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

Proper 26 [31]/Year A 109
answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they
have acted wickedly” (v. 4).
Now Micah turns his attention to the preachers, priests, biblical scholars,
professors, and evangelists. He hears nothing from them about all this
devastation of widows, orphans, the destitute, and the homeless. When
what is needed is the Word of God, Micah encounters silence. They are
wayward shepherds. Greed and covetousness unite them with the political
and business leaders. “Its rulers give judgment for a bribe, its priests teach
for a price, its prophets give oracles for money” (3:11). One need only think
of the Rolex-flashing televangelist claiming to be evangelical while making
a case for war or “mainline” pastors opposing war who do not clearly
speak against it. The religious leaders have put their truthfulness up for sale
to the highest bidder. They “cry ‘Peace’ when they have something to eat,
but declare war against those who put nothing into their mouths” (v. 5).
These seers, priests, and prophets “shall be disgraced, and . . . put to shame;
they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God” (v. 7). God
will be silent when the evildoing rulers turn to God (v. 4), and God will be
silent when the wayward shepherds pray to God for a word to say.
The religious professionals’ infatuation is with money, not with
YHWH. They have lost their ardor for God and their love for the neighbor,
and when it comes time to say something significant they are empty.
The concordance has been thumbed, the commentaries consulted, the
manuals revisited, the systematic theology texts considered, and the
preacher is silent. To these professionals “it shall be night to you, without
vision, and darkness to you, without revelation” (v. 6).
Verses 9–11 recap the criticism of rulers, prophets, and priests that
Micah has already articulated and point out their false piety: in spite of
their unjust behavior “they lean upon the LORD and say, ‘Surely the LORD
is with us! No harm shall come upon us.’” Micah disabuses them of this
illusion: “because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall
become a heap of ruins” (v. 12).
Prophetic critique of religious leaders is always apt; it reminds us of
the compromises we make and of how we fail to be faithful to our obligation
to proclaim the truth in season and out. If we read the diatribe of
Matthew’s Jesus against the scribes and Pharisees in that sense, as selfcriticism
to take to heart, it makes the same point that Micah makes. If we
read it in the tradition of Christian anti-Judaism, as justifying God’s
reputed rejection of Israel, we distort it and again fail to serve God’s purpose
of compassionate justice.