In our Old Testament Reading today, Amos continues his
prophecy and testimony against Israel.
Having accused Israel of social injustice he now reveals God’s historic
effort to discipline Israel to no avail.
Amos tells of various things God has done to Israel to try to get her to
wake-up: drought, pestilence, famine, violence and always we hear the echo, “and yet you did not return to me.” I think it is important to try to place
ourselves in the shoes of the Israelites and to attempt to understand their
irritation and apathy at Amos. The
Israelites were acknowledging all the feasts, the rituals, in their heads they
were checking all their boxes…and here they have this low-class farmer telling them
that they have not returned to God. As
discussed yesterday, what the Israelites don’t grasp is that returning to the
Lord, being faithful to God, does not mean merely keeping the appointed feasts,
but primarily in acting justly and mercifully to others.
In Matthew we read the continuation of yesterday’s story in
which Jesus is talking to the priests about the difference between playing the
role of faithful servant of God, and being a faithful servant of God; the
difference between pretending righteousness and being righteous. In today’s parable, Jesus talks of a Man who built
and planted a vineyard and left stewards in charge of the vineyard. When the landowner wanted to collect from the
harvest, he sent his slave. The tenants
beat the slave and sent him back empty-handed.
As the story goes more slaves were sent, some were beaten others killed
by the tenants, but they never sent the produce. So the landowner sends his Son in a last
ditch effort, and the tenants kill him as well.
Jesus asks the priests “what the landowner will do to the tenants?” the
priests answer “He will put those
wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will
give him the produce at harvest time.”
To which brings the eventual response from Jesus, “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.” But…we are “the
people of God?!?”
I think we should reflect on what is happening in the lessons
and what it teaches us today. In Amos we
have Israel, the kingdom of the chosen people of God, who have so warped
economic and political justice against the poor and needy that God promises
their destruction. God has tried to call
his people back and they have continued to rebel (note here rebellion to God is
in setting up systems of oppression; the specific complaint here is not the
Israelites worshipping other gods).
Their status as “the people of God,” does not give them a privilege,
but, as we learn in Scripture, it gives them a responsibility. In the Gospel we see again the priests, “the
people of God,” being told that the Kingdom of God will be taken from them and
given to others that do the will of God and “bear the fruits of the Kingdom.”
The lessons today teach us that calling ourselves “the
people of God” or “the Church” does not give us a free-pass from judgement,
quite the contrary, the expectation is a bit higher for us as a community. There is an aspect of God that is
ever-faithful, but I think that many in Christianity, many in the Church take
advantage of the “historical precedence.”
“Didn’t God save us from the Land of Egypt?” “Did not God save us through Jesus Christ?” Yes…and God can and will save again; however,
what we read here is that a crucial part of our individual and collective
salvation is related to our love of justice and mercy in action (and the
Protestants shudder). Being a part of
God’s family does not excuse us from judgement if we participate in, and
encourage systems that oppress, exploit or murder other people. We are responsible; we are accountable; God
is watching (and helping!); our status as “Christians” will not save us from
the consequences of our actions. What
being Christian does do is gives us a faith that the door is always open for us
to be transformed and to be a part of God’s vision to save the world. We are a part of a covenant, but that
requires action and devotion on both ends; we should always remember that.
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