voices and vision

Another prophet

this time the profit is Isaiah. Isaiah, like Micah, is in the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Last week we heard from Micah, who was from the rural parts of Judah, he was telling the Southern Kingdom not to be too sure of themselves, because the judgement of God would fall on them the same way that it had on the northern kingdom.

In our journey through the old testament so far we have heard of how God liberated the Hebrew people, made a covenant with them, gave them kings and established them as a nation.  [Amy Oden working preacher] God also gave them prophets,  people who would speak God's message, and remind people of who they are as the people of God.

The Hebrew nation, even as a United Kingdom, was small, now in the time of the divided kingdom the nation of Judah is tiny.

Many small nations were vulnerable to the empires of the time. In this particular time the Empire is the Assyrian Empire. The Assyrians were known for their brutality, for the utter destruction that they wreaked on nations and cities.

So here we are about 700 years before Christ, Assyria is threatening Jerusalem, to level the city and to take the people into exile. The King has sent an envoy with a message for Jerusalem, which is basically: give up now, because you know we are bigger and stronger than you are. The people of Jerusalem are taunted; who is going to come and save you? You think this little army of yours can? Do you really think that God of yours can? No other army and no other God has been able to stand up against the might of the Assyrian army, so do the sensible thing and surrender.

The King has not been the most faithful God, but he does recognise that he needs to hear a word from the Lord, rather than just think about this in military terms.

I've been wondering this week about which other voices that we listen to. Who are the people we believe. Sometimes we learn things the hard way: a young child who won't listen when a parent says don't touch it is hot, some have to actually touch it and find out. When our friends say one thing and a parent says another, which one informs the actions.

Now that we are adults the questions become a little harder. There are destructive forces around us, there are voices that say surrender to drugs, to alcohol, to overconsumption, to higher status, to more pay….  There are voices that speak loudly in our community that tell us that some people are worth less than others. The unemployed, the chronically ill, children, those born in another country, those without children, and a whole range of other factors that mark people out as different.

We can listen to the voices that try and divide us, internationally, as a nation, and as a church.

The people of Judah had to choose between the threats and bullying of the Assyrian Empire in the word of God spoken through the Prophet Isaiah: don't be afraid, look and see what I will do.

A related issue I've been pondering this week is about vision. The voices that we listen to, that we take seriously, are the ones which frame our vision for the future.

Do we frame our vision for the future on the words of God?

The words of hope and peace, grace and forgiveness. This God also speaks words of judgement, demanding justice, compassion, inclusion, and generosity.
Are these the words that frame our vision?

There have been times in my life when I have doubted God's presence and wondered if God had any idea what was going on. And the voices in my head were telling me what I'd heard in other places - that this God religion thing was not real, that being part of the church was a waste of time. What I needed was for people to speak the worlds of grace and hope to me, and some did.

There are times in life when things are difficult, and there will be voices telling us that God is not real, that God can't help us, that we might as well give up, give up on faith, give up on God, because God just is not up to the task.

Then we need people who can speak words of faith and hope to us, people can remind us of God's promise to always be present with us. Do our words and our living give people a vision of a world filled with compassion and love?

At the recent Synod meeting there were questions and comments about the way the Uniting Church is dying, and I'm sure you've all read parts of Insights and been part of conversations that speak with despair at the current situation of the Uniting Church. This is part of the response to a question at Synod from Rev Kath Merrifield:

“ I don’t believe the Church is dying and I think we have believed our own press for far too long. Yes the numbers are going in the wrong direction. We have some great challenges…. “God has not finished with us yet and there is space for everyone who comes,””

Sometimes we ourselves are the people who speak the words of despair and hopelessness, rather than the words of hope and grace. Do we despair about the future of the church, do we keep our fingers crossed that there will still be a church for our funeral, or do we wait on God's spirit, do we live into the vision of what church can be?

Because the vison of the future that we hold gives shape to the way we live today. [working preacher podcast]

Listen now to the other part of today's reading which is in the second chapter of Isaiah”

“2:1 The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 In days to come the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. 3 Many peoples shall come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. “

[Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. ]

The vision that God speaks through Isaiah is not one of brutality, coercion, or despair.
The vision that God speaks through Isaiah is of all the nation's worshipping together.
The vision that God speaks through Isaiah is one where people come to learn from God, and seek to live in God's way.
The vision that God speaks through Isaiah is one of judgement and arbitration, where it is God who is doing the sifting not any one of us.
The vision that God speaks through Isaiah is one piece where tools are used for providing nourishment rather than destruction and death.

This is a vision that we can live into.
It may not seem realistic to us,
it may seem like an illusion,
and there are people who want us to think that way.

who do we listen to?

whose vision of the future do we live into being?

 

Micah judgement and restoration

Please look up Micah in the Bibles in the church.

what can you tell me about this book?  - it is written as poetry

As with last week’s reading, we are in the time of the divided kingdom. Last week we heard of Elisha, a prophet from the Northern Kingdom in about the 9^th century before Jesus was born.

