God Keeps Us On The Move
Commentary
All the lessons for this Sunday testify that God keeps us on the move, gets us away from our present unjust and unhappy comfort zones!
Amos 7:7-17
The First Lesson is drawn from a book that is a collection of teaching and traditions concerning a prophet who may have written this book during the prosperous reign of Jeroboam II in Israel (786-BC-746BC). From Judah, Amos did his prophesying in the Northern Kingdom, but then after exile may have returned to Judah to write a summary of his proclamation. Some scholars contend that his addresses were gathered and combined by others to form the book.
This lesson is a portion of five visions of God’s judgment and restoration given to Amos along with his confrontation with Amaziah, the official priest of the Northern Kingdom’s royal sanctuary in Bethel (v.10). Yahweh reveals a wall with a plumb line to symbolize that Israel is warped beyond correction and so must be destroyed (vv.7-9). Amaziah reports to King Jeroboam that Amos was conspiring against him (vv.10-11). Amaziah admonishes Amos to flee to Judah and cease prophesying in Bethel (v.12-13). Amos responds that he is not a prophet (not part of a prophetic order common in Israel and Judah), but a herdsman summoned by Yahweh to prophesy (vv.14-15). He responds by claiming that Israel will be destroyed (vv.16-17).
Times were prosperous in Amos’ day (for the rich). Times are prosperous today in America (for the rich). Unequal distribution of income growth is marked in our nation. From 2007 to 2016 the average income of the poorest fifth of all households rose 12.1 percent to $12,943, while income of the wealthiest 5 percent saw a 30.6 percent increase to $375,088. The Trump tax cuts only exacerbate these dynamics. Amos’ words are a critique of the fleecing of the poor by capitalism in Northern Israel demands our attention today. His identification of the unfairness of the system, the need to change it, is a call to the church to get on the move in critiquing the injustices of present manifestations of America’s economic and political system, perhaps considering such dramatic challenges to the system like Mark Zuckerberg’s call for a guaranteed income. It certainly seems to be in the spirit of Amos’ remarks in this lesson, a way to get God’s people on the move to help the poor.
Colossians 1:1-14
The Second Lesson is drawn from a circular letter that was either written by Paul from prison (4:3,10,18) late in his career or by a follower of Paul who had a hand in assembling a collection of his Epistles. These conclusions follow from the fact that the letter includes vocabulary and stylistic characteristics different from the Pauline corpus. The letter addresses Christians in a town in Asia Minor near Ephesus, a church which though not likely founded by Paul, was basically in line with his teachings though threatened by ascetic teachings (2:21,23), ritual practices rooted in Jewish traditions (2:16), and philosophical speculation (2:8,20), all of which were related to visionary insights.
The lesson is a salutation, thanksgiving for the Colossians, and an intercession. Paul notes the faith in Christ and love for all the saints that the Colossians exhibit (v.4). He refers to the hope laid up for the faithful in heaven (v.5). This hope, which was heard before the Gospel, bears fruit (v.6). It has been taught to the Colossians by Epaphras who founded the church in the town and who now assists Paul. The Apostle notes that through him he has learned of the Colossians’ love in the Spirit (vv.7-8).
Paul then speaks of not ceasing to pray for the Colossians, asking that they be filled with knowledge of God’s will and lead lives worthy of the Lord as they bear fruit in every good work and grow in God’s knowledge (vv.9-10). He prays that the Colossians would be made strong, prepared to endure all with patience and joy, giving thanks to the father who enables them to share in the inheritance of the saints (vv.11-12). Paul refers to God rescuing us from the power of darkness through his beloved son in whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sins (vv.13-14).
The Human Genome Project, which mapped all the various combination of human genes, teaches us that we are much less autonomous and self-determining than we might think we are. Because there are not enough different genetic combinations to account for all the billions of homo sapiens who have lived, genes alone cannot have determined who we are. To the question if we are more shaped by heredity or environment, the answer is both. But even our environment is not solely determined by what we do. To some extent our environment is a function of the people or forces acting on us.
