A Balanced Call

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? Micah 6:8

           I do not recall studying this passage in Sunday School nor do I remember a particular sermon about this passage from the prophet Micah in my early years. Being the son of a preacher, I suspect that I must have come across the passage a time or two in those years, and probably knew quite a bit more about the Bible, theology, and church stuff than my friends and peers, but I don't remember connecting with this verse until many years later. A pastor mentor shared this passage with me as a way to explain his own calling, his own ministry, and his own identity as a pastor and teacher of the Jesus gospel

            I don’t remember hearing his explanation about this passage, but do remember how transfixed I had been by this passage. I remember how it touched me and clarified my own sense of call and my identity as a pastor. This passage has become something of a “touch-stone” for me in those times when ministry is less than enjoyable and feels more like a daily grind than the joy of serving God and God's Church, it reminds me of this marvelous, beautiful and exasperating call that defined me over twenty-five years ago. “… And what does the Lord require of you…” 

            As a young child, I was told by family, friends, relatives and church people that I was “…a kind person.” Still to this day when folks talk about me, introduce me or share their thoughts about me, they mention that I am a kind and gentle person. I get this. I don’t know that I could be anything else. So the “…love kindness…”  mandate seems to fit my personal sense of who I am and who I have probably always been.  The other two parts of this passage, “…do justice…” and “…walk humbly with your God…” have shaped  my understanding of what it means to model a Christian walk and what it means to be a pastor and member of the United Church of Christ. My professors, many of my colleagues, and most definitely the United Church of Christ have defined for me the meaning of "doing justice". Acts of justice are acts of love and grace that call us out of our protected and insulated world and into the world to live out the great commission, “...go and baptize all people…”  Likewise, “…to walk humbly with your God” is a personal call to nurture and grow a meaningful and abiding relationship with the one who created me and gave me breath.   As I continue to walk humbly with God, I find myself on a winding road into a deeper understanding of a faith that continues to call forth my gifts and my call  to witness,  with conviction and passion, the work of Jesus, the Christ.

            I am drawn to this verse because the mandates, "...to love kindness, do justice, and walk humbly with your God..."  are not static – they continue to change and grow as God reveals more truth and light to me. Walking faithfully with Jesus Christ, with God and the Holy Spirit means to me that we must always be winding our way through that labyrinth of faith that brings us closer to the divine spark that shapes and forms us for God great and marvelous realm.  This passage, for me, is a perfect balance as I seek to live my life in this world and my call to continue to do the ministry that God has inspired within me. It is a descriptive understanding of this inward and outward journey of the Spirit that has captivated me from my birth.