What God Requires of Us
John 6:24-35
A number of years ago, back when the Cold War was an ever present consideration, I lived in a community that was surrounded by nuclear weapons. You could not leave town – not on a paved road, not on a gravel road, not even on a dirt road – without passing a missile silo. I know, because I made a game of it. For three years, I tried every possible way in and out of the community, and there was a silo on every route.
These silos were part of the system of thousands of missiles that likely were pointed at the Soviet Union, to counteract the thousands of missiles that likely were pointed at the United States. It was part of a policy of mutually assured destruction that was supposed to keep either side from firing a missile.
This may surprise some people, but the Church thought it had something to say about the Cold War. Some Christians advocated for a peace based on an effective deterrent to war, which the missiles provided. Some Christians argued for a peace that might come from a redirection of the costs of the missiles towards schools and farms and hospitals.
It was clear that neither group had read our Social Principles on War and Peace. But, to be fair, most people still haven’t read them. During this time, the Council of Bishops wrote a pastoral letter to the church concerning nuclear weapons, much like the Pope writing on issues today – with about the same kind of response. Those who already agreed with the bishops loved it, and those who didn’t agree thought the bishops should keep their nose out of the world’s business.
It was in this environment that Bishop Handy gave a task to one of our conference committees. I don’t recall what the committee was called then, only that it was the committee concerned with world issues. Bishop Handy wanted this committee to come up with a way for our annual conference meeting to make a faithful witness to the world in the face of the Cold War tensions. The conference committee, unable to agree on an action, sent the task down to the district versions of the committee.
This is where I heard about the task. After thinking about being surrounded by missiles, I suggested that we could surround the annual conference meeting with signs of grace and peace. Specifically, we could invite each congregation to make one or more small banners that we could tie together and wrap around the conference floor. The idea was sent up the chain and was approved.
Several churches actually made the banners. There were enough banners made that it went all the way around the conference floor, and in some places there were two, or three, or even four levels of banners. Nearly all of the banners had a scripture verse or a line from a hymn written on them. It was such a popular idea, that the next several years after that we wrapped the conference floor with baby quilts, so that these new lives could begin with grace and peace.
I made two banners, since it was my idea, and I was afraid that no one else would do it. One had the hands of Jesus, open and welcoming, with the names of my family in each corner. The other banner had Proverbs 17:6 written on it. “When a person’s ways please the Lord, they make even their enemies to be at peace with them.” That is a wonderful way of saying that if we live so that our love of God is genuine, we will also live in loving ways towards others, and there will be no reason for them to want to do you harm.
The Prophet Micah may have been thinking of this proverb when he shared a message he received from God. Most of us know this verse by heart, though it may be from a different version of the Bible. In chapter 6, verse 8, we read, “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” That’s a pretty good description of pleasing the Lord, and living peaceably with our neighbors.
We like that verse because it gets right to the heart of living spiritually in a community. Do justice – treat each other fairly. Love kindness – be nice to each other. Walk humbly with God – practice your faith without shoving it down another person’s throat. If we all lived like that, we would be closer to living in the Garden of Eden that God intended.
Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God. That’s a very memorable verse, but evidently it wasn’t memorable enough to convince people that this was really what God required of us. The evidence that “what the Lord requires of us” was still a question is in our reading for today.
Jesus was asked, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” In the King James Version, it is, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” In the latest translation, the question becomes, “What must we do in order to accomplish what God requires?” The meaning is the same, but this last version illustrates how the question from Micah was still being asked.
The answer Jesus gives to this question is,“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” This is what God requires, that we believe in Jesus. For those of us in church, we think “Alright! I already believe in Jesus. I am doing what God requires.”
But since that doesn’t sound exactly like what Micah reported God saying, we are faced with a problem. How do we reconcile these two verses, if both verses come from God?
