This sermon was preached at Glenwood and Canoe Ridge Lutheran Churches, Decorah, Iowa on February 2, 2020. It’s based on Micah 6:1-8 and Matthew 5:1-12. If you’d prefer to listen to it, find it at https://soundcloud.com/stacey-nalean-carlson.
Micah 6:1-8
1Hear what the Lord says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. 2Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for the Lord has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel.
3“O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me! 4For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 5O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.”
6“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8He 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?
Matthew 5:1-12
1When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
At a time when our nation is engaged in an impeachment trial, it’s no wonder that I would be drawn toward today’s First Reading from Micah: Hear what the Lord says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains.
There’s a trial going on here: The Lord has a controversy with his people. It seems, though, that God’s people have initiated the complaint. They are the plaintiffs in this trial. God is the defendant.
God’s defense is marked by an emotional pleading: O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!
Terence Fretheim, reflecting on this text, writes: the openness of God to engage in such a dialogue with the people is remarkable…God interacts with the people about their concerns; God does not dismiss their complaining as inappropriate or bring them into court because they have dared to question God! Quite the contrary, God develops reasons as to why they should be appreciative of God’s activity in their story even though life has been difficult. 1
God reminds God’s people of all that God has done for them: I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shiitim to Gilgal…
In an act of strange timing that can only be credited to the Spirit, half of our confirmation students just learned about Balak and Balaam. Two weeks ago, when the weather was questionable, we met for class but many students were not able to come. Those who were there asked if we might set aside the lesson plan for the night and instead act out a story from the Bible.
What story would you like to act out, I asked. And immediately, some of our 8th graders recalled a story that they stumbled upon last year but ran out of time to explore. It was a story they remembered vividly because it involves a talking donkey. Truly. You can look it up yourself in the book of Numbers.
Anyway, to make a long, talking donkey story short, Balak is the king of Moab who fears the movement of the Israelites into his land and so calls on Balaam to curse them. These are his words sent to Balaam by messenger: A people has come out of Egypt; they have spread over the face of the earth, and they have settled next to me. Come now, curse this people for me, since they are stronger than I; perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land; for I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed (Numbers 22:5-6).
Balaam refuses to act without hearing what God has to say first. And what does God say? You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed (Numbers 22:12).
When Balaam finally meets with King Balak, he remains faithful to what God has revealed to him: How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced? (Numbers 23:8).
King Balak, of course, is furious: I brought you to curse my enemies, but now you have done nothing but bless them (Numbers 23:11). But Balaam stands firm: Must I not take care to say what the Lord puts into my mouth? (Numbers 23:12).
The story goes on. Ultimately, Balaam ends up never cursing Israel, as King Balak wanted him to, but instead blessing them three times.
O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, what Balaam son of Beor answered him.
God asks the people to remember this moment in their history, to remember that they are indeed blessed, favored, chosen to be God’s people. And as blessed ones, they have a responsibility to live out. It has nothing to do with perfect worship of this God who has saved them time and time again. It has nothing to do with perfect offerings to this God who has chosen them to be God’s people.
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?
Terence Fretheim writes: What does the Lord require of you, you who have been “saved” by God? The issue is not a means to achieve salvation. The question addresses those who are members of the community of faith already. Does the relationship you have with God entail any expectations? This text says: Yes.
The orientation toward both neighbor and God is clear. In effect, give yourself on behalf of others, particularly those who are needy, by doing justice and loving kindness (“steadfast love”). At the same time, walk humbly (or attentively) with your God. 2
People of God, you are blessed.
You who are poor in spirit? Blessed.
You who mourn? Blessed.
You who are merciful? Blessed.
I love Eugene Peterson’s translation of this text:
You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’
you find yourselves cared for.
You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of
compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and
your place in God’s family.
You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution.
The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom. 3
People of God, you are blessed, favored, chosen to be God’s people. Remember what God has done for you. Remember the water and the word, naming you beloved. Remember the bread and the wine, empowering you to be the body of Christ in the world. Remember the love you’ve known in the midst of unimaginable sorrows. Remember God’s presence beside you when life was too much. Remember the freedom God won for you—freedom from sin and death and despair, freedom to be all of who you are, freedom to love others as God loves you.
This is the expectation of life with God–to bless others as you have been blessed. To do justice. To love kindness. To walk humbly with God, living as witnesses to God’s faithfulness.
With the mountains and the hills, the rivers and the streams, the fields and the flowers, the sun and the moon, we live as witnesses. And when God is on trial, we proclaim God’s faithfulness. We remember what God has done for us and for all this beloved world. We refuse to curse those whom God has blessed. Amen.
1, 2 http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=4369
3 The Message. Eugene Peterson. Matthew 5:7,9-10