Plenty of Wine and Beer

This morning I read the book of Micah in my Bible. It contains several well known texts. One of my favourites is:

‘If a liar and deceiver comes and says, ’I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’ that would be just the prophet for this people!’ (2:11)

Politics in the UK and beyond… People want to hear good news – high wages, low taxes, low supermarket prices… good health care, education, law and order, pensions… plenty of wine and beer.

I love Bob Marley’s ‘Three Little Birds’. We sing it sometimes at our Friday singing for health group:

Rise up this mornin’, smile with the risin’ sun
Three little birds pitched by my doorstep
Singin’ sweet songs of melodies pure and true
Sayin’, “This is my message to you”

Singin’, “Don’t worry about a thing
‘Cause every little thing is gonna be alright”

Sunshine, sweetness, purity, truth… Plenty of wine and beer… Everything’s going to be alright.

Sadly that’s not the reality of many people. Friends… with life-limiting illnesses with husbands/wives as their fulltime carers… with debts, addictions, complex destructive relationships from which there’s no easy way out… with anxiety, depression, mental health challenges…

…And ordinary families in Ukraine, Israel, Lebanon, Sudan, North Korea…? Everything’s going to be alright? Don’t worry? Plenty of wine and beer?

I take three pointers from Micah, who answers with honesty and clarity from his faith perspective:

I believe in Jesus (words often quoted at Christmas): ‘But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah… out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel… He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord…’ (5:2-4)

I hold on to universal standards: ‘And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.’ (6:8)

I retain hope in God: ‘But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Saviour; my God will hear me.’ (7:7)