The choice that some Christians makeis to personalize both statements, separating it from any social or community concerns. We can personally follow Jesus, and it shows when we personally do small acts of justice, when we personally practice kindness, and when we personally go to worship services. If the world around us is unjust, mean, and secular, well, that is their problem. It’s their problem, but it can be resolved if everyone would simply believe in Jesus.
If believing is only a personal choice, itthen means that we don’t have to care about social justice, social kindness, or socially walking humbly with God. This separation means we can be more concerned with the punishment of evil, than with the redemption of persons fromevil. We don’t have to be concerned with being kind to the people we disagree with, as long as we are kind to those who believe as we do. And we don’t have to be humble in the world, because we know that God is on our side, and only on our side.
Another choice that some Christians make is to define “believing in Jesus” as doing the words of Micah. Believing in Jesus is proved by working for justice wherever we think there is an injustice in the world. It is proved by treating each person, if not with kindness, then at least with equality and without judgment. It is proved by walking with God, who comes to us in the least of these, whenever there is a parade for justice that might make the evening news.
If believing in Jesus is what we do, and it is always a social act, then what we do matters more than how we relate to the people we are working for, or working with, or working against. There doesn’t have to be justice for the person, as long as there is justice for the society. We don’t have to be kind to a person, as long as it makes for a kinder society. We don’t have to be humble, because we know that God supports our action, and to do less would be a sin.
Neither choice feels much like life in heaven. Fortunately, the answer Jesus gave didn’t end with “believe in me.” When asked for clarification, Jesus said that we are to believe that he is the Bread of Life. Jesus is the one who gives live to the world, a life that is never hungry or thirsty for God. And this reveals the third choice, the truly faithful choice.
When we believe in Jesus, we will do justice, but we will do a justice that is beyond what the world considers just. Our justice reveals God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Our justice is revealed in Paul’s letter to the church at Galatia. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” This justice is more than personal; it is more than social; it is eternal, and it is holy.
When we believe in Jesus, we will love kindness, but it is a kindness that is beyond what the world considers kind. Our kindness welcomes the stranger and the sojourner so that they become family. Our kindness embraces the leper and the demonic so they may be healed. Our kindness feeds the body and spirit of every person as an honored child of God. This kindness is more than personal; it is more than social; it is eternal, and it is holy.
When we believe in Jesus, we will walk humbly with God, but it will be a humbleness that is beyond what the world considers humble. When we are humble before God, we call it “resignation to do God’s will.” When we are humble towards ourselves, we call it “patience” or “contentedness.” When we are humble before our neighbors, it is called “mildness” and “gentleness.” This humility is more than personal; it is more than social; it is eternal, and it is holy.
This morning, we are going to be joining with some of the historically black congregations in our community to celebrate the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. This is the document, signed by Abraham Lincoln, which offered freedom to those who were in slavery. We will gather at Rolling Hills Park to sing and pray and give thanks, as we worship God.
There are those who believe that this anniversary is something for others to celebrate, and we can be supportive of their desire to celebrate, but that this is not really a concern for us. We were not slaves, we didn’t need to be freed, and it all happened a long time ago, before some of our families had even come to this country. That would be the voice of the personal choice.
Some will believe that we are going to join with some of the historically black congregations in our community because it is a celebration of a social injustice being made right, and therefore a work of God. It is a kindness for us to be present, as we walk together in faith. That would be the voice of the social choice.
Instead, I invite you to join in the celebration this morning because we believe in Jesus. In this belief, we have a vision of a justice that looks like the kingdom of God. In this belief, we practice a kindness that looks like heaven above. In this belief, we resign ourselves to the will of God, content in our salvation, and gentle towards our neighbors. In this belief, we can wrap our community in signs of peace and grace as we worship together.
And we believe in Jesus because he is the Bread of Life, broken for us so that we may be fed in our reborn life. And it is in his Body that we are surrounded with his love and grace which makes us, by God’s Spirit“one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at his heavenly banquet.” This is what the Lord requires!
Hymn 614 “For the Bread Which You Have Broken”