah writes

CH1 14 And now, people of Judah, say good-bye to the town of Moresheth Gath.. .

Moresheth was an important town, which guarded a key route into the hill country of Judah south of Jerusalem.

It seems that Micah may have prophesied during the invasion and witnessed the destruction of his own hometown by Sennecharib.

He would have experienced the terror of war, the destruction and loss of loved ones at first hand.

At this time, what we think of as Israel was divided into two Kingdoms, confusingly one called Israel in the North, with its capital city Samaria, and one called Judah in the South, with its capital city Jerusalem. It seems that Micah’s ministry happened over a period of years when war and upheaval were happening across both kingdoms – first the Assyrians, enemies of both kingdoms invaded and overran the Northern kingdom of Israel and later the Southern Kingdom too.

Ch1 v 9

NIV

For Samaria’s plague is incurable; it has spread to Judah. It has reached the very gate of my people, even to Jerusalem itself.

What Micah has to say seems to cover several time periods.

It's thought from the kings mentioned in his writing, that his ministry could have been between 735 and 700 BC, covering

the invasion of the Israel, the time after that invasion, the invasion and destruction of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem its capital city. And then after both destructions the time of exile in Babylon and then the returning to Jerusalem.

It’s not so hard to imagine, think today of the great wars and movements of people across the Middle East, Central Europe, East Africa

Micah’s time became a time of great upheaval and crisis. Leading up to this upheaval, one commentator from Bible.Org describes it as a time of

‘Spiritual lethargy and hypocrisy.’

 The people, particularly those in power, the judges, the religious leaders, the wealthy landowners, were still worshipping God, but it was an empty ritual, which didn’t translate into the way they actually lived their lives. Their treatment of fellow Israelites went against the laws and promises made by God to his people through Moses. They failed to practice justice, or live with godly love towards one another and they worshipped idols and wealth in a way that showed their failure to walk humbly before God.

We’ve heard a little about Micah and his sense of duty as a faithful prophet of God in this morning’s passage

But let me just run through some highlights from the rest of Micah

Denouncing the judges he says with no holds barred, in

Ch 3:1 Listen, you rulers of Israel! You are supposed to be concerned about justice, 2 yet you hate what is good and you love what is evil. You skin my people alive and tear the flesh off their bones. 3 You eat my people up. You strip off their skin, break their bones, and chop them up like meat for the pot. 4 The time is coming when you will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer you. He will not listen to your prayers, for you

have done evil.

NIV ‘Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel. Should you not embrace justice,

2 you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
and the flesh from their bones;

3 who eat my people’s flesh, strip off their skin
and break their bones in pieces;
who chop them up like meat for the pan, like flesh for the pot.’

4 Then they will cry out to the Lord,
but he will not answer them.
At that time he will hide his face from them
because of the evil they have done.

Micah expresses God’s anger at religious leaders . They are supposed to encourage godly living in God’s people and yet they assume they can live as they please and still expect God’s protection

In Ch2 6

GOOD NEWS

 “The people preach at me (says Micah) and say, “Don't preach at us. Don't preach about all that. God is not going to disgrace us. 7 Do you think the people of Israel are under a curse? Has the Lord lost his patience? Would he really do such things? Doesn't he speak kindly to those who do right?”

11 “These people want the kind of prophet who goes around full of lies and deceit and says, ‘I prophesy that wine and liquor will flow for you.’ Micah concludes in disgust..

 A non rocking the boat preacher, an unchallenging clergy..

The Prophets & religious leaders are false, the Judges corrupt.. They are the gatekeepers, upholders of God’s Kingdom on earth - all have abused their position though cowardice, or greed or both; and in the process, abused God and the relationship between him and His people.

 They have either given no direction to God’s people or have purposely misdirected them.

The result has been war, chaos and misery.

This is not an ancient text with no parallels in the world today…

According to a report on the news this week, the number of people displaced by war across the world is at its greatest level since the Second World War - above 50 million

A United Nations spokesperson said that the World is becoming more violent & the capacity to solve matters from a humanitarian perspective is becoming more difficult to achieve Micah tells us a similar story in

Ch2

1When morning comes, as soon as they have the chance, they do the evil they planned. 2 When they want fields, they seize them; when they want houses, they take them. No one's family or property is safe.

NIV

At morning’s light they carry it out
 because it is in their power to do it.

2 

They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them. They defraud people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.

We think of the schoolgirls still missing in Northern Nigeria as we reflect on Micah’s warning about what would happen when the Assyrians invaded

Micah 1:16

16 People of Judah, cut off your hair in mourning for the children you love. Make yourselves as bald as vultures, because your children will be taken away from you into exile.

NIV

Shave your head in mourning for the children in whom you delight; make yourself as bald as the vulture,
for they will go from you into exile.

This is not ancient history catching up with our shakier grasp on certain less familiar books from scripture.

This is alive - this is now.

What does it mean for us?

What is the direction of our hearts and our lives?

Is God the voice of our internal sat nav?

Micah tells us

This is what happened and this is what's coming

Nothing stays the same

What are you going to do?

Make your choice

How do we live godly lives in our Global world?

Don't be complacent Micah says to the people living in Judah…what’s happening in Israel is coming our way

It’s not a case of

It's happening to them over there

It's coming right to our doorstep and into our homes – Syria, Nigeria, Iraq, Russia, and Ukraine

We can't escape it, we can’t ignore it

And why would we want to?

We are all God’s children

Because of Christ - we are all His people now

Are we praying for our world are we interested? Involved?

