Do Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly
Micah 6:1-8
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

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.

 

This verse is arguably quoted more often in matters of peace and justice than any other. They are words to live by especially in times when we face corruption and discrimination.

The prophet Micah, who uttered these words, was a man of simple means and humble stock. Living in a largely rural area of the country, Micah had a strong concern for the lowly and less fortunate of society--the lame, the outcasts, and the afflicted (Micah 4:6).

Because of this concern, Micah addressed the evil of his time through his prophecy. He publicly opposed the powerful leaders of Samaria and Jerusalem, the capital cities of Israel and Judah. (1:1)

The injustice of his time was that strict religious laws made the rich richer and the poor poorer. In Israel. Keep in mind that Israel's government was a theocracy at that time, much like the state of Iran today. Religious leaders also held great political power and they were not elected officials. More often than not the kings and political leaders of Micah's time were serving their own interests at the expense of the already impoverished middle classes.

The Ostentatious temple operation required the middle and lower classes to pay heavy taxation. The farming community Micah was a part of, were required to send much of their livestock and harvest to keep the sacrificial atonement system going. This was the exact same problem Jesus faced. Nothing had changed in 700 years.

There is certainly a connection between Jesus' ministry and Micah's. Some scholars even suggest that Jesus stood in the prophetic line of Micah. Jesus declared that he had come to bring good news to the poor, the captives, the oppressed. Jesus also opposed the religious and socio-economic oppression that came from the leadership in Jerusalem.

Interestingly, Micah is the prophet who announced the birth of the messiah in Bethlehem: '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.' Micah 5:2

Micah, like Jesus had such compassion for the oppressed that they challenged and opposed the corrupt leadership of their time even though they knew it would have grave consequences. But they both continued to proclaim the truth about the oppression and exploitation of the people making an appeal to God's love and compassion.

Micah was saying to the leaders in Jerusalem and Samaria: Do you think God is pleased with your temple sacrifice and a religion that takes advantage of people? No, but this is what God requires instead: 'to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God'

Of course, Jesus too proclaimed these very same principles and values as guidelines for society as well as our personal lives. As did Micah before him, Jesus did not just criticize the corruption, oppression, and discrimination in his time, but he also proposed an alternative to the existing religious system of the priests and lawyers whose guiding principle was the strict enforcement of the purity law. Jesus' idea of God's kingdom was quite different; he promoted compassion, the rule of mercy as a guiding principle toward a just and prosperous society.

Both Micah and Jesus paid a high price for their bold and courageous stance for justice and reform. We know what happened to Jesus, what happened to Micah is not known to us. He simply disappeared, or more likely, he was disappeared by the powers that be.

The prophet Micah certainly inspired Jesus, but he also inspires us today to take a hard stand for peace and justice. He brings clarity to God's intent for how we should live: to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. Honestly, if we all lived our lives by these words this world would be in pretty good shape, don't you think?

And so, we are called to raise our voices against the corruption, against the racism, sexism, xenophobia and homophobia of our time. Micah inspires us to proclaim Gods love, compassion and mercy especially for those who are mistreated and taken advantage of. As we are entering a new leadership in the US, one that has already made homophobic, racist, sexist and xenophobic statements, we need the prophetic words of Micah. He reminds us that we have a moral and spiritual obligation to keep speaking up against the wrongs in our society, even if we're risking our standing, our careers, and our livelihood.

I want to close with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King (whose holiday we just celebrated last week). These are words that move us to show solidarity with those who are profiled, excluded and discriminated against. They are words that inspire us to keep speaking truth to power: 'In the end we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.' Amen and Amen.