Week Twenty-two of Ordinary Time
by Jacob Helder
Micah 6:6-8
“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” 8He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Do you ever wish that you read more often? Maybe you have a long list of books you’ve yet to attend to, or you just admire your friends who manage to make it a habit amidst all the others. I was this way for most of my life, and when I began seminary I realized that I would either become a reader, or do poorly.
Though I did manage to find a sort of middle way, most of my week’s work for school is reading. I’m thankful for it. I’ve come to value other people’s thoughts, and in the same way I’ve come to realize my own perspective is fairly dull. It seems to me that reading is one of the easiest ways to change yourself. Perspective, patterns of thought, and mood all become easily affected.
The content of my reading is far-reaching, yet most of it is at least loosely related to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Much has been said on the topic, there are a million different ways you could present this story. Our holy scriptures contain four different accounts of the life of Jesus Christ, and you might be surprised at the vast differences in the way the story is presented. There is a lot of meaning to be made from it. For example, there are at least seven ‘paradigms of atonement’ attempting to tell us the exact meaning of Jesus' death on the cross. Throughout the centuries, countless creeds, confessions, and catechisms have sought to clarify our understanding of the God we worship. Yet in some ways, we can’t do that. And it is to this dis-oriented context that the prophet reminds us, “He has told you, o mortal, what is good.”
As I seek understanding, I quickly grow puzzled by the nature of the grace we’re offered from God. As recipients of grace, we’re made right before God only by his work. Yet in our faithful walk, it is also right to say that a salvation that doesn’t participate is not salvation at all. Bear fruit! It seems to me that whenever any author who writes about the gospel does so, one aspect of this tension is emphasized. And I find that depending on whatever I’ve read most recently, I’ll become persuaded to one side at the expense of the other.
It’s hard for me to perceive the many things that God holds together. Divinity and humanity, three distinct persons in one being, grace and requirement, these things don’t naturally hold together in our understanding of them. Yet in God, they do. In Christ, we’re given the gift of walking humbly with God, while we’re commanded to do justice and love kindness. God, in Christ, went to great lengths to walk with us, to show us what is good, to promise justice and peace, and to model them. To be with this God is to get in on this work.
Prayer:
God, you are for us a place of rest, of refuge from hurried tumult. By your spirit, allow us to experience the fullness of your grace, that delivers us, and bears fruit in us. Walk with us in peace and justice, that we might know your will and experience your life. Amen.