An Acceptable Sacrifice

 

 

 

 

Scripture

 Micah 6:6-8

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?
⁷ Will 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?”
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)

Devotion

I don't know about you, but I've felt dispirited of late.  Between pandemic fatigue, systemic injustice, the daily needs of people in my community, and some ongoing personal grief, there are times when it feels like there isn't enough of me to go around.  Add in the nation's building anger, resentment, and anxiety as we enter the final hours until Election Day, and its hard not to feel overhwlemed by the world's grief.  It's at moments like this one that I find myself asking "with what shall I come before the Lord?  What can I possibly offer that will please God or make a dent in all this trouble?"

The person speaking in Micah 6:6-7 voices a similar question.  This person (which represents all the people of the land) sounds frustrated, hopeless, and even a bit defensive as they ask what will ever be enough to offer up to God.  Based on the depths of the nation's many sins, sacrificing a few calves at the Temple isn't going to cut it.  Impossibly expensive gifts like thousands of rams and enough precious oil to fill ten thousand rivers still won't be enough to please God.  Not even the most painful sacrifice imaginable--the people's own beloved children--could atone for all their misdeeds.  If no physical gift the people can give will ever be enough of a sacrifice, then what's the point of even trying?  Why not just sit back and await the inevitable?

The prophet Micah responds by saying that the "sacrifice" God truly desires is simpler and much more possible for people to make than they realize.  God does not need rivers of oil or herds of livestock.  No, God simply expects the people to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.  If they can make that kind of daily sacrifice, then they will show that they are committing their hearts, bodies, and minds to following God's laws.  This is the type of sacrifice that is pleasing to the Lord...and when each person does their part to go before God with this kind of gift, they can have faith that it will be accepted. When enough people make this kind of sacrifice, God will do the rest.

Do justice.  Love kindness.  Walk humbly with God.  These commands seem simple, but we have a hard time following them.  It's difficult to seek to do justice when we or someone we love may benefit from certain social and economic injustices.  It feels counter-intuitive to love kindness when people are all-too-often at each others throats and our nation appears to be tearing itself apart.  And as for walking humbly...well how often do we look down our noses as we claim to be superior to someone or to already have all the answers me need?  The number of ways we fail to live into Micah 6:8 is truly astounding. 

Tomorrow will be the most divisive and fraught Election Day that many of us may remember.  It is not my place to tell you how to vote.  After all, God alone is the Lord of Conscience.  But whether you are heading to the polls or awaiting to hear the results, I encourage you to spend tomorrow holding Micah's words in your heart.  Let's ask ourselves what it would look like for our nation to truly do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.  How do those commands impact not only who we vote for but how also we react the results, how we treat others, and what we ask and/or permit our elected officials to do long after the votes have been counted?   What might God be asking us to help change about our nation...regardless of who is in office?

So with what shall I come before the Lord on November 3?  Well, my vote has already been counted.  But I can commit to keep walking with Jesus as I try to prayerfully discern what is just, what is kind, and what is humble.  I can come before the Lord promising that no matter what happens tomorrow, I will do everything I can to keep following God's way of love.  And I will make this commitment remembering the Talmud's advice:

Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.

As I bring this offerings before my Risen Lord, it my fervent prayer that you will do the same.  These gifts are good and pleasing to God.  And we can have faith that when we make this kind of sacrifice, God will use them in ways that help heal our world.

 

Prayer

Today's prayer is written by  Rev. Beth M. Woodard of St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, High Point, North Carolina:

Most holy God, almighty King: You love justice and bring equity to the Earth. On this [day/evening/night], as we await electoral information and results, may our hearts, our minds, our spirits, and our bodies abide in your unfailing presence. Still our anxieties, O God, and point us toward the way of love for all with whom we live and walk, work and play, tend and love. Pour out your healing and wholeness upon us all, in the name of your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.