John's Gospel begins "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the Word was God." A few verses later it says, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (1:14). And in Ephesians it says the "sword of the Spirit" is "the word of God" (6:17). Finally, in Revelation, the risen, glorified Jesus appears to John, a Christian in exile on Patmos Island. The Resurrected One is said to have a sharp, two-edged sword coming from his mouth (Revelation 1:16).
Jesus is the word, and the word is sharp, cutting, pruning, and also judging. In Revelation 1, Jesus is described in spectacular images. Then in chapters 2-3, there are 7 messages to 7 churches located in Asia Minor. At the beginning of each message, Jesus restates and self-identifies some aspect of the spectacular description from chapter 1. To Ephesus, he is the one who holds the seven stars in his hand (1:6 / 2:1); to Smyrna he says, "these are the words of the first and the last" (1:17 / 2:8). This parallel of self-identification to a description from chapter 1 begins each message to each individual church.
To Pergamum Jesus says, "there are the words of him who has the sharp, two-edged sword" (1:16 / 2:12). Why is Pergamum the church that receives the depiction of Jesus related to him being a man of penetrating words? Maybe it is because words were so important in that city and the city was proud of its collection of words and its ownership of words. One of the greatest libraries of ancient times was in Pergamum. It rivaled the great library Alexandria. Book production was so prolific there that the name of the city is where the word "parchment" comes from. Denizens of the city may of thought all words worth remembering begin in their town.
The problem in this city of knowledge and city of words is the Roman Emperor was worshiped, and Christians were persecuted. They may have felt superior for their knowledge, but they were oblivious to the source of transcendent knowledge and eternal truth. They worshiped a false God and tried to silence the truth of the real God preached by followers of Jesus.
As I read that Jesus threatened to make war with the "sword of [his] mouth" (v.16), I wondered if the same ominous divine threat hangs over centers of human knowledge today? I find it necessary to state and restate that I am an advocate of education. I have 22 years of formal education. I am believer in study and in human beings knowing as much as they can and as many words as can be known. Many of my friends are people with PhD's (in a number of different fields). They are humble people who bow before Jesus and who try to excel in scholarship in order to bring honor to the Lord.
Are we in danger of (or in need of) the cutting, pruning, convicting word of God? I think so, because when Jesus speaks, the words are truth. His truth will purify our pursuit of knowledge and learning. The main sin at Pergamum was the tolerance of false teaching (Balaam, v.14 and the Nicolaitans, v.15). Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life, was set alongside other gods and philosophies.
We cannot set Jesus alongside the humanism of our day. We strive for knowledge knowing in humility that He is the source of transcendent knowledge. We reach for the stars and at the same time stay on bended knee doing our obeisance before the King of Kings. Our ambition must be held in check by humility.
If we can keep Jesus first and listen to Him over and above all other voices, then our perspective will be in order. We will get to hear our Lord say to us what was said to the Pergamum believers who persevered - "To everyone who conquers I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it."
Do we want a new name, given by the Lord Jesus? I guess that depends on whether or not we trust His knowledge and his words.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Jesus and the Unclean woman
Imagine this. You are a 14-year-old girl. You’ve never been to school. You were married to a man at age 13, and became pregnant 6 months later. Now you are in labor. Labor has already lasted three days. At midday, on the fourth day of labor, you pass a still-born child. Relieved, you think the madness and torture is over. But on the fifth day, you discover to your horror that you have no control over your bodily functions. No matter how much you wash, no matter why you try, you have no control. You cannot get rid of the odor.
Your husband is disgusted. He cannot stand you. Your presence is unendurable. You were supposed to become the mother of his firstborn son. Instead, this has happened. It must be some punishment for something you have done. So, he throws you out of the house.
Your parents take you in, but they can’t stand the sight or smell of you any more than he could. They make you stay in a shack at the edge of the family compound. Your condition does not improve. With no control over your body, you always reek. You are put out again, this time to fend for yourself.
You are 14. You illiterate and have no skills. You just want to die.[i]
Here’s what the girl in that unbelievably desperate situation doesn’t know. There are approximately 3 to 4 million women who deal with the condition she has and the condition has a name - obstetric fistula. “A fistula is simply a hole between an internal organ and the outside world that should not exist. There are two primary causes of fistula in women in developing countries: childbirth, causing obstetric fistula and sexual violence, causing traumatic fistula.”[ii] This impoverished girl thinks her life is over and quite possibly it is her fault. The problem is unique to her and so she bears the agony of being punished for some unknown sin. In truth, for only a few hundred dollars, a surgical operation could repair the injury and restore her life.
Instead, she has been kicked to the curb, and herself believes that the curb, the gutter, the waste heap is where she belongs. Lewis Wall is the professor of obstetrics/gynecology in the
Another website with even more information is the site of the Fistula Foundation http://www.fistulafoundation.org/index.html. There, Asosa, an 18-year-old young woman from
I studied in school until 7th grade. I helped my mother at home with housework, but I didn't have to carry too many heavy things.
I got married when I was 15. I met my husband for the first time on my wedding day. My parents chose him for me. I felt sad that I had to quit my education, but otherwise I liked my husband. He was a good man.
I got pregnant one year later. My pregnancy was fine. My labor started at three in the afternoon and my husband and my mother were with me. A traditional doctor told me to go to the hospital. I got a free letter from my kebele. I went to
After the baby died, I went back to my village and two months later my husband married another woman. My friends were there to help me in the village. I lived with my mother. When I came to
I have made friends here. We have fun together and we talk about our health and our operations. We ask each other, what will you do when you are cured?
When I am cured, I want to go back home and continue my education. I want to study and I want to become a doctor like the doctors here and help girls like me who have this problem.
When I go back to my village, I will tell other women to go immediately to a hospital so that they won't have a problem with their labor. Most people don't know that a hospital can help them, but if they knew, they'd go.[iii]
The pains of those who deal with fistula are real, but isolated. It’s easy for someone in the
How can we care for them all?
Jesus cares for them, and we – His church – are his body. We make up the body of Christ. What burdens His heart is to burden ours.
I had never heard of fistula until I read the wonderful book Hospital By the River. It’s the story of two Australian Christians, doctors Reginald and Catherine Hamlin. They answered the call of God to go to the mission field, specifically
When they were cured through the routine surgery, it was like a miracle had taken place. These women Catherine Hamlin describes thought their lives were done, and then they had life again. Over and over, women praised the Lord, and saw life with new eyes. Many stayed and worked as nurses and administrative assistants in the hospital. Their lives in the villages they left behind were over anyway. Husbands rejected them, parents saw them as burdens, a shame on the family. They didn’t contribute anything and so were often relegated to the status of unproductive animals. Not all husbands and parents were so calloused and cruel, but many were. No one gave these women much hope.
That complete rejection is what caught my eye as I thought about the Gospel, and as I thought about preaching on Mother’s Day.
Luke 8:43-48 says,
As he went, the crowds pressed in on him. 43Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. 44She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. 45Then Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and press in on you.” 46But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.” 47When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
The connecting point for the woman came when Jesus called her “daughter.” It says in verse 44, “immediately, here hemorrhage stopped.” At that point, she was anonymous. The crowd was so dense they did not notice her steal into the midst of them and touch Jesus. Her bleeding condition rendered her ritualistically unclean. By law she was cut off from society. She couldn’t be in normal relationships because if anyone touched her, they too would become unclean. She couldn’t go to temple or synagogue. She was a “reject” in every way describable.
Yet, her gamble worked. Violating law and convention, she made her way unnoticed through the crowd and touched Jesus. Upon grasping his clothes, she was healed. She could then wash up and present herself to the priest. She’d be a part of society once again.
But Jesus didn’t leave it at a simple healing. No healing is complete in his eyes until the broken spirit is healed. She needed more than just her ailment corrected. She needed to know that though everyone around her treated her like she was a piece of nasty garbage, God loved her. In shame and despair, God saw her, was with her, and was for her.
That point is driven home the moment Jesus calls her “daughter.” The most legalistically minded among the Pharisees would have called her a lawbreaker. Jesus called her daughter and commended her faith. He also bid her “peace.”
