Loving God, you are Lord of the past, present and future, and you continue to invite us to live in hope.  Help us this day to see your power at work, and continue to guide us by your Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            In the year 1918, at the 11thhour on the 11thday of the 11thmonth, the guns fell silent.  What a relief that must have been for those who had endured the months and years of battles and fear and the noise and the stench of war.  It would have been a blessed peace, and many must have breathed a collective sigh of relief.

         Hundreds of years earlier, at the time of the prophet Micah, there was also the constant threat of war. Many different nations invaded Israel over the years, and at the time that Micah was prophesying, the Assyrians were the ones in power.  In fact, they invaded Israel and carried off some of its people during Micah’s lifetime. And so, imagine how wonderful it would have sounded to hear Micah’s message about the ruler who will come from Bethlehem.  “He shall stand and feed his flock,… And they shall live secure,… and he shall be the one of peace” (Mic. 5:4-5).

         What an amazing message of hope for those who had been invaded and taken over by a foreign power. The people had not been abandoned or forgotten by their God.  There had been judgment, to be sure, and the people had suffered as a result of their sinfulness.  However, there was promise for the future – a ruler who will be faithful to God and will allow them to dwell in peace and security.

         At the same time, though, Micah’s message was also about the present.  As with many of the prophets, he points out the ways in which the people had been ignoring God’s commandments.  One of the biggest concerns is how they were worshiping idols, and not only that but their rulers were accepting bribes, and their priests were only interested in money, and their prophets were giving messages that were favourable for the highest bidder (cf. Mic. 3:11).  And so, Micah asks the question in today’s reading as to what it is that God actually wants.

         Does God want burnt offerings?  Does God want ridiculous numbers of animals and even more ridiculous amounts of olive oil? Does God want child sacrifice? (which some of the nations at that time actually practiced)  Does God want self-flagellation and putting yourself in the poorhouse? Does God want us to ignore our families because we’re spending all of our time at the church?  Does God want us to raise money for a private jet so that we can spread the word without flying in a “tube of demons”?

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? (Mic. 6:8)

         This is true in times of war, and this is true in times of peace.  This is true for those who are part of the covenant that was made at Mt. Sinai, and this is true for those who follow Jesus.  Justice, mercy, kindness, humility – all of these were practiced by Jesus and were taught by Jesus.  And none of this is particularly easy for us to do.

         When we think about doing justice, it can be hard to figure out what that might mean for us.  The meaning, at least biblically speaking, is doing what is right.  To do justice is to do what is right.  One example of what doing justice might look like comes from my aunt’s family history (Iron Annie and a Long Journey, by Lisa M. Hutchison).

         My aunt’s father was a pilot with Lufthansa during the 1930’s and 40’s in Germany.  One day, he saw two Jewish girls who were out on the runway being forced to shovel snow in their sundresses.  After consulting his co-pilot, her father sent a message to the soldiers that the girls needed to come on the plane to clean up a mess.  He put them in the washroom on the plane, gave them another woman’s suitcase, and told them to put on some winter clothes. Then, when there were lots of people in the aisles on the plane, he led them to a couple of empty seats.

         The flight landed somewhere in Spain, and the girls were able to go to the Red Cross there in order to get some help.  Eventually, they ended up in Canada.  They never forgot the pilot who had helped them, and many years later they met his daughter in Toronto.  This is simply one example of an individual taking the situation he was presented with and doing what is right.

         Sometimes when we think of the injustice that goes on in our world, it can seem overwhelming, and we wonder how any of us can make a difference.  Yet, we, too, are sometimes presented with situations where we have the ability to do the right thing and help somebody in need.  This, too, is doing justice.

         As for loving kindness, this is also to be a way of life for those who follow Jesus.  It involves acting with kindness and mercy toward others – loving your neighbour as yourself.  It involves taking seriously the covenant that God has made with us through Jesus, and putting that relationship with God first in all situations. It involves, if you will, random acts of kindness, or simply being kind to one another.  We never know what kind of a battle that other person is facing.

         As for walking humbly with God, this is how Jesus walked – always putting what God wants ahead of his own desires.  Walking humbly involves service to others, and living with an awareness that God really does know better than we do.  It also involves an awareness of how deeply and fully we are loved and how precious we are in God’s sight.  To be humble does not involve being a doormat.

         Today, while we are aware that many terrible things have happened during times of war, we also give thanks for those who did justice and loved kindness and walked humbly with God even in the midst of armed conflict.  We give thanks, and we pray that we, too, might be able to make a difference in this world, empowered by the Holy Spirit and filled with the love of Jesus.  Amen.

Pentecost 25 / Remembrance Day (NL 1)          Micah 1:3-5; 5:2-5a; 6:6-8

November 11, 2018

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2018 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved