Amos 7: 7-17
Hold plumb line
This
is a plumb line, have you seen one?
Used
one?
Chat a bit about plumb line and use
Amos
sees a vision, and in that vision the Lord is holding a plumb line to the nation
of Israel.
And
the result isn’t good for Israel.
Amos
is a prophet, a reluctant prophet.
If
you read through the book of Amos, you will hear the nations condemned. In chapter
2, the transgressions of Israel are:
“They sell
honest people for money,
and the needy are sold for the price of sandals.
They smear the poor in the dirt
and push aside those who are helpless.
My holy name is dishonoured,
because fathers and sons sleep with the same young
women.
They lie down beside altars on clothes taken as
security for loans.
And they drink wine in my temple,
wine bought with the money they received from
fines.”
Amos 2:6-8 Contemporary
English Version (CEV)
Contemporary English
Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society
God will no
longer overlook the failures of the people of Israel, described primarily in
the book of Amos as economic oppression (Amos 2:6-7; 5:10-12; 8:4-6). [Blake
Couey, Working Preacher]
I wonder
what it would look like if a plumb line was held up to our nation.
Amaziah, the
priest at the national temple, is annoyed at Amos, he is making things
uncomfortable. So he tries to send Amos away.
I wonder
which voices we try and shut down.
We live
in a nation, yet often we see ourselves as individuals, especially in matters
of faith. In Amos the plumb line is being held against a nation, not an
individual.
As a
nation, what might God make of:
- our destruction of the earth
- our treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
- our lack of compassion for those fleeing persecution
- our lack of regard for working conditions for those who produce our
clothing and food
- the number of people who are homeless
- children growing up in poverty
Just as
Amaziah, who stood for the status quo,
tried
to shut down Amos, and
told
Amos to leave,
the
same happens today.
I know
some will say to me:
Why should
we worry about people seeking asylum, it isn’t pour problem?
Why should
we recognise that aboriginal people lived here, and had their own culture,
before white settlement?
Why should
we increase the rate of social security payments?
I worked
hard for my money, why should it go to someone who isn’t working?
Hold plumb line
Luke 10: 25-37
We
looked at this passage at the Friday evening worship time. Here is some of the
work we did together.
Poster
of heart
Posters:
love God/love your neighbour/as you/love yourself
There
are so many possibilities for discussing this passage that I will skim over a
few of them.
Most people who hear this story today
think of themselves as the Good Samaritan, as the one who helps. But the people
who first heard this would have imagined themselves as the man lying by the
side of the road.
They would understand why the Priest
and Levite didn’t stop to help – touching a dead body would make them unclean
and they would not be able to fulfil their duties. Also it may be a trick, the
robbers may be hiding nearby and attack them.
But they would expect a good Jew to
help the man.
Samaritans were the enemy, to be
despised. A bit like the relationship between Israel and Palestine at present.
If you are the person who is hurting,
bleeding, in pain, you don’t get any say in who helps.
It may just be that the person who
comes to help you is your enemy.
…….
From Bruce Prewer:
The robbers, represent all those whose
basic attitude is: Yours is mine if I can get it.
The Priest and Levite: They are
self-protectors. The attitude is: Mine is my own if I can keep it.
What I have I will hang on to.
The Samaritan, despised by righteous
Jews. His attitude is: “Mine is yours if you need it.”
….
I
wonder what a modern version of this story would be like.
A
man was walking down Ocean Beach Road one night, and he was mugged and bashed
and dragged behind the bus shelter near Umina Mall. And a shop keeper arrives
for work early in the morning, notices the man and figures he is drunk, anyway
they need to get to work so they can open in time.
A
person on their way to church goes past, notices the man, and doesn’t want to
be late for church – not my problem, and anyway I don’t know first aid.
An
aboriginal teenager comes past, sees the man, calls for help and stays with him
until the ambulance arrives.
Who
is my neighbour?
The
lawyer is trying to trap Jesus, then wanting
to justify himself. If a neighbour was only Jewish, or only male, or only someone
living next door that would make loving them easier.
The
lawyer knows what he must do, but doesn’t want to do it, and really does not
want to hear that the worst of worse persons, in his mind, is the good neighbour,
the one who showed mercy. [Rev Mindi]
We
claim to be people who follow in the way of Jesus, people who are brought to
life, loved and forgiven. Yet at times it is hard to follow in the way of Jesus.
It
is hard to put the interest of another ahead of our own.
It
is hard to see, really see, the pain of another, and act compassionately in
response to their pain.
So
often following the way of Jesus, goes against the status quo. Speaking for the
least and the outcast
Caring
for the unloved
Accepting
help from the stranger.
We
can try and justify:
- our treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
- our lack of compassion for those fleeing persecution
- our lack of regard for working conditions for those who produce our
clothing and food
- the number of people who are homeless
- children growing up in poverty
We
can try and justify and explain away the inequality, racism, poverty and
violence in our heart, our community, the nation and the world.
Or
we can admit our failure to live in the way of Jesus.
We
can stand with the oppressed
We
can feed the hungry
We
can see the beauty of each person
We
can live out the generous, inclusive love of Jesus.