Peace in the Jewish sense is so much more than a simple absence of conflict. It is wholeness, shalom. The idea of shalom is that all right between a person and her neighbors and a person and her God. Jesus called this troubled soul “daughter,” and he bid her “peace.”
This is what Jesus does for all people; you, me, everyone. The Biblical lesson about an afflicted person and Jesus meeting her in her pain, at her lowest, most desperate point speaks into our lives because Jesus does the same for us. When we seek him, force our way through obstacles to touch him, and have faith in him, he responds with love and grace. And our lives change forever.
The woman didn’t suddenly have an easy life because she was healed. Dr. Wall says of modern fistula sufferers who do not have access to treatment, “They are seen as hopeless, drifting to the margins of society where they live lives of misery, isolation, worsening poverty and malnutrition, unloved, unwanted, and alone.”[iv] If a Christian ministry, reaching out in the name of Jesus identifies these women and helps them get treatment, they don’t pop right onto their feet and live meaningful, self-sufficient lives the day after the surgery. The healed woman didn’t have an easy street the moment she heard the Master call her “daughter.”
She did though have peace of mind because she knew without a doubt that God was on her side. She did have a reason to live a purposeful life – she had been blessed by Jesus. She would, from that point going forward, need a new community of people of faith to embrace and welcome her. She most likely joined the ranks of Jesus’ women disciples (see “daughters of
Similarly, the women healed of fistula will often need the church to help them find employment, and maybe a place to live. Many will need the church to become their family, a source of friendship and emotional and social support. It’s true of any group or individual today rescued from the brink of destruction by Jesus working through his body, the church.
We help the alcoholic put the bottle down. We must then help him get on his feet and discover God’s purpose in his life. We help the person struggling with depression find joy and a loving community. We then need to help that one move into a productive, sustainable joy that lasts throughout life. We help each other through times of crisis and provide community and family as brothers and sisters in Christ. We are there for one another in good times and in bad. And, the church is always open, ready to enthusiastically welcome whomever we would deem to be the lowly, the outcast, the bleeding woman. Just as the hurting soul can find hope in hearing Jesus call him “son” or her “daughter, he or she can find that hope in God’s people, the church.
The connecting point for us is we are as broken as anyone. The Wall Street banker and the starving child in a poor country have this in common: both are lost without Jesus. But, both are saved when they recognize their own condition (of being lost apart from God), and turn to Jesus in repentance and in faith. He welcomes and saves both. AMEN
Monday, May 17, 2010
"I know your works"
My goal for the next several months is to illustrate in this column the gospel found in Revelation. Revelation is inspired writing, possibly the most direct dictation of any book in the Bible. Paul was inspired when he wrote his letters as were the evangelists when they wrote the Gospels. But each wrote with their own style and with specific purposes, and not always the same purposes. Revelation is different. In Revelation, the resurrected Jesus appears to John while John was in exile. John became a secretary, writing exactly what Jesus told him to write.
Bible readers and theologians, historians and New Testament scholars trip over themselves trying to unlock the intricacies of the symbolism in Revelation. In places though, the message is obvious. “I know your works” the Lord says to the Christians of the Ephesian church (2:2). Craig Keener points out that Emperor Domitian had named
In the face of such a diverse religious landscape that was potentially hostile to the Gospel, Jesus commends the believers for their patient endurance (Revelation 2:3). “I know your works” – Jesus knew that their faithful worship was carried out in difficult circumstances and he wanted them to hear that this commendation.
“I know your works” – it was also a harsh critique from the Lord. “You have abandoned the love you had at first.” The way it is written, Jesus could have meant their love for God was diminished or they were failing in love for one another. They worshipped faithfully. Their commitment to truth was admirable. But, their practice of Christianity lacked love, and Jesus finds this unacceptable. He did not say that the greatest commandment was to preach true doctrine. That is important, but the greatest commandment, said Jesus, is to love the Lord our God with all the heart, all the soul, all the spirit, and all the mind. The second command is to love our neighbor as ourselves, and on these two hang the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:37-40; Luke 10:27). It’s all about the love, said Jesus, and in
So did Jesus then tell them to start loving again? No! The love comes from God. The Ephesians needed to “repent” (v.5); turn back to Jesus, and the love would follow because He is the source of true Godly love.
In his comments on this passage, the great revival preacher John Wesley said, “with regard to us, to every one of us also he saith, ‘I know thy works’” (quoted from E-Sword). What’s true for
“I know your works” – it is a summons to us to align our lives with Jesus’ gospel. And we don’t this is a call to repentance so that we may receive forgiveness and also receive the grace Jesus gives. In this way, by opening ourselves to Jesus, we too receive permission to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God (Revelation 2:7).
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The First and the Last - The Living One
I must confess a theological struggle that has plagued me recently. As followers of Jesus, we make the claim that Jesus was and is 100% God. In the incarnation (Jesus coming, born of Mary, and living as a 1st century Jew), he is also 100% human. Without a blink, we determinedly make both claims. Recently, I blinked.
With a scrutinizing eye, I combed through John's Gospel to find where it is definitively stated that Jesus is God. I didn't have to go far. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us (John 1:1, 14a, NRSV). Case closed: Jesus is God! But for me, the case wasn't (and isn't) closed.
I continued reading and what I found is Jesus being referred to as the "Son of God." Jesus is the one "sent by God." Jesus doesn't say, "I am God." Jesus continuously subordinates himself and speaks of God as a Superior Other. Jesus is subservient to the Sovereign God. For me this became more than just a difficult notion to understand. It's a given that it is hard for a human to grasp that Jesus is a man and at the same time is God. Here's what became hard for me. The Bible over and over failed to say Jesus is God. Why?
I share all of this to be open with you about my own theological pickle. I hesitate to call this a moment of doubt or a crisis of faith. The more I read of John's Gospel, the more I became convinced that whatever else is true, one thing I am sure of is our call to worship Jesus. I don't think I have ever been more confident that life is all about serving Jesus and salvation is only found in Him. I am just not so sure about what we (Christians) have said about him.
So, what to do? How does a pastor preach every week with these questions swimming through his mind? This inner theological debate has waged in my brain for months, and you haven't head a thing about it. Why am I am coming clean now?
The key for my own understanding (and return from the edge of theological abyss back to evangelical orthodoxy) has been a text in Revelation. The resurrected Christ is speaking to John: "he placed his right hand on me, saying, 'Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one'" (Revelation 1:17-18a). The phrase "living one" would have been understood by a first century Jew as referring to God and no one else. It was used repeatedly in Isaiah in that way, and the same idea is conveyed about God in Revelation 1:8. So, for Jesus to tell John he is "the living one" is to self-identify as God. I really needed Him to do that.
That self-identification, coupled with the verses from John I cited, helped me sit down and exhale. I can, on faith, believe in two key Christian doctrines - the trinity and the dual nature of Christ. Of course I am an unfinished product and I continue to have theological questions. But I am relieved to have this one calmed to the point that I can speak openly of it to my church. Starting today, I am going to spend the next several months sharing other insights from Revelation. I recommend you read it through, several times. I also recommend Craig Keener's commentary on Revelation in the NIV Applicaton Commentary series.
I conclude with this. Don't be afraid of your questions or doubts, and don't bury them or pretend they aren't there. Our growth in Christ comes when we are 100% honest with Him. So if theological uncertainty is nibbling at your soul, face it. Take the questions head on. If you need to, come to me and let me help you. I have questions too. Jesus is the answer.
With a scrutinizing eye, I combed through John's Gospel to find where it is definitively stated that Jesus is God. I didn't have to go far. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us (John 1:1, 14a, NRSV). Case closed: Jesus is God! But for me, the case wasn't (and isn't) closed.
I continued reading and what I found is Jesus being referred to as the "Son of God." Jesus is the one "sent by God." Jesus doesn't say, "I am God." Jesus continuously subordinates himself and speaks of God as a Superior Other. Jesus is subservient to the Sovereign God. For me this became more than just a difficult notion to understand. It's a given that it is hard for a human to grasp that Jesus is a man and at the same time is God. Here's what became hard for me. The Bible over and over failed to say Jesus is God. Why?
