Straining out gnats, swallowing camels?

Micah 6:1-8
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 counseled 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 oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown all you people 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.

Matt. 23:23-24
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices B mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law B justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Psalm 22:1-2,6-8, 14-19
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. . . . But I am a worm, not a human being; I am scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. 'He trusts in the Lord,' they say, 'Let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.'

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me.

The suffering of our sisters and brothers in other parts of the world is often due to oppressive dictatorships, religious persecution and human rights abuses. As American Christians, we must continue to challenge these abusive practices abroad. But there is another challenge for us as Christians living in the world's dominant economic and military power. In many places around the world, our sisters and brothers in Christ believe that it is our lifestyles and the policies of our government that contribute to their hardship. This, of course, is a more sensitive topic to consider.

The texts
The prophet Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah. But unlike Isaiah, who was an aristocrat and well-connected in the halls of power, Micah was a small town artisan who lived near the modern day Gaza Strip. He may have been a metal worker B which would account for his imagery in chapter 4 of beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.

Micah prophesied at a time when Judah was facing external threats from Assyria. But Micah seemed more concerned about the internal threats due to the moral and social conditions in Judah. God's people had acted unjustly toward one another and had used dishonest scales in the market place (6:10-11). They had acted with indifference toward the poor and oppressed. As a small town prophet, Micah had a particular concern for little people.

And so in today's text, Micah reminds the people that God has a bone to pick with them. One scholar describes today's text as a "cosmically constituted court" scene -- with the mountains, hills and the very foundations of the earth serving as witnesses to this trial.

Micah brings God's charge against the people. 'What have I done to you?' God asks. 'How have I burdened you? Answer me' (v.3). When God is the prosecutor, trust me, you don't want to be the defendant.

God cites example after example of just and faithful care for the people of Israel.

• God delivered them from slavery and brought them out of Egypt (4a).
• God sent leaders to guide them -- Moses, Aaron and Miriam (4b).
• God protected them from harm at the hands of kings like Balak, who tried to bribe the prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites. With the prodding of his talking donkey, Balaam ended up blessing Israel instead (v.5a).
• God led them across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land B a land flowing with milk and honey (v.5b).

And, speaking for God, Micah lowers the boom. Micah issues a wake up call. God's case is pretty rock solid. The people realize they have no defense. So they plead for mercy and attempt a plea bargain. 'Well, what does God want?' they ask. 'What does the Lord require?' Does God want more offerings (6b)? Year-old calves (6c)? Thousands of rams (7a)? Rivers of oil (7b)? Our children (7c)? In other words, can we buy our way out of this mess?

And Micah responds with one of the most succinct summaries in all of Scripture, which describes what God is looking for from us. Micah's words are as relevant now as when first uttered some 2,700 years ago. 'He has shown all you people 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' (v.8).

Years later, these are the very qualities that Jesus modeled in his life and ministry.

God is not interested in outward appearances. God is not interested in empty sacrifices and worship rituals. God is concerned about lives that are lived in truthful and trusting obedience. God is concerned about the quality of our relationships in the human community. God is concerned with the core things of life -- justice, mercy and humility.

The Gospel reading is one of the more harsh engagements that Jesus has with the Pharisees and religious leaders of his day. Some scholars suggest that this is the reverse image of the Beatitudes that Jesus articulated in his Sermon on the Mount.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus announces blessing for the poor in spirit, for those who mourn, for the meek, for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for the merciful, for the pure in heart, for the peacemakers and the persecuted (Matt. 5:1-12).

But in Matt. 23, Jesus pronounces judgment and woe on the scribes and Pharisees:

• Who do not practice what they preach (v.3);
• Who burden ordinary people with rules that they don't follow themselves (v.4);
• Who dress to impress; who love the seats of honor, who love to be greeted with respect and with fancy titles (vv.5-10); and
• Who appear super-pious, while in fact, they miss the most important expressions of religious faith (vv. 16-28).

'Jesus minces no words. Six times in chapter 23, he calls them hypocrites (vv. 13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29) -- a term which one biblical scholar says Arefers to a glaring discrepancy between the respectable public image these leaders convey and the dismal reality of substance of what they do or fail to do'(Richard Gardner, p.335).

And just in case the 'H-word' doesn't get their attention, Jesus also calls them blind guides (vv.16, 17,19,24); whitewashed tombs (v.27); snakes and vipers (v.33). This is not your gentle Jesus.

In verses 23 and 24, Jesus bluntly tells the religious leaders that they have missed the forest for the trees. They have carefully tithed mint, dill and cummin (v.23). But, just like the Israelites at the time of Micah, they have neglected the more important matters of the law B justice, mercy and faithfulness.

Residents of the District of Colombia were not the first to filter their water. Strict Pharisees filtered their water through a cloth to be sure that they did not swallow any gnats. Gnats were the smallest of the unclean animals that Jews were forbidden to eat.

