Dire Warnings

Some of the fiercest judgment pronounced against God's people is found in the book of Amos, and in the readings for Pentecost 15 and 16 we have prime examples of this.  In Amos 8:4-7, assigned for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost, we hear the Lord railing against those who through their business practices trample the poor and vulnerable.  In Amos 6:1a, 4-7, the First Reading for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost in the Year of Luke, we hear the prophet calling out those who live in luxury without even a thought for those who suffer outside their gates.  These fierce texts beg to be  preached.  How shall we do this so that they will be heard?

(The following questions were developed to get at some of the fundamental questions for Law and Gospel preachers around how the Word functions.  For more insight into Law and Gospel preaching, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com and amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  There is no doubt that in both of these texts, the Word is functioning as Law.  It is a call to repentance.  It is a call to recognize one's sins.  It is, as Luther says, the hammer that breaks the rock in pieces.

2.  How is the Word not functioning in the text?  Clearly, there is no word of Gospel here. God is grieved with those who cheat their patrons, and with those who live in luxury with no thought to the suffering around them.  God is a God of justice.  God is One who suffers with us. 

3.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  It is always important to identify with the people whom are addressed by the Word, not with the spokesperson or the Word itself.  It is tempting to take the place of the prophet here, and perhaps that is part of our call, but first we must take account of our own proclivity to cheat others or to ignore the suffering around us as long as we have all we need.

4.  What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text?  The call to obedience is implicit here: Live justly, be cognizant of those who suffer, grieve the injustice and poverty around you and do all you can to alleviate it.  This, though not expressly spoken, is assumed.

5.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  Couplets for these texts are hard to come up with given the nature of these texts.  We might employ some of the language here to create some:  feeling insecure/secure in Christ; grieving over sin/forgiven.

6.  Exegetical work:  It is interesting to see how commentators have found texts like these speaking to the situation of their own age.  In a letter to 4th century patriarch of Alexandria, Cyril, we read:  "There is nothing else to see happening everywhere in the world except disorder, unheralded war, unrestrained wrath and savagery exceeding all barbaric in humanity, and there is no one suffering "by the collapse of Joseph." (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, OT, Vol. XIV, p. 106).  Likewise, in his late 19th century commentary The Book of the Twelve Prophets, the Scottish theologian, George Adam Smith wrote this:  "The ruin of Joseph is the moral ruin, for the social structure of Israel is obviously still secure.  The rich are indifferent to it; they have wealth, art, patriotism, religion, but neither heart for poverty nor conscience for the sin of their people.  We know their kind!  Who live well and imagine they are clever and well refined.  They have their political zeal, will rally to an election when the interests of their class  or trade are in danger.  They have a robust and exuberant patriotism, talk grandly of commerce, empire, and the national destiny; but for the real woes and sores of the people, the poverty, the overwork, the dissoluteness, which more affect a nation's life than anything else, they have no pity and no care."  (p. 181)  To read these words, written in the U.K. over one hundred years ago, and realize that they could well describe our present situation in the U.S. is to wonder if ever we are destined to repeat the sins of our ancestors.  Will we never learn?

Blessings on your proclamation!