I share all of this to be open with you about my own theological pickle. I hesitate to call this a moment of doubt or a crisis of faith. The more I read of John's Gospel, the more I became convinced that whatever else is true, one thing I am sure of is our call to worship Jesus. I don't think I have ever been more confident that life is all about serving Jesus and salvation is only found in Him. I am just not so sure about what we (Christians) have said about him.
So, what to do? How does a pastor preach every week with these questions swimming through his mind? This inner theological debate has waged in my brain for months, and you haven't head a thing about it. Why am I am coming clean now?
The key for my own understanding (and return from the edge of theological abyss back to evangelical orthodoxy) has been a text in Revelation. The resurrected Christ is speaking to John: "he placed his right hand on me, saying, 'Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one'" (Revelation 1:17-18a). The phrase "living one" would have been understood by a first century Jew as referring to God and no one else. It was used repeatedly in Isaiah in that way, and the same idea is conveyed about God in Revelation 1:8. So, for Jesus to tell John he is "the living one" is to self-identify as God. I really needed Him to do that.
That self-identification, coupled with the verses from John I cited, helped me sit down and exhale. I can, on faith, believe in two key Christian doctrines - the trinity and the dual nature of Christ. Of course I am an unfinished product and I continue to have theological questions. But I am relieved to have this one calmed to the point that I can speak openly of it to my church. Starting today, I am going to spend the next several months sharing other insights from Revelation. I recommend you read it through, several times. I also recommend Craig Keener's commentary on Revelation in the NIV Applicaton Commentary series.
I conclude with this. Don't be afraid of your questions or doubts, and don't bury them or pretend they aren't there. Our growth in Christ comes when we are 100% honest with Him. So if theological uncertainty is nibbling at your soul, face it. Take the questions head on. If you need to, come to me and let me help you. I have questions too. Jesus is the answer.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Amos 9
“I will restore the fortunes of my people” God says in Amos 9:14. This book, the oracles of the Prophet Amos, has been filled with anger and ominous words. The visions Amos predicted came to fruition as the might Assyrian empire conquered and humbled the northern kingdom of
Why the rejection of the worship the people offered? A lack of justice, especially for the poor (5:24)!
This theme runs throughout Amos and thus the beginning of chapter 9, the final chapter, is in keeping with all we have read. “I saw the Lord standing before the altar and he said: Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of the people; and those who are left I will kill with the sword; not one of them shall flee away, not one of them shall escape” (9:1). To be a prophet of God is to be called by God to see things no one would want to see. I don’t ever want to be that close to God’s anger. Amos didn’t either, but God called him and Amos answered the call and faithfully preached these unwanted prophecies.
God killing with great thoroughness and violence – it makes one shutter. But it could have been avoided as can the destruction people today bring on themselves. What idols do we prop up and put in God’s place? When do we relegate God to small corners of our lives? When do we lock our faith in a small box, shove it under the bed, and only bring it out for nighttime prayers or Sunday worship. What other forces or factors determine how make decisions? Obviously here I am addressing people who claim to be God-worshippers. The questions would change for those who are utterly indifferent to the Lord.
When people today – including you and me – practice 21st century American idolatry God notices, and our lives will be hurt by our rejection of God’s ways. When believers today neglect the poor, God sees our indifference just as God saw in Amos’ day. We will feel consequences for our refusal to see as God sees.
And yet …
From the “I will kill …” we keep reading in Amos 9 up to verse 11, where God says, “I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen, and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in days of old.” The God who punishes is also a God who forgives, gives second chances, and makes new that which has failed, has been corrupted, and has died. This too is who God is.
So, as I conclude my reflections on Amos, I consider it a book that among many things shows me what God is like. Make no mistake – Amos is a dark book because God is one who won’t tolerate sin. If we read that and think, O, God doesn’t tolerate sexual sin, drinking, smoking, swearing, and other things I don’t do, we miss it. To conclude from Amos that God will punish other people, people not as righteous as us, is to completely ignore Amos’ word. The right conclusion is to realize how much God despises when we set up idols in our lives, idols that occupy the place that belongs to God. The right conclusion is to realize God cares about the neediest of the needy in the world, and if we want to be on God’s side, we must care about what matters to God.
Finally, the right conclusion from Amos is to recognize that the angry God is also a restoring, forgiving God who sent his son Jesus to take on himself the punishment for our sins (Romans 3:25). There is no hint of Jesus in Amos – Amos is not a Messianic prophecy. But Amos, especially Amos 9, shows the character of God. A major aspect of God’s character is mercy, and another is forgiveness. God rebuilds what has broken. So when we realize we have engaged in idolatry (money, success, the “American dream” can all be as idols), and when we realize we have neglected the poor God loves, we repent (turn away from sin, and back to God), ask forgiveness, and once again worship God as we work for justice and exalt Him above all others.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Amos During Holy Week
I thought I would need to take a break from my comments on Amos during Holy Week. I just thought “Amos: he’s all about God’s judgment on the wickedness and injustice that was perpetuated by the Northern tribes of the ancient Jewish people prior to the 7th century BC. There’s not much Easter in that!” But scripture (praise God!) is much wiser than me. The connections aren’t direct, but they are important. Amos does have a voice in the week normally reserved for Isaiah, the Psalms and the Gospels.
First, consider that Amos did not volunteer for the job of prophet – he was drafted. “I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people
Second, there is the image of fruit. Amos writes, “this is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. And he said, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the LORD said to me, "The end has come upon my people
After washing their feet, Jesus told the disciples, “"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned” (John 15:1-6, ESV). The fruit imagery indicates the cleansing by fire that Jesus-followers must go through.
Third parallel is found in Amos 8:8-9 indicates natural phenomena will accompany the Lord’s judgment. This includes a midday eclipse. Jesus makes a similar prediction as he preaches in days leading up to the crucifixion. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Matthew 24:29). And then, on the day Jesus is crucified, the ultimate judgment of sin is executed, and we see that Jesus knew what he was talking about. “At noon the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours” (Mark 15:33).
These tie-ins, from Amos to Holy Week, show just how thematically integrated and unified all of scripture is. The Bible is written by numerous authors over a period of thousands of years. But all are inspired by the same Spirit. In Amos, that Spirit spoke boldly of God’s angry truth in a time when God’s people rejected God’s ways. In Jesus that Spirit spoke of God’s merciful love for a sinful world. I normally don’t read Amos at this time of year, but I am very interested and spiritually moved by the connections I have found. One never knows what one will discover in the Bible.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Our Relational God - Amos 7:1-9
I’ve written on this numerous times – my gratitude that God invites people into relationship with Him. I appreciate that God loves us and wants to interact with us, and also that God is full of grace. People sometimes love God, but sometimes, often, we turn against God. God’s chosen people Israel did this – it’s seen throughout the Old Testament. And God’s people do it today.
God’s relational character comes through in the dynamic exchanges God has with the prophets he has called. A memorable incident is in Exodus where God is intent on destroying Israel for creating a golden to worship instead of worshipping the one true God. God will not tolerate their idolatry. God will begin anew with Moses. But, Moses intervenes on behalf of the people, and after hearing Moses’ appeal, “the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people” (Exodus 32:14).
This is not the only case where God has one thing in mind, and a prophet stands in the gap. Amos delivered messages of God’s judgment. However, in the first part of chapter 7, Amos’ message is not toward the sinful people. Amos turns and speaks to the angry God.
God formed locusts to wipe out the crop of the King of the Southern kingdom. As the locusts begin to eat, Amos says, “O Lord God, forgive, I beg you! How can Jacob stand? He is so small” (v.2)! The text says “the Lord relented.” Next, the Lord shows Amos a shower of fire to devour the land, as a punishment for the persistent idolatry and exploitation of the poor. Amos repeats his plea saying, “O Lord God, cease, I beg you!” And we read in Amos 7:3. “The Lord relented concerning this.”
