O seer, go, flee away, Year C, Pentecost 16, Amos 6.1a, 4-7

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 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

Year A, Proper 18, Ezekiel 33.7-11 “For why will you die, O House of Israel?”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen

Harvey, Irma, Joses, and Katia

Storms.

Hurricanes.  Epic hurricanes. 

Harvey drenched the Houston area with more rain than has ever been recorded in our country from a single event in modern history.

Irma that is striking Florida today is the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic.

While we are still reeling in the aftermath of Harvey, Irma, Joses, and Katia follow close behind.

All three of them are expected to make landfall this weekend.

Irma in Florida.

Katia in Mexico.

Joses will hit the islands in the Caribbean already hit by Irma, before heading northeast into the Atlantic, luckily sparing Florida.

Meanwhile, at home, our forests are burning.

Sandpoint recorded the worst air quality in the nation this last week, the result of the intense forest fires in the Northwest.

If only there was some way to get some of the moisture from the Gulf States here, we could solve two problems simultaneously.

Well, that’s wishful thinking.

Back to reality.

One of the things about hurricanes is that there are always warnings.

We know when they are coming.

We have a pretty good idea where they are headed.

We have time to prepare.

My sister and brother-in-law live in Florida, and one of the things that struck me when I visited them a few years back is that they had brackets installed on their home so that whenever a hurricane struck they were prepared to cover all their windows with metal panels.

Be prepared.

Head the warnings.

Friday night I was amazed as I watched CNN’s coverage at how some are ignoring the warnings to get out of the storm’s way, choosing rather to just hunker down and ride it out.

Now for some, this makes sense.

My sister Karen lives northeast of Tampa Bay, and my brother Tim lives up toward Daytona Beach, and both are likely far enough north that the storm will likely be more of a nuisance than a threat by the time it reaches them.

But on CNN they were interviewing people in the Florida Keys where the storm will hit hardest that had resolved to stay put.

Why?

One replied that they had considered leaving but didn’t know where they could go with their two daughters, AND FIVE DOGS, so they are staying put.

Some of these people who do not heed the warnings will die.  That’s the tragedy.

I have a friend who was talking about the aid that our government will offer to the flood victims from Hurricane Harvey.

His point was that we should help them rebuild.  Yes.

But with one condition:  that they relocate to higher ground.

But we won’t.

Houston will be rebuilt where it is, just like New Orleans was rebuilt.  Never mind that much of New Orleans is below sea level.  Rebuild anyway.

Scientist warn us that climate change is occurring and as the world warms up, the oceans will rise because water expands as it gets warmer, and the warmer water will result in hurricanes intensifying, and in the end, the remarkable storms that we are now seeing will become common place.

But we like ocean front property.

So we build on the beaches anyway.

The thing is, we are far enough away from the gulf that when we hear of one hurricane after another, we can’t help but wonder why people don’t move, don’t they understand that hurricane after hurricane will come.  Don’t they realize that no matter how often they rebuild, it is only a matter of time before one strikes again?

Of course, when they hear of the devastation caused by forest fires, the lives and homes lost, they can’t help but wonder why we want to rebuild our homes in the middle of the forest.  Forest fires happen.  Lightning strikes and tinder dry forests erupt in flames. 

And when the forest becomes a raging inferno standing out in your yard with a garden hose is not going to stop the fire. 

The warnings were there.  Yet time and time again we simply choose to ignore them.

Ezekiel was appointed by God to be a sentinel, a watchman to warn God’s people about what was to come.

Throughout the ages, through God’s Word and the messengers he has sent to us, we have received warning upon warning.

“ turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?”

Those were the words God gave to Israel.

Yet they didn’t listen.

We hear a word of warning and we don’t listen.

Are scientists the sentinels that God has sent to us today to warn us about the effect of our actions upon the world we live in?

Some believe so.

But many more respond in one of two ways:

First we simply deny that what they say is true.  “It’s all just a conspiracy,” we say. 

Or, even if we believe them, we either don’t believe there is anything we can do to avert the disaster, or worse, knowing what we can do, we simply refuse to change our way of life.

If what scientists are telling us about climate change is true, and that our actions are causing it, then the hope is that we can do something to avert the disaster.