In this lesson Paul refers to the new environment God in Christ has brought us. He is said to have rescued us from darkness (also may be translated “gloom”). The old environment of sin has been overcome. The rest of the lesson is about how living in the new environment has changed the Colossian Christians, how it has changed us. Like them, in this new environment, we are now people bearing fruit and full of hope. This can be a sermon about how we have been changed, moved away from old, destructive ways of life.
Luke 10:25-37
The Gospel Lesson is drawn from the Gospel for this cycle, the first part of a two-part history of the church, traditionally attributed to Luke, a physician and Gentile associate of Paul (Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon). Along with Acts, the author’s intention was to stress the universal mission of the church (Acts 1:8). In this lesson Jesus’ Parable of The Good Samaritan is reported.
The dialogue with Jesus is occasioned by a lawyer asking him what he must do to inherit eternal life (v.25). Jesus responds by directing him to the law (v.26). The lawyer responds that we are to love God with all our hearts and souls and neighbor as oneself (v.27; cf. Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Leviticus 19:18). Jesus tells him that he has the right answer (v.28).
The lawyer seeks to justify himself by asking who is his neighbor (v.29). Jesus responds with the parable. A man going from Jerusalem to Jericho was beaten by robbers (v.30). A priest and a Levite pass the man (vv.31-32). A Samaritan moved with pity binds his wounds, clothes him, and brings him to an inn to care for him (vv.33-34). At day’s end he pays the innkeeper to continue caring for the man with the promise to pay more (v.35).
Finally Jesus asks the lawyer which of the three men had been neighbor to the robbed man (v.36). The lawyer responds, “The one who showed mercy.” Jesus instructs the lawyer to do likewise (v.37).
The striking character of the parable is made clear with exposition about how Judeans whom Jesus addressed regarded Samaritans. The bad feelings between Judeans and Samaritans dated back centuries to the northern tribes’ withdrawal from the Davidic Monarchy and eventual establishment of a new kingdom with its monarch living in Samaria as the capital (1 Kings 12, 16). After the Samaritans’ conquest by the Assyrians, they had been subdued through intermarriage and acculturation, so that in Jesus’ lifetime and earlier they were no longer regarded as true Hebrews in the eyes of Judeans. Certainly a Samaritan would not be regarded as faithful to the Torah nor would a Samaritan have much inclination to aid an injured Hebrew man whose community has little use for the Samaritans.
Americans have their own Samaritans these days. A 2017 NPR/Harvard University poll found that 78% of Hispanics feel that they have been victims of discrimination. How odd since most Americans share the same ethnicity with the people of Latin America (as they are European, African, or Native American). And nearly one-third of us (32%) have an unfavorable view of Arabs, according to a 2017 Arab American Institute poll. (Recall the close genetic ties between Arabs and Jews.) This is a lesson to teach us that the new immigrants might be the one to befriend us, while we pass by the stricken fellow American. In his book, Who Really Cares, Arthur Brooks noted that poor people are more likely to give a larger portion of their income to those in need than the rich do.
Likewise, Jesus’ words call us to cross over ethnic lines in caring for those in need. Of course a lot of New Testament scholarship agrees that this is not a parable about becoming a Good Samaritan. It is more about how God’s grace sets us free from bias to serve, a theme most consistent with Luke (Eduard Schweizer, The Good News According to Luke, pp.187-188). Consequently this is a text for sermons on how God’s grace is likely to keep us on the move, to pry us away from our prejudices, to serve others in need.
As the Season after Pentecost is a time for reflecting on living the Christian life, these lessons nicely contribute to this agenda. The reminder that God keeps us on the move, gets us away from destructive behaviors and our destructive sinful environment, makes the Pentecost emphasis on living in a Christian manner a bit more inviting, less of a burden. For the theme of this Sunday reminds us that Christian living is not a task we must undertake alone, that we have a God who moves us and accompanies us in serving him.