This doesn’t mean Amos talked God out of judging the sinful people. God still had plans that would come to fruition, and those plans included harsh punishment for the people who ignored God’s ways in daily practice even as they performed sanctimoniously in worship. God would punish, but God would also listen to his prophet. Amos would speak God’s anger to the leaders of the people, but Amos was not a robot.
Neither should Christians today be unthinking mouthpieces who simply spout out positions or saying or ever scripture recitations. When we speak our faith and when we live our faith we must do it in a way that respects the presence of and attention of God. The Holy Spirit is ever present. The Father-God is always watching, always involved. This means when we disregard God and when we step on people, especially vulnerable people God sees it. God will react harshly against us.
Conversely, God hears when we repent. God hears our pleas for forgiveness. Obviously God is ready to forgive. God sent Jesus to the cross to bear the punishment for sin. God will grant forgiveness to those who come to Jesus. God’s plans are not written in stone. We learn from Amos and from Moses that God relents and even changes his mind, when that is called for.
God is relational God. Jesus-followers are wise to understand this and reach out to God in faith that the future is an open book. God is still writing our stories. We can be a part of that composition by constantly turning to God in faith and in prayer. God listens to us. Why wouldn’t we speak to Him?
God’s relational character comes through in the dynamic exchanges God has with the prophets he has called. A memorable incident is in Exodus where God is intent on destroying Israel for creating a golden to worship instead of worshipping the one true God. God will not tolerate their idolatry. God will begin anew with Moses. But, Moses intervenes on behalf of the people, and after hearing Moses’ appeal, “the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people” (Exodus 32:14).
This is not the only case where God has one thing in mind, and a prophet stands in the gap. Amos delivered messages of God’s judgment. However, in the first part of chapter 7, Amos’ message is not toward the sinful people. Amos turns and speaks to the angry God.
God formed locusts to wipe out the crop of the King of the Southern kingdom. As the locusts begin to eat, Amos says, “O Lord God, forgive, I beg you! How can Jacob stand? He is so small” (v.2)! The text says “the Lord relented.” Next, the Lord shows Amos a shower of fire to devour the land, as a punishment for the persistent idolatry and exploitation of the poor. Amos repeats his plea saying, “O Lord God, cease, I beg you!” And we read in Amos 7:3. “The Lord relented concerning this.”
This doesn’t mean Amos talked God out of judging the sinful people. God still had plans that would come to fruition, and those plans included harsh punishment for the people who ignored God’s ways in daily practice even as they performed sanctimoniously in worship. God would punish, but God would also listen to his prophet. Amos would speak God’s anger to the leaders of the people, but Amos was not a robot.
Neither should Christians today be unthinking mouthpieces who simply spout out positions or saying or ever scripture recitations. When we speak our faith and when we live our faith we must do it in a way that respects the presence of and attention of God. The Holy Spirit is ever present. The Father-God is always watching, always involved. This means when we disregard God and when we step on people, especially vulnerable people God sees it. God will react harshly against us.
Conversely, God hears when we repent. God hears our pleas for forgiveness. Obviously God is ready to forgive. God sent Jesus to the cross to bear the punishment for sin. God will grant forgiveness to those who come to Jesus. God’s plans are not written in stone. We learn from Amos and from Moses that God relents and even changes his mind, when that is called for.
God is relational God. Jesus-followers are wise to understand this and reach out to God in faith that the future is an open book. God is still writing our stories. We can be a part of that composition by constantly turning to God in faith and in prayer. God listens to us. Why wouldn’t we speak to Him?
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Arrogance
I have been reading the Old Testament prophet Amos and the commentary on Amos by 19th century German Bible Scholars Johann Friedrich Karl Keil (1807-1888) and Franz Delitzsch (1813-1890). One of the prevailing themes of Amos, who prophesies before the Assyrian dominance of the Northern Kingdom (Israel) of God's people, is spiritual pride or spiritual arrogance. Keil and Delitzsch repeatedly identify this theme, which also cannot be missed if one reads Amos even casually. Spiritual arrogance is a problem the chosen people had. Being chosen, they forgot to be humble and grateful before God.
American Bible scholar Elizabeth Achtemeier also identifies this prominent theme in Amos in her volum in the New International Bible Commentary (1996, Vol. 17). She writes of Amos 6:1-7, "Amos continues to attack those aspects of Israel's life in which it rests [in] its [self] confidence. ... He treats one of the standard themes found in the prophetic writings concerning the day of the Lord, namely, the inability of fame and wealth to save in the day of Yahweh's wrath and sovereignty" (p.212-213). Most Americans enjoy tremendous wealth (when compared to the rest of the world). As I read Amos and the commentaries and try to understand how the prophet speaks in our idea, I begin to wonder about spiritual arrogance.
I first read Amos 6 in the English Standard Version and in the Good News Bible (the Today's English Version). I found the TEV to be helpful in getting to the heart of what Amos is saying. Here is Amos 6 in the TEV.
1 How terrible it will be for you that have such an easy life in Zion and for you that feel safe in Samaria - you great leaders of this great nation Israel, you to whom the people go for help! 2 Go and look at the city of Calneh. Then go on to the great city of Hamath and on down to the Philistine city of Gath. Were they any better than the kingdoms of Judah and Israel? Was their territory larger than yours? 3 You refuse to admit that a day of disaster is coming, but what you do only brings that day closer. 4 How terrible it will be for you that stretch out on your luxurious couches, feasting on veal and lamb! 5 You like to compose songs, as David did, and play them on harps. 6 You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest perfumes, but you do not mourn over the ruin of Israel. 7 So you will be the first to go into exile. Your feasts and banquets will come to an end. 8 The Sovereign Lord Almighty has given this solemn warning: "I hate the pride of the people of Israel; I despise their luxurious mansions. I will give their capital city and everything in it to the enemy." 9 If there are ten men left in a family, they will die. 10 The dead man's relative, the one in charge of the funeral, will take the body out of the house. The relative will call to whoever is still left in the house, "Is anyone else there with you?" The person will answer, "No!" Then the relative will say, "Be quiet! We must be careful not even to mention the Lord's name." 11 When the Lord gives the command, houses large and small will be smashed to pieces. 12 Do horses gallop on rocks? Does anyone plow the sea with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into poison, and right into wrong. 13 You brag about capturing the town of Lodebar. You boast, "We were strong enough to take Karnaim." 14 The Lord God Almighty himself says, "People of Israel, I am going to send a foreign army to occupy your country. It will oppress you from Hamath Pass in the north to the Brook of the Arabah in the south."
In my honest talk with God, I first want to know, how can I avoid being among those who trust in my own wisdom, my own resources, and my own strength? I like being self-sufficient. I like being the one others turn to for help. I don't want to have to ask for help. I don't want to depend on God. How do I live in appropriate humility and gratitude before God?
A second question I bring to the Lord. How do I recognize damaging, spiritual arrogance in the church and in people all around me? I don't want to judge people, but I do want to be able to recognize what's going on. I want to be able to see and to speak the truth the prophets witnessed and testified to.
Third, when confronted with damning spiritual arrogance, what do I do? What is the appropriate response when I see someone in the church who acts like he knows it all? There are many in Christendom who behave as if they are the possessors of all the "right" answers and all truth. They speak their theology as if they stand on the hill of righteousness and to disagree with them is to be in error and heresy. How do I avoid becoming that person? How do I relate to that person?
Particularly chilling is Amos 6:10. Ten in a home have fallen dead before God's wrath and the last one left shouts out for silence. Don't even speak God's name. The pathetic fool had been glorying in his own opulence until the anger of God rained down on him. Now, he's left hiding in the house with decaying corpses around him. From whom does he hide? God. He thought he was in the right and that his prosperity was a sign that he was in God's favor. Now, he lives in dread and stays in the shadows. Fear is his companion, paranoia , his best friend. And in his lowest moment, he cannot even call on God for help. He has ignored God, forgotten God, and now all his woes are from God.
