Rev. Debbie Cato
Micah 1:3-5; 5:2-5a; 6:6-8
Bethany Presbyterian Church
November 15, 2026
The
Requirements
Heavenly Father, we come before You today,
asking for clarity and understanding as we listen to Your message. Help us to
open our hearts & minds to Your teachings & then most importantly, to
apply your teachings to our daily lives.
Amen.
Today we
are in the Prophets. The Prophets
consist of 17 Books in the Old Testament. They are broken up into two
classifications - The Major Prophets and the Minor Prophets.
There are
five books in the Major Prophets classification. These books are longer and address broader
themes, including significant historical and visionary messages. There are 12
shorter books, classified as Minor Prophets. Their content is more focused,
often addressing specific calls to repentance and hope. Both groups share the
same divine calling and convey messages of judgment, repentance, and
restoration, reflecting God's sovereignty and love.
Our scripture reading today is from The Old Testament Prophet Micah. He was among the earliest of the Minor Prophets. Micah prophesied during the late 8th century before the birth of Christ. He was a younger contemporary of Isaiah of Jerusalem. Micah is described as “offering a theological interpretation of the dizzying events near the end of the 8th century; the fall of Samaria, the expansion of Jerusalem fueled by emigrants from the north, and the international situation made unstable by Assyria – an aggressive superpower.”[1] The dizzying events. Interesting description. Micah expresses disdain for the corruptions and pretentions of Jerusalem and its leaders. He champions the traditions of early Israel. Micah condemned religious practice untethered from ethical performance. He clung to the hope of the future.
Micah has 7 chapters. Chapters 1-3 are mainly oracles of judgement. Chapters 4-5 contain oracles of hope. Chapters 6 and 7 begin with judgement and move into hope[2]. I’m going to read verses from chapter 1 (so listen for judgement), from chapter 5 (so listen for hope), and from chapter 6, where you should hear judgement that moves into hope. Listen now for the word of the Lord.
1:1-5a
1 The
word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Kings Jotham,
Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
Judgment
Pronounced against Samaria
2 Hear,
you peoples, all of you;
listen, O earth, and all that is in it,
and let the Lord God be a witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.
3 For the Lord is coming out of his place
and will come down and tread upon the high places of
the earth.
4 Then the mountains will melt under him,
and the valleys will burst open
like wax near the fire,
like waters poured down a slope.
5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob
and for the sins of the house of Israel.
5:2-8
[c]But you, O Bethlehem of
Ephrathah,
who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days.
3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return
to the people of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength
of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth,
5 and he shall be the one of peace.
6:6-8 What God Requires
6 “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?
7 Will 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?”
8 He 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?
The Word
of the Lord
What the
Lord requires of you, is to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly
with your God.
The
verses I read from chapter 1 are condemning the Judean society and its
leaders. It is an indictment of Samaria,
the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
The Lord is coming to punish Samaria.
Chapter 5 prophesizes a “new David” that will arise, (the hope) not from Jerusalem but from humble Bethlehem – the city where King David was born. This “new David” – this ideal king - will rule in this ideal time that Micah is prophesying. Anywonder this passage is the lectionary reading this time of year.
The verses I read from Chapter 6 are probably the most well-known verses from Micah. Remember, chapter six begins with judgement and ends in hope.
It’s as if Micah is mocking the people – Sure, you bring your perfect sacrifices before God. The problem is, you think that’s enough. You think that’s all you need to do. You think your religious practices make up for the way you live. The things you do. But actually, what God requires of us is to do justice, love kindness, and humbly walk with God. Notice, he doesn’t want us to do these things. He doesn’t suggest. He requires. That’s a strong verb. Require. There is no way around it. We must do justice, love kindness, and humbly walk with God.
Micah says, your sacrifices – your religious practices (maybe for us it’s coming to church, praying, going to Bible study, reading the Bible), these things are all meaningless if you are not being who God expects you to be. If you are not doing (doing is an action verb – it means actually doing something). If you are not doing justice, loving kindness, and humbly walking with God, these practices of ours, this religious stuff we do, this religious stuff we talk about, are meaningless.
When I was praying about this sermon, I thought about how best to get the importance of living as God requires across. I decided I was to tell you a story. A story that I think perfectly reflects these passages from Micah. This condemnation of Samaria and Jerusalem. The promise of hope. The condemnation of religious practices and, God’s requirements – justice, loving kindness, mercy (or walking humbly with God).
My first
call after seminary was to Casper, Wyoming.
The church had received one of the last grants from the national PCUSA denomination
for redevelopment. The church had not
had a full-time pastor for 15 years, and they hadn’t had any pastor for 4
years. They just had pulpit supply. Membership was about 30 people – average age
in their 70’s. There were no children. The church was dying.
I talked with the Wyoming Presbytery and they told me that the planning for this grant took 2 years and the involvement of the whole congregation. They told me that there were several other churches in the presbytery that adopted this church a mission of their own church. They were financially supporting the redevelopment in addition to the 5-year grant and they wanted to do everything they could to see this church survive. They said this church was pumped and excited to go out and be the church. I talked to many members of the congregation. They were indeed excited to go out and be the church. To make a difference in their neighborhood.
