A Contemplative Look at Micah 6:8

Micah 6:8

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God 

I am a contemplative at heart. As pastor, I never learned bible passages for the sake of learning bible passages. I was never a sword drill champion. For me, memorizing bible verses was a useless endeavor if one leans into the notion of the Bible being the “living words”. As a contemplative, my faith has always been practical rather than strictly literal or doctrinal. With this point made, there are some Bible verses that just bubble forth from the depths of my being that are cornerstones for my faith. Psalm 23, Romans 12, Psalm 46 and Micah 6:8 are a few. In this post, I want to look at Micah 6:8 from a contemplative lens.  

When we engage in lectio or divine reading, we are encouraged to take the words and sit with them, literally, chew on them as a cow chews on its cud. If we do this with this text, I think we can draw out some important points. Four words that stand out to me in this text are justice, mercy, humbly or interpreted as humility and you God. I aim to unpack these in the following paragraphs. In several future posts, I will spend an entire deep dive into each of these elements as a full post.  

Justice 

As a social worker, justice is a significant aperture of the lens in which I see the world. I was raised in a social justice Catholic undergrad school for my Social Work degree and spent plenty of time on a variety of mission trips when they were offered during breaks. My first Master’s program as a seminary student only strengthened my resolve. I would go to a very liberal seminary and was taught works by Howard Thurman, Rosemary Radford Ruether and John Sobrino. Dead white German men were not often my study list.  

What does it mean to be just? As a spiritual practice, justice enhances one’s and others’ dignity and equality. It is a central tenet in all the Abrahamic, Dharmic, Chinese and Native traditions. It is seeing the other in those around us, seeing that despite colors of skin, nationality, gender, or social class, we ultimately at the end of the day are one.  

We can practice justice by demanding it. Jesus was no stranger to this. He called people out all the time. My favorite is calling the Pharisees whitewashed tombs. That will preach as we used to say in seminary. In peace and justice work, the tongue is more powerful than the swords and acts of kindness are more powerful still.  

Mercy 

As a definition, mercy simply means compassionate treatment. With this word, we begin to see a pattern in Micah 6. Micah’s words at the time of his words had implications for his people then and for us today. Speaking to the corruption he was witnessing in the cities of Israel and Judah. He is calling out the “sin” of the peoples in this place. From a Jewish perspective, sin generally is associated with some sort of taking advantage of or alienating a member or members of a community. In this case, Micah is calling out the people for worshiping idols that were bought through the income of prostitutes.  

Compassionate treatment does not only extend to others, it extends to ourselves. If we lean into the notion that God is the essence of love, that God loved us first and will so forever, we must have mercy with ourselves and those around us. We must cultivate an awareness that each person that comes into our space is a potential seat of Christ, that we are all potential seats of Christ. To be made in the image of God is to be made in the image of divine love.  

Humbly/Humility 

Being humble is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking about you less.  

 I have been studying the concept of humility since I was introduced to Benedictine spirituality in college and again when I was in seminary. Humility was so important to Benedict; he wrote an entire chapter on it. In this chapter, he outlines twelve steps to humility. See: https://luisapiccarreta.me/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/The-Rule-of-St.-Benedict-and-the-Twelve-Steps-of-Humility-.pdf 

 In his closing remarks, Benedict offers this: 

Take hold of the humble life, ask for God’s help. May the Lord guide us into the secret chambers of His Sacred Heart, where we will be enlightened in virtue, in love, in mercy, and in the splendor of the contemplation of His very Self 

Humility is a contemplative practice and one who undertakes this practice strives for freedom from pride and arrogance. One cultivates an acceptance of lowliness of mind and the ability to see one less and others more. It lends itself to compassion or justice because it takes one’s narcissistic self out of the picture and sees only the other(s) in one’s midst. The practice of humility opens our eyes to God’s virtue, love, and mercy for us and for others. Humility allows us to see ourselves no higher or greater than those around us.  

Your God 

As a thought experiment, God is a transrational being and the belief in such is a subjective experience. With this thought in mind, who is Your God? Too often, we are raised with the notion of a vegeful, wrathful God. The fear of God was often preached by myself and by others who mentored me. If God truly is a divine parent, as a therapist, I understand fear is a poor way to parent. Good parenting involves mutual respect and understanding. Good parenting creates meaning for the child in the relationship.  

The God of Jesus was both the vengeful and the compassionate God. We know that Jesus saw God as the more intimate, loving and involved father when he called him “abba” or daddy.  

 If we can see God in this light, it is easier to walk humbly, with justice and with mercy because our heavenly parent has created meaning for us and made us feel safe.