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Micah 4:1-4

¹In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills. Peoples shall stream to it, ² and many nations shall come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. ³ He shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore; ⁴ but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.”

This past week I had the great privilege of taking a journey to the Alex Haley Farm in Clinton, TN to take part in the Samuel DeWitt Proctor conference. It was my first time ever at the Alex Haley Farm, but Lord willing it won’t be my last. Tremendously inspired by the depth of exegetical presentations by the likes of Otis Moss Jr. and Otis Moss III, Dr. James Cone and Rev. James Lawson, and then challenged by the words and the commitments to action given by Children’s Defense Fund president Mariam Wright-Edelman, this was a special time in a sacred space of renewal and restoration. There on those rustic and rural grounds I was being sharpened for the ministry that lays before us; my perspective was being stretched; my hopes were being renewed and my passion was being rekindled for a deeper and more thoughtful approach to ministry that matters; ministry that moves; and ministry that makes a difference.

It was in that pastoral, worry-free safe and serene setting that I got the call on Tuesday night from a dear friend who through his tears said to me, “That was my aunt.” He didn’t know that I was out of town and figured that I was plugged in to the city happenings. So when I told him that I wasn’t in Jackson and that I didn’t know what was going on, he went on to tell me about the tragic murder in the Bel-Air neighborhood. He described to me all that they knew at that time of the investigation and I could hear both the hurt and the heat of his emotions. He said to me again, “Man, that was my aunt.”

Not long after that through social media I was able to follow the developments of the investigation and read the outrage of Jackson residents about this murder, the handling of the 911 call, and about the still to be found perpetrator of the crime. And let me confess to you that even in that peaceful setting, at that moment I was disturbed and distressed. This kind of senseless murder makes even preachers mad. It makes people of faith angry; it unsettles us; it unnerves us; and it causes many of us to conclude that with society being what it is demands that we take action to protect ourselves from the threat of such violence. It makes Godly people resort to extreme measures to protect our homes and our love ones. It makes church people decide that it’s better to get them before they get us. It pushes even people of faith to take a by all means necessary approach to life and survival.

And given that on July 1, the Open Carry Law went into effect in Mississippi, giving qualified persons the right to openly carry a weapon with or without a permit, the temptation for a lot of people is and will be to do what you have to do before it’s done to you. Believe me, I understand. I struggle with it myself. To think that some knucklehead could change my whole life trajectory or that of my family’s in a matter of seconds just to take something that I’ve got. That bothers me. But before you get locked and loaded; before you get strapped up; before you put that piece on your hip in disgust deciding to take out any and everybody who look suspicious, I want you to remember that just because it’s legal doesn’t make it moral. Just because it’s the law doesn’t mean it’s right.

It was once the law to keep blacks and whites separated in public spaces, but Jim Crow laws weren’t right.

It was once legal to hold slaves as personal property in this country, but just because it was legal didn’t mean it was moral.

And just because it’s legal now to walk city streets and enter many public places armed and dangerous doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. And let me be clear – I’m not an advocate against guns. I believe in the 2^nd amendment and our right to bear arms. But I don’t believe that we are a safer society by giving people the legal right to carry a firearm with or without a permit. Open Carry is another way of saying that it’s Open Season. Open Season on people who frighten you; people who scare you; people with whom you disagree. Open Carry emboldens people to resort to violence as a first option rather than as a last resort. Open Carry allows us to feed into and act on our worst fears and preconceived notions about each other, which lead to mistaken and unnecessary fatalities.

You know about Trayvon Martin being killed by George Zimmerman; you know about unarmed Jordan Davis being killed because his music was too loud. But don’t forget about Chad Oulson, the father who was killed by a 71 year-old retired police officer in a movie theatre over text messaging and popcorn throwing. Perhaps you haven’t heard about 19-year-old Christopher Cote who was killed by his neighbor, after a dispute over walking his dog on his new neighbor’s property. When Cote came back, unarmed, to talk to 62-year-old Jose Tapones about the dispute, Tapones answered the door with a shotgun, stepped outside onto the lawn, and shot Cote twice. Don’t forget about 19 year-old Renisha McBride, the Detroit teenager who was shot in the head by the homeowner on whose door she knocked looking for help after having an accident in her car. The common thread in all of these cases is that the shooters defended their actions with Stand Your Ground laws on Florida and Michigan state books. And such laws embolden people to use deadly force when such is not necessary. Open Carry and Stand Your Ground laws eat away at the fabric of civilization and lead us to a culture of fear and fatality. And we as a state and as a nation must resist the temptation of letting what’s legal determine for us what’s moral.

