Dividing family inheritance

 

PROPER 13 (18) Pentecost 8C Year C  July 31, 2022

• Hosea 11:1-11 and Psalm 107:1-9, 43  • Colossians 3:1-11  •  Luke 12:13-21

 

Is there anything uglier than a family fighting over an inheritance?  Relationships are broken, and the only winner is the solicitor, whose power to make judgements, will still be deemed unsatisfactory to all involved.  It is a sure sign we’ve fallen a long way from God’s image.   In our Gospel reading a man asks Jesus to intervene in what seems to be an unfair divide in a family inheritance.   reminiscent of the story of where Martha asks Jesus to tell her sister to help, Jesus does not do what he requests. 

 

Last week we had the Gospel on how to pray.  Prayer often takes the form of asking God for something, but our experience tells us that many times our prayers are not answered.  Perhaps it is, that we are making requests similar to Martha and this man, where there is a problem with our request.

 

Why is it that these things, which seem like straightforward and just requests, are given a less than expected response?  Please note that God does care about every little thing that concerns us, so Jesus’ refusal to act as arbitrator is something to ponder and realize that there is more going on here.  Each of us has free will and God does always respect our free will and the free will of others, which means that sometimes our prayers can’t be answered because it relies on the free will of others.

 

In our Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of a rich man who, rather than act generously with his excess grain, builds bigger barns.  I wonder if the brother of the man who made the request, was in the crowd to which Jesus was speaking.  What do you think would be more effective, telling someone what they must do, or telling a story that shows the foolishness of their actions?  If the man was in the crowd, Jesus was in fact answering the man’s request more effectively and intervening in the matter of the inheritance, by showing the foolishness of hoarding wealth – But he was respecting free will.

 

However, there is a deeper issue that I think this week’s readings bring into focus, and it is important that we don’t miss it.  For God to answer prayer, it is obvious that we need to be willing to bend our will to God’s Kingship and authority.  For us to be the answer to each other’s prayers we need to understand the heart of God and trust in His supremacy.

 

I believe the key verse in our readings today is that one about greed in the letter to the Colossians.  It reads; “Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry).”

 

The part of this that caught my attention, is the part which is repeated in the Gospel about being on our guard against all kinds of greed; “for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions”.  I am also keen to explore the part in our Colossians reading that appears in brackets as an explanation, where it says, “which is idolatry”.  How is greed idolatry?

 

Firstly, what is idolatry?  In exploring this, I went to commentaries on the commandments.  I especially like to check out Hebrew commentaries on topics, as the Bible is primarily a Hebrew book (at least the Old Testament is), written for Hebrews.  So, I found a site that had this comment; “The first commandment reminds us that everything in the Torah flows from the love we have for God, which in turn is a response to the love he has for us. This love was demonstrated by God’s deliverance of Israel “out of the house of slavery” in Egypt (Exod. 20:2). Nothing else in life should concern us more than our desire to love and be loved by God. If we do have some other concern stronger to us than our love for God, it is not so much that we are breaking God’s rules, but that we are not really in relationship with God.” https://www.theologyofwork.org/old-testament/exodus-and-work/israel-at-mount-sinai-exodus-191-4038/instructions-about-work-exodus-201-17-and-211-239/the-ten-commandments-exodus-201-17/you-shall-have-no-other-gods-before-me-exodus-203

 

What I notice here, is that the commandment is all about love and our relationship with God.  It makes a lot of sense then, when we reflect on the first reading from Hosea where God speaks so passionately of His love for his people.  In Hosea 11:4 and 5 we see both the love of God and God’s respect for free will where it says, “ I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them.  They shall return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me.” 

 

Things went badly for the Israelites because they let things break their relationship with God, by trusting in other sources.  Those other sources became their Gods.  Do we do the same?  Of course, we do! It is only human, but it breaks God’s heart because he desires to be our only God – our benevolent father and ultimate authority, but an authority that is borne out of our trust in God’s love and a rightful acknowledgement of God’s superiority. 

 

Our relationship with God was first broken back in the garden of Eden when the choice was made to trust in something other than God.  In fact, there is more to the story of the Garden of Eden, which is pertinent to our reflection for today.  In my research I discovered that the meaning of tree of the knowledge of good and evil is actually about having the authority to pronounce judgment.