This was the kind of church I had been asking God to call me to. My theology says that the church should be out in the world. You know, “doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God.”
I got to Casper and it was just as they described. The neighborhood was ripe for ministry. The congregation was excited. I felt so blessed to be their pastor.
The first Christmas I was there, we worked with the big presbyterian church in town and had a shopping day at our church for the children from the DV program. They came and “shopped” for a gift for their mothers. We had bath supplies, scarves, pajamas, socks, books – lots of things for them to choose from. They “bought” a gift for their Mom and we helped them wrap it. We had Christmas crafts for them to make. We took photos of each child and they made a picture frame to put their picture in for their mothers. We read the Christmas story and sang a couple songs. We fed them lunch. We served 26 children that first year and the day was amazing. It was such a blessing.
The next year, we took some of the property we owned next to the church that was just a lot filled with overgrown weeds. Working with the “Young Professional Rotarians” we built a community garden with 10 raised beds and filled them with good, rich soil. Members of the community could rent a bed for the summer for $10 so they could plant vegetables and flowers. We provided the plants and seeds, the hoses, the garden tools and the water. We had someone come and teach them how to plant seeds, grow vegetables and care for them. We built a beautiful playground for the children, and benches for anyone to just sit. I loved looking out my office window to just watch people from the community working together – children digging up weeds in their raised beds. In the process, people got to know one another. Help one another. There was laughter.
We decided to hold Vacation Bible School – first time in over a decade. Eleven years without any kind of children’s ministry. Again, the large presbyterian church provided volunteers and curriculum. Their music director taught the songs and the skits. We had 47 children at VBS. They sang, and learned, and laughed a lot. We fixed them lunch – members of my congregation cooked the food but they would not come out of the kitchen. They did not want to mix with the children. But, it was so much fun. It felt magical to me. The church was alive!
That Sunday, we focused the whole service on VBS. The children sang their songs and performed the skits they learned. The sanctuary, that sat 150 people but usually had only 25-30 people on Sunday mornings, wasn’t empty. The sanctuary was filled with parents and grandparents of these children. Hispanic, black, eastern European. I shed some tears because there was so much life in that sanctuary that morning. It was beautiful. It was God’s Kingdom on earth, I thought.
I looked and noticed that my congregation were all sitting together away from the crowd. They looked unhappy – no one was smiling. No one was eating. I could tell they were not enjoying themselves. Everyone else was so happy. They weren’t mingling or talking with anyone else. Just each other. I walked over to them and asked if I could get them some ribs. No, they said. We’ll talk to you at session. I couldn’t imagine what was wrong.
Session met that Thursday and I was told that they did not want “those people” in their church. “Those children” had filled garbage cans during the week. The floor needed to be vacuumed on Saturday. They did not want “those people” in their church on Sunday. I was told I could not do anything that would involve bringing people into the church. “They are different than us,” they said. “We don’t want them here.”
Friends, I was heart-sick. The week had been so beautiful. People God loved were being served in our church. Incredible children that had experienced so much trauma felt loved and cared for. They laughed. They were able to be children. They were so proud on that Sunday morning, singing their songs and performing their skits in front of their parents and grandparents. Our all-white congregation wasn’t all-white that Sunday. It’s wasn’t even all American!
Four months later, the church closed their doors. The congregation voted that they would rather close than have other people share their space. People that were different than they were. They couldn’t do what they had planned. What they had talked about.
6:6-8 What God Requires
6 “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?
7 Will 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?”
8 He 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?
The Lord requires that we do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.
Micah’s judgement of Samaria fits the church in Wyoming – and other churches - so well . They talked about being involved in the neighborhood. They talked about developing ministries for the people that lived in North Casper. They talked about all the things they wanted to do. They planned for two years. But when it came down to doing it; when it was time to actually interact with people. To welcome people. To share our normally empty space with people, the answer was no. They were not willing to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. They couldn’t do it.
Just like this church in Wyoming, this congregation, Bethany Presbyterian Church, has a chance to also actually do what God requires. You’ve talked for years and years about how open and welcoming you are. You’ve called yourselves the most progressive church in our presbytery. God took the tragedy of a fire and turned it into a project that holds the potential for you to do God’s work. To actually be open. To actually be welcoming. To do justice, loving kindness, and show mercy. Not just toward people just like you. But toward people that are different. Different skin tones, different cultures, languages, ways of doing things. You have the potential of welcoming children into your space and letting them fill your garbage cans and leave scraps of paper on the floor. You have the potential of turning these quiet, small worship services into something that resembles the Kingdom of God. Noisy, alive, worship that includes children and people who may worship different than you are used to.. I have to tell you, I’m really envious!
You have the opportunity of doing more than just the religious stuff that we pride ourselves in. You have the opportunity to do more than just pray, just sing, just listen to sermons. You have the opportunity to stop just talking and actually live it out. You have the opportunity to do justice, to love kindness, to walk humbly with God.
The question is, will you take advantage of the opportunity God is giving you to be His Church? To step out of your comfort zone? To grow in ways you didn’t know you could – or even that you should. Will you actually do it?
Will you take advantage of the opportunity God is giving you to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God? Or like the church in Casper, will you decide you’d rather die than let “those people” in?
Choose wisely. Amen.
