I'm sticking with Micah- Sweetness 3

For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

My handy, dandy Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church defines Zion as "the mount on which the temple stood, 'God's holy hill' at Jerusalem." Hence it is the home of God, the place of the seat of the Covenant. The home of God, the holy of the holies. As Christians we are heirs to our 'elder brothers'. JPII referred to the Jews as our 'elder brothers' when he came to Jerusalem and asked them for forgiveness. As Christians who claim their legitamacy by being chosen through God's grace we would be unwise to forget that an older tribe was chosen first to deliver this message. They were servants before we were servants.

Our history should not be forgotten in our rush to try and fix the world. I think specifically here of our mad dash toward San Fransisco seeking to put forward another homosexual bishop in the name of Justice. While certainly I do not want to forget the word of the lord that came out of Jerusalem "love one another as I loved you" I want to hold it in tension with more difficult words, "as he (Jesus) drew near (to Jerusalem), he saw the city and wept over it saying, "If this day you only knew what makes for peace- but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."(Luke 19:41-43)

I wonder in our rushing, seeing all those opposed to ECUSA's actions as enemies or worse homophobes we are not first ignoring Micah's simple prounouncement. Could we be failing to God to God first? Is God only found in the social gospel? Does God call us to fix the world or does God first seek us into relationship with Him. This is the message I think Micah is saying here to the ECUSA. First seek God. Seek God first to hear what the rest of the church is saying. Allow them to begin to understand. Trust that they are your brothers and sisters in Christ. Allow them to see that our Church seeks first the kingdom as Micah suggests. Allow them to see and discover the same spirit that you are witnessing to. To act now in civil disobedience will only convince the wider world not of our love of justice but our love of autonomy. Our call may be first to trust not in our own understanding of Justice but that our God seeks to guide us if we are but willing to listen.

For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.