Ancient Hippies – Micah
Sycamore Creek Church
November 4 & 5, 2012
Tom Arthur
Micah 6:8

Peace Friends!

Today we begin a new series called Ancient Hippies.  We’re getting our hippie on!  I hope you wore your favorite hippie accessory.  Now hippies are a little weird and crazy.  They are somewhat offensive at times.  They speak truth to power.  That’s the 1970s variety.  The ancient variety is called a prophet.  Today we begin with the prophet Micah.

Micah is a good place to begin because Micah is a book about the politics of the day.  And what are we right smack dab in the middle of today?  Politics.  On Tuesday, we elect a president.  So today I’d like to get a little, or maybe a lot, political.  I know.  I know.  Politics and religion don’t mix.  Well, hang with me for a second.  Don’t blow me off.  I think Micah has something to say to us no matter what side of the aisle we’re sitting on.

So just to keep you from squirming the whole time, let me tell you where I’m personally at when it comes to politics.  I don’t feel completely comfortable in any one party.  I like bits and pieces of all the parties out there.  To illustrate that, let me tell you a story about my involvement with politics.

Several years ago I set a goal for myself one year to meet with every person who was holding an office that I had to vote for.  So I met with my local ward representative in Petoskey.  I met with the mayor of Petoskey.  And so on.  Well, my local house of representatives congressman, Bart Stupak, was holding a town hall meeting one night.  I figured that would be my best chance to meet with him.  During the town hall meeting Q&A, I raised my hand and asked, “I don’t feel comfortable in any party.  What would you say to someone like me to woo me into your party?”  Bart Stupak gave a basic answer that I don’t really remember.  But what I do remember was that when it was all done, he made a bee-line right for me and started talking to me.  I told him that I’d like to talk politics with him some day, and he suggested that the next time he was in town I could spend the day with him.  Score! 

So I wrote his office a letter and told them about his offer.  A year later when he was coming to town for another town hall meeting, I got a call from his office, and they arranged for me to spend the day with him.  Do you know what a representative does all day long?  He meets with people who ask for money.  Money to complete this project.  Money to start this project.  Money to assure that this project will continue.  And on and on and on. 

It was an eye opening day.  During that day Bart Stupak offered for me to spend a day with him inWashingtonDC.  Score!  So a couple of months later I went and spent a day with him in DC.  He gave Sarah and me a personal tour of the White House, and I had the chance to go to several committee meetings with him.  I know that most of you would rather have your toe nails plucked out than spend a day in DC going to committee meetings, but I loved every second of it.  What other nation opens so wide their doors of power for the average person to see what goes on?  So do you know what our congressmen and women do when they go to committee meetings in DC?  They ask for money.  Money to finish this project.  Money to start this project.  Money to make sure that this project continues.  Do you sense a theme?  (Now this isn’t all bad because it takes money to keep our roads open and safe, to pay for our police and firemen, and to educate our children.  Don’t take me the wrong way here.) 

These two days are two days I will never forget.  I got some pretty intense time with Bart Stupak.  But after those two days, word got back to me from a friend of mine who knew Stupak better than I did, that Stupak was still confused about my political persuasions: He said he still didn’t know if I was a Republican or Democrat! 

OK, that was a long story just to tell you that when it comes to politics, I’m not particularly comfortable in any one party.  So when I say I want to get political today, rest assured that I’m not talking about trying to convince you who to vote for on Tuesday.  But what I want to do is bring up some things that Micah might say if he were alive today speaking truth to power.

The Problem
Here’s the problem in Micah’s day, and I think it is a problem that many of us feel still exists today: the corrupt rule.  Going back to the theme of money, it often seems like money buys the winners.  According to the New York Times, in the current presidential election, Obama and the Democratic National Convention and Obama’s Super Pac have raised a total of $934 million.  That’s almost one billion dollars!  Mitt Romney is not far behind.  Romney + RNC + Super Pac = $881.8 million.  Wow!  According to CNN, “Historically, the candidate who raises the most money is likely to win…In 2004, Senate candidates who raised the most money won 88% of the time and House candidates who raised the most money won an astonishing 97.8% of the time.”  Yikes!  It has been said that theUS has the best congress money can buy.

