4 Epiphany.A.26
Micah 6:1-8
The Rev. Melanie L. McCarley
“Terrible things are happening. At any time of night and day, poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. …. Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared. Women return from shopping to find their houses sealed, their families gone.” This quote was posted by an online user without attribution. She wanted to see how people would respond. She writes: Within twenty minutes, I had some remarkable replies. One woman wrote: “No sympathy if here illegally!” while another replied “You mean the criminals that are here illegally? I’m not losing any sleep over that.” Another responded: “I have no sympathy for law breakers.”
The Original Poster writes: “I held off from commenting because I wanted to see how crazy it would get.” Over the course of an hour it exploded to more than 50 comments, the majority of them vile. “I have to admit, she writes, I wasn’t prepared for someone posting a picture of my house, attempting to intimidate me into silence. I started to reply to some of the posts, but the online platform Nextdoor took it down because they deemed it a controversial political post.”
Apparently, neither Nextdoor nor the forum readers realized the quote was by Anne Frank, writing about her experiences in Amsterdam in 1942.
Picture now, a courtroom—but none like you or I have ever seen. The jury is composed of the mountains and the hills—the world itself. The prosecutor is God, and the accused is none other than God’s chosen people. Here, the prophet Micah calls the people of Israel to account. What are the charges being leveled against them? To answer this we need to read beyond today’s lesson. But here is the answer. Exploitation of the poor; Corrupt Leadership; False Worship and Idolatry; and finally ignoring true justice—and instead, favoring greed and violence.
Were these same charges to be leveled against ourselves as a Nation, how do you think we would be judged?
The rabbis of Temple Beth Shalom in Needham sent a letter to their congregation this past week, a portion of which I would like to share with you this morning. They write: “Our rabbis taught us that “God created a single person first in order to teach that whoever destroys a single life is considered as if they destroyed an entire world.” (Mishna Sanhedrin 4:5). Judaism is founded upon the imperative to honor and to protect each individual. With this in mind, it is with deep concern, sadness and anxiety that we have born witness to the recent violence in Minneapolis. The fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good … (these) demand a response that acknowledges the dignity of their lives.”
Dignity is imperative. Certainly we wish it for ourselves. Why should we deny it to others? In our Baptismal Covenant we promise to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being. Is this political? Certainly, it can be. It is also moral, which is why I am speaking of this in a sermon on a Sunday morning. Because the events in Minneapolis have reached a point where the political and the moral have converged, demanding a response. This is a moment when we, as a society, and as people of faith would do well to listen and hear the Good News from the prophet Micah who speaks to us this morning, telling us that in order to right the wrongs of the world, God does not need burnt offerings, thousands of rams, ten thousands of rivers of oil, or even the sacrifice of our first born in payment for our transgressions. Micah says: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” As individuals and as a nation, we must ask ourselves if this is what we are doing.
Reasonable people can disagree about immigration policy and enforcement. However, such discussions must take place in a manner that is consistent with our nation’s laws and democratic processes and norms. It is imperative that federal, state, and local officials conduct complete, independent investigations to determine the truth behind what has happened and then to hold those responsible accountable. Our current Administration has argued for absolute immunity for ICE officers, which would lead to lawsuits being dismissed without the investigative discovery phase thereby allowing this one agency of our government to act with complete impunity—something not allowed even within our armed forces. Consider some of the tactics being employed. On January 20th, a five year old with a pending asylum case was apprehended by ICE as he arrived home from preschool. School officials say he was used “as bait” to attempt to arrest other family members and members of his community. Surely we should expect better of our law enforcement agencies and our nation. We can and must do better than this.
While I suspect that most of us (myself included) have no difficulty with violent criminals being apprehended and deported; nor would many of us support the concept of open borders—I also believe that the majority of us would agree that any policy employed by our government should protect the rights and dignity of individuals and their families. These are reasonable and humane expectations. This, I believe, is what God would expect and demand of us. And it is well within our ability to provide.
New data (from the University of California) shows that nearly 75,000 people with no criminal records have been arrested from January 20th – October 15th, 2025. Some of these are citizens; one of them, recently apprehended, was an elderly man, was dragged from his home in the freezing cold wearing nothing more than his underwear. Others are immigrants who have been here for many years, patiently working through the legal process and following our laws. Several of these individuals have gone through extensive vetting only to arrive at their citizenship ceremonies to be pulled from the line before issuing their oath of citizenship due to their countries of origin. This happened at our own Fanuel Hall on December 4th . What’s more, we know that people held in detention centers are not only denied due process, they are routinely denied the comfort of their faith. Clergy are frequently denied access to prisoners who simply wish to receive the solace of the sacraments.
In his book The Prophetic Imagination, Walter Brueggeman suggests that the prophets of Israel were about the business of two things. Their ministry included both criticizing and energizing. This is where we find the prophet Micah—as well as our Savior Jesus, who speaks of those blessed by God in the beatitudes. Both readings encourage us to take a personal as well as communal inventory. Are we doing what God expects? Can we do more? These readings are all about the future. They pose the question: In what kind of world do we wish to live?
The Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, Sean Rowe, in a letter to the Church this past week writes: “The Christian story is full of people who lived in frightening and brutal times, and who followed Jesus’ call…. toward (a) ministry of justice, reconciliation and love. This is God’s call to The Episcopal Church now, and it is not an easy one. …. Carrying out the simple commands of Jesus—feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, visiting prisoners, making peace—now involves risks for the church and grave danger for those we serve. As Christians, we must acknowledge that this chaos and division is not of God, and we must commit ourselves to paying whatever price our witness requires of us.”
This is a bold, and potentially frightening ask. In the eyes of the church, we have reached a point of decision. Who are we to trust? And what shall we do? In the end, I believe that our Savior Jesus, remains our best example to follow, as well as the words of the prophet Micah, echoed in our Baptismal Covenant, “to promise to strive for justice and peace, and respect the dignity of every human being.” When we fail to see this happen, in ways both small and large, our faith requires that we not remain silent, but speak as though the very mountains and hills—the jury of Creation, might hear us and know where we stand. The world is not only waiting for our collective response as a nation, it is waiting for yours as well. In Jesus’ name. Amen.