Reflection IV
“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I
come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased
with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn
for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” 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 6:6-8)

There are social forces at work within our Church that fight against the Gospel of peace and reconciliation that we preach and strive for. There are two social maxims that are at the center of our struggle: familiarity breeds familiarity, and the status quo strongly resists change. This is the intersection where our Christian values meet our sociological underpinnings, usually resulting in an awful wreck. We as the called leaders of God’s family, change agents in this time and place, we are the first responders to this terrible wreck. Somehow, out of the mangled pieces, we are instructed to formulate a path to change that is palatable to our church families. We are called to break down the walls that allow people that look and think like we do into our sacred assemblies and even more sacred leadership circles. This call demands that we all face change, embrace change, and become that change. The question we face is how?

As we look back at the Old Testament for wisdom, we find help and hope in Micah. Status quo says there is a
formula for being the Church, the modern people of God. Sunday services and music have replaced bulls and
offerings. No matter how many songs we sing, not matter how many fantastic sermons we preach or listen to,
if we ignore Micah 6:8, it is all for naught. Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God. As
Presbyterians, we feel we have a pretty good handle on justice and kindness; however, we stopped challenging ourselves on what these two ideals now mean. The reason for this oversight is that the last requirement is so difficult for us Presbyterians. Let us not fool ourselves, we are anything but humble. Our piety is proud and steadfast, ready for inspection by the highest office, with the exception of God’s office, of course.

Humility is the hardest of all these requirements. Only by being humble are we able to find justice and kindness that is appropriate for today. We are in a new era. The signs and evidence can be found all around. Gone are the days of leadership limited to white middle aged men. Sure, we have had our token women and POC representatives, but those numbers were far too paltry to count as true change. Now change is being thrust upon our nation in all aspects of life. We as Presbyterians have worked long to find our way as leaders in this change, but that has not been without its struggle. Hurdles have been cleared to open the doors of inclusion in wonderful and fantastic ways; the question is, where do we go from here. This year saw our first BIPOC leaders as moderators; the change is happening, yet the future is unclear.

This is where we as leaders are called to be humble. Tomorrow is not fully known. Yes, we like having all the
details worked out before venturing forward, but that is not how God works. We walk by faith not by sight,
and faith cannot exist without humility. We have a wonderful opportunity to not only reach out to the younger generations, but we are at the right place at the right time to help our monochromatic churches burst with color and culture. Let us clothe ourselves with faith and humility as we seek to do justice and love kindness, for tomorrow is unwritten and wide open. The only thing holding God back is us. We are ready, so let us be bold and embrace the direction God is leading us.

Are there any disparities/inequities you seek to eliminate? What barriers stand in the way of
achieving more equitable outcomes?

This is the fourth of five devotionals intended for reflection published by the North Central California Presbytery as part of the Connectional Revitalization process. We invite you to share your reflections with us by emailing pastor@parkviewpc.org and pastoralresident@parkviewpc.org.