When it comes to who gives money to who, it often seems like both parties are in the pockets of big corporations.  According to the Center for Responsive Politics several big corporations give to both Democrats & Republicans.  Here’s a list with the percentage given to Democrats and Republicans in parentheses:

• Comcast – $3.6 million (63/37)
• Honeywell – $2.9 million (39/61)
• Lockheed – $2.5 million (39/61)
• Boeing – $2.4 million (42/58)
• Citigroup – $1.9 million (43/57)
• Bain Capital – $505,605 (37/63)

Micah
Stepping into this situation is the ancient hippie, Micah.  Micah is a prophet.  A prophet speaks for God.  One writer has said that prophets are “men [and women] of God going around saying things people did not want to hear but remarkably could not forget” (Ellen Davis).  Micah speaks judgment on the kingdom for breaking covenant with the LORD and speaks new vision for the future.  There are three famous passages in Micah that speak truth to power in his day and can still speak truth to power today.  From them we can learn the main point of this message: God desires justice, kindness, and humility.

Justice
Perhaps the most famous verse from Micah is Micah 6:8:

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? (NRSV)

Here is the situation that Micah found himself in.  To pay the tribute to the Assyria Empire, the rich were taking advantage of the poor.  They were taking their homes and land (2:1-2).  Sounds like all the repossession going on today.  Micah tells the rich and powerful that they may take the land today, but they will eventually lose it.

The rich were also using false weights (6:9-16) to make as much profit as possible.  Sound familiar?  How ‘bout predatory lending today?  Micah tells them that while they may make money today, they will not enjoy their profit and it will be taken away.

Likewise, money ruled the rulers.  The rulers were taking bribes and gifts and ruling in favor of the powerful (7:3-4).  Sound familiar?  Perhaps they needed some campaign finance reform?  Micah warns them that while they have power now, they will lose their power.

Micah makes his point really sharp when he sums up the situation of the rich and the powerful saying, “The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge” (Micah 7:4 NRSV)!  Micah is serious about justice.

Kindness
In Micah 6:8 we read that God desires kindness.  The Hebrew word there for kindness is hesed.  That’s the same word that is used to describe God’s loving merciful kindness toward us.  God expects of us the same thing that God shows us. 

In a wonderfully imaginative verse Micah gives us a vision of what this kindness looks like in the future on the ground:

They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
(Micah 4:3 NRSV)

Peace is the final vision for God’s Kingdom.  Peace.  Shalom.  Well being for every person.

Let me give you a little historical context for this message.  Micah is living in a time where a civil war has splitIsraelbetween a northern kingdom, calledIsrael, and a southern kingdom calledJudah. Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, has attacked the southern kingdom,Judah’s capital,Jerusalem.  In order to fend off Samaria, Judah allies itself with the bigger empire, Assyria but must pay huge tributes for this protection.  Kinda like a mafia protection plan.  This alliance led toJudahworshiping other Assyrian gods.  Assyria comes down and takes on a three-year siege of Samaria that ends with its sack in 722 BC.  But then Assyria turns against the southern kingdom too and siegesJerusalem.  In the midst of this siege, something miraculous happens andAssyriais put in disarray and backs out of the siege. Jerusalemis safe for the time being.  But Micah lives 25 miles southwest ofJerusalemand has something to say about all this war: one day God will take all these weapons of war and turn them into instruments of peace.  God’s final vision for humanity is peace.

Over the years, faithful Christians have disagreed on whether war is ever acceptable.  I don’t take a black and white stance on this issue, but I tend toward the hippie side of things: make love not war.  There are moments of seemingly God-ordained war in the OT but none of them is a vision for the future, like Micah’s vision.  I lean toward active non-violent resistance as a way of responding to evil in the world.  Whatever the case may be, Micah’s truth to power is a vision of peace.  That’s the ultimate goal of kindness.    

