July 21, 2013, "One Thing Is Important"

Amos 7:7 – 8:7 Luke 10:38 – 42 I greatly appreciate the opportunity to have been away last weekend to have a Bus drivers' vacation by officiating at a family wedding, and understand that Elder Weiss preached on The Good Samaritan. One of the difficulties of our recalling that passage is that it has become so familiar to us that we all want to be Good Samaritans, instead of perceiving that the Samaritans were a feared and hated people. The shock and surprise of the Good Samaritan parable for Jesus' listeners can only be heard today, if the Samaritan were compared to a member of Al Qaida who stops to help a stranger. If instead of Trevon Martin and George Zimmerman each “standing their ground” with weapons, the Neighborhood Watch guard had protected and accompanied the other on his way to his parents' home. The point of Jesus' parable was not to choose to be a Samaritan, but rather that even one we have no expectations could act in faith, can act as neighbor in the way God intended for us. Some react to the hearing of that parable by interpreting, what the Samaritan did was to busily do stuff. Where the Priest and Levite walked by on the other side, the Samaritan got down, cleaned and bound his wounds, placed him upon the Samaritan's own beast, took him to an Inn and paid for his care. In response to which comes Luke's passage for this morning. Martha acted with compassion and hospitality by inviting Jesus to her home, but then realizing that the Messiah sent from God was coming to her home with 70 of his closest disciples, she anxiously frets and is distracted by many things. The verb Jesus used to describe Martha, was that she was being pulled in many different directions. The model for Martha's behavior is Abraham. Our Call to worship this morning Genesis 18, is readily used to describe acts of hospitality and hosting, the Chuppa in a Jewish Wedding is a dwelling like Abraham sat in, when it was over 90 degrees, open on all four sides so as to greet strangers. However, before these visitors could even introduce themselves, Abraham rushed to get water to bathe their feet, instructed his wife to bake bread, milked the cows, butchered and cooked a goat. Jesus' response to Martha is not “Well done good and faithful servant. Mary act more like your sister!” but instead “Martha, you are distracted by many things, one thing is important. Mary has chosen that thing and it shall not be taken from her.” Faith is not a problem to be solved, not a challenge of figuring out that one thing, but rather a lifelong journey in discerning and making applications to our lives. The Bible does not change, but every time we read a passage, we hear new elements based on who we are different from ever before. The Book of Amos is not one most pastors choose to model their lives upon. About a year ago, the Wednesday Bible Study challenged that someday they wanted me to preach a hellfire and brimstone sermon. I do so here, with fear and trepidation, because Amos well loved, is not caring and compassionate and forgiving, but if our faith is to have integrity we must hear the gospel both in words of challenge and rebuke as well as words of comfort. Even more, Francis of Assisi is credited with having said “Preach the Gospel everywhere and in all things, if you must use words!” Roger Shinn was professor of Ethics and Theology at Union Seminary, who was fond of asking “What is Theology?” Students would respond “God, Spiritual stuff, Teachings of the Church.” And he would say “NO, Theology is about everything!” There are religions of people's own manufacture blessing God for our comforts, prosperity and securities. But Judaism and Christianity emphasize that God cares about everything, everything in all Creation God uses for us to be in closer relationship. According to the Book of Amos, on the occasions where the prophet finds God, the Almighty is angry. Periodically, people will lift up the “moral decay” of our times, in reference to personal relationships, sex, family values and divorce. But according to the Book of Amos, God's anger is over Economic Injustice, over Systems created to protect and make safe those with excess while buying and selling the poor as if no longer people. First, God is fashioning a swarm of Locusts and Cicada to consume all food so people rich and poor will be equal in their suffering. And the Prophet says “No, Lord.” Next God is creating a heat and drought, not dis-similar to our last several weeks, a fire so hot as to burn the oceans, lakes and rivers. And the Prophet entreats God “No.” But God having relinquished twice, names to the Prophet that the People have not changed from their sin. God shows the Prophet a third vision. In the original Hebrew of the Old Testament, the vision is of “anak” which is translated as Plumb-line. The traditional interpretation of the