Verses 1-5 recount a covenant lawsuit. The prophet calls upon the mountains, which have been established throughout Israel’s history, to the jury box.

• The judgment: the people have become weary of God; that is, they have become tired of following God’s moral demands-perhaps the WIIFM wasn’t sufficient for their efforts.

• Salvation-history 101. God reminds them who has delivered, saved, and sustained them.

• Micah 6:1-8 is similar to the kinds of passages where God gets fed up with the disconnect people have between worship and life.

• Micah 6:8 is a form of reductionism-shrinks the 613 commandments of the Law into three requirements-do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.

 

What controversy would the mountains tell about us? About our congregation?

• How might we get wearied in our spiritual journey with God? Too over-committed? Too much administration and meetings and not enough spiritual nourishment?

• What disconnects might make our worship anemic or ineffective?

• If our Christianity could be reduced to justice / kindness / humility, what verdict would the mountains arrive at?

 

In Praise of Simplicity - you might begin the sermon by reflecting on the positive qualities of simplicity - books have been written on this: simplifying life. Contrast, use humor, have fun with complex directions to put gadgets together, etc.

• Shift to Text - Notice how Micah 6:8 seems to offer us a simplified version of faith; how marvelous to reduce all of Jewish or Christian faith to three requirements. Neat. Clean. Clear.

• Define Micah’s three virtues -Justice seeks to make right what is wrong; kindness, according to the Talmud is “doing loving deeds,” which translates into acts of charity; and humility means to recognize our limitations and hubris in our achievements.

• Raise the question - Are Micah’s three requirements actually as simple as we think? Maybe God’s three requirements are like an acorn-more than meets the eye. You could explore what lies behind these requirements. For example, “justice” requires that we seek to balance the scales of fortune, to free the oppressed from their oppressors, to enable the poor to gain dignity, to reverse injustice and make God’s will for those who suffer a viable option. How well are we “doing justice?” Etc.

• Shift to Christ as our model for Micah 6:8 - He stands as a model to emulated. He asserts justice as well as dispenses mercy. In Jesus, God confronts injustice and embodies acts of compassion. He alone stands as the supreme example of humility.