While we’re at it, let’s talk a little bit about kindness in politics.  Things in politics get pretty nasty pretty quick, don’t they?  Here’s some counsel on voting from John Wesley, the founder of Methodism.  On October 6, 1774 he gave this counsel to his fellow Methodists:

“I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them, 1. to vote without fee or reward for the person they judged most worthy, 2. to speak no evil of the person they voted against: and, 3. to take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that had voted on the other side.”  This is something we could all learn about showing kindness to those around us in the midst of this election season.

Humility
Micah is a book of contrasts.  He speaks judgment but ultimately looks for hope.  He speaks hard words to hear but ends with hope and a different kind of politics wins.  Here’s a third famous passage from Micah:

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.
(Micah 5:2 NRSV)

Have you heard that one before?  When do we usually read it?  Around Christmas time when we read this New Testament passage: 

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise menfrom the East came to Jerusalem…
(Matthew 2:1 NRSV)

It’s a prophesy about the messiah and the New Testament writers take it to be a prophesy about Jesus.  Immediately you see a different kind of politics beginning.  Bethlehem is a “little clan.”  Not the big powerful clan, but the little clan will produce a savior.  And of course we know the story of Christmas that Jesus is God come in the form a helpless little baby who is dependent upon those around him just like any baby is. 

Jesus ultimately sets up a different kind of politics, a different kind of kingdom: A kingdom not built by war, not built upon money, and not built upon worldly power and authority.  It is a voluntary kingdom of the heart.  That’s the kingdom we’re praying for when we pray the Lord’s Prayer: Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

Join the New Politics
If you’re new here atSycamoreCreekChurch, I want to invite you to join the story of SCC, a story about a different kind of politics, a different kind of kingdom.  One that the ancient hippie, Micah, pointed to.

Today is our twelve year anniversary or birthday as a church.  This church was founded by pastor Barb Flory, who while not an “ancient hippie” was what I like to call a “Rebel” Grandma.  She had a vision for this church being a different kind of church.  You see, Barb was first in life an atheist.  Eventually when she became a Christian, she wanted to start a church where everyone could come and have a place to share their questions about God and about faith and about Jesus.  She wanted a community, a politics, where that kind of thing was possible, where you didn’t have to leave your true self, your true questions at the door.  She didn’t find that kind of politics at many churches, so she set about to create with God’s help that kind of a church.

Today we talk about being a countercultural community that is curious, creative, and compassionate.  We’re curious about God.  Your questions are welcome.  You don’t have to leave them at the door.  We try to approach God with a curious humility.  We might wrong so we like to listen to you no matter where you’ve come from because we think God will say something to us when we listen to you. 

We’re creative in all that we do.  We’re creative because we’re always concerned about who is being missed.  Who is being missed by the way church is usually done?  Who gets left out because they don’t like the music or the style?  Being creative is actually an expression of justice because justice is all about paying attention to who is getting left out of the community.

We’re compassionate to everyone.  Compassion literally means co-suffering.  We can’t promise that you won’t suffer any more when you begin to follow Jesus, but we can promise that you won’t suffer alone.  We’ll show you kindness.  We’ll walk alongside you.  We’ll be loving, merciful, and kind because God has been all those things first with each one of us.

As we come to this week of electing our leaders for the future, may this ancient hippie speak some truth to the powers of our day and help us live a different kind of politics here at SCC:

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice [be creative in reaching out to people so that no one is left out], and to love kindness [we’re compassionate to everyone], and to walk humbly with your God [we’re curious about God and your questions are welcome right alongside ours]?
(Micah 6:8 NRSV)

Prayer
God, help us to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with you.  Help us to do that in the politics of our country, but even more so in the culture of our church.  May this be true of us in the name of your son Jesus Christ and in the power of your Holy Spirit.  Amen.