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Micah 3:5 Here is what Adonai says in regard to the prophets who cause my people to go astray, who cry, “Peace” as soon as they are given food to eat but prepare war against anyone who fails to put something in their mouths:
6 “Therefore you will have night, not vision,
darkness and not divination;
the sun will go down on the prophets,
over them the day will be black.”
7 The seers will be put to shame,
the diviners will be disgraced.
They will have to cover their mouths,
because there will be no answer from God.
8 On the other hand, I am full of power
by the Spirit of Adonai,
full of justice and full of might,
to declare to Ya‘akov his crime,
to Isra’el his sin.
9 Hear this, please, leaders of the house of Ya‘akov,
rulers of the house of Isra’el,
you who abhor what is just
and pervert anything that is right,
10 who build up Tziyon with blood
and Yerushalayim with wickedness.
11 Her leaders sell verdicts for bribes,
her cohanim teach for a price,
her prophets divine for money —
yet they claim to rely on Adonai!
“Isn’t Adonai here with us?” they say.
“No evil can come upon us.”
12 Therefore, because of you,
Tziyon will be plowed under like a field,
Yerushalayim will become heaps of ruins,
and the mountain of the house like a forested height.(Complete Jewish Bible)
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A servant of God either serves God or they do not. The words of the prophet reverberate in my heart and soul. My fear, of course, is that the longer I have served in the church, the longer the list of my moral evasions in the name of "peace" has grown. As servants of God all of the baptized are called to seek justice for those who have none and to be a voice for those whose voice has been taken away, or chased from the public square. Micah was not the first, nor will he be the last lay person to be disappointed and angered by the partiality for the status quo that reigns among those who call themselves "church leaders." But God's spokespeople, which is you and me friends, must humbly speak for God and no-one or nothing else. Today we rededicate our lives and our callings by planting ourselves firmly in God's hands as we seek the common welfare of all of God's children.
God in heaven make me, this day and all days, an instrument of your will and your peace. Help your church be a voice for equity and a place where divisions might find wholeness and a just peace. Amen.
Chris Enstad, '00
Lead Pastor, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Madison and Verona, Wis.
Micah 3:5 Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry "Peace" when they have something to eat, but declare war against those who put nothing into their mouths.
6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without revelation. The sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them;
7 the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.
8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob and chiefs of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert all equity,
10 who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with wrong!
11 Its rulers give judgment for a bribe, its priests teach for a price, its prophets give oracles for money; yet they lean upon the Lord and say, "Surely the Lord is with us! No harm shall come upon us."
12 Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.(New Revised Standard Version)
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The Luther Seminary
2481 Como Avenue
St. Paul, Minnesota 55108, United States
Telephone: (651)641-3456-
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