Ethics 101 (Jan 29, 2023) Micah 6.1-8

When I was in high school, I was a dyed in the wool literalist. Things were black and white with no room for grey. I like my hard facts and that was why I became a history major. It was a shock to my system then that when I went to college I had to take a philosophy course my freshman year. 9 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday I had to sit through a lecture on how things were not quite as rigid as I had believed they were. It was rather…disquieting. I could not understand the readings as they seemed to talk around the point and never got down to brass tacks. The lectures were a discussion of the readings that I did not understand. Long story short, I hated the class.

So, imagine my surprise and consternation when I discovered that the theology I was supposed to study for my Christian Studies minor was a cousin to the philosophy that I so hated. What I thought I was done with I now had to know so that I could study what I wanted to study. And some of the theology I studied was as confusing as the philosophy that I could not understand. So, I had to make a decision to study some philosophy and understand what was being said. And when I did, I found that philosophy was not so bad. In fact, I discovered that I did philosophy every day. I also discovered that it was a subject that is used in many other disciplines. Then I took a class in seminary that solidified my need to study philosophy more: ethics. In this class we wrestled with what was right and wrong, making distinctions with things that were sometimes hard to imagine what we were thinking about: end of life, genetic engineering and other difficult topics that taxed our brain. We also discovered that many people separate ethics and morality. They make ethics a business mode where they make decisions based on certain principles and morality where they make personal decisions based, oftentimes, on the same principles. In the ethics class we came to the conclusion that they were one and the same, just different names to try to make things sound better.

You may wonder why I have been talking about philosophy and what that has to do with the scripture for today. Well, sometimes when I am writing the sermon I wonder the same. But philosophy is more than just big ideas that are presented sometimes in language that is hard to understand. It is the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge. And in the text for today we have that pursuit.

The text begins with God calling the mountains and hills to hear God’s case. God has a lawsuit against the people of Judah and Israel and God is calling on the earth to bear witness to what is about to be said.

In the NRSV the word used for case is controversy. The word can also be translated as case, dispute, brawl or quarrel. This is not a civil legal case where all the parties are dressed well and seated properly like in an episode of Perry Mason. No. God is ready to fight, to come to blows with the nations.

God opens with a question of what have I ever done to you. In what ways have they had hardships placed upon them by God? God wants an answer. God deserves an answer.

God begins by telling them that God brought them out of Egypt and redeemed them from slavery. When they could not do anything for themselves, God took care of them and made them God’s people. They were given everything, including leaders such as Moses, Aaron and Miriam, that they needed and this is the thanks that they give?

God also reminds them of the king Balak who wanted them cursed and how God caused them to be blessed by the one who was to do the cursing. They are reminded of the saving acts of God from Shittim to Gilgal. This is a case where clearly God is saying that God has been wronged by the people and how they have acted in the past and in the present.

It strikes me that God could have a case against us as well. How often have we not done what God wanted after God gave us so much? God has given us faith and new life. We have been elected to be a part of God’s family and to be in communion with God no matter where we are. And how have we responded? If Israel and Judah are any indication, I would say that we have responded poorly. In fact, we have probably acted like the people did in verses six and seven. There the people are saying something to the effect of: “Oh boy, here we go again. How many times is God going to bring up the whole Egypt thing? This whole guilt trip is so boring and so passe.” They then begin to be a bit serious and a bit facetious.

They ask “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?”[1]They want to know what it will take to get God off their backs. What will God accept that they can bring to ease their conscience and make God happy. Would God accept burnt offerings of year-old calves? This offering would have been a whole offering, one where the offering was burned completely with nothing left over. To have calves as the offering would have been a sacrifice indeed. Most people brought sheep or lambs to be offered. They were more plentiful and cost less. To bring a calf would have cost more and would have taken away an animal that could be used to work the farm. A steep offering indeed.

Or what about thousands of rams? Would that please God? This was in reference to the thousands that were given by the kings, Solomon in particular. Surely thousands of rams would please God.

Or what about ten thousands of rivers of oil? Now the people are getting a bit sarcastic. Before they were making claims on things that had been done or could be done. With this outrageous claim they make a statement of things that are not to be even thought of seriously.

But the final one is where the people show how sarcastic they can be: “Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”[2] Were they to commit human sacrifice? Would this finally win over God? Of course not!

The narrator answers the questions that have been raised: “…what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?[3]There is no thing that that the Lord wants. James Limburg says that the questions were based on the false assumption that some thing was what God wanted. Instead, the answer given says that what God wants is me!

God calls us to live ethically by the standards that have been applied here: do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God. Sounds easy doesn’t it? But when one looks into what God is calling us to do then It becomes very hard to do.

Juan Alfaro says this about doing justice: “The practice of justice required of Israel, in the mind of Micah and of other prophets, is more than a simple obedience of the social and ritual religious obligations derived from the Law. It implies a commitment and a responsibility for the defense of the poor and the powerless so that they will not be victimized by the more powerful groups of society.”[4] This is not simply saying we stand for justice or having the right opinions. It is actually doing something. It is standing up to police who beat and kill a man. It is standing against those who ship unsuspecting people to another place just for political gain. It is “to be a voice for oppressed persons, unprotected persons, widows, and foreigners, and to fight for the rights of handicapped persons, minorities, elderly persons, poor persons, and every person treated as less than God’s child.”[5]

Loving kindness is sometimes translated as loving mercy or goodness. It is translated from the word hesed and is also known as the steadfast love of God. Again Alfaro says this: “The loving-kindness and fidelity of God throughout the history of the people is the model and pattern for the loving mercy(hesed) that the prophets demand from Israel. It is generally associated with the Exodus and the Covenant. More than human feelings, loving mercy includes compassion and steadfast and loyal love, such as exist among the members of the same clan, tribe, and family. Loving mercy is a community-oriented activity, expressed concretely by protecting and helping those in need and through a spirit of solidarity.”[6]This loving mercy is to reach out as well even to those not in our community; you know, our enemies.

And walking humbly with God. By walking carefully or wisely with God we are to walk day to day with God knowing that it is only through God’s mercy and grace that we can do justice and love kindness. It is only when we walk with God that we can “listen for God’s voice wherever God may be heard…”[7]

Micah 6:8 is a very popular verse. You can find it on mugs, bumper stickers, needlepoints, frames, t-shirts and anywhere one can put the verse (just check out Etsy). I have it as part of my signature on my email. It is a good verse and speaks volume to us. But it is easy to write and wear a verse; it is hard to live it. This verse gives us ethics 101 in that it tells us how to live with our fellow human beings. It’s pretty simple: Do justice, Love kindness (or goodness) and walk humbly with our God. Sounds easy. But day after day we wrestle with what we are told here and we struggle with what we want to do. Are we ready to take the class or do we just want to talk about it?

[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [3] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [4]Alfaro, Juan I. Justice and Loyalty: A Commentary on the Book of Micah. Grand Rapids; Edinburgh: Wm. B. Eerdmans; Handsel Press, 1989. Print. International Theological Commentary. [5]Bartlett, David L. Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 1, Advent through Transfiguration (Kindle Locations 10673-10675). Kindle Edition. [6]Alfaro, Juan I. Justice and Loyalty: A Commentary on the Book of Micah. Grand Rapids; Edinburgh: Wm. B. Eerdmans; Handsel Press, 1989. Print. International Theological Commentary. [7]Bartlett, David L. Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 1, Advent through Transfiguration (Kindle Location 10677). Kindle Edition.