 

Adam and Eve were already given everything.  God had put everything under Adam’s stewardship.  The temptation of the serpent was about replacing God by becoming like God, therefore having the authority to pronounce judgement.  You might recall the words of the serpent, “You will not certainly die,” …. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.””  When questioned, Adam pronounced Judgement … It was the woman’s fault…. And God’s.

 

There is a great old country song; each verse has questions like, why are children starving?  Why is there war?   Why is there heart ache?…etc.. The chorus says - “When the man said, “this way to heaven”, fools knew a better way to go and when the man said, “this way to heaven”, this mad, crazy world said “No”!  We may have eaten from that tree, but we sure don’t have the wisdom to get it right.

In today’s world, we stray from God’s word by judging that our ways are better than his and that we know better than him.  In the church we are struggling to keep up with our modern society laws which seem in contradiction to the word of God and we re-look at the scriptures and try to re-jig them to see how we can get them to fit.  Does that seem crazy to you?  It is simply what has been happening since the beginning of time -a pattern of human behaviour.  We want the authority ourselves to pronounce judgement.  In doing this we proclaim ourselves to have the ultimate authority -God’s authority.  We’ve made an idol…. and the idol is ourselves.  Christopher Wright, in his book, [Mission of God] says; “.., all idolatry is human rejection of the Godness of God and the finality of God’s moral authority.” https://www.realbiblestudy.com/?p=3064

 

We can all tell horror stories about someone dying and the children fighting over the inheritance, but Jesus knew what he was doing in refusing to take sides.  When people are grieving, they misplace the grief by being angry at others and they may try to hold on to the person who died by desiring their possessions.  It is ugly, but there is a deeper problem and it is often simply heartache manifested as greed.  Sometimes it is simple greed also.

 

The greed that becomes idolatry is the desire to be more important than the next person, making ourselves God.  This is a greed for authority.  Not just any authority, but God’s authority to judge what is good and what is evil.  Have you experienced those who, because of their influential status, dictated beliefs and values?   These values are not allowed to be argued about, even though they may be clearly wrong.  They proclaim fiction as fact, and pronounce judgement on anyone who dares disagree with them.

 

Rather than pronounce judgement, it is vital to seek God’s heart in matters.  Colossians tells us how we should live.  We must get rid of things like malice, slander and abusive language, because we are clothed with Christ and our mind is being renewed as we grow more into the image of God.

 

The irony of all of this, is that we have everything.  We are created in the image of God and His desire is to give us everything.  Why would we step outside his authority and claim it for our own?  In the world God made, none are above another…. As it says; there is no Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!  Christ in us is the hope of glory.  With the heart of God living in us which, instead of judging, shows us an example of laying down our lives for each other, is the hope of glory… and a much better way.   The only way!

 

To end with, there is a story that explains this better way – it isn’t in the Bible, but is believed to be Hebrew and is certainly well known.  My shortened version goes like this; https://www.uua.org/re/tapestry/children/toolbox/session13/two-brothers

In the land of Israel lived two brothers who worked the land together.  The crops were abundant, and each reflected on this at night.  One thought, “I have more than what I need, I am single and alone, but my brother has a family to provide for”.  So, he decided on a plan.  In the night he would sneak some of his share of the crops to his brother’s barn.

Mean while the other brother was also reflecting at night and thinking, “My brother is alone with no family to care for him when he is old and frail.  I will give him some of my crop so that he has wealth to assure him help in his old age.” 

Each brother was a little perplexed that, though they were giving, their store of the crop continued to grow.   For many nights the brothers each secretly stocked each other’s barns until one night they ran into each other…  in the moonlight they recognised each other and realized what was happening and laughed and hugged each other.

 

The legend goes on to say that this spot where they met, is where king Solomon built his temple.  King Solomon who, as King had authority to pronounce judgment and was known for his wisdom as a gift from God.  I like the idea, though it might only be myth, as the spirit of love, compassion and generosity, is the foundation for true judgement.   This is what we have in God.  We who should be judged, quite rightly by God, instead find love, compassion and generosity and a renewed relationship with our creator.   May we continue to grow in his image as we set our minds to be renewed by the knowledge of His love and all His ways.

Don't be taken captive through philosophy and empty deceit.....

 PROPER 12 (17)  Seventh Sunday after Pentecost   Year C  July 24, 2022

·       Hosea 1:2-10 and Psalm 85   •   Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19)  •   Luke 11:1-13

 

We are a people who live in a physical world and most of our life is concerned with physical things.  Being at church means that we have a belief in God and something that is beyond the physical… something spiritual.

