Lent Day 18: March 13

Lenten Reflection for Day 18

Date: Tuesday March 13, 2012

Author: Pastor Pat Harris

Bible Passage: Micah 6:8 (NRSV)

⁸ 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 with your God?

Reflection:

In a new conference room that was built at Camp Calumet in the late 90s; the second half of this Bible verse is written in script across the top of one of the walls. I have had many occasions to sit in this conference room for Bible studies, worship, conferences and planning meetings. Whenever I find my mind wandering, while I am in this room, it is always drawn to this verse.

It seems to me that you can’t get into too much trouble, if you are doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God. This verse seems apropos for a church camp where relationships with both God and other people are nurtured. In her writing on this verse, Kathleen Norris quotes Evelyn Underhill: “This spiritual life of individuals has to be extended both vertically to God and horizontally to other souls.” This verse from Micah captures both the horizontal relationships (loving neighbor) and the vertical one (loving God). If you do justice and love kindness, undoubtedly you are showing love and respect for your neighbor. Likewise, if you are walking humbly with God, your own wants, desires and ego are not getting in the way of hearing and obeying God.

The idea of horizontal and vertical relationships reminds me of something that was taught to me by my confirmation pastor, yea so many years ago. He said that the vertical stave of the cross reminds us how much God loves us, while the horizontal one reminds us to reach out to our neighbors in the same way that Jesus reached out his arms on the cross to us. In this Lenten season, this verse from Micah is another way to help us “make sense of the cross.”

Prayer:

Gracious and loving God, may your love for us help us to walk humbly with you, and in your love, may you show us what justice and kindness look like. Help us to view the world through our neighbors’ eyes, ears, and heart, so that we might feel the impact of our own words and actions. Amen

Walk Humbly

“Do Justice, Love Kindness and Walk Humbly with your God.”

These words are part of a longer passage from the Old Testament prophet Micah.

¹ Hear what the Lord says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. ² Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for the Lord has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel. ³ “O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me! ⁴ For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. ⁵ O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.” ⁶ “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? ⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” ⁸ 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 with your God? Micah 6:1–8 (NRSV)

Reflection:

Micah saw the people of Israel off doing things which were not what God expected of them. They found lots of gods to worship other than God. God’s chosen people had decided that they valued their own affluence and lifestyles more than caring for their neighbors. Their business practices were deceitful. Care for widows and orphans had fallen off their priority lists. They were a people who were living for themselves.

Micah calls them on the carpet and reminds them of all that God has done for them. The people’s first reaction is to say we better get back to our regular worship practices. We better start doing regular sacrifices and bring offerings of oil to God. Micah’s answer to the suggestion of making amends by ritual practices is to tell the people what God requires—“to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with God.”

I have been at Camp Calumet on retreat this week and these words are emblazoned at the top of the wall in the room where we have been meeting and worshipping. I have had ample opportunity to reflect on what these words mean for our lives as Christians today. These are words that call us outside of ourselves and our narrow communities. These words remind us that although a community needs to worship together, our worship time is only a preparation for and a strengthening for our service outside of our church doors.

Walking humbly with God, does not mean a solitary walk with God out in the woods somewhere. Rather walking humbly with God means that we recognize that is God who powers our work and our lives. God shapes and forms our communities, and it is God who gives us the power to do justice and love kindness. God, through the Holy Spirit, calls, gathers and sends us in service to the world. God helps us to realize what other people need and then helps us to find a way to meet those needs.

Walking humbly with God means that when we make decisions, choices and priorities we look at the impacts on everyone around us, not just what it is that we want. We pray and ask what God is calling us to do, not just what we would like to see happen because it suits our personal needs. God does not always call us to the easiest path or the path that looks the most pleasant to us, personally. Walking humbly with God means being able to say and mean—“Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven”. Your will O God, not mine!

Prayer:

Dear God, help me to remember that worship is your gift to me, not my gift to you. Help me Lord, in our worship as a community, to learn to be humble. Help me to hear your words and your call rather than giving you my “to do” list. Help me Lord to think of others’ needs, not just what it is that I want. Amen