O sing to the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth. – Psalm 96:1
As we venture into a new year, a famous photographic image comes to my mind. It is the image of the Supreme Commander of the Allied forces, General Dwight Eisenhower addressing the troops of the American 101st Airborne the day before D-Day. No one knows exactly what he had to say but you can be sure it was words that conveyed the urgency of the moment. The future of the war depended to a large extent on these troops accomplishing their tasks. It was a moment when clarity of mission was paramount. They were being called upon to do something new, something that had never been tried before in history, a combined air, sea and land assault on the continent of Europe.
The same was true of the Prophet Micah when God called upon him to set before the people of Israel an urgent sense of mission in a most critical moment in their history. The setting is this: the armies of Assyria have conquered the region of Israel in the north and the region of Judah in the south and stand now on the verge of conquering Jerusalem, the City of David. The very life and death of the nation hangs in the balance. What should they do? “What does the Lord require of us?” are the exact words of the Prophet Micah. Should we ramp up what we have been doing in the past in the realm of the sacrificial system at the Temple of Solomon? Sacrifice more bulls, pour out even more oil, offer even our firstborn sons? Would this be enough to turn the tide in this moment of national collapse?
Or does the Lord require of His people and envision for His people something altogether new and different? Something which will no longer be tied to a kingdom of geopolitical boundaries and limitations, but instead be founded upon a kingdom with no limits either political, racial, religious or geographical? A kingdom built instead upon eternal and universal values and principles such as acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with your God?
An intriguing thought, perhaps even a captivating thought. The problem is that it is so radically new and different. It calls for a sweeping clean of the slate and a complete rethinking of mission and purpose. It calls for a sense of mission and purpose that includes all peoples under heaven, under one Creator and Lord. And yet in spite of its radical nature the Prophet Micah says, “This is the word of the Lord!” this is “What the Lord requires of you.”
It calls to mind the mission and purpose of Eisenhower as he stood on the threshold of Operation Overlord, D-Day June 6, 1944. He had formulated a plan radically different than that drafted by his military predecessors in the First World War who thought only in terms of trench warfare. Eisenhower knew that approach had not worked and so he envisioned something altogether new, and it turned the tide of the war.
What of us in the Presbyterian Church in Canada today, in what I believe is an equally momentous point in our life and history? Will we cling to what worked for the “Presby-terian Club” of a past generation? Or will we listen to the word of the Lord for a new day? Will we listen for the word of the Lord for all people and not just for the Presbyterian family? Will we listen for the word of the Lord about acting justly wherever there is injustice, loving mercy wherever the need of our neighbour is evident on the road of life and about walking humbly with our God, the God of not just 113,000 Presbyterians in Canada but of all peoples under heaven? I hope and pray that our answer will be in the spirit of the psalmist:
“O sing unto the Lord a new song in 2010!” O sing unto the Lord a new song forever!
