000 Allen FMT (i-xxii) - The Presbyterian Leader

108 Proper 26 [31]/Year A
to work in the world. What God is pictured as doing at the Jordan, God
did again in Babylon: brought the exiled (homeless) people into the land
of promise. These motifs invite the preacher to ask, Where is God, figuratively
speaking, leading people across the Jordan today?
In Joshua 4:1–9, the people set up stones to mark the event. People who
see the stones would not only remember the event but also recollect the
continuing power of the “God of all the earth.” It might be interesting for
the preacher to reflect with the congregation on the monuments (small
and large) that are important in the congregation’s world. What memories
and promises do these monuments bring to mind and heart?
In the Gospel of Matthew, John the Baptist refers to Joshua 4:1–9 in a
way that connects to the Gospel lesson for today, Matthew 23:1–12. While
calling people at the Jordan to repentance and baptism in preparation for
the apocalypse, John says to some Pharisees and Sadducees, “Do not presume
to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell
you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham” (Matt.
3:9, emphasis ours). Matthew uses this reference to caricature and discredit
some Jewish leaders in Matthew’s own time. Beyond that caricature,
however, in the spirit of Deuteronomy Matthew recognizes that each generation
is responsible for its own witness. Stephen mentions Joshua 3:7–17
in Acts 7:45.
Micah 3:5–12* (Paired)
Micah was active in Judah, in the latter half of the eighth century (Micah
1:1). He spoke to a situation in which inequality and wrongdoing abounded.
The prosperous increased their holdings of land by driving small farmers
off land that they had inherited. “They covet fields, and seize them;
houses, and take them away” (2:2). They deprive widows and orphans of
their homes: “The women of my people you drive out from their pleasant
houses; from their young children you take away my glory forever”
(2:9). The “heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel [the political
leaders] . . . hate the good and love the evil” (3:1–2).
The topic of today’s reading is that the prophets, seers, and priests of
Jerusalem actively collude in this total violation of the Mosaic covenant.
Micah describes the behavior of the leaders of Jerusalem graphically: “you
heads of Jacob . . . tear the skin off my people, and the flesh off their bones
... [you] chop them up like meat in a kettle, like flesh in a caldron” (3:1–3).
When these same leaders turn to the Lord in time of crisis, “he will not