The Golden Mitzvahs
Rutgers, January 31, 1999; 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A)
Psalm 15 (OT, p. 546); Micah 6:1–8 (OT, pp. 966–967)
"They're mitzvahs; they're commandments,"
That's what Rabbi Potasnik regularly declares
on the Sunday morning radio program
that I co-host with him and Fr. Keenan on WABC.
"They're mitzvahs; they're commandments."
And there's an ancient Jewish teaching in the Talmud (Makkot 23b)
that goes like this:
God gave 613 commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai.
King David came along several centuries later
and brought the 613 down to just 11—the ones we heard
in this morning's First Lesson, Psalm 15.
Then, several centuries after King David,
the prophet Micah came along
and brought the 11 down to just 3—
the ones we heard in our Second Lesson:
do justice;
love kindness;
and walk humbly with your God.
Well, apropos of Christian Endeavor Sunday,
3 mitzvahs are certainly easier for children and youth and adults
to memorize than are 613, or 11,
or even the 10 we usually talk about.
And I want for us all to have memorized these three
before we leave the service this morning.
For I consider the three commandments found in Micah
to be the golden mitzvahs of the Old Testament.
Memorization requires both written and oral exercise.
So please take out a pencil from the pew rack,
and get ready with your bulletin to write down
each one of these golden mitzvahs.
And to begin the oral part of our memorization exercise,
please repeat after me:
do justice <people repeat>;
love kindness <people repeat>;
walk humbly with your God <people repeat>.
Thank you!
Now, let's reflect a bit on each of these three golden mitzvahs.
And please help me out! What's the first of them?
<some people respond, "do justice">
Good! Now write that down.
"Do justice." That's the first golden mitzvah.
For the prophets of ancient Israel, the first and primary meaning
of doing justice was correcting inequalities in society
by redistributing power and wealth,
by restoring the victims of injustice to wholeness,
and by rescuing the oppressed—
because all people are created equal in God's sight.
Our Second Lesson is itself a model for doing this kind of justice,
but perhaps you didn't notice the relevant detail in it.
In verse 4, God proclaims to the people through Micah,
"For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
and redeemed you from the house of slavery;
and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam."
Now at hearing this reference to a female deliverer of old,
Micah's audience, reared in a strongly patriarchal culture,
probably said to themselves in puzzlement:
"Moses we know about. Aaron we know about. But Miriam?
Do we know any positive stories about her at all?
Well, … maybe, … OK,
yes, now that we've thought really hard about it!
"The traditions do contain a fleeting reference to a sister of Moses
who sang a glorious song of victory (Exodus 15:20–21)
after our ancestors miraculously crossed the Sea
and escaped from slavery in Egypt.
"And there's another story about an unnamed sister of Moses,
who stands by Moses and watches over him
while, just three months old, he lies precariously exposed
in that papyrus basket that was set among the reeds
along the bank of the Nile.
Was that, perhaps, … Miriam?" (Exodus 2:1–10)
The people who heard Micah were doubtless puzzled
because tradition had long ignored, repressed, and been silent
about the figure of Miriam—until here in our Second Lesson
the prophet once more recalls her to the people's mind,
citing her as a gift given to them by God.
And by doing that, Micah himself is "doing justice";
for he himself is acting to redress
the inequality that existed in ancient Israel
and that has continued to exist in the world to this day—
the inequality in society between women and men.
Doing justice seeks to redress other forms of social inequality as well.
Just about every day, our newspapers remind us
of kinds of inequalities here in the United States, inequalities
in such areas as healthcare and educational opportunity.
For example, the front page of Thursday's New York Times carried
a story entitled: "Pataki Presents A Tight Budget, Despite Surplus."
The text of the story went on to say, and I quote:
"Mr. Pataki proposed deep cuts in Medicaid,
the health care program for the poor,
and in tuition assistance for low-income college students.…
He sought to back away from a 1997 agreement
that called for several years of spending increases
to make kindergarten and prekindergarten available
in every community
and to reduce class sizes in the early grades.
'This plan chooses smarter government over bigger government,'
the … Governor said in his annual budget address."
At that point in my reading,with Micah's golden mitzvah
fresh in my mind from preparing for this sermon,
I couldn't help blurting out loud a theological commentary,
"No, Mr. Governor, this plan doesn't choose
smarter government over bigger government.
It chooses inequality over equality,
injustice over justice."
And in my mind's eye an animated movie about Micah the prophet
began to play.
In my imagination, I saw Micah marching up and down
in front of the Governor's mansion waving a placard
on which was written the first golden mitzvah,
which was … what?
< people respond, "do justice">
Thank you!
Now let's move along to Micah's second golden mitzvah,
which is … what?
<people respond, "love kindness">
Good! Now write it down.
"Love kindness." That's the second golden mitzvah of Micah.
