Micah is who we commonly refer to as a “minor” Biblical prophet, as opposed to the Big Three, which are Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. He is considered minor only because he was more succinct – and therefore more difficult to find in the Bible on a moment’s notice.
You see, it took Micah only seven chapters to say what he wanted to say, far less than Isaiah’s 66 chapters, Jeremiah’s 52, and Ezekiel’s 48. However, as Methodist pastor Philip McLarty wrote, Micah is “anything but minor league when it comes to proclaiming God’s Word. He’s a force to be reckoned with.”
Micah was a country boy. Unlike Isaiah the urbanite, Micah lived in a rural village about 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem, not far from the modern day Gaza Strip. He was a younger contemporary of other Biblical prophets, namely Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea, which places him historically in the mid-to-early 8th century B.C.E. He was clearly acquainted with the work of Isaiah as the most memorable of his words that we read this morning are also found in the Book of Isaiah.
Micah championed the cause of those folks - the poor and the powerless – even as he sarcastically condemned the wealthy for systematically exploiting the weak and lambasted the priests and wannabe prophets for being holed up in their temples and shrines solely for the money and status it offered them.
However, Micah saved his most savage remarks for the hollow and meaningless religious observances he witnessed all around him. As McLarty wrote, “One commentator remarked, ‘The people were religious, but theirs was an empty ceremonialism.’ Another wrote, ‘Religion had become a matter of form; ceremonial observances were thought to meet all religious requirements. The people believed as long as they performed the external acts of worship they were entitled to the divine favor and protection.’ And yet another adds, ‘The people replaced heartfelt worship with empty ritual, thinking that this is all God demands.’”
“And what did you think I wanted in return?” God asked sarcastically,
“an armload of offerings topped off with yearling calves? Would I be impressed with thousands of rams, with buckets and barrels of olive oil? Would I be moved if you sacrificed your firstborn child? Would that cancel your sin?”
And then the defendant – the wayward Chosen People – speaks. Israel neither admits guilt nor asks for forgiveness. The people only want a way out, a path forward. They just want to know what they need to do to appease God’s anger once again.
“And no,” Micah concludes, “it won’t be with yearling calves and barrels of olive oil. That is not what God wants. That is not what God expects. That is not what is pleasing to God. God has different requirements in mind – always did and always will. In the end, God wants your heart.
“God already made it plain how to live, what to do,
what she is looking for in men and women.
what she is looking for in men and women.
What does the Lord require of you?
It’s quite simple: To do justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with your God”.
It’s quite simple: To do justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with your God”.
And it is those haunting words of the prophet Micah – to do justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with God – that Jesus channeled in his ministry when he commanded us to love one another. It is as Presbyterian pastor Gregory Knox Jones noted, “The primary calling of the church is to show the world the change God has made in our own lives by loving one another and by sharing God’s love with those beyond our walls. This love is not simply an emotion, neither is it empty rhetoric to mouth only on Sundays. It is a Christ-like caring in our soul that cannot be contained, but must express itself in concrete actions.”
It is those haunting words of the prophet Micah – to do justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with God - that we today sing about in church and Bible Camp and on mission trips, that we watch come to life on youtube videos, that we see on colorful banners flapping in the breeze, that we read on bumper stickers. Nowadays we consolidate the prophet’s words into an easily remembered meme: Random acts of kindness.
And those random acts are something I believe, if they were to become an intentional spiritual practice, would keep at bay the winter blues, would ward off Spiritual Affective Disorder. And yet, to love kindness does not always come easily in our society. Some would say that we are simply too busy. Or that we have lost the ability to intentionally walk in another’s shoes if only for a few moments. Or that we fear making ourselves vulnerable to people and forces we cannot control.
Some would say that we figure it is easier and cleaner and less disruptive if we just keep looking straight ahead of us – or blindly at our feet – and do not allow our peripheral vision to get us entangled – however tangentially - in another person’s life. It is better to harden our hearts and play it safe than to risk those same hearts being broken open, to see another’s pain as somehow our own.
Charlie could be quite disruptive in Sunday School, and his teachers often did not know what to do with him. When the Christmas pageant drew near, the teachers figured they had better give him a very simple part. So – Charlie was cast as the innkeeper. All he had to do was wait for the knock on the inn door, open the door, and say, "No room" three times.
