A prophet and a parable for all seasons
Commentary
Neither Amos nor Hosea have been given much lectionary space these past few years. We will have Amos with us this Sunday and next and Hosea the following two Sundays. It is gratifying to see them finally show up, though it is somewhat regrettable they are not appearing during prime time. Congregations tend to scatter during the summer months. Both of these prophets cry for rediscovery in a time when self-absorption in privatized religious sentiments eclipses the thunderous imperatives to execute justice, serve mercy, and live responsibly so powerfully articulated by prophets like Amos and Hosea.
Amos competes for our attention this morning with one of the most striking and familiar parables of Jesus. But the amazing thing about reading biblical stories again and again is that some new insight can burst upon us or we can be surprised by some twist that has escaped our past attention. This road from Jerusalem to Jericho runs through every town on this planet. It is the world's main street and the victims encountered on it are legion. Given the Old Testament and gospel readings for this day, we can see that when it comes to homiletic usage the epistle reading is simply outmatched. This is not to say it is devoid of possibilities.
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Amos 7:7-17
As part of preparation the whole book of Amos should certainly be reviewed, especially his appeal to the conscience of the nations in the first two chapters and the heart of his message in 5:21-24. It is also appropriate to review the historic situation in Israel in the days of Amos, an outwardly prosperous society corrupted by rapacious greed and social injustice: a status quo apparently blessed by an apostate religious establishment.
If I had artistic talent I would portray Amos standing before the power brokers, his eyes burning with indignation mixed with pathos, his face austere yet strangely tender. In his left arm he would be cradling a wounded lamb and in his right hand he would be holding a plumb line, symbolic of the Divine imperatives by which human institutions are forever measured. Speaking of the plumb line you might consider finding one and hanging it from the pulpit as a powerful visual aid. It might also be used in a children's sermon.
Today's reading gives us a glimpse of the person behind the scorching words that might suggest someone who is all gloom and doom. "O Lord God, forgive, I beg you! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!" There Amos shines forth as person, austere yet tender, his nation on his heart and in his prayers. But his lips fall silent before the plumb line. There is such a thing as a judgment no intercession can divert, a Divine patience that can be exhausted. Out of plumb is out of plumb and the tower is going to fall.
Here is the heart of the prophetic conviction: justice denied engenders social dislocation and chaos. We have lost, in our day, a sense of the great tides of history. Amos, the herdsman from Tekoah (we never know where prophets will arise), was nurtured in the ancient Mosaic tradition of justice. The Hebrew word is mishpat. Living near the great caravan routes he would hear the sinister reports of the Assyrian advance from the north new from the towns and cities of Israel. The caravan route functioned as an information highway. On his own visits to town and city Amos would see the butcher with his finger on the scale, the lifestyle of the rich and famous in the houses of ivory, and the thieves with their hands in the till.
The presence of Amos at Bethel raised the anxiety level of Amaziah, the resident priest. Amaziah preferred the status quo and wanted Amos somewhere else. Amaziah viewed the shrine as royal property. All sorts of questions are raised here. Who owns the church anyway? Does the sanctuary exist just as some sort of pious decoration? Do we substitute the adulation of the name of God for obedience to the imperatives of justice? Amos did not mince words in reminding Amaziah about just who had crown rights everywhere and that even a religious community that consented by silence to injustice could have its franchise revoked.
Colossians 1:1-14
One characteristic of Paul is the way he mentioned people by name in his letters. He was not one to steal the show or take all the credit. He supported his coworkers and the pastors of the congregations he left behind. The name of Ephaphras crops up in this passage and later in 4:12. Ephaphras is mentioned one other time by Paul in Philemon 1:23.
What does Paul tell us about Ephaphras? He calls him a beloved fellow servant. The word actually means slave, but we seem to back away from that word today. Paul also calls him a faithful minister of Christ. In Philemon we learn that he also shared Paul's imprisonment.
Is there something we should note here that will lead us to examine our own style and level of graciousness toward and recognition of those who share ministry with us, both professional colleagues and lay persons?
Luke 10:25-37
We are in a section of Luke's gospel where discipleship is a prominent theme. The parable of the Samaritan is deliberately paired with the following verses that report the conversation of Jesus with Mary and Martha. This is Luke's way of describing for us both sides of the coin we call discipleship. Keep that in mind for the visit of Jesus to the home of Martha and Mary which comes up next week. Given the familiarity of this parable and your probable frequent past use of it, the aim of the comments that follow is to provide a new slant or two.