Don’t get me wrong. Like most of you, I don’t feel sorry for the criminal who ends up getting the short end of the stick. When I hear about the homeowner who protects his family and himself in a responsible way, I don’t struggle with that. And to be clear, I don’t believe that there’s any contradiction in being Christian and being a gun owner. The issue is putting guns in more and more public spaces without permits. Teenagers need permits to operate cars, but Open Carry makes it possible to carry a gun without any kind of oversight. You need a license to carry a gun into the woods to hunt for wild game. But Open Carry allows you to walk down city streets populated by people with heat strapped to your hip without any kind of permit qualifying you to do so. In effect, we are becoming a state of cowboys in the Wild West. As a matter of fact, when these laws were first being introduced in states across America, they were called “Make My Day” laws. You remember who said “Make my Day” don’t you?

The problem is this- - when you legalize a kind of vigilantism that endorses and defends violence against each other, we pave the road to the collapse of civilization. When you embolden violence by making it legal, you begin to destroy the hope for humanity and community. Dr. King said it this way, “That old law an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind.” And I recognize that I speak from a position of great privilege as I have never been the target of such violence. None of my family members have been killed due to gun violence. So my perspective is not jaded by a tragic accident or a senseless murder involving guns. However, I am persuaded that even in the midst of such tragedy and violence that God’s word still stands. And tragedy does not excuse us from practicing the principles and living out the precepts of His word. And so as a community of faith wrestling with the tragic murder and the temptation to exercise our legal rights to Open Carry I want to lift up to you the words of Micah who reminds us of God’s Providential protection.

Look for just a moment at the first few verses of this chapter: Micah 4:1-4 In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills. Peoples shall stream to it, 2 and many nations shall come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. It is worth noting that as a nation we claim and print on our currency “In God We Trust.” As a state we felt a need to add it to our seal, “In God we Trust.” Yet, we make laws that make it easy to kill each other. But Micah speaks to us here for he says, the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain. In other words, the time will come when we won’t just declare that we trust in God, but that trust will be reflected in how we relate to each other. Because the highest law won’t come from the state house; they won’t come from the courthouse. But they will come from the House of the God of Jacob, “that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths. For out of Zion; not out of Jackson, but out of Zion; not out of Florida, but out of Zion; not out of Washington, but out of Zion shall go forth instruction.”

Listen, we have a higher law. And it is not signed by Phil Bryant. It is not passed by any legislature. It is not written by any American Legislative Exchange Councils. But our law comes from our God. And we must resist the temptation to let the lower laws of man destroy the beloved community that the church must always push to create. Micah calls the church to be at the forefront of such a movement and at such a moment as this so as to keep God’s law and God’s love in plain sight. His love should be raised up above this loss; raised up above this law; raised up above this legislature to give direction to His pathway to peace and to provide inspiration for the journey.

And when we dare to take this journey to such a place; when we dare to move to such a position of putting God’s law above our own; when we dare to live out His principles of love and peace and forgiveness, Micah tells of something transformative that will happen. He writes, v.3 He shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. In other words, the first thing that happens is that we live in such a way that we are confident in the Lord being our judge. “He shall judge.” That means I’m not trying to bring others to judgment by my own actions, but “He shall judge.” That means that I’m not trying to get revenge, but “He shall judge.” That means that I’m not on a crusade to correct the wrong that was done to me, but “He shall judge.” That means that I trust that the Lord is able to make this wrong right, “He shall judge.” “He shall judge between many peoples and shall arbitrate between strong nations….” But this is what I’ve been trying to get to. “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.”

That’s a vivid picture and a powerful prophecy. “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” In other words, Micah is saying when we allow God to be our judge and to arbitrate our cause and our case, the result is that our swords (our weapons) will be transformed into plowshares (tools). Our spears (weapons of violence) shall become pruning hooks (tools of productivity). The prophetic word here is that if we resist the temptation to live by a lesser law and on a lower level, that weapons will be turned into tools. And isn’t that the kind of God we serve? One who can take evil and turn it into good. One who can take ashes and turn them into beauty. One who can take mourning and exchange it for dancing. He can take the spirit of heaviness and turn it into a garment of praise. One who can take hurts and turn them into hallelujahs. He can take tests and make out of them testimonies. He can take problems and from them get praise. He can take our worries and use them to produce worship. So it ought not be surprising for Him to take weapons and turn them into tools.

But wait a minute, let’s reread that. Because the text says, “they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” So this is not something that God is going to do for us; but this is something that He expects for us to do for ourselves. And so the question becomes how do we transform weapons of violence into tools of productivity?