Today we heard from the prophet Micah, who was in Judah, the southern kingdom, about 150 years after the time of Elisha.

Micah was a from a small town, Moresheth, about 25 miles from Jerusalem.  While some of the prophets spoke only against either Judah or Israel, Micah spoke against both kingdoms. Micah spoke out about the injustice he saw. The book of Micah gives a message of judgement against the oppressors, who were the rich and powerful. He speaks of the punishment of God for both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. Some thought Jerusalem would never fall, that the southern Kingdom would remain untouched by the turmoil that engulfed the Northern kingdom. The Northern Kingdom was invaded in 735 BCE and the people scattered in 721 BCE. Micah spoke of the judgement of God, even against the temple practices which had become self-serving. Micah also speaks of the salvation of a remnant of Israel.[i][i]

Let’s take a look at 3: 1- 3 [The Message]

“Listen, leaders of Jacob, leaders of Israel:
Don’t you know anything of justice?
Haters of good, lovers of evil:
Isn’t justice in your job description?
But you skin my people alive.
You rip the meat off their bones.
You break up the bones, chop the meat,
and throw it in a pot for cannibal stew.” 

 - remember this is poetry, he isn’t referring to physically eating people, but to the way on the leaders suck the life out of people with their lifestyle.

and 3: 5-6 [The Message]

Here is God’s Message to the prophets,
the preachers who lie to my people:
“For as long as they’re well paid and well fed,
the prophets preach, ‘Isn’t life wonderful! Peace to all!’
But if you don’t pay up and jump on their bandwagon,
their ‘God bless you’ turns into ‘God damn you.’ 

in the rest of chapter 3, Micah continues of speak of the evil of the leaders of Israel, and the punishment that awaits the nation. 

chapter 4 changes tune completely, and there is an image of the restoration of God’s rule, a place where people learn Gods ways, where there is no more war, where people who grow food get to eat.  

In chapter 5, we hear of a new ruler who will come from Bethlehem, another country town of no importance, just like the one that Micah lived in. At that time the powerful and the religious leaders were based in Jerusalem, not some country outpost. A new ruler who will be the one of peace. For the people who first heard these words, Bethlehem was associated with David,  the great King, the one who was King when Israel was undivided, when Israel was in its golden age. Bethlehem was also not part of the establishment in terms of the seat of power.  For the people who first heard this, both points would be important, the new ruler will come from the house of David, and the new ruler will not be part of the oppressive and corrupt regime that ruled from Jerusalem. 

Then we get to chapter 6.

Sections of this book are written as a court case with God as the prosecutor and judge, with the creation as witnesses, against the people. God is challenging the way the leaders are treating the people. Here in chapter six, God is asking -  what have I done to you? why do you treat me and my people like this? then again we hear of Gods activity in the history of the people, the foundational story of the exodus, and the saving action of God.

in verses 6-7, there is this cascading of sacrifices. will God be pleased with a burnt offering of a yearling? – this refers to the standard offering mentioned in Leviticus.

Or maybe to please God I need to be overly and impossibly extravagant – 1,000 rams?

10,000 rivers of oil?

my fist born?

One commentator suggests that this is sarcasm – God is having a go at people who are trying to outdo each other in their sacrifices. another suggests that God is pained by the excess. Either way, this is poetry and there is probably some poetic licence in here.  The people Micah was relating to, would also be aware of child sacrifice in nearby places – so these sacrifices or offerings to God may be outrageous, but not all are impossible.

But God isn’t interested in wealth, certainly not at the expense of the poor and the hungry, nor in child sacrifice.

Looking around the world today we can think of plenty of places where corruption flourishes, countries which require a payment or bribe to get approval for a project; countries where people are oppressed by a wealthy or powerful elite; places where life is cheap, expendable, where people are bought and sold in the open.

Micah was saying that God sees, God knows, God cares and God responds. Sometimes it is hard for us to see how God is responding to some of the situations we see unfolding before us.

Yet many of us will be able to tell of a time when we have felt a touch from God, when we have felt comfort in a difficult time. God is not unmoved.

so the question becomes in what ways does God generosity, God’s grace, God’s forgiveness, Gods salvation show in our lives? 

[the Message Micah 6: 8]

“But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,
what God is looking for in men and women.
It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbour,
be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously—
take God seriously."