Verses 25-29
The parable is prompted by a theological discussion between Jesus and an expert on the Torah. The lawyer stands up and addresses Jesus as "Teacher." He is respectful and polite. His question can be paraphrased: "What shall I do to participate in the saving work of God?" Jesus senses a hidden agenda. His attitude toward the law is being investigated so he hits the ball back in the lawyer's court. But the lawyer presses on, probing for a definition of neighbor that meets the litmus test set down by the law, as if redemptive living was controlled by a definition. Jesus responds with a parable that radically challenges the lawyer's outlook as well as ours. I think here of the lady who was filling out a questionnaire for a new employer. One question asked who should be called in case of an emergency. She wrote down, "The nearest human being."
Verse 30-32
Be imaginative in describing the Jericho road. It is the Earth's Main Street. Banditry was rife in the days of Jesus and the early church. Some zealots felt they had a right to rob others. The victim in the parable had been beaten, robbed, stripped of his clothes and left unconscious. This presented an identity problem. He could not be identified by listening to his accent or by any sort of distinctive garment. He had been stripped of his human identity. There are many ways of dehumanizing others. Remember Woody Guthrie's song, "Some will rob you with a gun and others with a fountain pen."
The impossibility of identifying the victim gave the priest legal grounds to pass him by. See Sirach 12:1-7 for some attitudes that persist even today. If the man was dead the priest could also risk contamination and have to return to Jerusalem for the humiliating rite of purification. With all defensible reasons he went on his way.
Another clergy type comes along, but he's a Levite not under rules as strict as those for a priest. He had to maintain purity only when in temple service so he was able to come near the victim, but for whatever reason he passed on. Maybe he was just following the example of the priest ahead of him.
Verses 33-35
Given the relationship between Jews and Samaritans in the days of Jesus and between Jewish Christians and Samaritans in the days of Luke, the appearance of a Samaritan is the real shocker in the parable. Today Jesus would replace the Samaritan with a figure from some group we tend to demonize today.
In these verses there are three things worth noting.
1. The language of verse 34 is the language of the altar. The Samaritan is engaged in priestly action and service.
2. The Samaritan, with risk to his own safety, takes the victim to an inn. This is a special kind of inn. The Greek word in the text is pandocien, a place for all people. It refers to the sort of inn where within a walled compound travelers and animals found safety, shelter, and nourishment. Isn't this a suggestive image for church: a motel for Pilgrims?
3. The instructions of the Samaritan to the hostler along with his promise to return catch the eye especially in a time when there appears to be some compassion fatigue abroad. The Samaritan was determined to see it through. He is an example of one who does not weary in well doing.
Jesus answers the question of the lawyer with a final question that is also directed at all of us and implies a command, "Be a neighbor." We are called to live redemptively toward others. That is worshipful living.
Amos competes for our attention this morning with one of the most striking and familiar parables of Jesus. But the amazing thing about reading biblical stories again and again is that some new insight can burst upon us or we can be surprised by some twist that has escaped our past attention. This road from Jerusalem to Jericho runs through every town on this planet. It is the world's main street and the victims encountered on it are legion. Given the Old Testament and gospel readings for this day, we can see that when it comes to homiletic usage the epistle reading is simply outmatched. This is not to say it is devoid of possibilities.
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Amos 7:7-17
As part of preparation the whole book of Amos should certainly be reviewed, especially his appeal to the conscience of the nations in the first two chapters and the heart of his message in 5:21-24. It is also appropriate to review the historic situation in Israel in the days of Amos, an outwardly prosperous society corrupted by rapacious greed and social injustice: a status quo apparently blessed by an apostate religious establishment.
If I had artistic talent I would portray Amos standing before the power brokers, his eyes burning with indignation mixed with pathos, his face austere yet strangely tender. In his left arm he would be cradling a wounded lamb and in his right hand he would be holding a plumb line, symbolic of the Divine imperatives by which human institutions are forever measured. Speaking of the plumb line you might consider finding one and hanging it from the pulpit as a powerful visual aid. It might also be used in a children's sermon.
Today's reading gives us a glimpse of the person behind the scorching words that might suggest someone who is all gloom and doom. "O Lord God, forgive, I beg you! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!" There Amos shines forth as person, austere yet tender, his nation on his heart and in his prayers. But his lips fall silent before the plumb line. There is such a thing as a judgment no intercession can divert, a Divine patience that can be exhausted. Out of plumb is out of plumb and the tower is going to fall.
Here is the heart of the prophetic conviction: justice denied engenders social dislocation and chaos. We have lost, in our day, a sense of the great tides of history. Amos, the herdsman from Tekoah (we never know where prophets will arise), was nurtured in the ancient Mosaic tradition of justice. The Hebrew word is mishpat. Living near the great caravan routes he would hear the sinister reports of the Assyrian advance from the north new from the towns and cities of Israel. The caravan route functioned as an information highway. On his own visits to town and city Amos would see the butcher with his finger on the scale, the lifestyle of the rich and famous in the houses of ivory, and the thieves with their hands in the till.
