Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen
It’s not
profitable to be a prophet.
True prophets don’t
win a lot of popularity contests. And
rarely are they welcome in the King’s courts.
Amos was one such
prophet.
Later on in the
book of Amos, Chapter 7, we hear this exchange between Amaziah, the Priest of
Bethel, and Amos:
12 And Amaziah said to Amos, "O seer,
go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there;
13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it
is a temple of the kingdom."
14 Then Amos answered Amaziah, "I am no
prophet, nor a prophet's son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore
trees, 15 and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to
me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel. '”
Amos had a very
unpopular message.
He preached
against the economic injustice in the land of Israel.
And he warned
about the judgment that was to come, the destruction of Israel and the
deportation of its people.
One of my college
professors posed a question. “Why do you
suppose that we have the book of Amos in the Bible, and not the book of
Amaziah? Why, when Amos had such a harsh
word of judgment against Israel and Judah, did they in the end view his words
as holy, and not Amaziah?”
The answer is
that truth endures.
History is the
judge between false prophets and true.
A true prophet’s
words stand the test of time and are validated in the events that follow.
The reason we
have a book of Amos is that the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed as he said it
would be. His words proved to be true.
What does he have
to say to us, today?
And were he here
in our midst, would we want to listen?
Probably not.
Prosperity is one
of our gods, afterall.
Bill Clinton once
famously declared, “It’s the economy, stupid!”
That’s what
concerns us. Are we doing well?
One sermon that
could be preached on this text would focus on issues of economic injustice and
inequality in our land, as the rich just keep getting richer and the poor,
poorer.
One example:
The average wage
of a McDonald’s crew member is between 8 and 9 dollars an hour.
The average
profit from owning a McDonald’s franchise is one million dollars a year, per
store, per location.
Some would lift
that up as a prime example of the disparity in our land between rich and poor.
So there’s one
sermon.
And all four of
the assigned readings for today deal in some way with the issue of poverty and
riches, and economic justice. Those are
hard words for people such as us who live in one of the richest nations in the
world.
Many would
maintain that economic justice is not an appropriate topic for the Church, in
spite of the focus that the Bible has on it.
We want to hear a
message about love and forgiveness, not justice and mercy for the poor.
Alas, alas, alas
for us.
Another question
we might ask when dealing with the prophets is “who are the prophets in our day
that we should be listening to?”
There are those
of us preachers who would like to think that the message we have is a prophetic
voice that needs to be reckoned with.
I mean what
preacher does not in some way want to declare “Thus saith the Lord!”
But the chances
are that the true prophets will not be found wearing fine robes and earning a
salary and benefits package. And rather
than aspiring to be a prophet, the word they carry is most often a burden.
Amos said, "I am no prophet, nor a prophet's
son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, 15 and the Lord took
me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my
people Israel. '”
I think we may
have one such prophet in our midst, though only time will tell.
She might say:
“I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s daughter, but I am a child, a sixteen year old girl with Asperger’s Syndrome, who has been given a word to share that the adults in this world don’t want to hear, but that they need to hear, because everything depends on it!”
“I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s daughter, but I am a child, a sixteen year old girl with Asperger’s Syndrome, who has been given a word to share that the adults in this world don’t want to hear, but that they need to hear, because everything depends on it!”
I am talking
about a Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg.
She began her
quest to raise awareness and action on climate change by staging a strike,
skipping school one day, and sitting in front of the Swedish Parliament
building.
That simple act,
and her message has ignited a movement, both of those inspired by her and who
share her concerns about our earth, and also of those who hold disdain for all
talk of climate change.
Whereas last year
she sat alone outside the parliament, this year millions around the world
joined her climate strike.
And she spoke at
the United Nations. Here are a few of
her words:
"My message is that we'll be watching
you.
"This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up
here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all
come to us young people for hope. How dare you!
"You have stolen my dreams and my
childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are
suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the
beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy
tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!
"For more than 30 years, the science
has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying
that you're doing enough, when the politics and solutions needed are still
nowhere in sight.
"You say you hear us and that you
understand the urgency. But no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to
believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on
failing to act, then you would be evil. And that I refuse to believe. . .
"You are failing us. But the young
people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future
generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never
forgive you.
"We will not let you get away with
this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up.
And change is coming, whether you like it or not.
"Thank you."
Is Greta
Thunberg, the great grandchild of a well respected Lutheran pastor and teacher
from Sweden, a prophet in her own right?
Is her calling to bring to us a message of warning, that we refused to
listen to when it was Al Gore carrying that message.
Time will tell.
History will be
the judge.
The risk for us all,
though, is that we are dealing with serious consequences if the entire globe on
which we live is at risk.
There is another issue
regarding climate change that resonates with Amos’ prophecy.
Climate change is
also an issue of economic justice.
This is the
issue:
The poor, who
contribute the least toward global warming, will suffer the most, while the
rich who consume most of the fossil fuels that result in the warming of our
planet, will suffer the least. That’s troubling.
I have firsthand experience with that.
My employer provides the cabinetry for an
ocean front development in the Bahamas.
These homes range in value from a few million, to 20 to 30 million
dollars.
They were hit hard by Hurricane Dorian, that
category 5 hurricane.
But they were not the ones that are truly
suffering.
People who can afford to build a 20 million
dollar home, can afford to rebuild it.
It’s the poor people on the island that lost
their lives and homes, and livelihoods.
The poor are also the most vulnerable to
climate change.
Others will suffer as well. I talked with a farmer back in my home town
of Wessington Springs lately. “How’s it
going?” I asked.
“Well, if the rains would just stop. . .”
Climate change is affecting the weather in
the Midwest, the bread basket of our country, and in turn, the productivity of
the land.
But why talk about such things in Church?
The reason is simple: God cares about our lives and our well being.
God created this world, and God cares for
this world, and God has given us dominion over this world.
It’s a God thing to be concerned, then, about
the health of this world.
A few final
thoughts:
I don’t know all
the answers.
But I know I am
part of the problem.
I also know, that
all those windmills that dot the landscape across eastern Washington are not
causing me to suffer, but are part of the solution to global warming.
I know that I
need to repent. And to do my part to improve
the world in which I live.
I also know that
the Church has obsessed over many things.
But perhaps nothing is more important than the health of our planet.
And finally, this
may be the one thing that we are judged on, both by history and by God, for so
much is at stake.
Is Greta Thunberg
a real prophet, or a false prophet?
If what she says
is true, we damn well better listen because the future of the world depends on
it.
If not, what harm
will have been done if we have devoted time and energy to development of clean
energy and healthy environments?
That’s the
thing. We can care for the planet that
God has created, and still thrive. If
fact, our wellbeing and the planet’s wellbeing go hand in hand.
To care for the
world in which we live, will in the end, benefit those of us who live in this
world.
Amen
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