Epiphany

January 28, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Micah 6:1-8

‘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?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
   with tens of thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
   the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?’
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 6:6-8

God’s priorities do not rest in our offerings, no matter how great, or our acts of repentance, even though we must face the consequences of our sins and seek forgiveness. These are included respectively in the prosperity gospel, which recognizes monetary wealth as a measure of our status with God, and the hellfire and damnation belief system bent on judging others. I often notice when religious groups identify sins, the behaviors they identify as the worst sins are often things related to others, not them.

Micah 6:8 is the seminal scripture for my life’s work as a child of God and a follower of Christ. Jesus provided the vision, the “what” elements when he commanded us to love God and love our neighbors as we love ourselves*.  Micah describes the “how.” I guess one could see that the other way around, but they are definitely interrelated.

God seems to be more concerned with how we treat one another than our personal salvation. Personal salvation is just the starting gate, not the finish line. That is a hard thing for those of us raised on massive doses of personal salvation to understand,. The finish line or more appropriately a new beginning is when God’s love is the norm for everyone throughout the earth.

Prayer: God of Justice and Mercy, instill in us the drive we need to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with you. Amen.

*Matthew 22:36-40; Mark 12:30-31 derived from Deut. 6:4,5 and Lev. 19:18

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.