 

I’ve heard people, who don’t believe in God, say that they don’t believe in the “big fairy in the sky”.  They relegate the story of our faith to a fable – old wives’ tale.  Although these ones refuse to believe in God, they often believe in Ghosts and even believe in spirits.

 

Today I want to look at the message in Colossians where it says, “see to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to christ.”

 

We are those who DO believe in a spiritual realm, because God is spirit. 

 

I did a quick search on the “elemental spirits of the universe” mentioned in the verse above, and discovered that these are Earth, Water, Air and Fire.  These are physical elements, but my searched revealed a belief that there is an Archangel set over each element and spirits that belong to each.  This information came from an article that explained this as folklore, but this was not fairy tales, but a real belief about the spiritual world and how it works and influences the physical, natural world. My guess is that this was a common knowledge and belief with the Colossians also.

 

It may well be true that there are Archangels in charge of the elements of our world.  There are scriptures to support this such as Daniel Chapter 10, where an Angel visits Daniel, but explains that he was delayed because the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted him for 21 days, until Michael, one of the chief princes, (or Archangel’s) came to help him.

 

What this tells us, is that there is a spiritual battle going on in the spiritual realm, which then has an impact on our physical world.  And that delay experienced in the book of Daniel, also perhaps, begins to give an answer to the age-old question, “Why are my prayers not answered?”

 

There is indeed a spiritual realm and a spiritual reality.  Somewhere, way back in time, God gave human kind a choice.  Humankind chose the wrong side. There is a spiritual reality that began in the garden of Eden when a choice was made to accept the words of the serpent.

 

Spiritually, we chose the wrong side.  Our scriptures tell us that we were then subject to a law of sin and death.  It was the spiritual consequence of our choice. Our reading from Hosea gives us a picture of what it is like for God.  Humankind is like Gomer, the unfaithful wife.  According to the law of that time, she should be put to death for her sin, but Hosea (who is a picture of God), has great and deep love for Gomer and constantly calls his wife back.  We notice that Hosea is hurt and lets his wife go and declares that her children are not loved and not his.  But that is not the end of the story.  The end of the reading declares that where it was said “not my people”, they will be called “children of the living God”.

 

God, with his deep love and goodness, takes his faithless people back to himself because, though they are unfaithful, HIS love is steadfast, unchanging, unconditional and faithful.

 

Colossians tells us that in Jesus the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily”.  Jesus is the righteousness of God.  All of his nature is righteous and good – without sin.  God’s nature is to be just and perfect. We, as a community, as a nation, as a society, and even individually, are simply as unfaithful as Israel who was compared to Hosea’s wife. 

 

None of us could deny that, under normal circumstances, Justice quite understandably, requires that those who have erred should make restitution… but how can you “make it up to God”.  We who are human will only fall again.  We pray to God and want to be God’s people when we need something, but we also want to please ourselves, and go our own way more often than not.  When things are going well, we tend to forget about God.  So, how can we realistically, ever come into a wholesome and right relationship with God?

 

Righteousness and peace meet in the person of Jesus.  Jesus suffered and died as a human.  He was both fully God and fully human.  He represented both parties, God and us.  More than that, he made restitution for us because only he could.  He satisfied the need for justice and brought peace for us with God.

 

Colossians goes on to explain this further by explaining that we were buried with him in baptism, we were also raised with him….God made us alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands.

 

We say words like “Jesus died to save us”, but we don’t always comprehend the magnitude and the completeness… or how it all works.  All our trespasses, our failings, whether past or future, are erased.  The spiritual legal demands for justice have been satisfied through Jesus.  There is nothing standing in the way of our relationship with God. Our prayers need not be hindered.

 

It was once explained to me this way…

Due to the righteous and Just nature of God, on one side, and our fallen nature, the reality on the other side, we humans were subject to a law of sin and death… separation from God.  But through Jesus there is another law, that of grace.  These two laws operate like two laws with which we are familiar, gravity and aerodynamics, which is how aeroplanes are able to fly.  In our own strength we can do nothing to win eternal life… and the law of sin and death is operating over our lives, much like gravity.  But if we get on board with Jesus, we step into the law of grace, much like aerodynamics.  Gravity is a reality, and is always there but the law of aerodynamics supersedes that law.