Life happens to us every second of everyday

How we respond, is what makes us who we are

Some days life feels thrilling exciting like falling in love or discovering you have a gift for making guacamole or balancing on your head

And we respond - with joy!

Delight! With gratitude!

Sometimes we experience a shared joy –

the celebration of a child’s life in Baptism as we celebrate this morning with Beatrice/ Felix

Or as in my case, perhaps it’s watching your football team compete, with friends and family,

even when they lose there’s a shared joy in supporting and suffering together...

And How do we respond to the now now now of life happening to us when the feeling isn’t one of joy, celebration?

 when each experience can feel like receiving one body blow after another

when our bodies almost seem to vibrate with absorbing the shocks life sends to us.

How do we carry our grief our fears

How do we keep going?

How do we make the world stop coming at us?

How do we switch our heads off?

Where do we find peace?

If you think I'm going to suggest turn to God - ok so very predictable and very obvious - what else would you expect from someone standing up the front- then you're not mistaken

Turn to God

It’s Micah’s direction to us all

In every joy, in every shock

Turn your eyes, your mind, your heart, your attention away from life and the world flashing before your eyes

 and turn inwards

Turn inwards to God

Turn inwards to the marrow of your bones to the beating of your heart to the air in your lungs and breathe into God

Know that at the core of all you are as a human being this morning ... Is God.

We arrive from God

We are born and breath floods into us

We die and breath floods out of us

and we return to God.

Between arriving and returning God gifts us this wonderful opportunity to experience all the good things he has made

And he remains with us in every pulse and every breath and when we pay attention - beneath lifes dazzles and shocks - there is always God, waiting for us to notice his love his guidance his power and his certain peace.

God is fundamentally a God of love. His anger at injustice and abuse is fuelled by love and so His anger will not last for all time or for all people.

Micah looks from where his people are, to where they will be when he tells them and us In Ch5 2 of the future direction to come..

 The Lord says, “Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are one of the smallest towns in Judah, but out of you I will bring a ruler for Israel, whose family line goes back to ancient times.”

 4 When he comes, he will rule his people with the strength that comes from the Lord and with the majesty of the Lord God himself. His people will live in safety because people all over the earth will acknowledge his greatness, 5 and he will bring peace.

NIV

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times.’

3 

Therefore Israel will be abandoned
 until the time when she who is in labour bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.

4 

He will stand and shepherd his flock
 in the strength of the Lord, 
 in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
 will reach to the ends of the earth.

5 

And he will be our peace

In Ch 4 3 

He will settle disputes among the nations, among the great powers near and far. They will hammer their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will never again go to war, never prepare for battle again.

4 

Everyone will live in peace among their own vineyards and fig trees, and no one will make them afraid. The Lord Almighty has promised this.

NIV

He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into ploughshares
and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more.

4 

Everyone will sit under his or her own vine
 and under his or her own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, 
 for the Lord Almighty has spoken.

 Don’t we all long for this world?

This is God’s promise to us, //the Lord has Spoken

God’s kingdom is a place of peace

a place of justice

a place of love.

We spend so much time in our lives, confused, directionless, afraid

This is not the Kingdom God wants Beatrice/ Felix to grow up in, nor any of our children

It is not the Kingdom God wants the rest of us to grow old in

Confused, directionless, afraid is not the direction for our lives

Historian and Philosopher, Richard Weaver wrote– the trouble with humanity is that it forgets to read the minutes of the last meeting.

So Micah as God’s prophet of You Are Here Is carrying those minutes

And he’s reading them out loud and clear

And what is the action plan after the reading of the minutes that Micah presents us with?

What is the plan God requires of us to live as His people?

Micah declares In Ch 6: 6 

What shall I bring to the Lord, the God of heaven, when I come to worship him? Shall I bring the best calves to burn as offerings to him?

7 Will the Lord be pleased if I bring him thousands of sheep or endless streams of olive oil? Shall I offer him my first-born child to pay for my sins?

8 No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.

NIV

With what shall I come before the Lord
 and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, 
 with calves a year old?

7 

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, 
 with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, 
 the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Don’t we frequently pray this as a church on a Sunday? We will again this morning..

What’s in our hearts this morning, God knows…He sees…everything

How does he require from each of us to keep his promises to His World?

To make this a just loving merciful world – a world for Beatrice/Felix to grow up happy and fulfilled in?

You are here says Micah

Where will you be when you leave here today?

And Tomorrow?

 Have you paid attention

God is waiting

Pay attention

This is his guidance

Can't you hear it?

Sense it

Are you too complacent? Self satisfied? Greedy? Unkind? Impatient?

Are you too scared? Worn Out?

Are you too dazzled and deafened and seduced by the baubles?

Be still

God lives in you

Pay attention

Life will keep happening whether you pay attention or not

The manner of your listening to God

 The manner of your paying attention to His direction will determine how you respond to life  

Whether you ARE overwhelmed by its shocks or are seduced by its delights, deafened or dazzled

Or whether you can find the balance in the inward voice, the courage the reassurance and the humility to allow God to be the guiding light and firm foundation

the port in the storm

the steady wise loving beat breath and pulse of your life

the inward call from first to final breath

Peace.

These are not just words poured into a vacuum.

God has something to say to each person in the service this morning.

What is weighing on your heart?

What have you been meaning to do, to say?

Who do you want to thank?

Micah speaks to us down the ages

This is not theoretical; this is the central call of your life.

God is waiting

My Prayer for us this morning is that we look into our hearts

We are not alone

God is there.

Let’s Listen for His direction, follow it.

Live out His just and Loving Kingdom, however that works in our lives.

And receive His Peace that passeth all understanding  - today.

Amen