What can Christians learn from Amos? How can the prophet help us live today? I don't have all the answers, but I think it starts with us cultivating humility and gratitude. Neither can be generated by one's own will. To stay humble, a believer has to constantly praise God and see the beauty and the value in other people. Further, he or she must never see himself or herself as being above anyone else. To cultivate gratitude, the believer has to make prayers of thanksgiving a regular practice, even in difficult times. Thanksgiving prayers must be our defense against greed, jealousy, and the temptation to covet our neighbors things. Will humility and thanksgiving provide a sure safeguard against destructive arrogance? I think it's a good place to start.
American Bible scholar Elizabeth Achtemeier also identifies this prominent theme in Amos in her volum in the New International Bible Commentary (1996, Vol. 17). She writes of Amos 6:1-7, "Amos continues to attack those aspects of Israel's life in which it rests [in] its [self] confidence. ... He treats one of the standard themes found in the prophetic writings concerning the day of the Lord, namely, the inability of fame and wealth to save in the day of Yahweh's wrath and sovereignty" (p.212-213). Most Americans enjoy tremendous wealth (when compared to the rest of the world). As I read Amos and the commentaries and try to understand how the prophet speaks in our idea, I begin to wonder about spiritual arrogance.
I first read Amos 6 in the English Standard Version and in the Good News Bible (the Today's English Version). I found the TEV to be helpful in getting to the heart of what Amos is saying. Here is Amos 6 in the TEV.
1 How terrible it will be for you that have such an easy life in Zion and for you that feel safe in Samaria - you great leaders of this great nation Israel, you to whom the people go for help! 2 Go and look at the city of Calneh. Then go on to the great city of Hamath and on down to the Philistine city of Gath. Were they any better than the kingdoms of Judah and Israel? Was their territory larger than yours? 3 You refuse to admit that a day of disaster is coming, but what you do only brings that day closer. 4 How terrible it will be for you that stretch out on your luxurious couches, feasting on veal and lamb! 5 You like to compose songs, as David did, and play them on harps. 6 You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest perfumes, but you do not mourn over the ruin of Israel. 7 So you will be the first to go into exile. Your feasts and banquets will come to an end. 8 The Sovereign Lord Almighty has given this solemn warning: "I hate the pride of the people of Israel; I despise their luxurious mansions. I will give their capital city and everything in it to the enemy." 9 If there are ten men left in a family, they will die. 10 The dead man's relative, the one in charge of the funeral, will take the body out of the house. The relative will call to whoever is still left in the house, "Is anyone else there with you?" The person will answer, "No!" Then the relative will say, "Be quiet! We must be careful not even to mention the Lord's name." 11 When the Lord gives the command, houses large and small will be smashed to pieces. 12 Do horses gallop on rocks? Does anyone plow the sea with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into poison, and right into wrong. 13 You brag about capturing the town of Lodebar. You boast, "We were strong enough to take Karnaim." 14 The Lord God Almighty himself says, "People of Israel, I am going to send a foreign army to occupy your country. It will oppress you from Hamath Pass in the north to the Brook of the Arabah in the south."
In my honest talk with God, I first want to know, how can I avoid being among those who trust in my own wisdom, my own resources, and my own strength? I like being self-sufficient. I like being the one others turn to for help. I don't want to have to ask for help. I don't want to depend on God. How do I live in appropriate humility and gratitude before God?
A second question I bring to the Lord. How do I recognize damaging, spiritual arrogance in the church and in people all around me? I don't want to judge people, but I do want to be able to recognize what's going on. I want to be able to see and to speak the truth the prophets witnessed and testified to.
Third, when confronted with damning spiritual arrogance, what do I do? What is the appropriate response when I see someone in the church who acts like he knows it all? There are many in Christendom who behave as if they are the possessors of all the "right" answers and all truth. They speak their theology as if they stand on the hill of righteousness and to disagree with them is to be in error and heresy. How do I avoid becoming that person? How do I relate to that person?
Particularly chilling is Amos 6:10. Ten in a home have fallen dead before God's wrath and the last one left shouts out for silence. Don't even speak God's name. The pathetic fool had been glorying in his own opulence until the anger of God rained down on him. Now, he's left hiding in the house with decaying corpses around him. From whom does he hide? God. He thought he was in the right and that his prosperity was a sign that he was in God's favor. Now, he lives in dread and stays in the shadows. Fear is his companion, paranoia , his best friend. And in his lowest moment, he cannot even call on God for help. He has ignored God, forgotten God, and now all his woes are from God.
What can Christians learn from Amos? How can the prophet help us live today? I don't have all the answers, but I think it starts with us cultivating humility and gratitude. Neither can be generated by one's own will. To stay humble, a believer has to constantly praise God and see the beauty and the value in other people. Further, he or she must never see himself or herself as being above anyone else. To cultivate gratitude, the believer has to make prayers of thanksgiving a regular practice, even in difficult times. Thanksgiving prayers must be our defense against greed, jealousy, and the temptation to covet our neighbors things. Will humility and thanksgiving provide a sure safeguard against destructive arrogance? I think it's a good place to start.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Amos, on God
God invites. “Seek me and live” (Amos 5:4); “seek the Lord and live” (5:6); “seek good and not evil, that you may live” (5:14). God is an inviting God. God also gives choices. Those who heard Amos report God’s words had a choice. They could seek God and God’s ways or they could live their own way. God invites and God allows people to respond.
God punishes. God sends into exile (Amos 5:5), punishes with fire (v.6), destroys (end of v.7), and brings darkness with judgment (Amos 5:8, 18). God invites and God punishes.
God creates. God made the stars (Amos 5:8; Job 9:9; 38:1), and rules the waters of the sea (Amos 5:8). God knows (Amos 5:12). God creates all and God knows all.
God invites, God punishes, God creates, and God knows.
God comes. Amos reports in 5:16-17, "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 to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation, 17and in all vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through your midst,’ says the LORD” (English Standard Version).
God invites, God punishes, God creates, God knows, and God comes.
God hates.
Say what?? We evangelical Christians can run with everything up this point. We believe that God invites. "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). We know Jesus said that and that in Christ we see God’s ultimate invitation. We know there is a coming judgment for sinners, but we assume we’re in the clear. Since we’re in Christ sin doesn’t stick! “God creates.” Of course! What Christian would argue with that? It’s the same with God knows. One of the classical virtues of God is God’s omniscience. God knows everything. And, God comes? We’re counting on that one. Yes, we evangelicals are right with Amos right up to this last assertion.
God hates. We can’t stomach that, can we?
"I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:21-24, the prophet speaking God’s words).
One of my favorite Bible-reading activities is to take a passage and imagine it is the only Bible we have. Obviously, this is an exercise. Amos 5 is not the only Bible we have. We have Amos 1-4, and 6-8. We have the other 38 books of the Old Testament and the 27 of the New.
However, for purposes of prayer, it is worthwhile to reflect on Amos 5 as if it were all we had. In prayer, I want to ask for God’s help so that I willingly accept his invitation. I want to learn from any punishments God might impose on me so I don’t repeat my mistakes. I want to rejoice on God’s creation and praise God from the depths of my being. I must open my heart to God and be completely honest before God. After all, God knows anyway. What secrets am I keeping? I want Jesus to make me ready when God comes.
Finally, I want to love what God loves, and hate what God hates. I hear a lot Christians, especially fundamentalists, conservatives, inerrantists, Bible literalists, and the like angrily, self-righteously proclaim how God “hates sin.” Then I actually read the Bible (Amos 5, Matthew 25, Luke 6). I read and realize that God hates hypocrisy in worship, and hypocrisy in worship comes when our praise songs are beautiful, but we treat the needy among us with contempt, neglect, and cruelty. God hates that. God loves it when “Justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” So, with God’s help, justice and righteousness are what I must work for, especially with regard to disadvantaged people.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Seek God and Live
Amos 5 is a prophecy full of righteous anger, and yet, embedded in tragic reality ("fallen is virgin Israel, never to rise again, deserted in her own land), and in the piercing accusation from God ("you who turn justice into bitterness"), and in the ominous truth ("there will be wailing in all the vineyards for I will pass through your midst") is a divine invitation. I don't particularly like words like "fallen," "bitterness," and "wailing." I especially don't like thinking on these thoughts knowing I am going to bed soon. Why would the Lord passing through be a cause for anguish?
