This reading from the prophet Micah is one of the appointed ones for the 4th Sunday after Epiphany. I count Micah 6:8 as one of the most significant verses in all of scripture because it so succinctly states what God desires of us. Epiphany is the season of God’s revelation to human beings. The time-tested clear idea of what God wants from us is appropriate for the season. From the standpoint of Christian faith Jesus lived a life perfectly with regard to what God wants. That being said, let’s go back to Micah 6:8 to see how it might inform our own day-to-day lives and how it relates to the Mind, Body, Spirit focus at Trinity Episcopal School.
I can see how Micah speaks to the concepts of Mind, Body, and Spirit. A godly life is one in which we walk humbly before God. Humility is related to the self-construct derived from how we think about ourselves. If we are puffed-up and self-centered, that is not walking humbly. On the other hand, if we are self-loathing believing that we are worthless, that too is not humble. What God has made, do not call garbage. Humility has to do with correctly assessing our worth in the eyes of God. The truth is that each of us is a child of God, but we are part of a wider family. The members of humanity are interconnected; if anyone is diminished, we all are diminished. Correct thinking requires us to see ourselves in community.
God desires that we love kindness but this seems impossible because how can you make yourself feel something, how can you make yourself have a desire for something? While it is true to experience that we can’t help how we feel…there are things that we can do to cultivate a desire. We can’t directly control feelings, but we can direct our behavior which, in turn, can change the way we feel.
To do justice is the behavioral part. It is not enough simply to know what is good. Surely the folks who doubled the price of epi-pens were aware that this was wrong, to give one example from recent headlines. Our minds are such that we can too easily compartmentalize, rationalize, or explain away our actions: I’m not going to turn in the money I found because everyone knows its “finders keepers!” I know that when I’m stressed that going for a walk helps to reset how I’m feeling. What we do impacts how we feel. Being kind to others, I think, helps invest us in that direction. It is a step toward loving the good.
When we look at the whole idea of what God desires of us, it is critical to be mindful that human nature is fallen. No human being can ever completely achieve what God desires. We can experience it momentarily, perhaps…but there is always the relentless human ego and those human appetites lurking just below the threshold of consciousness. Being a member of God’s family is not something we could ever earn; it is a gift. Forgiveness is not something we deserve; it is given by God to those who ask for it. Circling back to Jesus…forgiveness is the love of God made known on the cross of Calvary. Seeking to do God’s desire is, then, most properly and simply our response to God’s love. One way to evoke this response is by practicing thankfulness…being intentional about being grateful for all that we have been given. Practicing what God desires of Mind, Body and Spirit…these are efforts we fail at repeatedly, but come back to time and time again because of the forgiveness God so freely and lavishly gives.
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