 

Because we belong to God, we want to please him and do what is right, but it is important to remember that these things we do, are never a measure of our holiness or an indication of our place in God.  The Colossians had this problem, because every religion had practises concerning food and ceremony.  The Pharisees of Jesus time were slaves to the traditions and ceremonies of religion.  It is pretty clear that these people saw themselves as holy because of the actions of their religion.  We need to fully understand what Christ achieved, so that we don’t make the same mistake.

 

The essence of the Christian message, is that the only thing necessary, is to accept the sacrifice of Christ and to identify as his by faith, through baptism. 

 

Prayer was also one of the ways that many religions thought they could have control over the spiritual realm.  Many would have rote prayers.  They believed if they repeated these a certain number of times they could be absolved from their sins or have prayers answered.  Occasionally these kinds of ideas still pop up on facebook and there will be a post that is passed from person to person, promising special blessing if you will only say this specific prayer.

 

 

When Jesus came, he made it clear that what God wanted, was not these actions, traditions & ceremonies, but to be in a relationship with us.  God has done everything possible to achieve this.  He gave us free will, but we turned to our own way.  God’s people turned away from Him over and over again, and he continued to call them back.

 

He sent Jesus to satisfy the need for justice… to make a way… to appease every spiritual authority.  When we, as a human race, chose our own way, we unwittingly became followers of Satan and under his legal authority.  This is why we read in Colossians that Jesus disarmed the rulers and authorities – it is referring to the spiritual authorities and powers that have a spiritual legal right to influence our lives.  When Jesus was tempted in the desert, we read that Satan offered him the authority over the kingdoms and he stated; ““I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. ….””

 

 

The sacrifice of Jesus bought us back - We now belong to God and He who is in us, is greater than he who is in the world.  The spiritual legal requirements are dealt with, and nothing need keep us from the love of God. 

 

While we are on this earth and in this fleshly body, we are limited and we find it hard to realize the love of God.  We sometimes feel distant from God.  The good gift that God the father gives us is the gift of himself within us.  It is the final piece of the story.  The Key! Without the Holy Spirit, we will always try to work out our faith by traditions, hard work and ceremonies.  Colossians tells us, “therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”           

 

If we don’t want to make the mistakes of the Pharisees, we need to operate in the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 8:15 tells us that the Spirit causes us to cry out, “Abba, Father”…. It is a personal, close and loving term and it is the Holy Spirit that enables this.   It is the Holy Spirit who teaches us to pray, who intercedes, knowing both our heart and the mind of God.

 

With the Holy Spirit we have help in prayer, but we also have a teacher and guide who will lead us into all truth.  Rather than being led astray into working for our salvation by following rules and false beliefs we can rejoice in the truth of our completed salvation, spiritual freedom and victory through the sacrifice of Jesus, and rejoice in the reliable, constant call of God’s unconditional love which will be forever calling us to be his beloved.

Scandalous Good News !

          PROPER 11 (16)  Sixth Sunday after Pentecost  Year C  July 17, 2022

·       Amos 8:1-12 and Psalm 52  •    Colossians 1:15-28  •   Luke 10:38-42

Let’s start our reflection on the readings today with a basket of fruit…. Sounds like an inviting, luscious and delicious place to start. 

Sadly, there is a shocking twist to this image.  The Hebrew word for “basket of fruit” and the Hebrew word for “End” are very similar, and it is a poetic play on words.  In our terms, it would be like God showing the prophet a grizzly bear and then proclaiming the land barren – or bare. 

There is more to this image, than a simple play on words.  It is no accident that God uses an image of lavishness.  The Israelites were living in affluence and lavishness.  They were buying and selling, and trade was good.  Of course, this buying and selling involved making a profit at the expense of others and the divide was widened between the rich and poor.  On the surface, life was wonderful… but underneath there was something that God was not happy about.  What could it be?

Another image of goodness and affluence, is the sun.  However, God declares through Amos, that the sun will be darkened at noon.  Noon is the height of the sun.  We might say that at the peak of goodness and affluence, darkness will overtake it all.

In 2019 our world was gearing up to enter the roaring 20’s, but there was a cloud on the horizon and in March of 2020 our Sun went down and our world was darkened.

