Good Morning Friends,
I do not know about you, but I am striving to maintain my life in a state of grace, in part, by walking five miles a day and gardening and swimming. And as such I am not much of a prophet or a saint but I am getting healthier so I might be of some use to God. My conviction is that we are living as a chosen generation in this particular time to give our best efforts to join with God in what is happening in this important period of human history. Soon we will celebrate the birth of our nation. But some are celebrating in the hope of Jesus’ return. So, the thought of what to put on the page this morning is not exactly stress free, even in the land we call free. For we too face the possibility of a covenant curse that Amos offers. The thing is that we really want mercy, for the justice might well come in ways we might not like. Still you might be able to glean something from today’s lectionary text for spiritual nourishment if not replanting. For what follows, at least in today’s storyline from the Gospel of Matthew is the very nature of what got Jesus killed and from the book of Amos, the herdsman, what behavior sent the nation of Israel into exile. Friends, there is something instructive here about how to make better decisions if we can think it through. The reality is that we have too many options that are not born out of our real values and that is a big part of the problem. So, as we face the reality that 80% of the world’s poor live in rural areas, and consider why, we ask a related question. What Would Be The Right Prophecy For The Cities Of Our Times?
Scripture: Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.'” And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.” Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ “Now therefore hear the word of the Lord. You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.” Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be parceled out by line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.'”
Amos 7:10-17 (NRSV)
And after getting into a boat he crossed the sea and came to his own town. And just then some people were carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” Then some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” —he then said to the paralytic—’stand up, take your bed and go to your home.” And he stood up and went to his home. When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.
Matthew 9:1-8 (NRSV)
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
1 Corinthians 1:27 (NRSV)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.
Ephesians 1:3-4 (NRSV)
Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
Joel 2: 28 (NRSV)
Message: The vocation to be a prophet is not for the faint-hearted. During evil times being silent may well be wisdom. We see the internal conflict in today’s reading from the Book of Amos. God told Amos, who did not claim to be a prophet, to prophesy to the king, Jeroboam II. Lots of people prophesied to the king, and they prophesied great things, for Jeroboam had brought great prosperity to the kingdom of Israel, prosperity for the rich who leached off the hard work of the poor so that the rich might have more options. But unfortunately, Israel did not choose the best leaders. So, what was Amos to prophesy? It was not good news but one of death and exile in the face of opposition. Here we see that prophecy is not a vocation for the timid. Making choices can be difficult. We can find ourselves paralyzed or exiled. So too, Jesus was a prophet, and much more and he spoke his peace. We see in the Gospel reading that Jesus was not afraid to confront the biases of His day. Jesus was known as a healer, and so when He came back to Capernaum, where He spent so much time that people thought it was his hometown, this group brought their crippled friend to Him. And the nature of his disability is not exactly known but seems to be linked to something psychological and perhaps a difficulty in making good decisions. Furthermore, the context of the text is that the scribes were on Jesus’s case. So, Jesus puts them all to the test and asks what is easier to say, your sins are forgiven or rise up and walk. And the obvious answer is that it is easier to say your sins are forgiven, because then you do not know if they are or not. But if you say for the person to rise and walk and nothing happens, it just goes to proves the fraud. So, Jesus says both, and the healing of the body and mind validates the curing of the sin. Friends, incidents like this eventually got Jesus killed. So, there is a challenge in making the right decisions for we are so addicted to options. Thankfully and instructively Jesus really thinks things through so that his actions might glorify God. Still, as a culture we seem unable to make choices about money and relationships and purchases without checking twitter and so seek answers through the idols of the world. We begin to covet the choices of others because we have not matured in identifying what we really want and understanding why. The problem is that we are simply worshiping the wrong god. The paradox here is that we imagine that more options means more freedom and so limitless freedom and more money is always the best option. The irony is that more money and more choices do not exactly make us happier. We begin to covet other people’s choices. And worshipping this god is exhausting and frustrating. The god of open options is a liar. He promises you that by keeping your options open, you can have everything and everyone. But in the end, you get nothing and no one. Friends, in the end to avoid exile and paralysis, to avoid injustice, we must choose Jesus.
And So, I hope you have noticed that God is doing something different for this year. We have fewer choices and that might well influence the prophecy you might make midway through 2020. One would think that on this year of all the years we would have better insight into the best God might offer. Unfortunately, I have no prophecy but that which the Bible has already said is to come and am reluctant to utter it for fear my timing would be off. Regardless it is a good exercise to prepare our minds for what is to come and the reality that we are not in charge even though having read the Bible I know it begins in a rural garden and ends in an urban city. Now I could take a stand and say that the next President in the White House will be the oldest one ever elected to that office or that there will be fires and earthquakes and storms or that our cities will have to be cleaned up and produce more food. But that is not really prophecy. If I had to offer a prophecy, I think it would be one of hope that we indeed would give our best especially in those situations that are most challenging…. that cities would be playgrounds for children instead of battlegrounds for their elders. Listen, God always is persistent with his promise to give us the best, but we are not able to achieve it because many times we are satisfied with what we have instead of really learning from the God intended consequences of life. Perhaps you have dreams you have lost. Joel has a word for you. Perhaps you think you are a failure. Think again, Jesus gives second chances. So, my prophecy for the cities of the world is that they will get better at learning how to innovate with God. My prophecy is that as God’s people they will meet on the corner of faith and justice to discuss what comes next. After all God wants to give us success, but brilliant ideas without God fall apart. Remember that Jesus promises that we will do greater things than He did. And that friends requires a great faith and prayer that Jesus has already offered. For in the end chaos happens and we need God by our side if we are to have hope of getting better at taking that chaos to rebuild our communities with love. And in doing that we realize that true abundance does not come from greed but from being generous ourselves in relationship with God’s love. So, my prophecy is that we all will get closer to God the second half of this year. So, get up and let’s get going. We have a lot of walking to do. And for you who are prophets of God maybe some wise talk in the called-out assembly of God.
Pray our inward chaos and outward strife not cripple us into indecision or exile us from our heritage. Pray we be careful in our decision-making so that it reflects our values and glorifies what is good. Pray the bigger the decision, the more careful we become. Pray we realize that there comes a point when not choosing becomes idolatry. Pray we not lack trust in God who ordains many of the decisions we will make, but perhaps gives us some freedom to be led by the Spirit. Pray we realize that there comes a point when pausing become procrastination and waiting is no longer wise. Pray we realize that Jesus is the cure. Pray
we rise and follow Jesus. Pray we never have a sense of hopelessness. Pray we realize that hedging our bets and keeping our options open may not be a real option in the future. Pray we have friends. Pray we have a victorious faith. Pray we realize that Jesus has the authority to help us to decide. Pray we not be paralyzed by choices. Pray we mature in our faith. Pray we not worship the god of options. Pray we realize that we need a redeemer. Pray we realize that worshipping Jesus is the only way to true freedom. Pray we advocate for the oppressed so that we might join in the fellowship of following Jesus. Pray we see more clearly and as a whole the will of God for our lives.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 