The purpose of the warning is not to condemn, but to offer a way out. 

In Ezekiel the prophet writes:

“Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?” Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?

In Ephesians 4:25-27 Paul warns us:

“So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil.”

Do not let the sun go down on your anger.

What Paul is warning us about is that if we fail to resolve our differences in a timely fashion we will “make room for the devil”.

Jesus offers us a way of reconciliation in the Gospel lesson for today.

We have received a warning, and offered a way out.

There will be things that make us angry, but we need not let them destroy us, either individually, or as the body of Christ.

One of the questions is when we hear words of warning do we hear them as words of judgment or hope?

When the Bible warns us that our divisions will destroy the Church, the hope is that if we practice forgiveness, our unity may be restored.

This is so simple, really.  With every warning, there is both a judgment and hope.

The warnings that God gives us, are not a condemnation, but a diagnosis.  God tells us what is wrong—and what we can do about it.

The issue for us is will we listen?

And will we act?

Sometimes, though, we simply run from any notion of responsibility.  We play the victim.

Even our theology reinforces this notion.

“We are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.”

Well, to a certain extent this is true.

But the other side to that story is that we are to live responsibly.

Our actions have consequences.  If you want to avoid bad consequences, avoid the bad decisions that bring about those consequences.

“Turn back, turn back, from your evil ways.”

In Romans Paul writes:

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

Love is a choice.

This is the thing:

There are situations in life that will make us angry.

There are situations in life that will please us.

Of that, we have no control.

But we do have a choice about how we respond to the good and the bad in life.

We can wallow around in our anger and let it consume us.

Or we can choose to love, and to forgive, and be reconciled to one another.

The choice is between that which will kill us, or that which will give us life.

“turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?”

Why will you die, O house of Israel, when God has shown us how to live?

Amen

Year C, Proper 16, Isaiah 58:9b-14, "Lord of the Nations"

Isaiah 58:9b-14

If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,

if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,

then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.

I've never had a parishioner ask me to address political issues from the pulpit.  Quite to the contrary the concern, the desire, is that as a pastor I steer clear of anything that can be considered political.  Just this last week the concern was raised during an interview.  My reaction surprised me.  "If we're preaching about 'little bo peep has lost her sheep' while the Twin Trade towers are smoldering, we run the risk of being totally irrelevant."

An interesting study would be to create a red letter edition of the Bible that highlighted the passages of scripture that had a specific political implication.  If we did that what we'd discover is that, whereas our bias today is to view all religion as a deeply personal matter, the Biblical context was that religion was predominantly a societal matter.  The prophets, for example, most frequently spoke to the nation as a whole, the body politic.  The righteousness of which they so frequently spoke was of the nation, not the individual.

And need I say that the "Kingdom of God", Jesus favorite theme, carries with it some specific political ramifications???

I suppose a rather biting retort to the concern that pastors be apolitical would be to respond, "And so, what you're saying is that you do not want me to preach from the vast majority of the Biblical texts?"

And so, what are we to do with the prophets?  This passage from Isaiah can be read from the individualistic bias of today's world.  But such a reading is simply not the context of Isaiah's words.  He is speaking of "a nation that practiced righteousness" not an individual.  

"Offer your food to the hungry, satisfy the needs of the afflicted".  The Biblical witness is that God has a special concern for the less fortunate among us.  The widow, the orphan, the poor, the sick, the elderly, the sojourner in our land, "the afflicted".  Do Justice.  Show Mercy.  And walk humbly with your God.  

I believe that one of the reasons we are uncomfortable with the political implications of the Bible, is that we do not believe a nation can exist based on the Bible's political premises.  Jesus was a idealist.  The "Year of Jubilee" where all debts were forgiven and all property was returned to the original owner is simply not doable.  Forgive your enemies.  Pray for those who persecute you.  Not so wise for a nation dedicated to its own survival.

But think what we are saying when we relegate the Biblical witness to the individual, and exclude its witness to the nation.  What we are saying is that, in the end, God has a good word for us personally, but knows nothing about politics or governance.  "Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe. . ."  That's a political statement about God.  We are more comfortable with accepting Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior.  

Could it be that the Ruler of the Universe might actually have some knowledge, some wisdom, and just some plain good advice on how to run a nation?  Radical concept.