Birthpangs
Jesus began his ministry with familiar words from Isaiah (61:1-2) with good news for the poor (Luke 4:18-19). He might well have drawn much of his inspiration from verses like these (especially vv 6-8) and 700 years later the gospel stories show what happens when someone takes ‘the poor’ seriously.
Jesus was no more popular then Micah. In times of rapid social change we all suffer the pangs of childbirth. Bringing new life into the world is nothing less than a revolution for those immediately involved and at times the pain can be unbearable. Neither Micah nor Jesus deny or underestimate the pain. Tough times are ahead and Micah’s reference to Babylon foreshadow the exile when the Jews were uprooted and found themselves in an alien environment.
Exile is bitter and need not always be geographical. It’s the experience of losing touch with everything around. It happens to churches in time of rapid social change and cultural diversity. It happens to individuals with bereavement, retirement or redundancy. The familiarity of the old world has gone. You look out of the window and everything has changed. Everywhere the scene is unfamiliar, the people you don’t recognise, their language you cannot understand. You visit their place of worship and nothing makes sense. There is ‘exile' too for those left behind. Their world also is different. They have lost friends and miss especially those on whom they depended for so much. Take half the community away and the other half is just not the same. Exile is a time of wailing and lament.
But Micah says, ‘What are you crying for? Don’t spend your time looking at what is. Look rather at what is to come. Focus on the new life that will grow and enrich you. The future offers a new sense of purpose. Many around you may never know and understand. Some of them will laugh at you, but the last laugh will be on them when you have the joy and satisfaction of knowing that what you did was right. You will fulfil what you were intended to be, and always wanted to be, and know that you have achieved what is right.