Do Unto Others with Humility. Micah 6:6-8. 11/3/2024.
Do Unto Others with Humility
Micah 6:6-8
Rev. Dr. Rhonda Blevins
November 3, 2024
“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?
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?”
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?
______
Late one afternoon, several villagers saw a child drowning in the river. They rushed out and rescued him. While performing CPR on the child, they noticed there were two more children in the river. They dove in and saved them, too.
Moments later they saw two more children in the river and began calling for help. More villagers responded, forming a human chain to reach the children who were appearing in the river in alarming numbers.
At last, one of the rescuers broke away from the group on the bank and walked away, heading up the river. The others yelled, “Where are you going? You have to help us save these children!”
“There comes a point when we need to stop just pulling people out of the river,” she replied. “I’m going upstream to find out why they’re falling in.”
This parable is usually attributed to Desmond Tutu, the human rights activist and bishop from South Africa.
When we think about how we “Do Unto Others” as we would have others do unto us, one way we treat others with kindness is to help people out when we see them in crisis. Who among us wouldn’t want to help a child drowning in the river? To help a child drowning in a river is kindness on a personal scale—it’s one-to-one kindness—kindness on a micro level.
What Bishop Tutu was pointing to in this allegory is transitioning our mindset—growing our kindness from a micro scale to a macro scale. When we see human suffering affecting groups of people, we certainly help on a one-to-one scale (pulling a child out of a river). But to affect greater kindness when suffering or crisis is on a larger scale, we must go upstream
and stop the guy throwing kids into the river, or fix the railing on the bridge, or whatever it is upstream causing all those kids to fall in the river in the first place. It’s about addressing systemic issues. Kindness on a macro level is what the prophet Micah calls “justice.”
In this quite famous passage, the prophet wonders what is most pleasing to God, and challenges the idea that what God wants is some kind of sacrifice, namely, a burnt offering which was the standard religious practice of the day.
Shall my burnt offering be a year-old calf?
Does God require thousands of rams?
Will God be pleased with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Does God wants me to sacrifice my firstborn child?
Then Micah rejects these common religious practices, saying (my paraphrase):
Folks, seriously? You really think God wants you to murder animals or kill your firstborn to appease God’s wrath?!? Think about it. Here’s what God wants from you: do justice, love kindness, walk humbly. That’s it.
It’s about kindness. Kindness on a macro scale (justice). Kindness on a micro scale. With an attitude of humility. That’s what God requires.
Let’s use a recent event in our community to illustrate this important Old Testament teaching: damages from the hurricanes.
We’ve witnessed kindness on a micro scale . . . we even named some of those kindnesses last week. This is the neighbor helping neighbor we’ve seen. Kindness in the form of places to stay, loads of laundry tended, meals prepared, gift cards given.
We’ve also witnessed kindness on a macro scale. The FEMA response, as imperfect as it may be, is kindness on a macro scale. It’s systemic kindness. Tax dollars from folks living in Missouri and Iowa and Wisconsin (as well as Florida) distributed to victims of these devastating storms.
And when kindness on a micro scale meets kindness on a macro scale, it’s a beautiful thing to behold!
A couple of weeks ago I encountered a woman displaced from her home . . . it was completely uninhabitable after Helene destroyed it. She was sleeping in her car, even though FEMA had approved temporary housing assistance for her. Here at the church, we have a long-standing relationship with the Fairfield down the street. In fact, I offered a blessing there a few years ago when it first opened. I found out the Fairfield was a designated FEMA location. Long story short, I went with this woman who was sleeping in her car after the hotel staff went to great efforts to make space for her. Liz, the general manager, told me that she and her staff decided to become a FEMA site, despite many unknowns, because they wanted to be there for their neighborhood. While they couldn’t snap their fingers and fix the homes that were destroyed—they could do their part. Eager to support their north beach and Clearwater neighbors in this profound way, they decided to become a FEMA site, and they would figure out the details as they went. I asked, “Has FEMA been good to pay you?” Their answer at that time, “We don’t know yet.”
I was touched . . . moved by their kindness on a micro level supported by kindness on a macro level . . . the systemic level. The Fairfield staff are “doing justice” as they assume responsibility for this government project. They obviously love kindness. And their humility as they recognize their small part to play—in my mind at least—is Clearwater legendary.
Humility always recognizes a “small part to play.” Humility, by definition, is self-awareness that acknowledges limitations.
One conversation I had over the past couple of weeks was with someone who did not experience significant loss with the storms, but was desperate to help out his friends and neighbors. We lamented together that we couldn’t do more, as individuals, to help our community. He shared with me some sage advice that someone had given him that I now share with you: “Do for one what you would do for all.” That’s a great “kindness” mantra to use in the midst of large-scale suffering. I’ve adopted that mantra for myself, in fact. I want to add a part b to this excellent saying: “Do for one what you would do for all, and if you can do for all, by all means do it!” That’s kindness plus justice.
God’s favorite math equation: Kindness + (plus) justice x (times) humility = (equals) God’s requirement for each of us:
what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
This week will be challenging in our nation as we exercise our right to vote. Anyone already experiencing election anxiety? When the results become clear, I predict that some of us will be happy, and others will be sad, even terrified. Humility helps us see that each of us will make the best decision we can, given our unique experiences and subsequent understanding. If we are truly humble, we won’t judge one another for voting in a different way. It’s hard for genuine humility and judgment to coexist simultaneously within us. Here at the Chapel, we don’t all vote the same way—it’s our commitment to the ways of Christ that unifies us.
What do we do with that commitment? How do we enact our faith commitment even in the midst of national vitriol and turmoil?
We do justice.
We love kindness.
We walk humbly.
God expects nothing more. God expects nothing less.