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[i] Rev Dr Anna Grant-Henderson  http://otl.unitingchurch.org.au/index.php?page=micah-6-1-8

Elisha, another miracle

this week I have been asking:

• where does this story fit in the overall Biblical story?
• why is this story even in the Bible?
  and I don’t know that I have the answer to either of those questions.
  this story could lead us into looking at a variety of topics, including: child trafficking, slavery, healing, war, washing and power.
  A bit of background, the books of  1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings, tell us about the kings of Israel, the way the prophets interacted with the Kings, and also the separation of Israel into the Southern and Northern Kingdoms, and the defeat and disintegration of the northern kingdom.
  Elijah and Elisha were both prophets in the Northern Kingdom, also known as Israel.
  When Elijah went to heaven, in a chariot, the mantle passed to Elisha – see 2 Kings 2. Then follows a series of stories where Elisha works miracles – purifying water; the provision of oil for the widow to sell; the birth of a son, and then his return from death; purifying a pot of stew; and a feeding miracle, which bring us to today’s story – the healing of Naaman.
  There are some twists and turns in this story. Naaman and Elisha  didn’t just meet somewhere. Naaman was a warrior, an important person. In a raid against Israel, he took a young girl captive, and she became a slave for his wife.
  If you or I were ill, and someone suggested we see a particular person, a doctor or physio or whatever, you would ring up and make an appointment, but that isn’t how it worked in the time of Elisha.
  The slave girl, and this would have been a brave move for her, told Naaman’s wife of a prophet who could heal him.  As the prophet was in another country, Naaman needed a letter to request passage – I guess that is a bit like a passport and visa.
  However, the King of Aram in writing to the King of Israel, got things a bit messed up. There is no reason why the King of Aram would have understood that it was a prophet rather than the King who could heal. This is a time when kings were the ultimate rulers, and we see that reinforced in the reaction of the King of Israel.
  Israel was continually under threat from various neighbours – larger more powerful nations, from border incursions like the one that took the slave girl to all-out war. 
  Naaman and the King of Aram are working through diplomatic channels, all very appropriate, except, the king of Israel isn’t able to heal Naaman.
  While the slave girl knows of the prophet Elisha who can heal, the king of Israel seems to have no knowledge of him.
  is this going to be another round of battles?
  what will happen to Naaman?
   
  the skin condition must really be bugging him – he has travelled to another country, with a contingent of people and animals, carrying gifts to curry favour, and a letter of introduction to the King.
  Fortunately for Naaman,  the prophet Elisha hears about the incident in the palace – and sends a messenger.
  Naaman is an important person, but he does want the skin condition cleared up, so he leaves the palace and heads off to less salubrious lodgings.
  Another problem –
  Elisha doesn’t come out to meet Naaman, so he gets the huffs – Naaman is an important person,
  the rivers back home are better –
  and he ends up outside the house of the prophet,
  not inside the house,
  Elisha doesn’t invite him in,
  doesn’t meet him personally.
  Naaman is standing out the front of the house, being told by a messenger to wash in the Jordan – not the ‘best’ river.
  after all this travel, Naaman is going off in a huff until his servants bring him back around, convincing him to at least give it a try.
  And he is healed – I don’t think it had anything to do with the water.
  Here we have a story where the powerful – the king of Aram, the King of Israel are not named.
  Nor are the powerless – the slave girl, the messengers of Elisha, the servants  of Naaman.
  but without these people we would not have a story.
  One commentator talks of this section of 2 Kings being a series of ‘folk stories’. by that he means that these were stories people told over many years, stories that showed parts of life that  had not come under Royal control. [i]
  remember a few weeks ago we looked at the story of Nathan confronting David – and we remembered how the people of Israel begged God for a King, just like the other nations. But Israel is not like the other nations, Israel is a nation under God, not King. the role of the prophets in calling the Kings to account, in reminding the people of their place as Gods people, makes Israel and Judah different.
  back to the questions I asked at the beginning:
• where does this story fit in the overall Biblical story?
• why is this story even in the Bible?
  I still don’t have the answers, but I wonder if at least part of the reason for this story being included, along with some others is to remind Israel that it is God working through people – from slave girls to prophets – with the power to transform lives, to heal, to make whole.
  A reminder that the power of life and death is in the hands of God and not of Kings.
  For us today, that is also worth remembering. Forgiveness and grace are gifts of God, healing and wholeness are gifts of God, life in its fullness, hope, peace and joy – all are from God.
  Many churches today will be celebrating All Saints Day. Who are the people in your life who have had  a significant influence in your life – my guess is that for most of you it won’t be the Queen or the Prime Minister, but a friend, a fellow worker, someone that most people will not know.
  When we think about powerful people, we often think about people with ‘positional’ power, that is people who have some level of power and authority because of their role. that is only one kind of power. The young girl used what little power she had, she could have stayed quiet, she could have not been compassionate and concerned about the person who carried her away from her family. But she did not. This young girl, who has no obvious power at all, is a vital part of the healing of Naaman.
  Who can you heal, whose life can you transform – not by telling them what to do, but by being compassionate?
   
  This morning we will meet around the table together,
  What is God offering you this morning?
  Where is God asking you to act as an agent of healing?

---

[i] Brueggemann, An introduction to the Old Testament, p 152-153.