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Amos: The Weight of Unbalanced Scales—July 24, 2016 Rev. Dr. Linda Even United Church of Fayetteville 310 E. Genesee St., Fayetteville, NY

For Reflection: If we do not discipline ourselves, the world will do it for us. Unknown

Introduction to Scripture: Today we consider the 8th century , the third in our series of four who served in times much like our own. The work we have has been edited at least twice following Amos's own efforts. It remains a masterpiece of argument of dramatic development and effective imagery. I confess Amos is probably my favorite for a host of reasons. In addition to the above, in his time and our own, he was highly quotable; he was an astute observer of human behavior and a sharp cultural commentator. His had a gift for drawing parallels, and is deeply ironic (not sarcastic). The discernment of such irony requires being steeped in the Hebrew language and the culture of his time. I don't lay claim to that but do have my appreciation renewed on occasions such as these when I need to study Amos again. As with the others we have addressed, Amos served when was divided into two kingdoms – Israel in the north, and Judah in the south. Amos was a herdsman and agricultural worker from the village of Tekoa, a few miles south of , in the southern kingdom; yet his call to proclaim God's word took him to the northern kingdom. That was one of the many reasons Amos might not have been popular –in the same way someone from California coming to tell New York how to get its financial act together might not be welcome. Both Israel and Judah were enjoying a period of remarkable peace and prosperity. In the north, trade with the Phoenicians was going splendidly; their traditional enemies were either weak or occupied with other concerns; wealth was being accumulated at an amazing rate; the poor were getting poorer while those with resources were accumulating more; there was a growing community with winter and summer homes; worship was extravagant in its expenditure and display, one might even say wasteful; public deceit and injustice in the courts had reached record levels. If Hosea's focus was on faithfulness, righteousness and authentic worship and Joel called for a true and authentic repentance, Amos had another take—focusing on corporate accountability for social injustice.

Hebrew Scripture: Amos 8:1-12 This is what the LORD God showed me: a basket of summer fruit. He said, “Amos, what do you see?” I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the LORD said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again forgive them. On that day, the people will wail the temple songs,” says the LORD God; “there will be many corpses, thrown about everywhere.” Hear this, you who trample on the needy and destroy 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, make the ephah smaller, enlarge the shekel, and deceive with false balances, in order to buy the needy for silver and the helpless for sandals, and sell garbage as grain?” The LORD has sworn by the pride of : Surely I will never forget what they have done. Will not the land tremble on this account, and all who live in it mourn, as it rises and overflows like the , and then falls again, like the River of Egypt? On that day, says the LORD God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into sad affairs and all your singing into a funeral song; I will make people wear mourning clothes and shave their heads; I will make it like the loss of an only child, and the end of it like a bitter day. The days are surely coming, says the LORD God, when I will send hunger and thirst on the land; neither a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the LORD’S words. They will wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they will roam all around, seeking the LORD’s word, but they won’t find it.

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Epistle Reading: Colossians. 1:1-14 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Timothy our brother. To the holy and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae. Grace and peace to you from God our Father. We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. We’ve done this since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all God’s people. You have this faith and love because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You previously heard about this hope through the true message, the good news, which has come to you. This message has been bearing fruit and growing among you since the day you heard and truly understood God’s grace, in the same way that it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world. You learned it from Epaphras, who is the fellow slave we love and Christ’s faithful minister for your sake. He informed us of your love in the Spirit. Because of this, since the day we heard about you, we haven’t stopped praying for you and asking for you to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, with all wisdom and spiritual understanding. We’re praying this so that you can live lives that are worthy of the Lord and pleasing to him in every way: by producing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God; by being strengthened through his glorious might so that you endure everything and have patience; and by giving thanks with joy to the Father. He made it so you could take part in the inheritance, in light granted to God’s holy people. He rescued us from the control of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. He set us free through the Son and forgave our sins.

