Devotion - Wednesday, November 19

Over the past couple of weeks, several of these morning offerings referred to Hosea.  My read through the Bible has moved from one of the so-called "minor prophets" to another.  This morning I read from Micah.

These prophets are referred to as "minor" not because of the content of their writings, but rather due to their brevity and limited historical content.

Most are concerned with how the people of God are living out their call to be the people of God.  A concern that ought to concern all of us.

Micah 4:5 reads:  "For all peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we walk in name of the LORD our God forever and ever."  Micah knew that is it easy to talk the talk, but walking the walk is a much different matter.

We do need to talk.  We must tell the story of Jesus and it is essential (in our academic community) that we share the deep thought and reasoning that under girds our faith tradition.  

But waking in the way of our God cannot be ignored.  

The way we walk, the things we do in the world, reveals to the world the god we follow.

This same chapter of Micah talks about beating our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks.  Lutherans are not (typically) referred to as one of the "peace churches," but as a denomination we have repeatedly expressed our conviction that violence rarely brings peace.

"But we walk in the name of the LORD our God."  May it be so; and might each step bring us closer to the place were our prime concerns are made visible to all.