The presence of Amos at Bethel raised the anxiety level of Amaziah, the resident priest. Amaziah preferred the status quo and wanted Amos somewhere else. Amaziah viewed the shrine as royal property. All sorts of questions are raised here. Who owns the church anyway? Does the sanctuary exist just as some sort of pious decoration? Do we substitute the adulation of the name of God for obedience to the imperatives of justice? Amos did not mince words in reminding Amaziah about just who had crown rights everywhere and that even a religious community that consented by silence to injustice could have its franchise revoked.
Colossians 1:1-14
One characteristic of Paul is the way he mentioned people by name in his letters. He was not one to steal the show or take all the credit. He supported his coworkers and the pastors of the congregations he left behind. The name of Ephaphras crops up in this passage and later in 4:12. Ephaphras is mentioned one other time by Paul in Philemon 1:23.
What does Paul tell us about Ephaphras? He calls him a beloved fellow servant. The word actually means slave, but we seem to back away from that word today. Paul also calls him a faithful minister of Christ. In Philemon we learn that he also shared Paul's imprisonment.
Is there something we should note here that will lead us to examine our own style and level of graciousness toward and recognition of those who share ministry with us, both professional colleagues and lay persons?
Luke 10:25-37
We are in a section of Luke's gospel where discipleship is a prominent theme. The parable of the Samaritan is deliberately paired with the following verses that report the conversation of Jesus with Mary and Martha. This is Luke's way of describing for us both sides of the coin we call discipleship. Keep that in mind for the visit of Jesus to the home of Martha and Mary which comes up next week. Given the familiarity of this parable and your probable frequent past use of it, the aim of the comments that follow is to provide a new slant or two.
Verses 25-29
The parable is prompted by a theological discussion between Jesus and an expert on the Torah. The lawyer stands up and addresses Jesus as "Teacher." He is respectful and polite. His question can be paraphrased: "What shall I do to participate in the saving work of God?" Jesus senses a hidden agenda. His attitude toward the law is being investigated so he hits the ball back in the lawyer's court. But the lawyer presses on, probing for a definition of neighbor that meets the litmus test set down by the law, as if redemptive living was controlled by a definition. Jesus responds with a parable that radically challenges the lawyer's outlook as well as ours. I think here of the lady who was filling out a questionnaire for a new employer. One question asked who should be called in case of an emergency. She wrote down, "The nearest human being."
Verse 30-32
Be imaginative in describing the Jericho road. It is the Earth's Main Street. Banditry was rife in the days of Jesus and the early church. Some zealots felt they had a right to rob others. The victim in the parable had been beaten, robbed, stripped of his clothes and left unconscious. This presented an identity problem. He could not be identified by listening to his accent or by any sort of distinctive garment. He had been stripped of his human identity. There are many ways of dehumanizing others. Remember Woody Guthrie's song, "Some will rob you with a gun and others with a fountain pen."
The impossibility of identifying the victim gave the priest legal grounds to pass him by. See Sirach 12:1-7 for some attitudes that persist even today. If the man was dead the priest could also risk contamination and have to return to Jerusalem for the humiliating rite of purification. With all defensible reasons he went on his way.
Another clergy type comes along, but he's a Levite not under rules as strict as those for a priest. He had to maintain purity only when in temple service so he was able to come near the victim, but for whatever reason he passed on. Maybe he was just following the example of the priest ahead of him.
Verses 33-35
Given the relationship between Jews and Samaritans in the days of Jesus and between Jewish Christians and Samaritans in the days of Luke, the appearance of a Samaritan is the real shocker in the parable. Today Jesus would replace the Samaritan with a figure from some group we tend to demonize today.
In these verses there are three things worth noting.
1. The language of verse 34 is the language of the altar. The Samaritan is engaged in priestly action and service.
2. The Samaritan, with risk to his own safety, takes the victim to an inn. This is a special kind of inn. The Greek word in the text is pandocien, a place for all people. It refers to the sort of inn where within a walled compound travelers and animals found safety, shelter, and nourishment. Isn't this a suggestive image for church: a motel for Pilgrims?
3. The instructions of the Samaritan to the hostler along with his promise to return catch the eye especially in a time when there appears to be some compassion fatigue abroad. The Samaritan was determined to see it through. He is an example of one who does not weary in well doing.
Jesus answers the question of the lawyer with a final question that is also directed at all of us and implies a command, "Be a neighbor." We are called to live redemptively toward others. That is worshipful living.
