Divine Love is Not Reserved for the Privileged
Preparing for the Fifth Sunday of Easter: Three Days before Sunday (Year B)
Scripture
Psalter: Psalm 22:25-31
Old Testament: Amos 8:1-7
Epistle: Acts 8:1b-8
___
Prayer
Mighty God, in whom we know the power of redemption, you stand among us in the shadows of our time. As we move through every sorrow and trial of this life, uphold us with knowledge of the final morning when, in the glorious presence of your risen Son, we will share in his resurrection, redeemed and restored to the fullness of life and forever freed to be your people. Amen. (Revised Common Lectionary).
___
Reflection
This is what the Lord God showed me: a basket of summer fruit. 2 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 Israel;
I will spare them no longer.
The songs of the temple shall become wailings on that day,”
says the Lord God;
“the dead bodies shall be many,
cast out in every place. Be silent!”
Hear this, you who trample on the needy,
and bring to ruin the poor of the land,
saying, “When will the new moon be over
so that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath,
so that we may offer wheat for sale?
We will make the ephah smaller and the shekel heavier
and practice deceit with false balances,
buying the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals
and selling the sweepings of the wheat.”
The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Surely I will never forget any of their deeds (Amos 8:1-7).
The prophet Amos has a series of four visions, the last of which is of ripe summer fruit. Israel has continued to remain unfaithful, particularly in reference to their treatment of the poor. They continue to worship in the Temple but live in complete contradiction to the words of that worship. The basket of the fruit signifies that the time is now when God will no longer relent, will no longer spare Israel from their demise.
It is God’s compassion toward the poor, toward the marginalized that leads to God’s rejection of his people. Israel’s God may indeed be slow to anger and abound in steadfast loving faithfulness as the book of Exodus chapter 34 states, but God can only tolerate injustice for so long. The mistreatment of those who have no power by those who do is unacceptable. If divine love does not also include the possibility of divine judgment, then God’s love is selective and is showered only upon the privileged.
God is holy and God expects holiness from his people. Repentance is always an option, but there does come a point when sin must be judged. Just as God heard the cries of the Israelites in Egypt, so God hears the cries of the poor in the land of Israel. And just as God acted to liberate the people from Egyptian bondage, so he will act to liberate the poor from the bondage of Israel’s elite and wealthy.
Honesty and truthfulness is a necessity in all of life including politics and business.
PRAYER: Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer).
___
Follow me on Threads here.