Sermon: Amos: The Weight of Uneven Scales The would be a great four week study in Adult Forum, but we don't have four hours; we have about eleven minutes. Curiously, and while I have no idea why someone did this, it has been determined that it took Amos just about eleven minutes to preach his opening sermon.  So what if we consider what, in that eleven minutes, he might have sounded like if he were here today. Imagine we have gathered to hear an itinerant prophet who is making a name for himself. He began by preaching God's judgement again the nations. He might have sounded like this: *** For three transgressions and four, the judgement will not be revoked: against Russia for saber rattling and aggression and leadership that consumes the people. For three transgressions and four, the judgement will not be revoked: against Rwanda for genocide and crimes against people and leadership that consumes the people. For three transgressions and four, the judgement will not be revoked: against North Korea for saber rattling and threats of destruction to people and planet and leadership that consumes the people. For three transgressions and four, the judgement will not be revoked: against Argentina for crimes against her own people and leadership that consumes the people. For three transgressions and four, the judgement will not be revoked: against for destabilizing peace efforts and driving her own people away by the millions and leadership that consumes the people. For three transgressions and four, the judgement will not be revoked: against Miramar for religious oppression and crimes against people and leadership that consumes the people. For three transgressions and four, the judgement will not be revoked: against Washington DC, where votes can be purchased, where money has the loudest voice, where servants of the people serve only themselves and the courts are paralyzed and leadership that consumes the people. Perfect! No wonder people are talking about him. Seven anathemas – a complete number and experience. We are struck by the rhythms of his speech, his poetry, his sharp commentary and the pulses of patriotism and faithfulness beat stronger as his proclamation assures us God is opposed to that which we oppose. Women reach for their purses and men begin searching their pockets for their valet parking ticket. Startled we look up. It appears Amos is not finished – he had merely paused to gather breath. Now he says: but God has reserved his greatest anger for you! You – he means us!? Surely he doesn’t mean us. Us?! What have we done? Amos continues: Injustice is great! People have had their homes stolen from them, and the banks get only richer. Children are hungry and cannot get an education. The cities are tinder for violence and only the few have options. Justice is supposed to be blind, but instead partisans try to tip her scales. The United States spends less on public defense 3 than any Western European nation. You help the poor buy food but begrudge them bath tissue, and make them choose between food and medicine. And you allow the leadership to consume the people. We turn our wounded eyes toward him. But why are you yelling at us? We have done none of this. We have uttered no hate speech. We have fired no weapons. We have stolen nothing. We give to charity. I have watched you. I have seen the Friends of the Library and the Alumni Associations; I have seen the workplaces, camps and vacations; the gap years and world cruises. You are like Kobe cattle, well-fed, pampered and placid. (And yes, he really did call the people cows and it was just as offensive then as today.) You criticize those in office but you yourselves do not serve. You collect taxes for schools and say the increase is nothing (ignoring the fact that for many it is not nothing). But if it is really nothing, then why not collect twice nothing (which would still be nothing) and give the second nothing to a poor school district. You do not like policies, but you write no letters, create no initiatives, join no efforts for change. Can you not see? The weight of unequal scales is crushing those without power; destroying their hope and their dignity. Can you not see the weight of unequal scales will crush you and all you hold dear as well, even as this day you are being weighed down by the grief and fear in the cities. Can you not see? Do you not know that God's people bear responsibility for making these things right –even if and, especially if, they don’t impact you directly? God loves you enough to send me to tell you these things, but God's love is not so infinitely elastic that it will spare you the consequences of a failure of justice for all people. God calls you, all of you, to "let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream." *** Not surprisingly, Amos' contemporaries remembered him as a hard and uncomfortable man to be around. The Northern Kingdom tried to send him home because he was upsetting the people – hard to believe as that might be. But the tradition saved his remarkable work, probably injected a little more hope than Amos intended and handed on his empowering and inspiring, if sobering, words to us.

So let us receive that which we have been handed. Sobered, let us still be inspired; trusting in God's love let us be less inclined to test it; and with hope, let us make St. Paul's prayer for the church at Colossae, a prayer for ourselves: Most holy God: Fill us we pray with the knowledge of your will, with all wisdom and spiritual understanding. We’re praying this so that we can live lives that are worthy of you and of the ministry of Christ Jesus, and pleasing to you in every way. Guide and empower us to produce fruit in every good work and grow in the knowledge of your justice and mercy. Strengthen us through Christ's glorious power so that we might endure everything and have patience as well as purpose, giving thanks with joy to you for calling us to this great cause. Jesus made it so that we could take part in the inheritance of God, living in light granted to your holy people. You save us from darkness and set us free to serve. May it be in our power, by your will to serve as you have called us to serve. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.