And Jesus -- a master of metaphor -- gives them an 'A' for pest control, but an 'F' for animal control. 'You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel,' he charges (v. 24b). Ouch!

It wasn't wrong for the Pharisees to tithe mint, dill and cummin. But not as a smokescreen to obscure lives that were fraught with injustice and hypocrisy.

New Testament scholar Richard Gardner says this text seems especially critical of abusive religious leaders but, 'At a more profound level, Matthew is admonishing his community to examine its lifestyle, saying in effect: Don't let this happen to you!'

Application
So what might these texts from Micah and Matthew have to say about justice for oppressed peoples around the world today? And what do they say to us as Christians in the United States?

They remind us that:

1. God is just, merciful and faithful. These are God's core values. This is God's very character. This is how God acts toward us. Pastor Scott said last week that we should be concerned about justice because it is modeled after the character and will of God and lived out in the example of Jesus.
    
   As in the days of Micah and Jesus, much of the world's injustice today is perpetrated -- whether intentionally or inadvertently -- by people who have either never known, or have forgotten, or have chosen to ignore that God is just, merciful and faithful.
    
   This is why Micah recites the litany of God's acts of deliverance from oppression; and of protection from harm; and of provision of all that is necessary to sustain and enjoy life. This is why Jesus reminds the Pharisees that at the heart of the law is God's concern is for justice, mercy and faithfulness.
    
   When we look at all the suffering in the world today, we may be tempted to wonder why God's justice and mercy seem so slow in coming. Doesn't God hear the cries of the oppressed? Why in the world do 30,000 children under age five die every day from preventable and treatable poverty-related illnesses? Why do more than three billion people -- half of the world's population -- struggle to survive on less than $2 a day, while many of us at the top of the ladder consume far more than we need? With the psalmist, many who suffer no doubt cry out, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' (Psalm 22:1).
    
   Perhaps it's the wrong question to ask why God's justice and mercy are so slow in coming. Indeed, God has shown us what justice and mercy and faithfulness look like. God must certainly wonder why we are so slow to learn and to put them into practice. God is just, merciful and faithful. God asks us to be the same.

2. Worship without justice is just noise. We cannot worship God if we refuse to act justly. We cannot worship God if we fail to show mercy. We cannot worship God if we neglect to walk humbly and faithfully with God. This is the sobering message from both Micah and Jesus.
    
   Worship without justice, mercy and faithfulness is nothing more than play acting. All the religious trappings in the world matter nothing to God if we fail to act justly. Micah and Jesus remind us that we're not fooling anyone but ourselves.
    
   We cannot worship a God whom we will not follow. If the God we worship calls us to act justly and show mercy -- and we refuse to do so -- then we are merely worshiping ourselves and our idols. Jesus is Lord, but not our Lord, if we aren't following him.

3. Our practice of justice must begin at home. One of the reasons I'm happy to be part of Washington Community Fellowship is that this congregation has a strong commitment to social justice.
    
   It is significant that, over the years, many have worked for the International Justice Mission to address issues like child slavery and sex trafficking. It is significant that many have worked for World Vision and World Relief and Catholic Relief Services and Lutheran World Relief and MCC to bring relief to those who suffer and to promote development in poor communities. It is significant that many in this congregation have worked in policy positions to promote human rights and religious freedom around the world. Indeed, there is plenty to address out there.
    
   But there is a more troubling voice that we hear from our sisters and brothers around the world. It is a direct challenge to our own practices as a nation and the way that these contribute to global suffering.
    
   In my travel in the Middle East, I hear much about the United States that others appreciate. But there is also a growing concern and anger about the fact that the United States is such a dominant economic and military power. Because our nation is so dominant:
   • We can get away with double standards. For example, we preach a pretty good human rights message, but too often we support human rights only if it is in our economic interest to do so.

   • People feel that we do not show mutual respect and listen to the voices of others. Before the war with Iraq, I met in Baghdad with a group of evangelical Iraqi Christians. They were concerned about what impact a war would have on the Christian community in Iraq. One of the church elders told us: 'The U.S. will do what the U.S. wants to do and we will trust God.'

   Three years ago today, I was in day 36 of a 40-day fast leading up to the war with Iraq. Each day I sent President Bush a letter based on the daily office lectionary texts for that day. One of the psalms for March 12 noted that mortals cannot abide in their pomp. That day I wrote this to the president:

   'Mr. President, our nation is on the brink of war. I appeal to you to humbly take a step back from the edge of this precipice. . . . This war has become about much more than Iraq. It now seems to be about a new global order in which the United States will act with little regard for the international will. . . . Possibly "winning" a war in Iraq, while losing the world community, is no victory. It will not create security or stability for Iraq, the Middle East, the United States or the world.'

   So why do we feel the need to dominate the world? Perhaps because our level of consumption is not sustainable without dominating others.

   • The United States comprises only four percent of the world's population, but accounts for 22 percent of world energy consumption and produces a quarter of the world's carbon dioxide emissions.