It makes me think of Jesus' parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46). The goats were sent off to eternal punishment because they neglected the hungry, the thirsty, and the stranger in need (v.44, 46). In Amos 5, those who end up wailing in horror and sorrow when faced with the Lord's presence are the ones who despised the truth and trampled the poor (Amos 5:10, 11). Amos 5 and Matthew 25 are good companion passages, but not just because both speak God's justice against those who trod down on the weak and needy, the oppressed and the powerless.
In both places, there is also a sign of hope for those who seek God's help and find their redemption in God's grace. In Amos 5, right in the middle of the accusing rant, God says, "Seek the Lord and live" (verse 6). And then again in verses 14-15. "Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord almighty will be with you. ... Hate evil, love good. Maintain justice in the courts." God is angry, but God will not turn away the repentant sinner.
Even is one has been an agent of evil, a dispenser of pain, God will receive that one when he comes on his knees, begging forgiveness. This is not entirely played out in Amos 5, but the seeds of redemption are planted in the rough soil of wrath. God always, always makes room for the recalcitrant who would turn from evil and turn to the ways of God.
I hope that as you read this, you'll realize that your story is not yet written. Some of it is but a lot is still to come and it can always turn on grace. Amos doesn't speak of grace, but what he says would only be possible with a God of grace. Amos is the truth-teller and some times, many times, the truth is really hard to hear. I pride myself in being someone who deals with the whole truth and doesn't hide behind nuance or pretense, but I am frequently surprised by situations in which I have been hiding behind something. When it comes out, it hits me right between the eyes and I realize I have to come clean.
That's the ticket - come clean! The only way one can truly seek God is to come clean about who he (the seeker) really is. God raises up prophets like Amos when his people play the part of holiness but live in evil. Evil isn't some caricatured demon like Freddy or Jason or some other horror movie monster. Evil is when people are cruel to one another in real world ways. Evil is seen in Christians who neglect the vulnerable, needy, difficult people around them. Evil is the church huddling up and keeping out the "undesirables."
To seek God, we have to be honest about where we have ignored God and lived by our own standards whether it be theological arrogance, a sense of moral superiority, or something else. Whenever Christians get into the "us and them" mindset, we forget that at the communion table everyone is equal - a sinner in desperate need of grace. I heard recently about a Sunday school teacher that has no time and no love for homosexual teens and teens that get pregnant. She feels they have no place in the church. She is who Amos is talking about when quotes God as saying "I know how many are your offenses and how great are your sins" (5:12). Is premarital sex that leads to pregnancy a sin? Sure, but the greater sin is the Christian who ought to know better refusing to love the broken sinner who comes to church in need of grace. That SS teacher needs to come clean, admit her prejudices and bigotry, and repent. We all need to do that.
The good news is we can, and God will love us. We can seek God and live. We can have another chance at shedding the clothing of this world and instead clothing ourselves with Christ and living as his disciples here.
It makes me think of Jesus' parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46). The goats were sent off to eternal punishment because they neglected the hungry, the thirsty, and the stranger in need (v.44, 46). In Amos 5, those who end up wailing in horror and sorrow when faced with the Lord's presence are the ones who despised the truth and trampled the poor (Amos 5:10, 11). Amos 5 and Matthew 25 are good companion passages, but not just because both speak God's justice against those who trod down on the weak and needy, the oppressed and the powerless.
In both places, there is also a sign of hope for those who seek God's help and find their redemption in God's grace. In Amos 5, right in the middle of the accusing rant, God says, "Seek the Lord and live" (verse 6). And then again in verses 14-15. "Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord almighty will be with you. ... Hate evil, love good. Maintain justice in the courts." God is angry, but God will not turn away the repentant sinner.
Even is one has been an agent of evil, a dispenser of pain, God will receive that one when he comes on his knees, begging forgiveness. This is not entirely played out in Amos 5, but the seeds of redemption are planted in the rough soil of wrath. God always, always makes room for the recalcitrant who would turn from evil and turn to the ways of God.
I hope that as you read this, you'll realize that your story is not yet written. Some of it is but a lot is still to come and it can always turn on grace. Amos doesn't speak of grace, but what he says would only be possible with a God of grace. Amos is the truth-teller and some times, many times, the truth is really hard to hear. I pride myself in being someone who deals with the whole truth and doesn't hide behind nuance or pretense, but I am frequently surprised by situations in which I have been hiding behind something. When it comes out, it hits me right between the eyes and I realize I have to come clean.
That's the ticket - come clean! The only way one can truly seek God is to come clean about who he (the seeker) really is. God raises up prophets like Amos when his people play the part of holiness but live in evil. Evil isn't some caricatured demon like Freddy or Jason or some other horror movie monster. Evil is when people are cruel to one another in real world ways. Evil is seen in Christians who neglect the vulnerable, needy, difficult people around them. Evil is the church huddling up and keeping out the "undesirables."
To seek God, we have to be honest about where we have ignored God and lived by our own standards whether it be theological arrogance, a sense of moral superiority, or something else. Whenever Christians get into the "us and them" mindset, we forget that at the communion table everyone is equal - a sinner in desperate need of grace. I heard recently about a Sunday school teacher that has no time and no love for homosexual teens and teens that get pregnant. She feels they have no place in the church. She is who Amos is talking about when quotes God as saying "I know how many are your offenses and how great are your sins" (5:12). Is premarital sex that leads to pregnancy a sin? Sure, but the greater sin is the Christian who ought to know better refusing to love the broken sinner who comes to church in need of grace. That SS teacher needs to come clean, admit her prejudices and bigotry, and repent. We all need to do that.
The good news is we can, and God will love us. We can seek God and live. We can have another chance at shedding the clothing of this world and instead clothing ourselves with Christ and living as his disciples here.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
God Surprised?
One of the themes in Amos is God's anger at God's people. Israel (the Northern Kingdom of 10 tribes) had relied on alliances with foreign, pagan powers for national security instead of trusting in God. These alliances included syncretism, the blending of religions. God found this to be intolerable.
Equally distasteful to God was the hypocrisy. The wealthy minority demonstrated proper form in their pious religious rituals, but at the same time, they neglected the needs of the most vulnerable people in society and even perpetuated the suffering of the poor. And so, in creative wording and vivid metaphor, Amos speaks God's wrath to Israel.
But, it seems the Israelites do not react the way God thought they would. Amos 4:6-13 presents a progression of responses from God. If we ascribe to the notion that God knows all before it happens, it wouldn't seem God ever responded to anything. Is something really a response if I know ahead of time it's going to happen?
It is not analogous to say I know ahead of time that if my son has a great day at school, he will get a nickel in his jar and ice cream at dinner. I know that's what I would do. But, maybe I forget. Or maybe, he forgets to tell me. I know that is my plan. To say God knows all, means God knows what is going to happen including what God will do. This is not what God would do, but what God absolutely will do. No other scenario is possible.
So, if God knows the whole drama before it plays out, then God isn't responding to things. God knew ahead of time Israel would rebel and abandon the covenant. God knew in advance how God would react. Yet, the wording of Amos 4 doesn't read with that certainty.
In verse 6, God recites a series of harsh punishments God has meted out to the people. "I gave you absolutely nothing to eat." Then at the end of the verse, God seems surprised. "Yet you did not return to Me" (HCSB).
So, God ramps up the divine discipline. "I withheld the rain; ... I sent rain on one city, but not on another." And again, the chagrined response, "Yet you did not return to Me" (end of v. 8. HCSB). Five times God tells of drastic ways He has punished the people. Find times, a frustrated God repeats, "Yet you did not return to Me."
Finally in verse 12 God says, "Therefore, Israel, that is what I will do to you." And God proceeds to inform the recalcitrant Israelites that there will be no more discipline from a distance. God is moving in. "Israel, prepare to meet your God" (end, v.12). That's a bit peculiar. Hasn't Israel already known God?
