A Medal for Humility

Medal for Humility

Medal for Humility
a sermon by Rev. J. Christy Ramsey

 Micah 6:1-8 

Some of the Beatitudes are tough. How are those that mourn blessed? Or the persecuted? Sometimes we take a trip on the denial river and guess that the blessings are after the sadness…that the tragedies and heartbreaks of this life will bring greater goodness, and blessings in the future. A heavenly insurance check to pay us back for the disaster in our life. For some, this brings comfort in sorrow, but for many, it is a cruel dismissal of the pain and discount of the sorrow they are suffering.

This confusion is only made worse by the alternative translation for the theological challenges of our day replacing “blessed are” with “happy are”. We strongly suspect we are not blessed in these situations, but we are sure we are not “happy”.

One of the top salespeople in an office I worked in, Elliot, was constantly on the phone with customers. Every conversation, several times, I would hear him repeat his signature phrase, “You’re good. You’re good.” Often, he was on the phone because there as a hiccup, a mistake, or a downright disaster. But Elliot was there, telling them, “You’re good.” He didn’t mean the situation was good, or that the customer was a good person, but that the situation was contained and controlled, and, most importantly, he was with them so it was going to turn out okay.

Blessed, Happy can mean a good place, not a place without sorrows and strife, but a place where God was too along with sorrows and strife. “Good with God are the poor” You are right where you are supposed to be and God is right there as well. You are in God’s care and You’re good to being there.

How can we get into God’s place, where we’re good to be. We want to buy a shortcut or get a good price on God’s favor. Micah rejects this transactional mindset by exaggerating what price God requires. Not just a container of precious oil but rivers of it. Not just one ram which one could spare from a herd but a thousand rams, more than anyone would be able to sacrifice. It is never enough. Humbling huh? Focusing on the quick fix price instead of the long term problem is not an option.

What are we do to then?

Exactly.

Micah wants us to realize we can’t buy God’s favor with gifts or rituals. The only thing is to live in a relationship with one another in mercy, mourning, righteousness, mercy, peacefulness, and solidarity amidst persecution. And God says we are blessed, happy, or maybe even “You’re Good.”

Micah tells us how we are good with God.

Do Justice

It isn’t rules and lawbooks, and certainly not about revenge. Doing justice is being right with one another. Fitting. Where folks have what they need to live. Mother Seton taught that we should “live simply so others may simply live”

As we get more people on this planet who look to be great consumers like we Americans, this would be good to reflect on. Living simply as a matter of justice so that others may simply live is much closer to Micah’s mind than calling other God’s children “illegals”, so we don’t have to consider them as people we are connected to by God’s justice, but God’s desire that we live and do what is right for all the folks.

Love Kindness

The Rev. Mr. Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood tells us “There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind.”

The word Hasid is way to hard to translate, even using two words. Loving-kindness. It is love in a relationship that helps and binds us to another person. A good marriage of partners helping one another. I think a good support group or counseling or true old friends. Where folks are accepted, loved, heard, and encouraged just as they are.

Maybe the Reverend Fred was thinking of Micah’s world when he said: “Imagine what our neighborhoods would be like if each of us offered, as a matter of course, just one kind word to another person.”

Walk Humbly

I got a medal for humility…the first time I wore it they took it away. We believe that pride, like wearing a medal, is the opposite of humility. But the word in Micah 6:8 for the kind of walk we are to have with God is not a walk of shame.

My son Robert has a good kind and faithful way about him. Where most children yearn for the independence of walking free of the hands of a parent from an early age. Robert held our hand almost into middle school. Sometimes it was just palm-to-palm touching. We told him he didn’t have to; thinking he would be relieved of the limitations and emboldened by our trust, but he said, “I like touching your hand…because I can feel your speed.” He wanted to walk with us and touching helped him feel our speed so he could stay beside us.

Humble is not just finding the lowest place in the hierarchy of privilege and obligation. Humble is also an acknowledgment that we are not all things all by ourselves. Humble is being mindful of others, of our place in the larger web of relationships.

The word translated as “humbly” in Micah 6:8 could also be rendered as carefully or mindfully. Walk with the awareness that you are with God. Walk mindfully with care with God. Put out your hand so you can feel his speed.