   • U.S. per capita consumption is 14 times greater than that of low income countries with more than 40 percent of the world's population.

   • One study says that, in the United States, we consume more than three times our fair share of the earth's resources -- a fair share being the portion necessary to sustain meaningful life for all human beings..

   Seeking to address global justice issues without acting justly ourselves appears hypocritical to our sisters and brothers in many parts of the world. To them, it looks like straining out gnats while swallowing camels.

   The Gospel always points us back to our own hearts and actions. Jesus warns us to take the plank out of our own eye before attempting to take the speck out of someone else's eye (Matt. 7:3-5).

   Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn once wrote: 'If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?' (The Gulag Archipelago).

   The most famous line in the president's State of the Union address this year was that 'America is addicted to oil.' As with all addictions, this one is symptomatic of something deeper. This addiction is a symptom of our belief that faster and stronger and more and bigger and fuller is always better. This belief has led to a level of consumption that is killing us and others.

   So why not just help increase consumption for others? Why not simply bring them up to our standard?:

   David A. Cleveland, a professor of environmental studies and anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, says: 'There is increasing scientific evidence that our consumption of natural resources is approaching or has exceeded the limits of sustainability, both in terms of the limits of supply and limits to absorbing the pollution that consumption creates. In addition, the world's population of 6 billion is likely to double before leveling out later this century.' (93106: The Faculty & Staff Newspaper, Vol. 12, Nov. 5, 2001).

   This consumption has come with high costs:

   • We are destroying our planet and being bad neighbors. A briefing paper from the Evangelical Environmental Network says: 'The consequences of climate change are going to be severe, especially for the poor in poor countries. For Christians, addressing global warming is a new way to fulfill Jesus' most basic ethical teachings to love our neighbors, do unto others as we would have them do unto us, and protect and care for "the least of these" (Mt. 25) as if they were Jesus Christ himself.'

   • We have developed inconsistent public policies. To protect our energy interests, we have coddled oppressive governments like the one in Saudi Arabia.

   • We are harming ourselves. To support our consumption, we live frenzied lifestyles and hurt our bodies.

So what can we do?

1. The MCC resource, Trek: Venture into a World of Enough, says that 'We can live the joyful, fulfilled lives God meant for us using our fair share of the earth's resources. To get there, most of us need to use one-third the amount we currently use. Put another way, we need to reduce our emission of carbon dioxide, use of fossil fuels, paper consumption, and use of fresh water by about 75 percent' (Appendix, p.6). That's a radical change!

2. The 2004 document, For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility, has one section on creation care:

   'We are not the owners of creation, but its steward, summoned by God to >watch over and care for it' (Gen. 2:15). This implies the principle of sustainability: our uses of the Earth must be designed to conserve and renew the Earth rather than to deplete or destroy it. . . . Human beings have responsibility for creation in a variety of ways. We urge Christians to shape their personal lives in creation-friendly ways: practicing effective recycling, conserving resources, and experiencing the joy of contact with nature. We urge government to encourage fuel efficiency, reduce pollution, encourage sustainable use of natural resources, and provide for the proper care of wildlife and their natural habitats' (pp. 24-25).

3. My colleague, Peter Dula, has been serving with MCC in Iraq. On a recent trip to the United States to defend is doctoral dissertation at Duke University, he spoke to an ethics class there about the situation in Iraq. In an article for SojoNet last week, 'Biking as a Lenten practice,' Melissa Bixler, a member of that ethics class at Duke, writes:

   AEverything about Dula spoke to us of the horrors of seeing one's neighbors' children kidnapped, of walking with fear along a deserted street, of seeing churches exploding in the night. By the end, our ethics class sat in stunned silence. The least we could hope for was some way to respond. Should we go to Iraq and do the same? Is it time to picket the White House? Write letters? What do we do? Dula's answer was clear and emphatic. 'Ride your bike.' He repeated this short phrase twice but the second time it sounded more like a plea than a suggestion. Then he walked from the lectern and left a befuddled crowd to ponder his words and, hopefully, to act upon them.

Vic Cox writes:

In response to the tragedy of September 11 many political leaders have told us that American freedom and standard of living have been attacked, and that we should resume our usual high rates of consumption as a patriotic act. This response conflates the great American ideals of equality and of physical, religious, and intellectual freedom B admired throughout the world B with the ability to consume more resources. An important point has generally been overlooked B that the freedom to consume less may be more important than the freedom to consume more. (93106, Nov. 5, 2001).

Perhaps this seems like a harsh message for North American Christians. The point is not to wallow in guilt, but to learn to walk in grace. So, how is it grace? By consuming less:

• We are better global neighbors. And when we are better neighbors, we will be more secure.

• we can live more healthy lifestyles. We will spend less time feeling frenzied and have more time for our families.

• We are acting more justly. And only when we act justly, we will find our rest in God.

By God's grace, may we consistently act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with the God who has shown these things to us. Amen.