Now, the Hebrew word here translated "kindness" is, in
actuality,
almost impossible to translate with just one English word.
In comparing the various standard English versions of the Bible,
one finds such differing translations of the Hebrew word (h\esed) as
"kindness," "mercy," "goodness," "constancy,"
"loyalty" .…
The Hebrew word has as its fundamental meaning something like
"that which fosters faithfulness in relationships"—
in our relationship to God,
in our relationship to sisters and brothers in the church,
in our relationship to a spouse or partner,
in our relationship to friends,
in our relationship to colleagues at work, etc.
So in this golden mitzvah, God is commanding us, through Micah,
to love all that fosters faithfulness in our relationships—qualities
like kindness, mercy, goodness, constancy, loyalty, and fidelity.
Wow, is this ever a mitzvah that our society needs to take to heart!
Faithfulness in relationships!
Let's see, for marital fidelity our society has as role models the likes
of
Bill Clinton, Henry Hyde, Bob Livingston, Dan Burton, Bob Barr,
Helen Chenowith, and doubtless many others;
and among us non-politicians,
the divorce rate in marriages is well over 50%.
Faithfulness in relationships.
As for friendships, many Americans have been reading the recently
published book of immoral wisdom entitled The 48 Laws of Power.
I sincerely hope none of you has read it.
It includes these rules for relating to friends:
Law 2—never put too much trust in a friend;
and Law 14—pose as a friend, work as a spy.
Faithfulness in relationships.
As for relationships in the office,
this same book, The 48 Laws of Power, offers these guidelines:
Law 13—when asking for help, appeal to people's self-interest,
never to their kindness or gratitude;
and Law 33—discover each person's thumbscrew; that is,
discover what can "torture" each person
into submitting to your will.
This kind of thinking poses as 1998 American wisdom!
Faithfulness in relationships
As for our legislative bodies, in relationships "across the
aisle,"
is there any kindness, loyalty, or faithfulness at all these days?
And as for faithfulness in relationships in churches,
we see great fractiousness within many parishes,
and the divorce rate between pastors and congregations
is skyrocketing all across the country.
To all of us in this society, God, through Micah, is setting before us
the second golden mitzvah, which is … what?
<people respond, "love kindness">
That's right, but let me remind you of the deeper meaning
of this commandment:
"love all that fosters faithfulness in relationships."
So whenever you say, "Love kindness!"
try to remember that it really means something like:
"love all that fosters faithfulness in relationships."
Now let's move along to Micah's third golden mitzvah,
which is … what?
<some people respond, "walk humbly with your God">
That's right, but we need to practice that a little,
so what's the third golden Mitzvah?
<people respond, "walk humbly with your God">
Good! Write it down.
"Walk humbly with your God." That's the third golden mitzvah.
Here God, through Micah, commands us,
in spite of every influence to the contrary in American society,
to abandon all pretense at self-sufficiency
and to acknowledge in deed and word that fullness of life
comes from communion with God
and from submitting our will to God's will.
In Judaism, the word for ethics is the word halakha,
which means, "walking."
And Jesus's most characteristic invitation to disciples,
as we heard last week, is "Follow me,"
that is, "Walk along with me."
Both of these things suggest that our purpose as humans
is to live step-by-step with God and to live step-by-step for others.
In the story of the Garden of Eden,
God comes at the time of the cool evening breeze
to walk in the garden with the man and woman.
But the man and the woman have broken God's commandment;
they have eaten fruit from the forbidden tree,
and they hide from God,
no longer wanting to walk with God.
Well, what about us?
Do we want to walk with God?
We can, you know!
In spite of our sin, walking humbly with God
has been made possible for us again,
because Jesus walked humbly with God
and because Jesus shows us how to walk humbly with God.
Indeed it is from such humble walking and communing with God,
and from that alone,
that we can draw the power that enables us to do justice
and to love all that fosters faithfulness in relationships.
It is from such humble walking and communing
that we receive the power of God's Holy Spirit.
So tell me, people of Rutgers Church,
what is the third of Micah's golden mitzvahs?
<people respond, "walk humbly with your God">
You get an A today!
Now, let's see if you've memorized these three golden mitzvahs.
What's #1?
<people respond, "do justice">
And what's #2?
<people respond, "love kindness">
And again please remember that that one means something like:
"love all that fosters faithfulness in relationships."
And finally, what's #3?
<people respond, "walk humbly with your God">
By george, I think you've got it.
So let's join together in shouting out all 3 of Micah's golden mitzvahs:
Do justice;
love kindness;
walk humbly with your God.
Amen.
Let us pray:
O God, for these three things we pray:
that we may do justice;
that we may love
all that fosters faithfulness in our relationships;
and that we may walk humbly with You.
Through Christ, we pray it. Amen.
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