Rev Dr Noel Preston has forwarded his homily for Sunday 19th May. It is a timely presentation as the Federal Election and political discourse has refocussed many minds on the teaching of Micah … acting justly, loving tenderly and walking humbly (Micah 6 v. 8. and vs. 6-16.)
It is a message for politicians and for all of us who are deciding who to vote for, as well as a message for the whole population in our individual journeys.
Comments can be left here at “Reply” or directly to Noel.
We have heard the reading from the
Old Testament Book of Micah – one of the “minor prophets”, together with Hosea
and Amos and part of the book of Isaiah. These prophets were around 8 centuries before the Christian era. As prophets they were not foretelling the
future so much as declaring Yahweh’s judgement on the way the nation was going.
In other words they were speaking truth
to power in their own times, a prophetic word of the Lord. Jesus and the
Gospels were strongly influenced by these 8th century BC prophets.
Micah was speaking for the poor and
spoke as one of them. He is horrified at the luxurious , degenerate and corrupt
life of the city, and realises that he and his fellow peasants are paying for
it. In another age he might have led a Peasants’ Revolt though his message is
more than political. It is about right relating with each other and with
Yahweh, their God – interesting challenges the day after a national election!
These days it is rare to hear a
preacher announce a single Text to preach on but that is what I am doing today.
This text is bracketed within Micah’s declarations about false worship and a denunciation of
corrupt dealings. Let’s look at this text, not in the translation of the Good
News Bible we used in today’s reading but in 3 other paraphrases or
translations from different versions.
You may know “The Message” –
this is how our text reads there:
…..what God is looking for in men and
women is quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbour, be
compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously –
take God seriously…..
And maybe some of us who are old
enough have heard of the J B Phillips version of the Bible:
…..For what does the Lord require
from you, But to be just, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God…
And now the version I am most
familiar with, known as the The Jerusalem Bible:
….This is what Yahweh asks of you:
only this, to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God….
It is this latter version which guides my
preaching this morning – the words for today (and everyday) are
Living the Gospel = loving justly,
tenderly and humbly
I am going to reverse the order of
these injunctions – so walk humbly with your God
Walking – we are all on a journey
aren’t we? We don’t know where or how it will end but we know that, in the company of God who
is Love, God’s Spirit will guide our
journey. This suggests a prayerful approach to daily life…..
Walking humbly – that also suggests
to me “living by Grace”, knowing that nothing can separate us from the Great
Love. Furthermore, we are called to live graciously, sharing that Love
unconditionally.
Let me add another thought – walking
humbly is a rejection of self-righteousness. We are to be careful of how we
speak and think about “knowing or doing the will of God”.
Walking humbly empowers us for the
life of love and justice to which the rest of the text points.
So now, love tenderly……
To me, “tenderness” is virtually a
synonym for “compassion” . “Mercy” is another like term which some translations
of this text use. Practising “mercy” is also about sharing “grace”, again
“unconditional love”, which never deserts us even when we fail to live that
way.
Tenderness is often a characteristic
of those who themselves have been hurt or damaged. Such tenderness is the style
of the wounded healer or suffering servant. It will be tinged with a forgiving,
empathetic and merciful spirit.
It is in caring for the “little ones”
that we learn to love tenderly -(the anawim of the Hebrew scriptures or
Jesus’ reference to “the least” of our brothers and sisters, as in Matthew 25) – the poor, the hungry, the
imprisoned, the naked. In our time we must understand “the least” or “the
little ones” in a total ecological sense. In caring for the Earth, threatened species and their environments, we
will learn to love tenderly. So, I am talking about eco-justice which is
nurtured by a comprehensive tender love.
Some years ago I wrote of “tender
loving” in my journal, particularly in the context of recovering from serious
illness. I was inspired by the words of an American medico who wrote a book
with the wonderful title, “Love, Medicine and Miracles”. I wrote in my diary as
I contemplated my wounded body: such
“loving is the life-stream which combines wholeness, healing and holiness.”
Then, we are called to Act Justly……….
