Social sin, 3.4.12

Amos 5:10-24

¹⁰They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth. ¹¹Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. ¹²For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate. ¹³Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time. ¹⁴Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. ¹⁵Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

¹⁶Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord: In all the squares there shall be wailing; and in all the streets they shall say, “Alas! alas!” They shall call the farmers to mourning, and those skilled in lamentation, to wailing; ¹⁷in all the vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through the midst of you, says the Lord. ¹⁸Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord! Why do you want the day of the Lord? It is darkness, not light; ¹⁹as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake. ²⁰Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

²¹I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. ²²Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. ²³Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. ²⁴But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.

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I’m not going to lie to you: these first three weeks of Lent are going to be challenging. We’re going to be talking about sin, which can feel very heavy. I like preaching about God’s love much more, and God’s love is always at the heart of the good news we proclaim. At the same time if we don’t face our sin we can’t change our life. Know that I am not speaking as someone who is telling you what you need to do as if I’ve got my act together. I need repentance as much as anyone else. I’m hear as one wrestling with faith and scripture right along with you.

Amos is a little hard to follow in small pieces like this one. The powerful biblical message of social justice is clearer as part of the whole Bible more than in individual texts. You may understand Amos’s message better if you read the whole book when you have a chance; it’s pretty short so that’s manageable.

Amos lived in the eighth century before Christ. He grew up in the Southern Kingdom of Judah but spent much of his prophetic ministry in the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

            For both Israel and Judah, faith was an important part of how they saw themselves. God had chosen them as God’s special people, so they were different from the other nations of the region. Throughout Amos we see references to offerings and religious observances, which makes it clear that religion was a big part of life in Israel and Judah.

            Unlike in our own time, people stopped working, buying and selling for the Sabbath and for the first day of the month, which was also a day set aside for worship. In our passage Amos refers to people wanting the “Day of the Lord,” the time God would firmly establish His kingdom on earth. The people of Israel looked forward to God’s kingdom because they knew they were God’s chosen people. Religion was important to Amos’s audience in a big way.

            God commanded the Sabbaths and festivals the people observed. God commanded the offerings and sacrifices Amos talks about. God commanded them, but Amos says that they are not the most important part of following God. Compared with justice, worship and sacrifice don’t even register in God’s priorities.

Israel is called to build a just society where everyone has enough and all people are treated fairly. If society isn’t built on the foundation of justice, all the sacrifices and offerings in the world won’t make up for it. If the poor aren’t treated fairly, worship rings hollow and singing is just noise in God’s ears. When the “Day of the Lord” comes, Israel will be on the wrong side of God’s judgment because of the way they treat the poor.

Amos talks about Israel’s sin not in terms of following the rules or showing up for church, but in terms of justice for all. The people are doing everything right when it comes to worship, but they are not right with God in terms of their community life. He especially criticizes the rich for building nice houses while others go hungry.

I wonder what Amos would say about our culture where we have such great abundance while many are trapped in poverty. What would Amos say about buying big screen TV’s while 25% of the kids in our country struggle with hunger and billions of people world wide live on $2.50 a day or less?

            The causes of poverty are varied and complex, but the fact that thousands of people die of hunger and preventable disease every day is a scandal and a sin. At the most basic level it comes down to valuing lives differently. Whether we admit it or not, we believe that American lives are worth more than other lives.

            Differences of race, language, nationality, education, sexuality and more divide us and make it easier to see others as less human than we are. The powerful use those divisions to keep things the way they are, to keep their power intact. People with a bigger piece of the pie than their neighbors are encouraged to fear others and protect their share while people with less are taught to envy those with more and fear those with less.

Filled the hungry with good things, 12/11

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

1The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; 2to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory. 4They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

8For I the LORD love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 9Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the LORD has blessed.

10I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

Luke 1:46-55

46And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the LORD, 47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 53he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. 54He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

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            The book that we call Isaiah probably had three different authors in three different times. The first part, creatively called First Isaiah, follows the ministry of the Prophet Isaiah in the eighth century in Jerusalem. At that time Judah was a relatively stable, small country, that was doing pretty well economically.

The Northern kingdom of Israel had already been conquered by Assyria, but Judah seemed to have dodged that bullet. Perhaps that made the leaders of Judah feel superior and self-righteous. Israel had fallen because of her idolatry, but Judah had escaped and was even prospering in many ways because of her faithfulness. Isaiah’s ministry was to let Judah know that wasn’t the case, that in fact, Judah was on the wrong path too and would face destruction if they continued what they were doing. The biggest problem was that the wealthy were doing very well but were getting rich by exploiting the poor. They prided themselves on their religious devotion, but maximized profits through unjust business practices. The rich were getting richer while the poor suffered. Does that sound familiar?

Anyway, first Isaiah’s mission was to deliver God’s message that this is not OK. Religion isn’t about worship and sacrifice; it’s about living our faith everyday in how we treat others, especially the most vulnerable. Isaiah brings God’s warning that without a radical change Judah will go into exile like Israel.

Second Isaiah was probably written after first Isaiah’s prophecy of doom had already come true and Judah was in exile. It is a message of God’s hope, because even though Judah’s injustice has led to disaster, God’s love never fails. God will transform Judah into a righteous kingdom again, a kingdom so full of God’s love it shines like a light to the world.

Third Isaiah is similar in message but written later. Many of the exiles had returned to Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside, but the return home had not brought the total restoration of Israel they had hoped for. Third Isaiah continues to encourage them and to let them know that one day God’s plan for redemption will be complete and the whole world will be at peace.

Our passage from Isaiah comes from the third section. We can almost picture the Jews returning from exile, excited to be back home with a shot at some political autonomy. They come over the last hill craning their necks for a glimpse of home, but all they see is devastated ruins.

It’s easy to feel that way when we think about Rochester. We remember the glory days when Kodak jobs were secure and plentiful, when technology and manufacturing created a vibrant economy that supported broad prosperity and vibrant culture. Now we see the ruins of Kodak Park with many of the buildings empty and a tenth of the former work force. We see the devastation of a school district that doesn’t graduate half of its students and where functional literacy is out of reach for many kids. We see devastated families, chronic unemployment, high crime and a deep-seated sense of hopelessness.

            Nationally, we’ve seen a huge and disturbing concentration of wealth over the last forty years. When we adjust for inflation, wages for many workers are actually lower than they were forty years ago, while the people at the top of the economic pyramid are much richer and pay less in taxes. Big companies and wealthy donors have nearly unlimited access to political power and our representatives are more focused on making each other look bad than on getting anything done to make our country better. In our politics we are driven by fear, prejudice and greed rather than by the spirit of welcome and opportunity that made our nation great.

            The good news is that God wasn’t finished with Israel then and God isn’t finished with us now. Even when we turn away from God’s love, God stays faithful. God is working among the ruble and brokenness to plant and nourish something new. God is planting justice, righteousness and new life where we least expect it.