The big evening arrived, and the pageant began. The two children dressed as Joseph and Mary came to the inn and knocked shyly on the door. "No room," said Charlie on cue. The teachers nodded and smiled.
The couple knocked on the door a second time. "NO ROOM!" Charlie repeated, a bit louder and with more self-confidence this time. The teachers let out a sigh of relief.
Banging on the door even harder the third time, desperately seeking space for themselves and their soon-to-be-born baby, Joseph and Mary pleaded with the innkeeper, "Please, is there any room in the inn?"
Overcome by the drama unfolding around him and moved with kindness, Charlie forgot his line.
"Oh," he said, "why don't you take my room tonight?"
The pageant came to a complete halt, and the teachers were open-mouthed. Some parents were upset. After all, they had spent big bucks on their children's costumes and had hoped a casting agent might be in the audience.
However, for those who had come that evening seeking the presence of God in a complex and jaded world, Charlie's spontaneous words reminded them of something terribly important: To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God.
What if we were to live our lives being intentionally kinder to people – maybe even to people we do not know? Could intentionally committing random acts of kindness improve our outlook on these still cold and wintry days? Could doing so allow God’s light to flood our lives – and even the lives of others?
After all, actor Bob Hope once wisely quipped, "If you haven't any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble." And once again, scientific studies bear that out, agreeing that tremendous physical, psychological, and I would say spiritual benefits await those who are simply kind.
Kindness produces serotonin which generates that feeling of calmness and can even help heal wounds. People also feel enhanced self-esteem and more energetic when they are looking out for someone other than themselves. Engaging in acts of kindness can reduce blood pressure and feelings of stress.
Studies have also found that people who were altruistic and actually gave money away were, overall, the happiest folks around. In addition, The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation reported that simply witnessing acts of kindness produces oxytocin, occasionally referred to as the “love hormone” which aids in lowering blood pressure and improving overall heart-health. Imagine if you were doing rather than just witnessing!
And did you know that being kind can help you love longer? Christine Carter, in her book entitled Raising Happiness: In Pursuit of Joyful Kids and Happier Parents, writes: “People 55 and older who volunteer for two or more organizations have an impressive 44 percent lower likelihood of dying early, and that's after sifting out every other contributing factor, including physical health, exercise, gender, habits like smoking, marital status and many more. This is a stronger effect than exercising four times a week.” A guilt-free way to skip the gym? Not really – but certainly a guilt-free way to augment your time at the gym!
And so this week, I challenge you to experiment with another possible spiritual practice. I challenge you to intentionally initiate random acts of kindness. And what a good week to do that too! After all, February 11th, Tuesday, is the beginning of Random Acts of Kindness Week, a tradition begun 25 years ago.
If you choose to participate in this challenge, I trust that you will find – as we saw in the videos – that kindness begets more kindness. I hope you will also recognize that we become kinder with practice. As one blogger I read this week reminded us, “The trick you need to know: Acts of kindness need to be repeated. Biochemically, you can’t live on the 3-4 minute oxytocin boost that comes from a single act.”
In your bulletin, you have list of possible random acts of kindness that you might consider. It is certainly not exhaustive, but it will be a starting point. Pick one or two – and just do them. You also have a card to leave for or give to that person or group of people who will benefit from your act of kindness. I have tried to include acts of kindness for both introverts and extraverts.
In closing then, let me remind you that, as Christians, we are called to live by the words of Micah – to do justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with God. That is what Jesus did. That is what Jesus modeled for us.
As Lutheran pastor Keven Ruffcorn wrote, “In his life and ministry, Jesus both taught and demonstrated that all people have value. All people are children of God. Jesus touched the lepers and healed them.
He associated with women and even welcomed them to be among his followers. Jesus broke down the artificial barriers created by religious leaders and reached out to include Gentiles and people who worshiped other gods. (And this is critical:) For Jesus there was no ‘us’ and ‘them’, there was only ‘we’.’
And when you and I realize that there is only “we” , when we recognize that sometimes we are bound one to another only by the fragile tendrils of random acts of kindness, when we embrace those realties, we will feel a spark ignited deep in our hearts. It will be like someone finally turned a light on in our lives. And that sliver of light may be just enough to cause our Spiritual Affective Disorder to first diminish and then to simply disappear.
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