Our reading from Amos is prophecy.  Prophecy, we know to be fulfilled in more than one way.   God’s word declares, “I will turn your feasts into mourning”.  It is possible that the darkening of the sun referred to the solar eclipse and experts have calculated a number of possible times that these occurred after the prophecy was declared, and interestingly there were a few of them, always coinciding with an Israelite feast.  (From Biblehub.com; )"There was an eclipse of the sun of about 10 digits in the Julian year 3923 (791 b.c.,) June 24, in the Feast of Pentecost; another, of about 12 digits, 20 years afterward, 3943, 771 b.c., Nov. 8, on the Day of the Feast of Tabernacles; and a third of more than 11 digits, on the following year 3944, May 5, on the Feast of the Passover.”

For us, reading this prophecy without context, the judgement of God seems very harsh.  It seems to re-enforce an idea that many have about the image of God in the Old Testament, as being wrathful, where as we preferably, and rightly, understand God as the gracious, loving and forgiving God of the New Testament.

God’s nature, however, is unchanging.  Therefore, if there is a warning and judgment in the Old Testament, we shouldn’t easily dismiss it, but ought to search further to understand the heart of God.  I strongly believe that we need to understand our human condition…. Explore, understand and be familiar with our fallibility, in order to truly appreciate the Good News.  For example, God sent us his son to save us.  Why?  What do we need saving from, or for?  What was so drastic that he had to suffer and die such a death for this to happen? – Hold that thought.

The people of Amos’ time lived in affluence.  I like to compare to see how we might be similar or different.  I mentioned the year 2019 and the world’s eagerness to enter into a time they declared as another version of the “roaring 1920’s” –Characteristics of that time also included affluence, a rise in consumerism and scandal. It wasn’t all bad – There was also some really great music. :-D 

We should always be reflecting on our life and striving for the best, by placing the warnings of scripture into our own world, understanding the differences in culture, but contemplating if we are making similar errors.  We ought to ask deeper questions about why God was upset with the fruit of that society.

In reflecting then, we note that we also live in a society where affluence is prevalent.  The proof of this is that young couples buy their first houses complete with ensuites, internet, pay TV, air-conditioners and all new furniture.  This seems pretty different from previous generations.  Not that any of this is bad in itself.  Please note, that God loves to bless us and just as any good parent does, loves to give good gifts to his children.  In the time of Amos there was a use of uneven scales, creating an injustice…  When the fuel in Townsville and Cairns is cheaper than the fuel in Mackay, because Mackay is deemed a mining town, I’d argue a similar use of uneven scales is being used.  God is concerned with injustice, broken hearts and people who do not have the power to claim their simple rights.  Is this happening today?

 

The first human right that we all have is a right to life.  This is article 3 of the United Nations declaration of Human rights.  In the last few years there have been laws passed about ending life.  There are arguments and justifications… stating love and compassion as the reason.  In the previous legal status, there were provisions for these extenuating circumstances, so why has there been a further change?  I don’t know.  But I do know that people who are concerned about the change are concerned also for compassionate reasons, and that there is a possibility of abuse in these laws.  People with no power… no voice… are in danger of having a basic human right violated.

In the last few years there have been many social changes.  Those affirming those changes state love and compassion as the reason.  And that is the best and only reason that should count.   However, we need to be asking the question; is there a generation, or anyone at all, being hurt by these changes and are we being good stewards of our society by affirming that change?  God knew us and formed us in the womb.  He affirms who we are, and who we are born to be…. But who is that….?   Who am I ?  How can I know, unless I believe what God says about me?

The declaration of Human Rights is worth a read, as it also says that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.  It is tempered with the right to not be discriminated against. 

Do you think our society’s basket of fruit is ripe?  I need to emphasize a point.  God is concerned about the brokenness caused by unloving actions.  I’m sure every lawyer understands there is a back story behind every crime.  There are reasons and justifications, but the bottom line is; Are people being hurt?  Are people’s sense of dignity, respect, freedom and right to life being violated?

But don’t despair…  let me tell you about the Good News.

All that we are, individually and as a society, does not surprise God in the least.  But the surprise for us, is that he still totally and completely loves us.  What’s more the Judgement that there probably should be, has actually already taken place.  Jesus took all that judgement and on that day the sun went down at noon and the earth was darkened. 

God understands every back story to every less than admirable deed.  Please note that an understandable back story does not make it right.  When we fall short of perfection, no matter the good reason, it is called sin.  God understands our heart… and our extenuating circumstances.

Jesus willingly took the judgement that the world should have born.  Our reading from Colossians tells us; “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.  And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him—”

The message of the cross is like the roaring 20’s in one point…. It is scandalous!  How can it be that He has reconciled all things?  How can it be that all people, once hostile in mind and doing evil deeds, are made holy, blameless and irreproachable before God? 

