Right in their own eyes

Philippians 2:1-13

1If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 

6who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. 9Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 

This is the Word of the LORD

Thanks be to God

Judges 17:1-13

1There was a man in the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. 2He said to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and even spoke it in my hearing,—that silver is in my possession; I took it; but now I will return it to you." And his mother said, "May my son be blessed by the Lord!" 3Then he returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, "I consecrate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make an idol of cast metal." 4So when he returned the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into an idol of cast metal; and it was in the house of Micah. 5This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and teraphim, and installed one of his sons, who became his priest. 6In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes. 

7Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the clan of Judah. He was a Levite residing there. 8This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah, to live wherever he could find a place. He came to the house of Micah in the hill country of Ephraim to carry on his work. 9Micah said to him, "From where do you come?" He replied, "I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to live wherever I can find a place." 10Then Micah said to him, "Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your living."

11The Levite agreed to stay with the man; and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12So Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13Then Micah said, "Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because the Levite has become my priest."

This is the Word of the LORD

Thanks be to God.

We’re in the waning days of Lent now. Next Sunday the pomp and procession of Palm Sunday will set us on the road towards the cross and the empty tomb. As the world around us takes on the new life and vibrancy of springtime, we continue in the darkness just a little bit longer, knowing that Easter reshapes the world more powerfully than blooming flowers ever could.

Lent is a season of penitence, a time of reflection on what separates us from God. That’s an intensely personal thing. Each of us, in our own discipleship, has to wrestle daily with our relationship with Jesus and to the sin that strains that relationship. We, by our own sinful actions and inactions, have sent Jesus to the cross just as surely as our spiritual ancestors did. When we do what is right in our own eyes, instead of having the same mind that was in Christ Jesus, we fall fully into the pattern of all those whose sin made salvation necessary.

Judges, in which we’ve been living these past five weeks, doesn’t have much in the way of good news. It’s the story of a covenant community that increasingly loses its way. Each time God appoints someone to establish justice, God has less and less with which to work. The first few judges do well, but things get progressively worse. The people do what is right in their own eyes, but that only takes them further off course with each cycle of stories. The judge Jepthah defeats the enemies of the Israelites, but gives his daughter as a burnt offering afterwards. Bad to worse. Samson, the strong man, is set apart for holiness, but instead pursues only what seems best to himself. He wages a one-man war on the Phillistines, mass-murder after mass-murder, before finally bringing down a building on himself and upon all of his enemies. For some reason we’ve made that one a children’s story. Worse to worst.

By the time we get to the seventeenth chapter of Judges, there are no more people appointed to establish justice. The Judges for whom the book is named simply disappear, their office vacant, their function abandoned. There are no foreign enemies to blame for the plight of Israel. Instead, they become their own worst enemies. When everyone does what is right in their own eyes, the unavoidable result is disaster. “...Chapters 17-21 present the logical results of persistent idolatry and the prolonged failure to honor God’s sovereignty.” When we forget that God is in charge, and instead do what is right in our own eyes, we allow ourselves to be ruled by our worst instincts.

Micah is just a character in this story. He’s not heroic, neither is he the villain of the piece. He’s just a man living in the hill country of Ephraim. His family is wealthy, are probably upstanding citizens in their community, and have a shrine. He’s above average, an example to all. I’m sure if you asked him he’d tell you that he’s trying to do what’s right in his own eyes.

Except that he steals from his mother, worships gods other than the LORD, makes a graven image, and sets up a corrupt priesthood based first on nepotism and then on money.

“He said to his mother, ‘The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, ... that silver is in my possession; I took it...’”

“his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into an idol of cast metal; and it was in the house of Micah.”

“[Micah] made an ephod and teraphim, and installed one of his sons, who became his priest.“

Yes he returned the money to his mother, yes he consecrated the silver idol to the LORD, yes an ephod is part of a priest’s uniform, yes it’s good to have a priest in the family. He’s trying to do what’s right, at least in his own eyes?

No! Returning what you stole doesn’t earn points. Naming a false god after the real God doesn’t count. Having the right outfit but carrying fertility statues (teraphim) doesn’t lead to true worship. Having a family priest who’s appointed by his father rather than called by God isn’t faithfulness.

Even if Micah’s heart is in the right place, his hands are everywhere they shouldn’t be. “In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.” It was going from bad to worse to worst. Micah’s “right in his own eyes” is overwhelmingly wrong in every other sense we have. But he is sure he’s done right, and that he will be rewarded for his “goodness,” especially when he does the “right in his own eyes” of which he’s proudest. “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because the Levite has become my priest.” Micah is so far off from faithfulness to the LORD he cannot even see how wrong “right in his own eyes” has become. And in the last four chapters of this book, Micah is the most faithful character.

I spend several hours a week reaching out to the community as part of my ministry with our congregation. I wear a collar and work on my sermon in a public place that invites conversation. I hear from so many people, both Christian and non-Christian, that “they’re just trying to do what they think is right.” How many times have we, in our own family of faith, used that idea to justify ourselves? It’s everywhere around us, trying to “do what we think is right.” But how is that any different than “all the people did what was right in their own eyes?” It’s just a different turn of the same phrase. It led Israel, in the time of the judges, down a dark and violent path. It’s not enough to follow Micah’s example and do what is right in our own eyes. Our own eyes are not trustworthy when it comes to deciding what’s right, and we end up ignoring what we’ve done wrong and thinking that things are good when they benefit us. Read Judges and tell me how you think that’s going to work out for us.

Or...

Or...

Or, rather than doing what is right in our own eyes, we can look to our Lord Jesus Christ and follow him. Rather than seeking our own advantage and calling it “the LORD will prosper me because...” we can “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.” 

We don’t have to be limited by our of sin-darkened vision. We don’t have to follow the error-filled patterns we inherited from the Micah’s of our history. We know Christ, and can follow him. We can “Let the same mind be in you that was a in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” We know Jesus, we have seen him at work among us and around us. Rather than taking on the foolish ways of what is right in our own eyes, we can ask what Christ would do, and then follow him.

We can follow after Christ’s example, seeing the world through his eyes and doing what he does. We can do what is right in God’s eyes “for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

Holy Week is coming. The cross and empty tomb are coming. Easter is coming. The world continues to be reshapes by what took place in those days. Let us, therefore, ask what Christ would do, and follow him.