vision, is that God is revealing just how corrupt and off-base the culture is. The only solution to a wall being out of plumb is to tear it down and build again. The difficulty is that “anak” in Hebrew does not mean “plumb-line.” In the Syro-Phonecian language, anak means plumb-line, but in Hebrew it means “tin”, which could refer to the weight at the bottom of the line, or that God was smelting tin to copper to form Bronze weapons to wage war against Israel. However, we need to remember that just as the Bible was not originally written in English but translated, neither was the Bible originally written using a printing press or computer, but a crude pen and ink on parchment or skin. The difference between anak and anah is simply the addition or subtraction of a dot inside the letter, but anah with a soft “h” did not mean “plumb-line” but rather “a sigh.” So what the Lord showed to Amos in the third vision was not a hard and fast line, but rather a sigh, that God is distressed by the inability to change us. The real vitality of this prophecy then becomes the verb of what God is promising to do because we refuse to listen to God's sighs. God vows to never again “abar” to never again pass by Israel. Recall that what identified Israel was not Circumcision, not eating a Kosher diet, what identified Israel for all time to all peoples was that God had “passed over” Israel bringing judgement on Egypt and the Canaanites. So for God to reveal that God will never again “pass-by” is that no more shall Israel have “passover!” No more shall Israel be protected by God's forgiveness, but the people of God shall suffer like everyone else in the world. Finally, God provides a pun. God asks the Prophet Amos what he sees, and Amos says “a bowl of ripe summer fruit” what the Prophet is supposed to recognize is summer is quickly vanishing, Fall is approaching, and with Fall comes “The Fall” of all of us. The point of which is not rush trying to hide everything in the closet because company is coming. The point is so recognize how important is sharing every moment with one another and with God. People are funny in our reactions. Amaziah was the King's own prophet, something like being the Chaplain at the United States Senate. If you were pastor and prophet to the Congress, would you speak truth to power, or bless those elected in everything they decide? Amaziah's response to Amos was “If you want to prophesy doom do not do so in the King's Temple. Who do you think you are?” As clergy, when asked “by whose authority” often respond with our pedigree, that my father and father-in-law were Presbyterian ministers, my father within the church, my father-in-law in alternative ministries; we list the schools and seminaries we attended; we bring out our resumes of serving on this committee or that; or when pressed we describe the nature of our Calling. Amos when challenged by Amaziah responded “I am not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet. I am a herdsman and dresser of sycamore trees, whom God took.” Years ago, I recall John Dau asking for someone to go for the Sudanese refugees to S.Sudan. I turned to the person next and said “I do not want to presume, but I just had all my plans cancelled and I could go if it would be helpful.” Over the next six weeks I wrote letters to everyone in every position of authority for support and guidance, hearing back nothing. I got all the shots and bought everything I could think to carry. When I arrived at Kenya and was greeted by the Pastor of Duk who had been displaced by war, he asked “By whose authority are you here? This is my parish, I am the pastor and priest, who do you think you are ministering on my turf?” I responded that I had written letters to his Bishop and other leaders but got no response. He said “That's correct. By not responding to you, they were denying you permission. But now you are here, so we each must pray asking God what to do with you!” The following day, he volunteered to act as my companion if I would pay his way. The difficulty of being a Presbyterian pastor with a church, is there is no Bishop, not outside authority with abstract guidance for how things should be done. Instead a pastor and Session are installed, as human beings in relationship. We are a very human church, of very human people, who listen to one another, sometimes laughing, often “sighing” but in relationship with one another. Arriving in S.Sudan, one of the chiefs took his one year old child, stood him up on his own legs and steadied him by allowing the child to grasp the adult's finger. He said, this is who we are. “We do not need you to do for us, to give to us. We need you to stand along side and offer support while we learn how to stand and walk on our own.” How hard it is for us, when we see a need, or feel threatened to not act, but to be in relationship as true partners and companions.