This whole monologue from the Lord sounds dramatic. It is like God is caught in a cause and effect situation and it does not seem that God is free to step out of it. God is reacting to Israel with the same anger a parent has when a child is completely disrespectful and disobedient. As a parent of young children, I can relate. But, I am not supposed to be able to relate to God. God is supposed to be above such pettiness.
What I see here is a personal, relational God, one who takes the relationship very seriously. I admit it is completely possible I am seeing implications in the text that are not there. Perhaps Amos 4:6-13 says nothing to indicate that God is surprised or caught off guard by Israel's sinfulness. Perhaps the belief that God knows the future as if it already happened is in tact with a reading of Amos.
I would take issue with the notion that sovereignty = foreknowledge. I believe God is absolutely sovereign over the universe and especially over the ways of humans beings and the history of earth. I don't think God is ever out of control or that there are events that are beyond God's control. I don't think anything happens that God cannot handle.
But I also think God gives human beings free-will. That's what it means for us to be made in the image of God. The people of Israel could have chosen to be faithful to the covenant. They would have needed God's help to live as a faithful people, but they could have chosen to ask for that help and I believe God would have given it. All along the way, Israel had choices. As I read Amos, I see God confounded by their choices.
Does that mean God did not know their choices before they made them? I am not ready to go there. But, the question is intriguing.
"So the Lord God formed out of the ground each wild animal and each bird of the sky and brought each to the man, to see what he would call it" (Genesis 2:19, HCSB). Did God not know a turtle was a turtle? Did God have to wait and see what Adam would call it before God knew it was a turtle? God waited to see what the man would call each animal. Mmmm. God was frustrated each time Israel did not respond to God's discipline.
What does it mean about God, about time, about the future, about foreknowledge?
Equally distasteful to God was the hypocrisy. The wealthy minority demonstrated proper form in their pious religious rituals, but at the same time, they neglected the needs of the most vulnerable people in society and even perpetuated the suffering of the poor. And so, in creative wording and vivid metaphor, Amos speaks God's wrath to Israel.
But, it seems the Israelites do not react the way God thought they would. Amos 4:6-13 presents a progression of responses from God. If we ascribe to the notion that God knows all before it happens, it wouldn't seem God ever responded to anything. Is something really a response if I know ahead of time it's going to happen?
It is not analogous to say I know ahead of time that if my son has a great day at school, he will get a nickel in his jar and ice cream at dinner. I know that's what I would do. But, maybe I forget. Or maybe, he forgets to tell me. I know that is my plan. To say God knows all, means God knows what is going to happen including what God will do. This is not what God would do, but what God absolutely will do. No other scenario is possible.
So, if God knows the whole drama before it plays out, then God isn't responding to things. God knew ahead of time Israel would rebel and abandon the covenant. God knew in advance how God would react. Yet, the wording of Amos 4 doesn't read with that certainty.
In verse 6, God recites a series of harsh punishments God has meted out to the people. "I gave you absolutely nothing to eat." Then at the end of the verse, God seems surprised. "Yet you did not return to Me" (HCSB).
So, God ramps up the divine discipline. "I withheld the rain; ... I sent rain on one city, but not on another." And again, the chagrined response, "Yet you did not return to Me" (end of v. 8. HCSB). Five times God tells of drastic ways He has punished the people. Find times, a frustrated God repeats, "Yet you did not return to Me."
Finally in verse 12 God says, "Therefore, Israel, that is what I will do to you." And God proceeds to inform the recalcitrant Israelites that there will be no more discipline from a distance. God is moving in. "Israel, prepare to meet your God" (end, v.12). That's a bit peculiar. Hasn't Israel already known God?
This whole monologue from the Lord sounds dramatic. It is like God is caught in a cause and effect situation and it does not seem that God is free to step out of it. God is reacting to Israel with the same anger a parent has when a child is completely disrespectful and disobedient. As a parent of young children, I can relate. But, I am not supposed to be able to relate to God. God is supposed to be above such pettiness.
What I see here is a personal, relational God, one who takes the relationship very seriously. I admit it is completely possible I am seeing implications in the text that are not there. Perhaps Amos 4:6-13 says nothing to indicate that God is surprised or caught off guard by Israel's sinfulness. Perhaps the belief that God knows the future as if it already happened is in tact with a reading of Amos.
I would take issue with the notion that sovereignty = foreknowledge. I believe God is absolutely sovereign over the universe and especially over the ways of humans beings and the history of earth. I don't think God is ever out of control or that there are events that are beyond God's control. I don't think anything happens that God cannot handle.
But I also think God gives human beings free-will. That's what it means for us to be made in the image of God. The people of Israel could have chosen to be faithful to the covenant. They would have needed God's help to live as a faithful people, but they could have chosen to ask for that help and I believe God would have given it. All along the way, Israel had choices. As I read Amos, I see God confounded by their choices.
Does that mean God did not know their choices before they made them? I am not ready to go there. But, the question is intriguing.
"So the Lord God formed out of the ground each wild animal and each bird of the sky and brought each to the man, to see what he would call it" (Genesis 2:19, HCSB). Did God not know a turtle was a turtle? Did God have to wait and see what Adam would call it before God knew it was a turtle? God waited to see what the man would call each animal. Mmmm. God was frustrated each time Israel did not respond to God's discipline.
What does it mean about God, about time, about the future, about foreknowledge?
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Ignoring God
The Ancient Israelites, the people of God, ignored their God and it led to drastic consequences. They continued ignoring God in spite of the drastic consequences. How bad did it get?
God imposed starvation ("cleanness of teeth ... lack of bread," Amos 4:6); and drought ("I also withheld the rain," v.7). Dramatic crop failures came from God (Amos 4:9); so too did suffering from disease, war, and domination at the hands of invading armies. God takes credit for all the pain (Amos 4:10-11). Even though it was awful, the wrath of God did not have its desired affect. Five times an exasperated God says, "Yet you did not return to me" (v.6, 8, 9, 10, 11). God brought about all this drama and to no avail.
I love the way Eugene Peterson renders these verses in The Message. A longing God says to Israel, "You never got hungry for me." "You never got thirsty for me; you ignored me." Three more times, he words it "you continued to ignore me." I am not always thrilled with that paraphrased version of scripture, but I think it really preaches in this case. When the people of God "hunger and thirst for God" and pay attention to God, life is good, very good.
When we hunger and thirst for other things, those things become idols, occupying the space God is supposed to have. We summarily ignore God, and life falls apart at that point.
It makes me think about the city of New Orleans. America built a large city below sea level with a lake on one side and the Mississippi Rive on the other. This city was built right next to the Gulf of Mexico - hurricane central. The poorest people of the city live in the low-lying, most vulnerable areas. And the city is known for partying (excessive drinking and women revealing their breasts so that they can build a collection of cheap beads).
So, the mother of all hurricanes hammers New Orleans, and some people shake a fist toward Heaven and blame God. Never mind that this hurricane wouldn't crack the top 10 of natural disasters for loss of life in the last decade. We'll blame God and make New Orleans the cause celeb in the United States.
Salvation comes because of great humanitarian efforts? Of course not! Salvation comes when the football time wins the Super Bowl. It was destiny (forget the superior game planning and the gutsy play-calling). And what does that Super Bowl win bring about - more partying (Mardis Gras style with beads and boobs and booze).
I am encouraging my congregation to seek Jesus during Lent, 2010. Of course, seek Jesus all the time, duh! But, the preaching emphasis for this season will be the relationship we have (as a church and as individuals) with God. Hunger for God. Thirst for God. At the end of Amos 4, God says,
12"Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!"
God imposed starvation ("cleanness of teeth ... lack of bread," Amos 4:6); and drought ("I also withheld the rain," v.7). Dramatic crop failures came from God (Amos 4:9); so too did suffering from disease, war, and domination at the hands of invading armies. God takes credit for all the pain (Amos 4:10-11). Even though it was awful, the wrath of God did not have its desired affect. Five times an exasperated God says, "Yet you did not return to me" (v.6, 8, 9, 10, 11). God brought about all this drama and to no avail.
