“Look Out”

Sermon by the Rev. Caela Simmons Wood

First Congregational UCC of Manhattan, KS

Micah 5:2-5a; 6:6-8

November 13, 2022

Several weeks ago, I was looking ahead at upcoming scripture texts and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that the prophet Micah would be with us today. With so many people in our congregation who have been deeply engaged in the fall election cycle, I knew the results might still be weighing heavily on our hearts this morning. For those who have been knocking on doors, writing postcards, talking to friends about the importance of voting, THANK YOU. I know that the week after an election can lead to a feeling of, “Ok, what now?” 

And so this passage from the prophet Micah comes to us from another part of the world far away from here in both time and space. But the context is familiar to us. Micah’s world was a big ol’ mess. Wars and threats of war. Big power players on the global stage casually creating chaos. And Micah himself writes from a rural area, far away from the halls of power in the capital city. An agricultural region. Then, as now, these flyover regions were places that were often forgotten by those in power….and yet the policies decided in the far away capital were things that intimately affected those who lived in the more rural areas. [1]

You may have heard that famous Karl Barth quote before, admonishing preachers to “preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.” This well-known passage from Micah falling on the Sunday after an election is the perfect set up for following Barth’s advice. 

Really, Barth’s advice is good for all of us, not just preachers. To be engaged, faithful followers of Jesus, we need to approach our whole lives with the Bible in one hand and the news of the day in the other, don’t we? That’s how we figure out how to actually walk in the ways of Jesus, not just think about it. 

Two weeks ago we observed All Saints’ Day and we remembered our call to “look up” at the cloud of witnesses who surround us, the saints who have gone before. Last week we heard the story of the healing of Naaman and were reminded that we also need to “look down” to learn from those that we might mistakenly think are beneath us and to allow the earth to teach us, too. 

This week, Micah reminds us of the importance of looking out. Looking all around us to see what work is ours to do. Looking out for those who have been pushed to the margins or forgotten. Looking out by being on guard against pride. Looking out for each other by reminding one another what matters most. 

Micah speaks to the elites of his day, reminding them that living faithfully can be boiled down to three brief imperatives. “Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God.” It really is as simple and as hard as that. 

This verse is a touchstone for Christians and Jews alike. And on the Sunday after an election, it’s a particularly grounding reminder. It’s easy to get our emotions really amped up when an election happens. But Micah reminds us that the work doesn’t actually change once the results come in. “Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God.” Those are our marching orders. When the people we want to win win, that’s what we’re supposed to do. When the people we didn’t want to win win, that’s what we’re supposed to do. My friend and colleague the Rev. Dr. Lori Walke said it eloquently earlier this week:

Election Day is never the end of the work. It's when we find out whose feet we'll be holding to the fire.

This is true even of candidates who would've made our work easier.

Feel your feelings, but the work is ever before us. [2]

Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly. That’s the work. No matter who’s in charge. 

And as we gather for our congregational meeting after worship today, it strikes me that Micah is also a perfect compliment to the work we’ll be doing during that meeting, too. 

In our tradition, we come together to prayerfully discern who we are and what ministry is ours to do as a congregation. We do this when we make big choices together and when we elect our leaders. We do this when we create our annual budget, which funds our ministries. All of these choices are about prioritizing what matters most. We do our best to approach these tasks with intention and wisdom - to ensure we’re being excellent stewards of our resources together. 

You know, back in 2020 when we first found ourselves re-inventing church and trying to figure out how to do absolutely everything in a new way, I heard some of you quote this verse in conversations we were having. We had to figure out which things were most important to us as a congregation and as individuals. And we remembered the guidance of this ancient prophet, Micah, as he told us what God is looking for, “Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly.” And so we focused on those things. We kept at them. 

