Creating a Relationship with God

The scripture passages we have heard this morning (Micah 6:1-8), including The Beatitudes which we read as a responsive reading, present to us an intriguing vision. We are given a glimpse of God’s Kingdom on earth, one where conventional wisdom or so-called “common sense” is turned upside down; where the ones we might call miserable are the ones Jesus calls blessed; where the prophet Micah proclaims that God prefers honest lives over material riches.
In this dramatic passage God is portrayed filing a lawsuit against the people of Israel. They are told to stand up and to plead their case before the judges. But this is not your typical courtroom drama: the judges here are mountains and hills, even the very foundations of the earth. These are the ones who, in their silent strength and majesty, were the original witnesses to the pledges once made by the people of Israel to live their lives as the chosen people of God.
In this unique court case, God is both plaintiff and defendant. God is the plaintiff because Israel has broken the covenant they made with God: they have not fulfilled their promises to live righteously as God’s people. But, foreshadowing the sacrifice of Christ, God also steps in to act as defendant: not pointing a finger but taking their blame onto Himself. Imagine, the perfect, Almighty God of the universe asking mere mortals: “what did I do to cause you to turn your backs on me?” The answer, of course, is that God has done nothing wrong. He presents a list, actually, of all the marvelous things He has done for the Israelites: He brought them out of Egypt; He redeemed them from slavery, and so on and so on. God has always been faithful in coming to the aid of His people.
The Israelites have broken the covenant and we almost expect the mountains to quake with God’s anger; however, what God expresses here is not anger, but disappointment, sadness, grief: “Oh, my people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you?”
In verse 6, then, the reading takes a shift. The Israelites hear God’s pleas, and they seem almost surprised by God’s claim against them, and they start asking “what do I need to do to please God? Do I need to throw some sort of appeasement out that way, make an offering of some grain, some oil, or even my firstborn child? Will that please God?” Their questions demonstrate that they don’t understand the heart of God, though. We humans can be easily appeased by superficial offerings. My dear husband almost never upsets me, but if he does he knows that he can just make me a cup of coffee and I’ll get over it! Here, the Israelites seem to think that God is the same; that with God they can live their lives on their own terms, with no deep consideration of God’s ways; and then once in a while, when things aren’t going quite right, they think they can throw out a bone to calm and appease God, maybe even distract Him from the fact that they haven’t been living righteously. They can maybe make an offering or go to the temple a few times. It doesn’t occur to them to look inside and see if they need to change they way they are living.
Making a big offering may make us feel good about ourselves, and for sure helping others less fortunate is an important part of faithful living; but if it’s not done with a spirit of deep gratitude, and if it’s detached from a commitment to justice, kindness and humility in our day-to-day lives it is not – in and of itself – living up to our promise to be God’s people, which many of us made when we were baptized or confirmed.
It has been said many times by many people that if we want peace we must work for peace. If we want justice in the world, we live lives committed to just practices. But even more, if we want a life that is full of God’s love, we must offer our lives to God, make room in our lives for God. To walk humbly with our God, means that as we walk through life, we do so holding the hand of God and following where He leads us.
Think about it this way: when we go through life with a spouse, we don’t just think about them once in a while, wonder where they are and if they’re thinking about us. We don’t ask other people what our spouse thinks or what they expect from us. We make time for them each day, we make a conscious effort to know their heart and understand their mind; we share our thoughts and our hearts with them, and listen to what they have to say; they become an integral part of our decision-making; we seek comfort from them in times of sadness and when we’re happy they’re the first ones with whom we want to share our joy; we make ourselves available to them, too, hoping to meet their needs. We recognize all of these things as integral parts of the covenant relationship we have created with them. We do all of this to varying degrees with our parents and siblings, with children, and with friends, as well; and yet with God we think that somehow it should be different.
Many people lament that it seems hard to know what God really wants, because there are so many conflicting ideas about who God is. There are so many people telling us what God thinks, what God wants. Thousands of books are published promising that they have the key to God’s mind and heart. Maybe the problem is that it’s people we’re listening to. We’re reading books, we’re listening to the media, and we’re hearing from so many so-called authoritative sources who God really is, what God wants in this world, what God expects of us. They all promise us easy answers.
What’s harder is committing time every day, when we shut out the world, calm the thousands of conflicting voices in our heads and listen for the sweet and gentle voice of our God. When God speaks to you it is with a unique voice. He knows your heart and your thoughts and your worries, and your sins, and your joys, and He speaks right into all of those things. We get to know God’s voice, when we make room for God in our daily lives, spend time with God, listen to God, and walk through our lives always with God at our side.
I would like to make a suggestion, that each day you read a passage from the Bible – maybe work your way through one of the gospels – and from that passage choose one phrase or even a word. It can be one that challenges you to make a positive change in your life, one like “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with my God.” It can be a comforting one like “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Take that one simple phrase, go somewhere comfortable and quiet, close your eyes and for a few minutes, say those few words over and over, slowly and quietly. Let them sink in. Breathe deeply, and if you can, quiet the voices in your head and spend a few moments in silence, listening quietly. If you have a pressing concern or something you’re especially thankful for, think about it for a moment in the presence of God. Give it to God in that moment. Then let that moment of reflection stay with you, guiding your thoughts and actions and interactions throughout the day.
All of the things the Israelites wanted to offer in order to appease God – burnt offerings, calves, thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil, even their firstborn children- were hefty prices they were willing to pay to be right with God. Huge sacrifices that would take years of work and struggle to acquire, and probably some questionable business dealings along the way. But what does God require of them? Do justice; love kindness; walk humbly with your God. Throughout their lives and the history of the people, God has been there to help them in their struggles, to free them from their oppression, to rescue them from their enemies. God has never failed them. And God longs to be with them forever, to continue loving them, caring for them, protecting them and lifting them up when life gets difficult. What the Lord requires from His people is not so much a requirement at all: it’s a promise, a covenant, a relationship.
The prophets of the Bible tell us over and over that God does not want great offerings, thousands of rivers of oil, or the lives of our firstborn. God wants us. He wants to be in our lives, to accompany us in all of our joys and sorrows. God is the one who knows all of our flaws, all of our secrets, and He loves us with an unconditional love that no human being could ever offer us. Through making even a small amount of time each day for prayer, opening our hearts and minds to the love of God, we begin to recognize the voice of God in the way an infant learns to recognize all of the sweet and loving sounds of its mother and father. Through quiet prayer and meditation we fuel ourselves for the journey of walking humbly with our God.
Now, you may be asking, is there any special way to pray? Not really. There are many ways (like the one I taught the children), and each person needs to find what brings him or herself closer to God. Three ministers, for example, all had different approaches. They were talking about prayer one day, and the appropriate positions for prayer. As they were talking a telephone repairman was working on the desk phone in the background. One minister shared that he always clasped his hands and bowed his head as a symbolic form of humble worship. The second suggested that real prayer was conducted on your knees. The third suggested they both had it wrong, that authentic prayer could only happen while stretched out on the floor, flat on your face. By this time the phone man couldn’t stay out of the conversation, and so he interjected: “I found that the most powerful prayer I ever made was while I was dangling upside down by my heels from a power pole, forty feet above the ground.”
God does not require special tricks or fancy words from us; our generous offerings and donations are much needed to help serve the needs of the world; but they won’t buy us God’s love. We already have God’s love, and what He wants is our presence, our devotion and our sincere desire to walk humbly with Him. He so loves us and longs to be with us in each moment of our lives. Thanks be to God. Amen.