I love the way Eugene Peterson renders these verses in The Message. A longing God says to Israel, "You never got hungry for me." "You never got thirsty for me; you ignored me." Three more times, he words it "you continued to ignore me." I am not always thrilled with that paraphrased version of scripture, but I think it really preaches in this case. When the people of God "hunger and thirst for God" and pay attention to God, life is good, very good.
When we hunger and thirst for other things, those things become idols, occupying the space God is supposed to have. We summarily ignore God, and life falls apart at that point.
It makes me think about the city of New Orleans. America built a large city below sea level with a lake on one side and the Mississippi Rive on the other. This city was built right next to the Gulf of Mexico - hurricane central. The poorest people of the city live in the low-lying, most vulnerable areas. And the city is known for partying (excessive drinking and women revealing their breasts so that they can build a collection of cheap beads).
So, the mother of all hurricanes hammers New Orleans, and some people shake a fist toward Heaven and blame God. Never mind that this hurricane wouldn't crack the top 10 of natural disasters for loss of life in the last decade. We'll blame God and make New Orleans the cause celeb in the United States.
Salvation comes because of great humanitarian efforts? Of course not! Salvation comes when the football time wins the Super Bowl. It was destiny (forget the superior game planning and the gutsy play-calling). And what does that Super Bowl win bring about - more partying (Mardis Gras style with beads and boobs and booze).
I am encouraging my congregation to seek Jesus during Lent, 2010. Of course, seek Jesus all the time, duh! But, the preaching emphasis for this season will be the relationship we have (as a church and as individuals) with God. Hunger for God. Thirst for God. At the end of Amos 4, God says,
12"Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!"
13For behold,AC)">(AC) he who forms the mountains and creates the wind,
andAD)">(AD) declares to man what is his thought,
AE)">(AE) who makes the morning darkness,
andAF)">(AF) treads on the heights of the earth—
AG)">(AG) the LORD, the God of hosts, is his name!
Does it sound ominous? It does to me. I'd rather have the experience of Mary in the garden. In her hazy confusion, she met the resurrected Lord and he called her by name. I want to see the risen Jesus and hear him say, "Rob." And I will say, "Master." And, I'll fall at his feet. Yeah, I want to want that. That's the way to meet God. So, I will seek that in Lent, 2010. I encourage you to join me in the quest.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Fat Cows
Honestly God, "fat cows"? Was that you, or is that Amos' paraphrase? Did you say it with more dignity, more aplomb?
I am asking these questions of God because I read of God's displeasure expressed in Amos 3:13-4:3.
"15I will tear down the winter house as well as the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall come to an end, says the Lord.
4Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who are on Mount Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their husbands, “Bring something to drink!”"
The wealthy women of Samaria lived large, so Amos called them "Fat Cows." It reminds me of the unfortunate response from the queen in France shortly before the French Revolution. She was told the starving people where riotous because they had no bread. Her brilliant response? "Let them eat cake." Why didn't some court attendant pull the clueless monarch aside and say, "Um, excuse me your blindness, er, I mean, your highness. But they don't have bread. They certainly can't afford cake."
Or earlier in history, to the rich women in Samaria demanding "drink" from their husbands. "Excuse me ladies, but while you are loafing, consuming all the resources of the nation, the people in your country are starving and your opulent, extravagant life styles are contributing. And GOD SEES!!"
That's one thing I take away from Amos - God sees. God always sees when there are a few people soaked in riches and a lot of people wallowing in hunger and scarcity. God sees me - my life. In my honest talk with God, I have to honestly acknowledge where I have lived wastefully. I have to confess when I have demonstrated indifference where God would want me to express compassion. I don't want to be a fat cow demanding drink and living in summer and winter houses (Amos 3:15).
If you read Amos and try to localize his piercing prophesy so that you would say he only speaks to ancient Israel and ancient Samaria, hear the words of 19th century Bible scholars Johann Frederick Karl Keil and Franz Delitzsch. These scholars refute any attempt to dismiss Amos as a prophet for back then but with nothing to say today. Keil and Delitzsch write "The sin of these women consisted in the tyrannical oppression of the poor, whilst they asked their lords, i.e., their husbands, to procure them the means of debauchery." God's judgment speaks to wealthy people today.
Amos said they would end up dragged into slavery by hooks in their noses (4:2).
Really, God, did Amos need such graphic imagery?
Perhaps the real question is do I realize how disgusted God when people of privilege ignore people on the margins?
I hear enthusiastic Christians talk of the urgency of evangelism. They want to "get people saved," get them into Heaven. I don't deny it. With Heaven and Hell at stake, Christians need to share Christ with people. However, we also need to understand what it means to say Heaven and Hell are at stake. Read Matthew 25:31-46 or Luke 16:19-31. In those passages Jesus condemns to Hell anyone who has neglected to help the needy. Would that include me?
Or read Amos. The language is colorful and the reader might feel like Amos is calling him a "Fat Cow." But it is better to hear that, awaken, and take spiritual stock. It is better to change one's life and live compassionately today. That is better than to continue to live in blissful ignorance and then discover on the "Day of the Lord," that God was really angry, judgmentally angry, that we didn't notice those around us and help and love them.
I am asking these questions of God because I read of God's displeasure expressed in Amos 3:13-4:3.
"15I will tear down the winter house as well as the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall come to an end, says the Lord.
4Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who are on Mount Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their husbands, “Bring something to drink!”"
The wealthy women of Samaria lived large, so Amos called them "Fat Cows." It reminds me of the unfortunate response from the queen in France shortly before the French Revolution. She was told the starving people where riotous because they had no bread. Her brilliant response? "Let them eat cake." Why didn't some court attendant pull the clueless monarch aside and say, "Um, excuse me your blindness, er, I mean, your highness. But they don't have bread. They certainly can't afford cake."
Or earlier in history, to the rich women in Samaria demanding "drink" from their husbands. "Excuse me ladies, but while you are loafing, consuming all the resources of the nation, the people in your country are starving and your opulent, extravagant life styles are contributing. And GOD SEES!!"
That's one thing I take away from Amos - God sees. God always sees when there are a few people soaked in riches and a lot of people wallowing in hunger and scarcity. God sees me - my life. In my honest talk with God, I have to honestly acknowledge where I have lived wastefully. I have to confess when I have demonstrated indifference where God would want me to express compassion. I don't want to be a fat cow demanding drink and living in summer and winter houses (Amos 3:15).
If you read Amos and try to localize his piercing prophesy so that you would say he only speaks to ancient Israel and ancient Samaria, hear the words of 19th century Bible scholars Johann Frederick Karl Keil and Franz Delitzsch. These scholars refute any attempt to dismiss Amos as a prophet for back then but with nothing to say today. Keil and Delitzsch write "The sin of these women consisted in the tyrannical oppression of the poor, whilst they asked their lords, i.e., their husbands, to procure them the means of debauchery." God's judgment speaks to wealthy people today.
Amos said they would end up dragged into slavery by hooks in their noses (4:2).
Really, God, did Amos need such graphic imagery?
Perhaps the real question is do I realize how disgusted God when people of privilege ignore people on the margins?
I hear enthusiastic Christians talk of the urgency of evangelism. They want to "get people saved," get them into Heaven. I don't deny it. With Heaven and Hell at stake, Christians need to share Christ with people. However, we also need to understand what it means to say Heaven and Hell are at stake. Read Matthew 25:31-46 or Luke 16:19-31. In those passages Jesus condemns to Hell anyone who has neglected to help the needy. Would that include me?
Or read Amos. The language is colorful and the reader might feel like Amos is calling him a "Fat Cow." But it is better to hear that, awaken, and take spiritual stock. It is better to change one's life and live compassionately today. That is better than to continue to live in blissful ignorance and then discover on the "Day of the Lord," that God was really angry, judgmentally angry, that we didn't notice those around us and help and love them.
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