The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, February 1, 2026

Themes

Return and restoration, God’s faithfulness in the face of the people’s failures.

Background

Most of the book of Micah probably written in two stages, one during the Assyrian invasion. The other during the exile and return.

Our passage for today is probably from this later period.

It begins with God speaking in courtroom language to try a grievance against the people. In front of the oldest witnesses – the mountains the foundations of the earth – God accuses Israel of unfaithfulness. The divine asks, “What have I done? How have I failed to hold up my end of the bargain we’ve made that would justify the wayward behavior of the Israelites (Judahites technically).” God argues, what I have done is been faithful! Then God gives a history lesson reminding the earth that stands in judgment over these proceedings that God has been nothing but faithful. God says, “I brought you up out of Egypt, and even though you were unfaithful in Wilderness. When the King of Moab, Balak, attempted to curse you all in the Wilderness, through Balaam, I intervened to protect you (cf. Numbers 22-24). Instead of curses the people got blessings from Balaam instead of curses. Showing both God’s might and God’s care for the chosen people. God continues, mounting more evidence of divine faithfulness by reminding the people and the foundations of the earth, that God continued to protect and bless the people bringing them from the Wilderness into the Promised Land despite the people’s betrayal at Shittim (cf. Num 25 ff. and Joshua 1-3).  Shittim was Israel’s last major camp east of the Jordan, where they fell into idolatry and immorality and worshiped Baal of Peor, provoking God’s anger. God responded with fierce judgment and also provided atonement in the Baal of Peor incident (Numbers 25:1–18). God commanded Moses to execute the leaders and those who had joined in the idolatry “in broad daylight” so that his anger would turn away from Israel. A deadly plague broke out among the people as a consequence of their sin, killing many Israelites. The plague stopped only when Phinehas executed an Israelite man and Midianite woman who were continuing to sin, and God said that Phinehas had made atonement and turned back God’s wrath. Once they set out from Shittim, miraculously crossed the Jordan on dry ground with the ark leading the way, they then encamped at Gilgal, their first camp in the land God had promised. At Gilgal, God renewed the Abrahamic covenant through a renewal of the ritual of circumcision and celebration of Passover. In these rituals, God reaffirmed Divine faithfulness and the final restoration of the people from Egyptian slavery. Their movement from Shittim to Gilgal covers the transition from wilderness to inheritance.

By calling this journey to mind, Micah 6:5 calls the people to remember both their unfaithfulness and God’s righteous acts, God’s faithfulness which both judged sin, yet faithfully bringing them into the promised land, so that they will respond with grateful obedience. In Micah 6-7, the people (or a representative of them who is not Micah) asks what they should do to atone. Should they sacrifice burnt offerings, thousands of rams, or even a firstborn child? Micah’s voice comes in at verse 8 to answer this question. He reminds the people that they already know what is required of them.  And, I hope this isn’t a spoiler for anyone, it has nothing to do with ritual sacrifice or narrow adherence to moral or cultic law. More special than sacrifices, more difficult to achieve, is this: “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?” What an important command for the people then and for us now.

Comment

Anyone who has spent any time reading commentaries on Scripture will note that every generation sees its own time as sin-sick. This is undoubtedly true as each person and each generation needs to bring themselves into alignment with God’s good aims for this world. Once again, our world appears to be on the brink of the misuse of God’s word and God’s commands to bring about horrific evil. Justice, kindness, and humility – the things God require – fail to appear in most of our leaders today. The personal sin of the men and women in power in our country radiates out into structures of sin that amplify evil and stunt justice in our world. God who brought the Israelites out of slavery and injustice, abhors the sins of those who would perpetrate injustice today, abhors the prayers of those who cannot act with humility or practice kindness.

These sinners use the same scripture, twist God’s word, to attempt to make God’s demand through Micah irrelevant. Acting in faithfulness to God’s Word is grounded in the truth of reality that justice, humility, and kindness align with God’s priorities demonstrated in the design of our world. How do we know that God’s Word is twisted by those who use it to defend the actions of the indiscriminately violent, greedy, abusive, and exploitative? Simple. Evil closes possibility, good opens it up. To sustain the kind of injustice perpetrated today, those in power have to build narratives of superiority which corrode moral imagination and the capacity for genuine relationships across difference. These limiting narratives lock our society into rigid patterns that limit innovation and shared problem solving. When opportunity and resources are hoarded, institutions underuse talent and insight from those outside of their in-group. This withered and insulated group, inbreed such that creativity shrivels and that ultimately limits the horizons of our entire culture, economy, theology and ethics for everyone.

God, who deals in possibility, creativity, and relationship, will not be defeated by the evil we are experiencing now, nor will the spirits of those who faithfully follow Jesus. Let me tell you a story of the power of relationship and hope, dear preacher. The author, reality TV personality, and musher (dog sled team trainer and driver), Blair Braverman tells the story of one of her sled dogs, Refried. Yes, like the beans. She recounts that sled dogs are wonderful, loving dogs, playful and prone to ‘singing’ (howling)  when they are in their free-time. But, as working dogs, once they start pulling the sled, they focus deeply on their work and playful things like singing aren’t done. It is nearly unheard of for sled dogs to ‘sing’ while they pull. But, Refried knew when NOT to follow this rule. She had a way of knowing when the team was getting tired and discouraged. When this would happen, Refried would begin to sing. Braverman says that the other dogs on the team would respond to Refried’s song with renewed energy and enthusiasm, causing them to pull so fast that Braverman would have to hold on tight or get thrown backward off of the sled.  When Refried passed, the other dogs who had never sung while working before, took up Refried’s song. Now, Braverman has a singing dogsled team.  One of the few (perhaps, the only) singing teams. Refried’s joy, care for her team, and willingness to do something that ‘isn’t done’ lives on in her teammates encouraging and invigorating both dogs and humans well past her all too limited life. Let Refried be a lesson for us. When we are facing down long, cold, discouraging paths, as we are today 1. Go in a group. 2. Remember that we work best as a team and teams care about each other 3. Break the pattern of silence and encourage each other to run the race with joy. The fight for justice may look bleak right now. Encourage each other. The utter lack of humility and kindness among our leaders may be soul-discouraging. Refuse to back down into silence. Sing. If you sing, you’ll teach your team to sing. When we refuse to give in to the powers evil by encouraging each other, we follow God’s call to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.

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Rev. Dr. Torbitzky received her doctorate from Claremont Graduate University, in Claremont, CA. She earned her Master of Divinity from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and a bachelor’s degree from Truman State University.  She served congregations in Pittsburgh, PA; Ontario, CA; and De Soto, MO, before taking up the Chaplaincy at Lindenwood University where she  has served as faculty in the Philosophy and Religion Department and now serves as Assistant Provost. Her research focuses on the atonement theory and process theology. Torbitzky recently co-edited a volume on Open, Relational, and Process preaching and practice, Preaching the Uncontrolling Love of God.  She edits the Process and Faith lectionary commentary series.