Micah 3:5-12
Proper 26 (31) - Year A
Two phrases from The Message stand out as examples of how religious people attempt to control through expansion of power and insurance of security.
"But if you don't pay up and jump on their bandwagon, their 'God bless you' turns into 'God damn you.'"
and
"Leaders who build Zion by killing people, who expand Jerusalem by committing crimes."
There is a lot of this going around in the political realm these days which lets us know how religious an endeavor is politics. In fact, one might say that politics is today's primary religion. Is there a dirty trick left untried or a false accusation not made in campaigns? Is there anything of "our" party which has the least question that can be raise about it or anything of "your" party which is not going to destroy the nation tomorrow (and maybe even later this afternoon)? Is there no end to sweatshops and economic sanctions and IMF/World Bank policies and wars wherein people are actively and passively killed for power and security issues? Is there ever an end to perjury and bribery and embezzlement attempting to expand one's own territory?
Along with Micah we are called to expose this false religion that "postures and pretends dependence on God" by ending every speech with "God bless A-mer-ca" and the vain imagining that "We've got God on our side. God'll protect us from disaster."
We know better than to listen to such drivel. How do we help others to also know better?
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2002/november2002.html
Micah 3:5-12 or Joshua 3:7-17
We step out into the wild waters and they cease. We proceed and wipe out others.
We retreat into the settled order and it seems to go on forever. We settle and are wiped out.
We call out Uncertainty and Fear and get the word Go Ahead and Step On It. We call out Satisfied and Peace and get the word Stop It and Get Real.
Prophets, like progressives, come in a variety of styles. Some have quick answers that let us get away with claiming this is as good as it gets so get behind the program of our leaders. Some have complex responses that keep pushing us to better living than we have so far seen.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/october2005.html
Micah 3:5-12 or Joshua 3:7-17
Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37 or Psalm 43
1 Thessalonians 2:9-13
Matthew 23:1-12
A place of honor requires stepping into a flood rush and standing still while the waters rush by, not yet calmed upstream. To bear the holy is both honorable and dangerous. When we try to disentangle these two to provide executive privilege, or any other kind of privilege, we have failed in our leadership.
To bear holiness, in ourselves and not just on our shoulders, requires entering all manner of metaphoric flood waters. We will stand in a flood that rejuvenates the land, building a part of a new delta with the few molecules of flesh and bone we have at our disposal. We will stand in a flood of prejudice, uncertainty, and fear that has rushed on for a longest time as a sign and witness it shall not always be so – though not yet seen, a cessation is on its way [and again a "nothing" has become a "something" :) ].
Still, it is time to stop by woods or flood and choose a path less traveled. It will make all the difference.
- - -
some prophets cry peace
to a raging river
a rising tide
as though desire
for continued comfort
were sufficient
being thus out of tune
with what is coming
for fear of losing
what little purchase
we have on the bronco back
of a living G*D
our cry of peace
echoes hollowly
within a hollow people
empty of hallowing
coming change
in present living