“Everyone on the ‘take’?”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Sunday, November 5, 2023
Micah 3:5-12 (Forward, p. 7) CEV p. 945
Our prophet, Micah, has some very pointed things to say today. He accuses much of the leadership of Israel as being ‘on the take’, that is, performing their duties only for ‘what they get out of it.’ The prophets, he alleges, doctor their message according to who is willing to provide for them. If someone feeds them, they prophecy safety and security, but if no food is forthcoming, only disaster. Micah, in term, not only accuses them of lying, but also foretells that a certain kind of ‘disaster’ will befall them, namely that God will no longer speak to them. Seeing as they will no longer get messages from God, they will be disgraced and live in darkness and in exile from God. To say the least, this is an extremely pitiable fate for people ‘supposedly’ the mouthpieces of God. And, basically, he says the same kind of thing about the priests: they teach and preach only for money, only for what they get out of it. And furthermore, they give the people they serve a false sense of security, telling them that ‘all is okay’ and that no harm will come to them or to Jerusalem, when exactly the opposite is Jerusalem’s fate.
The rulers of Israel are no better, the prophet says. They are guilty of accepting bribes in order to make unjust, dishonest decisions. They hate justice and twist the truth and can be said to make cruelty and murder the way of life in Jerusalem.
However, in contrast to all this is Micah’s mandate: “The Lord has filled me with power and his Spirit. I have been given the courage to speak about justice and to tell you people of Israel that you have sinned” (verse 8). What a stark contrast, what an undeniably different—and difficult—message.
All this puts me in mind of several very difficult and searching questions. The first ‘set’ of questions have to do with motivation. In other words, what are we in it for, and here I specifically address our leaders, secular and ecclesiastical, and whatever it is that motivates them? So I ask, what is it that motivates our secular leaders? Is it popularity, whether at home or abroad? Their strength in the latest polls, or their chances of re-election? Or their popularity with certain ‘chosen’ interest groups, with certain
‘causes’ or ethnic constituencies? Or perhaps with certain donors, whether on the left or the right? (I have often wondered just who it is who funds our major political parties, and in light of this funding, just what clout or influence they have on policy and decisions.)
And, sad to say, I sometimes wonder the same kind of thing about our church leaders, namely what interest groups or constituencies they are listening to or catering to. Do we not at times err on the side of what we think will please others or fit in with what they think or want? I hate to say this but given the all-too human tendency to favour certain things over others, certain agendas, or certain people or interest groups, this is all too possible. Indeed, I would suggest that favouring anything and everything over the explicit will of God as revealed in His word is suspect and bears examination. We humans are all too susceptible to colouring our thinking and deviating from God’s word when it suits us.
Inevitably, this leads me to yet another question. Are we, you and I, willing to be the outlier, the lone voice, the rebel voice that speaks God’s word as Micah did? Or, do we take the easy road, the more comfortable one, the one that ‘feeds’ us or supports us, as did those other leaders? It is a question well worth asking, and pondering, with regards to each of us today. Amen.
Forward notes: “Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob and chiefs of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert all equity, who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with wrong!” (verses 9-10).
“They all seem like isolated decisions. A church locks the doors, keeping out desperate hurricane refugees. A community makes it harder for people of colour to vote or bans books by and about them in our libraries. We allow the income gap between rich and poor to grow ever wider.
“Over time, we have become a city built with blood and with wrong. We proclaim ourselves a Christian nation so often that it doesn’t seem possible that God could be looking upon us with anger. We lean upon the Lord and say, ‘surely the Lord is with us! No harm shall come upon us.’
“When harm does come—when all the rapacity and greed and bigotry and hatred catch up with us—will we repent even then?”
Moving Forward: “Does this meditation make you uneasy? Angry? Spent time reflecting on your response.”
A concluding note: the above meditation was written by an American writer writing about his own experience and thoughts concerning the scene there in the United States. Do you think that it also has application to our life here in Canada?