Scripture/Sermon of the Day

Scripture/Sermon of the Day. February 1, 2026

Micah 6:1-8

God’s dispute with Israel

Hear what the Lord is saying:

Arise, lay out the lawsuit before the mountains;

let the hills hear your voice!

Hear, mountains, the lawsuit of the Lord!

Hear, eternal foundations of the earth!

The Lord has a lawsuit against his people;

with Israel he will argue.

“My people, what did I ever do to you?

How have I wearied you? Answer me!

I brought you up out of the land of Egypt;

I redeemed you from the house of slavery.

I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you.

My people, remember… (pause)

With what should I approach the Lord

and bow down before God on high?

Should I come before him with burned offerings,

with year-old calves?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

with many barrels of oil?

Should I give my oldest child for my crime;

the fruit of my body for the sin of my spirit?

He has told you, human one, what is good and

what the Lord requires from you:

to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God.

Reflection/Sermon:

I. Micah is called one of the 12 Minor Prophets. But this passage from chapter six of his book is one of the most quoted in the Bible. Especially verse eight.

When Jimmy Carter was inaugurated as President of the United States in January, 1977, he took his oath of office on a Bible opened to Micah 6:8, and he quoted those words:

“He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” (KJV)

II. Like the other prophets of the Bible, Micah alternates between words of doom and words of hope. Doom because human beings treat one another terribly, we can be cruel and heartless. We can see this in our country now in the way we treat people who have come here from other countries to seek safety and a better life, like my grandparents did more than a hundred years ago.

God says through Micah:

“I brought you up out of the land of Egypt;

I redeemed you from the house of slavery.

I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you.”

Many have lived here for years — and many, especially children, all their lives. GOD IS TELLING US THROUGH THE PROPHET TO BE COMPASSIONATE. Leviticus chapter 19 commands us to treat foreigners living in our land as our family. GOD COMMANDS US TO DO THIS. Through Micah, God reminds us: “I rescued you or your ancestors when they were foreigners and oppressed — when they were like slaves in Egypt — so I want you to show the same grace and kindness to others.”

Our government may shut down now because many in congress do not want to continue funding this cruel, inhumane program we call ICE.

III. People in Europe and Canada and other countries are warned now by their governments not to travel in America because it is not safe. America has a reputation in the world now of being not a welcoming place, not a just place, not a kind place. As a nation we are becoming the opposite of what the LORD requires of us.

IV. So Micah calls us to “REPENT.”

BUT HOW? Is it possible to obey God’s command to be kind and merciful in a violent and mean world?

V. God says: remember, you or someone in your family tree was like a “slave in Egypt” and I rescued them -- Now do the same for others!"

I’m tempted to tell God: “It’s a nice thought — but we can’t do that. It's against our nature.”

VI. And God tells me: “You’re right. Look at the mess all of you have made. SO YOU NEED TO GO TO THE ALCOHOLICS — they know how to fix this.”

VII. Of course, GOD IS REFERRING TO ONE OF THE GREATEST SPIRITUAL DOCUMENTS EVER WRITTEN — The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.

The first step is admitting that we are addicted -- and powerless to do anything about it. Maybe our addiction is not alcohol — but we’re all addicted to something: power, violence, anger, revenge, fear. White Supremacists fear that Jews and foreigners will replace them. They chant: “You will not replace us!” And our addictions cause us to treat our fellow human beings in mean and cruel ways. And what’s most troubling — we don’t have the power to change that. “WE CAN’T REPENT.” We can’t stop it.

VIII. The Twelve Steps say only God can help us change. They say we must “turn our lives and our will over to the care of God.” We cannot be kind, loving and humble without God’s help. WITHOUT GOD, OUR EGOS WILL WIN.

IX. Step 11 says: By prayer and meditation improve our conscious contact with God — praying for knowledge of God’s will for us AND THE POWER TO CARRY THAT OUT.

Let’s do that now. Let us pray….