And I have to tell you, I am so grateful for the faithfulness of this congregation over the past several years. The way you all showed up for one another and for the wider community is truly inspiring. We continued to feed the hungry, learned and grew together as we fumbled through weird online ways of engagement. We felt awkward as we eventually began meeting again with masks and distancing. We made difficult decisions and sacrifices to protect the health and well-being of the most vulnerable. We tried new things - some of which worked and some that didn’t…and that was okay. We certainly didn’t do everything perfectly but we stayed faithful to the call. We kept trying to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly - acutely aware that we’d mess some things up and get some things right and that we’d be accompanied by the Spirit the whole way through. 

When I think about what we’ve all been through as a society these past few years, I can scarcely believe we’re still functioning. We’ve lost so much - stability, predictability, routines and traditions, even people we love. There is so much to grieve. 

And at the same time there is much to celebrate. One of the things I am thankful for each and every day is the faithfulness of God in the midst of all this chaos. The one who has walked faithfully alongside us. God knows we’ve been humbled again and again as we’ve grappled with our mortality and deficiencies as humans. And through it all, God has walked with us, giving us the strength and support we need to keep showing up. To keep seeking ways to do justice and love mercy in our world. Even when we were exhausted. Even when we didn’t know how. Even when just putting one foot in front of the other seemed impossible. 

When I think about the chaos in Micah’s world and the chaos in our world, I give thanks for prophets who speak words of truth into difficult times. The ones who remind us what really matters. The ones who say, “Okay, friends. It really is as easy and as hard as this.” The ones who speak in needlepoint phrases we can remember. The ones who remind us that sometimes we need to hold together things that seem opposite each other. You know, like doing justice - which is all about making sure everyone gets what they deserve - and loving mercy - which reminds us that we also are to give others what they haven’t earned at all. We need both and Micah reminds us of that. 

“Do justice.” Keep looking at the systems and asking hard questions. Keep jumping into action and doing whatever is in your power to help those who might be left out. Keep focusing on what’s right. 

“Love mercy.” But don’t get so obsessed with what’s ‘right’ that you forget to be generous of heart and kind. Don’t get so hung up on justice that you harden your hearts. Remember what it feels like when grace is extended to you and seek to give that same grace to others. Approach life with a deeply loving heart. Not the kind of love that says ‘anything goes’ but the kind of love that expects much and makes space for growth and new life. 

And through it all, Micah reminds us to walk humbly alongside God. How could we be anything but humble when we know that the Spirit accompanies us? We don’t have to be big and puffed up. We don’t have to be perfect. We just have to be exactly who God made us to be: weird and wacky and wonderful and trying and failing and getting it right - sometimes all on the same day. 

We can take sabbath rest, knowing that God will keep the world spinning even when we don’t. And we can also boldly speak and act in Christ’s name, knowing that as his disciples we are called to be his hands and feet on earth. We can keep moving forward, one foot in front of the other, as we trust that the Spirit animates all our days. We walk with our feet firmly on the ground and our spirits reaching to the skies as we rejoice that we - and every other person we encounter - are created in God’s image. What a thing to remember. 

Micah reminds us what matters: justice, mercy, humility. And Micah keeps it so very simple (and so very hard) with those verbs: do, love, walk. 

But the thing that truly ties it all together is there at the very end: “with God.” That’s what gives us the ability to look out. To look out for others who need support. To look out for ourselves as we continue to do the hard work of being human. To look outside of our little bubbles and silos and engage with those who are different from us. To remember that elections come and go - pandemics come (and go - please, go) - prophets and rulers come and go - families change, churches change, bodies change. 

And the call is the same. God invites us to faithfully, humbly, keep walking alongside her. She did not abandon Micah and his people and she will not leave us. 

Do justice. Love mercy. Keep walking. May it be so. 

NOTES: 

[1] I am indebted to the BibleWorm podcast this week and Rev. Robert Williamson, Jr. for this observation about Micah’s rural context. 

[2] Rev. Dr. Lori M. Walke’s Facebook post on Nov. 9, 2022.