The former slave trader, converted Anglican minister, John Newton, understood this well.  While our contemporary society cringes at the idea that one might dare to insinuate that we are sinners, John Newton openly declared himself to be a wretch.  He wrote about his former life saying, “"I sinned with a high hand," he later wrote, "and I made it my study to tempt and seduce others."”( https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/pastorsandpreachers/john-newton.html)

If we can possibly be brave enough to search our own hearts and motives… If we can be brave enough to reflect on the times when we have caused another pain…. If we can notice the times when we have been less than gracious with those around us, perhaps we can then truly understand the magnitude of the reconciliation of God. 

Rather than the actions themselves, God is more concerned with the brokenness we cause ourselves and others by these actions.  However, through the cross, not only are we reconciled… did you notice how far reaching the work of Jesus goes?  We are presented before God as holy and blameless and irreproachable. 

There is nothing that we can do, in our own efforts, sacrifice or deeds, to come anywhere near this condition for which Christ has achieved for us.  And as for our Gospel reading this week…  Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, taking in every word.  Martha was busy serving and doing things.  Jesus never said serving is wrong, but simply that Mary had made a good and important choice.  Amos prophesied a famine of the word of the Lord, and here we notice Mary was taking in everything Jesus said…. Feeding on his words.  We serve, because we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, our servant king, but it is Christ living IN us, the WORD living in us, that is our hope and our salvation.

There is a line in our Colossians reading that we should put on our fridges … or somewhere that we look often.  It is, “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.  It is Christ who has reconciled us and will present us holy, blameless and irreproachable before God.  Christ living in us, through his holy spirit, shares the sacrifice that he has made.  Christ in us, the hope of glory.  There is no other way and there needs nothing more, except that we remain steadfast in this faith.

“Christ in us”, has a practical, “on this earth” application.  Through his spirit Christ lives in us.  He works through us and in doing so, he changes us.  Not only is it a spiritual reality, that he has achieved our salvation, but his nature impacts our nature so that we grow to be more like him.  It is a lifelong process, and involves times of sitting at his feet, taking in every word, but we needn’t worry that our slip ups send us into judgement.  The judgement has been dealt with by Jesus.  May the basket of fruit we produce, in the end, nourish our community and bring them the love, light and salvation of God. 

RESCUED! Pentecost 5C 10th July 2022

           PROPER 10 (15)  Fifth Sunday after Pentecost  Year C   July 10, 2022

• Amos 7:7-17 and Psalm 82  •    Colossians 1:1-14  •    Luke 10:25-37

We have a saying; “Let’s draw a line in the sand”.  It implies we are placing a limit between one thing or another… putting things on one side of the line or the other – placing them into categories according to the standard set by that line, or saying “this far and no farther.  Somewhat like the famous line in the Lord of the Rings movie where Gandalf cries to the Balrog Demon, “YOU SHALL NOT PASS”. 

Likewise, in our Old Testament reading, God says, "See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by;…”

Not being a builder, I was not completely sure of how the plumb line worked, but it is a heavy object with a pointed end at the bottom attached to a string.  The string with the object at the bottom would hang vertically and show the builders a straight vertical line so that they could build straight and ensure their angles were correct.

 

The prophet Amos, declares the word of the Lord, that God is setting a plumb line among His people.  In this first reading it seems that God has been like a parent with His people, Israel.  He has warned and corrected them and been patient with them, but now he declares a boundary line.  “This far and no farther… “, In other words…“You shall not pass!”  Enough is enough!  He declares “this is the standard -measure up”!

 

From https://www.gotquestions.org/plumb-line-Bible.html we read some thoughts on this.   “When God said He was setting a plumb line among His people, He was declaring an end to their attempts to justify their crooked ways. The Lord was setting the standard. God does not negotiate His laws. He does not change with the whims of culture God’s moral law is the plumb line against which we determine right and wrong. Just as a carpenter’s plumb line is not subject to the opinions or the frustration of the worker, so God’s moral standards are not subject to the opinions of man. Wise people are those who line up their lives according to God’s plumb line rather than trying to move it to satisfy their own agendas.”

 

Amos lived in the middle of the 8^th Century BC.  The Israelites at that time considered themselves to be the chosen people of God, but they were enjoying peace and prosperity.  We ourselves live in a very prosperous time.  We may complain about certain things, but there is really nothing we lack.  When it comes to questions about what we might want for birthday presents… even wedding presents, the answer is “Nothing”…. We have everything we want and desire.  In this kind of environment the people of Amos were increasingly self-centred, and the middle class disappeared with people either exploiting others or being exploited until there was only the rich and the poor.

