Micah 6:1-8: Getting Leverage on God

Listen to what the Lord says: “Stand up, plead my case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say. “Hear, you mountains, the Lord’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For the Lord has a case against his people; he is lodging a charge against Israel. “My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me. I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam. My people, remember what Balak king of Moab plotted and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.” 

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.  - Micah 6

We try to use God for our own ends. We try to find something that God wants--some leverage--with which we can barter to get what we want. What do we want so badly? What infuriates us when someone else receives what we feel we deserve? What longing eats at our hearts and disturbs our sleep? We know that God could give us that, if he wanted. So we make an offer. Does he want prestige? Does he want glory? Does he want public professions of faith and sacrifice? Sure, we can give that as long as we will get what we want.

Micah reports the Lord's words and points them back to a famous spiritual wheeler-dealer: Balaam. Balak wanted to whomp on Israel when they were in the desert after leaving Israel. But he had seen that it had gone badly with the last nation that tried that, so he wants to buy some insurance. He has correctly identified the source of Israel's strength. It is Yahweh, their God. So Balak tries to find a holy man who knows about Yahweh and offers him the deal: you convince Yahweh or you place a curse on Israel, and I'll give you major big bucks. So Balaam, who knows what Yahweh wants, tries to play both sides: he keeps going and asking God again and again  for the 'curse' that Balak wants, getting paid each time for his trouble, He extends hope that there is a way to gain leverage on Yahweh using mega-bucks.  But eventualy God has to talk with Balaam through his donkey when Balaam goes too far.

So it is with Israel. They try to do what they want and have God bless it. They are so desperate to get what they want that they even offer their own children. So God tells them what is required: give up leverage on God and other people. Humble. Merciful. Just. Leverage. Revenge. Leverage. The way to gain leverage with God is to give up leverage. 

1 Corinthians 1:18-31: Passing My God Test

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” - 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

"Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom." I guess that the question here is: what does it take to pass my "God" test? How to know if God is real and acting like God? Is it seeing the miraculous and events that go beyond the natural? Is it penetrating insight into the world and the way it works? Each time we ask these questions we are putting God on trial. We are asking that he prove himself genuine deity. There are certain metrics--certain hoops that any one who claims to be God must go through before they start to get my attention. We establish these qualifications because their are many who would like to speak as God--authoritatively--into our lives and a lot of them are quacks spouting gibberish. Unfortunately this has the effect of bolstering our ego--placing us in the center of universe as arbiter of the divine. 

But Paul says that the answer that people are looking for, both in terms of the supernatural and the natural, is Jesus. God says, what you do with Jesus is what you do with me. And when we dismiss Jesus the Messiah as irrelevant, it shows that we are such bad judges of character. We should take a step back and wonder what else fundamental we are missing.  The things that we consider "foolish" or "worthless" or "wrongheaded" deserve another look because they might be overlooked due to our prejudice and actually be concealing the very God we say we are searching for. 

Hebrews 2:10-18: Perfect is Going the Distance

In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.” And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.”

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. - Hebrews 2:10-18

 "...make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered." How could Jesus be made "perfect"? Wasn't he already perfect? Yes. But perfect is only perfect not just for a moment. It must be carried through to the end. This is the sense of "perfect" as "complete"

Baseball pitchers can have a good game. They can throw a shutout: no score. They can throw a no hitter: no hit allows someone to reach a base. They can even hold their opponent scoreless. But in a "perfect game" "no batter from the opposing team reaching any base" for all 9 innings of a baseball game. 

What Jesus did had never been done before: a human who lived holy from beginning to end. Perfect game. By doing it, he proved that "human" was not the problem but rather "sin"-something external to our being human-was the problem. Since it was external, it could be "atoned" for-paid for. 

That doesn't mean it was easy for him. He was tempted like we were. That temptation led to hard choices. Those hard choices were suffering. But it was going through those hard choices and choosing God's way in each one that gives me hope. Sin is not me. It is an ill chosen accessory to the person God made me to be. That gives me hope. And gratitude that he still considers me to be his family, since "the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family." 

Psalm 148: Those Who Know Him Best Should Praise Him

Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord from the heavens

Praise him in the heights above.

Praise him, all his angels;

Praise him, all his heavenly hosts.

Praise him, sun and moon;

Praise him, all you shining stars.

Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.

Let them praise the name of the Lord, for at his command they were created, and he established them for ever and ever—he issued a decree that will never pass away.

Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and women, old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

And he has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his faithful servants, of Israel, the people close to his heart.

Praise the Lord. - Psalm 148

Those things that are permanent, like the stars and the angels and the sun and moon, praise God because God commanded it.

Those things that are transitory, like creatures and lightning and rules and men and women, praise God because God is incomparably splendid.

And like a cherry on top, the praise of his own people is special because they are close to his heart. Of all creation, those who know him best, praise the Lord. 

Do I need a command, or a sense of awe to praise God? Or a sense of gratitude?

Isaiah 63:7-9: Not Weighed Down by Our Distress

I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us—yes, the many good things he has done for Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses.

He said, “Surely they are my people, children who will be true to me”; and so he became their Savior. In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. - Isaiah 63:7-9

"In all their distress he too was distressed..." What is God like? The weight of one person's misfortune can bring me to tears. That's not even including my own problems. Start multiplying that weight by 8 billion and I wonder how God can afford to spend any time thinking about the difficulties of one person, because that's how heavy it must be "for God so loved the world." 

So, does he really care that much? Or must he maintain a certain divine aloofness to not be overwhelmed by the grief in the world? He did not. That's a defensive strategy that we adopt because the neediness of other people can be so draining that we pull back. It is a tactic derived from our limits. But God doesn't draw back. In fact, he got closer. "For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son..."

When God decides that we are his people-his children-that choice makes all of his subsequent decisions-lifting us up and carrying us-it is not grudging or draining. It is the direct consequence of his choice to love us. I'll take it.