This is the hardest word to
hear….this is the message for followers of the Jesus way, especially it is
what we needed to hear as Australians in the last few weeks facing an election
and what is needed as we move on as a nation. Justice is not about personal
needs primarily, but about the common good, and why the Gospel is a call to
SOCIAL justice.. We all belong to the human family, indeed the family of all
living beings. When we are grasped by
this insight, the burdens of others are not so heavy to bear – for they are the
burdens of our brothers and sisters.
Of course “justice and love” are
closely related. Indeed, it has been said that social justice is love
distributed. This is why the biblical message is full of references to living
justly. One of the strongest is in the Book of Jeremiah – “To know God is to do
Justice”. Essentially, the biblical idea of justice is about “right relating”
to each other, to our God, to all who share this planet. We are a Covenant
people called to be faithful to all – this is what Jesus said in the Synagogue
at Nazareth (Luke 4) where he named his mission. So the Biblical notion of
Justice goes beyond the way some of our leaders use the word, “fair”. Biblical
Justice has a bias to correcting injustice. It suggests that we must be constantly,
and courageously, ready to change not
only our minds but our actions. Social justice is more than simple charity. It
gives a priority to the marginalised, the vulnerable and the powerless. We see that clearly in the Jesus Story.
It’s worth wondering how we
develop our sense of justice and
fairness. Let me share an autobiographical reflection.
I was a five year old in my first
grade, walking home from school. The entertainment for the afternoon was for a
group of us boys to tease a little migrant Scottish girl. I’m talking 1947 when
Scottish migrants were the outsiders, the Asian migrants or asylum seekers of
our time. We called her names and threw
stones at her. My father found out about this incident. He was very angry with
me, righteously wrathful in fact. He did not hit me but gave me a piece of his
mind (and heart) and insisted on taking me around to the girl’s house to
apologise. This I did very tearfully. My father had opted to take the side of
the aggrieved and ostracised migrant girl to correct the hurt and injustice we
boys had perpetrated. The whole encounter made a profound impression on me,
searing into my self (my emotions, my will my mind, my spirit) a sense of injustice, righteous anger and
empathy on behalf of the vulnerable and victimised. For me, that encounter was
a lesson in right relating and I’m sure my father’s response did something to
empower that migrant family. On reflection, for me it was a lesson on how just
or right relating may correct the
imbalances of power in our society and
world.
In a nutshell, empowering justice
requires us to reflect ethically about economic issues from the standpoint of
the poor, not the rich; or race relations from the standpoint of the oppressed
race; or environmental questions from the standpoint of the most vulnerable
species and so on. There is no better way to learn what social justice is than
to identify with the victims of injustice, as far as that is possible. In my
adult years my own understanding of justice was fashioned by a decade of close
involvement with aboriginal peoples in the seventies.
One of the great contributions of the
Uniting Church has been a readiness to take a stand for Social Justice. And to
tackle issues directly, not just speak vaguely about social justice matters.
When the UCA was formed I was the
Assembly Convenor for Social Responsibility. With others it was our task to
design “A Statement to the Nation” – written in 1977 it still has currency and
meaning. I want to share 3 paragraphs…..
We pledge ourselves to seek the
correction of injustices wherever they occur. We will work for the eradication
of poverty within our society and beyond. We affirm the right of all people to
equal educational opportunities, adequate health care, freedom of speech, employment
or dignity in unemployment if work is not available. We will oppose all forms
of discrimination which infringe basic rights and freedoms.
We will challenge values which
emphasise acquisitiveness and greed in disregard of the needs of others and which
encourage a higher standard of living for the privileged in face of the daily
widening gap between the rich and poor.
We are concerned with the basic human
rights of future generations and will urge the wise use of energy, the
protection of the environment and the replenishment of the Earth’s resources
for their use and enjoyment.
(Can give you a full copy of the
Assembly Statement)
Now back to our Text. “Act justly,
love tenderly and walk humbly with your God……”
That is a great guide for living.
That is a great motto for a congregation to adopt or for our Uniting Churches
in the Redlands to make their chief guideline in the current planning for a
shared future.
Let us make these matters of prayer for others, especially the marginalised. Let us join action with our prayer. AMEN
oOo