 

Are we in danger of becoming a society like the one to which Amos is prophesying?  Interestingly, the Israelite kingdom of the north, became taken over by foreigners and foreigners were settled there in their place.  These foreign people became known as Samaritans.

 

In the book of 1 Kings there is a description of what happened at that time.  It says; 2 Kings 17 from verse 24 “Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities.”….. “And it was so, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, ‘The nations whom you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the rituals of the God of the land; therefore He has sent lions among them, and indeed, they are killing them because they do not know the rituals of the God of the land.’ Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, ‘Send there one of the priests whom you brought from there; let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the rituals of the God of the land.’ Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord. However every nation continued to make gods of its own, and put them in the shrines on the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where they dwelt.”

We can now understand why the Jewish people despised the Samaritans.  They were a people with some knowledge and ritual of Judaism, living in the land that should have belonged to the Jewish kingdom.  These people worshiped God and also practised their own traditions. 

 

Now that we understand this, we look to our New Testament reading; The parable of the Good Samaritan.  We have all heard it before.  It is a story about someone who fell into the hands of evil people.  We don’t know if this person was in that predicament due to their own folly, or if they were evil themselves, a hated person by all, due to their actions…. What we do know, is that the church people passed them by.

 

This is a model that our Street Chaplaincy is based on.  It is a non-judgmental ministry of helping where we see the need.  Some have said that we are helping people who should have known better, and that no one should be foolish enough to get into that situation.  In our experience, no one plans to get themselves into trouble and many have said, “why are you helping me, I’m not worth it”.    It seems that self-loathing sometimes accompanies this behaviour and inebriation. 

We may hate ourselves, but God loves us deeply.

The bottom line is that none of us is perfect.  We all have made mistakes, and we all have had experiences of regret at some point.  Maybe some will point the finger at others, trying to place blame there instead of taking responsibility for our actions… re-enacting the sin of Adam…. “She made me do it.”  Hmmm…  The bottom line is still the same, and God loves us deeply.

 

Jesus, on his way to the cross, didn’t stop and ask each of us if we were worthy.  He didn’t ever say to the father… “No, I don’t want to do this because this is a sinful people”.  He knew our sinful nature to be a fact.  He knows our relentless tendency to go from one mistake to another…. From one sin to another, even though we don’t actually mean to, or intend to do so.  In fact, we all want to do what is right.    Jesus knew all this.  He loves us deeply. 

 

We can cry out, “Lord I am not worthy.”  He says, “I am the word and I say you shall be healed”.  By his sacrifice he is our Good Samaritan. 

 

We are the traveller on the road of life and one way or another we all sin and fall short of the perfect glory of God.  Jesus does not ask us if we are worth his sacrifice – WE ARE because he loves us.  Jesus gladly picks us up and carries us to a place of healing.  Jesus pays the price for that healing.

 

Jesus asks us to do something similar.  To love our neighbour, and in doing so, to sacrificially care for their needs.  He lets us know that we are not to ask if the person is worth our care.  We needn’t ask this question because we know that Jesus loves our neighbour deeply and died to save them…. Therefore, no matter what they have done, they are worth our care.  This is actually not an option in our faith.

 

The reason that Jesus told this story of the Good Samaritan was because someone asked him what he must do to inherit eternal life.  Jesus responded by asking him what the law said about inheriting eternal life and he responded; “He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself."

 

Have we failed to keep this command?

 

The prophet Amos, was also concerned about this command.  To care for others is all about social justice.  It is about living justly, loving mercy and walking with God.  It is the command of God.  It is the command about which God said, “See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by;”

 

The plumb line is Jesus.  We need to be doing what he has done and measuring ourselves by his standard.  Jesus showed us the true and correct standard of God and the truth be known, none of us can really measure up.

 

Jesus rescues us.  We strive to be like Jesus, but we do fail and we fail often.  This doesn’t mean we give up trying, but now that we have been rescued by the God of the universe, who counts us so worthy that he died to save us, we respond in mercy and love to others.  We who have the care and healing of God, are called to bring the heart of God to those who have also fallen by the roadside – literally and figuratively.

 

God has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

 

We are rescued.  We are loved.  Let us spread this Good News!