I’m glad you asked that question because that’s the crux of this sermon. And the first thing we’ve got to do is:

1. Change the Conversation.

Isn’t it interesting that when you have this conversation about guns that the loudest response; the most passionate response centers around protecting gun rights. The conversation is high-jacked by the NRA and the narrative that emerges is that if you’re for responsible gun laws then you must not believe in freedom and the Constitution. Because if you love freedom and if you love the Constitution, then you must be willing to protect the 2^nd amendment right to bear arms. But if we’re going to win this battle, we’ve got to change the conversation such that we’re protecting children not guns. Protect people, not guns. Protect that which has been created in the image of God, not guns. Protect that which has been fashioned by God rather than that which has been manufactured by man. Protect that which has been stamped by God, not that which was stamped by a machine. Because when you start to prioritize what man manufactures over what God created; when you give more importance to what man has made over what God has fashioned, then it has become an idol. And you’re worshipping guns over God. And so that has to be the question raised in the conversations we have. What are you worshipping? And what bears the image of God? An inanimate weapon, or a living, breathing soul? Because in other conversations, life is important. Life is precious. Life must be protected at all costs. So if you are pro-life, then Open Carry ought to bother you. Open Carry ought to trouble you; Open Carry ought to give you reason for pause. Yes, I believe in the right to bear arms. But I also believe I have the right to live out my full potential; the right to watch my children grow; the right to flourish; the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And when we change the conversation from the right to protect guns to the right to protect God’s creation, we begin to turn weapons into tools.

But then secondly, if we’re going to change weapons into tools.

2. Change the Culture.

Because Open Carry creates a culture of Wild West cowboys. That’s what was happening with the George Zimmerman case. He was playing cowboy. Taking the law into his own hands. Questioning someone who looked suspicious to him. He had no authority or training. And he even had a police record – yet still had a gun. We have to change the culture from one of crime and punishment to one of possibilities. Because if we are honest about it, long before most criminals ever resort to a life of stealing, they’ve lived through a system that has stolen from them. And that’s a culture that we have to change. By the time he’s 18 to 21 years old, he’s been robbed so many times by society that the culture has taught him how to be a thief.

A state stole his potential by not providing adequate funding to his school district. A school system stole opportunity from him by labeling him LD in 1^st grade. A prison system stole his future from him by building him a cell when he was in 3^rd grade rather than investing in his education.

So he does to the community what’s been done to him. He steals. The only difference is that his crime is arrest-able. His crime is convictable. When the fact of the matter is that the social inequities and unjust policies and priorities of our legislatures are accessories to the crime. In fact, there are many who should come out of state capitol buildings with their hands up because through such policies they have participated in the criminalization of youth. He didn’t get there by himself. But there were a lot of cultural conditions and systemic inequities that contributed to the crime he committed. And I’m not making up an excuse for choices we make. I’m simply saying that as a culture, we have to be willing to also look at the role we play in creating hopeless conditions where crime becomes an option teenage boys have to consider. And when we look honestly at what we as a state and nation need to do differently in terms of economic and educational policies, we begin to transform weapons into tools.

3. Change the Curriculum.

“They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

I think we have to take a hard look as a country at what we feed our kids both in the classroom and through media. The truth of the matter is that we are not serious yet about real education reform yet in this country or equitable education in Mississippi. There has been and still is two school systems in Mississippi. One white and affluent; and the other poor and black. And with such disparities in the classroom, the wealth gap between blacks and whites continues to widen. If we want a different kind of reality for our state, it is not coming through the legislation of guns, but through equity in education. If you want safe communities, educate the citizens. Give all students the same books at the same time. Put quality teachers in all classrooms. Enhance all schools with art and STEM programs. And then watch children rise. Change the curriculum.

We need to ask ourselves, what are they studying? Who are they emulating? Who are they imitating? What models do we as a culture lift up to them? What values do we instill in them? What morals do we provide for them? What kind of curriculum are we giving them? When a kid’s models are hustlers, then he’s going to graduate from hustler school. When his example is to con people, then he’s going to graduate from the School of Con Artistry.

4. Change the Economy.

“But they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid.”

Don’t miss that. Micah says, they shall sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees. In other words, they are not renters; they are owners. The economy has shifted from being someone who has to pay to use someone else’s to owning their own. You want to change weapons into tools, create pathways to ownership. Destroy systems that allow people to profit from people’s poverty and build an economy that allows people to live with dignity through honest labor. Dismantle the check cashing and title loan industries that rob the poor with sinful interest rates and provide fair alternatives to traditional banking that empower people rather than making them slaves to an unending cycle of debt. We cannot continue to have such a wealth disparity as exists in this country and think that there won’t be repercussions. When people work and still can’t afford basic needs – that’s a call for a change in the economy. When people work responsibly and can’t save enough to buy a home, that’s a call for a change in the economy. When people work one job, rest for three hours, and work another job and still can’t make ends meet, that’s a call for a change in the economy. And if the nation can bail out banks and Fortune 500 companies, then it’s time to bail out some people in upside down mortgages so they can have their own vine trees and fig trees. It’s time to bail out cash-strapped school districts so students can have the opportunity to one day own their own vine trees and fig trees. It’s time for meaningful immigration reform so that people coming to this country can have their own vine trees and fig trees. If we want to change weapons into tools, then we must do the difficult work of transforming our communities into oases of opportunity where a person’s humanity is honored and dignity is protected.