Amos 8:4-7
4 Hear this, you that
trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, 5 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? We will make the ephah small and
the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, 6 buying
the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the
sweepings of the wheat." 7 The Lord has sworn by the
pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
Luke 16:1-13
1 Then Jesus said to the
disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were
brought to him that this man was squandering his property. 2 So he
summoned him and said to him, "What is this that I hear about you? Give me
an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.' 3 Then
the manager said to himself, "What will I do, now that my master is taking
the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to
beg.4 I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people
may welcome me into their homes.' 5 So, summoning his master's
debtors one by one, he asked the first, "How much do you owe my master?' 6 He
answered, "A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, "Take your
bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.' 7 Then he asked another,
"And how much do you owe?' He replied, "A hundred containers of
wheat.' He said to him, "Take your bill and make it eighty.' 8And
his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for
the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation
than are the children of light. 9 And I tell you, make
friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone,
they may welcome you into the eternal homes. 10 "Whoever is faithful
in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very
little is dishonest also in much. 11 If then you have not been
faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if
you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what
is your own? 13 No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and
love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot
serve God and wealth."
Hear
this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land…
·
Amos is an interesting prophet. First of all, he does not call himself a
prophet. When called that, he said that he was not a prophet, but a shepherd
and “a dresser of sycamores.” He did not belong to the class or group in the
northern kingdom of Israel who were called prophets. They were religious
professionals and members of a kind of union or guild. No, Amos was a shepherd
and a farmer or day-laborer in an orchard. But he responded to the Word of the
Lord when it came to him.
·
Second, Amos’ preaching is quite blunt. He doesn’t mince words. He calls
people names, even as he uses an ancient form of poetry to convey God’s
message. Some of his words are really unpleasant to hear and we can only
imagine how they sounded in the ears of the original listeners.
·
Third, Amos was not liked by the people in power. He got into trouble
with the big names of Israel at the time. One of the priests brought him to the
attention of the king and he was told to peddle his words elsewhere; he was
told to go to Judah and “earn his bread there” by prophesying. Amos then
delivered the Word to the king and his court and I doubt it was received
graciously. Amos was not one to give anybody a break, especially those who
practiced injustice.
·
What we hear of Amos’ preaching today is still very telling. Update the
language a little and it could hit home with power.
·
Listen
to me, all you who run down the needy and make them suffer even more! You say
‘When will the long and boring worship service be over so we can get back to
business? We’ll shave down the litre and the kilo and jack up the price and add
a surcharge, and we’ll be sure to keep our thumb on the scale. We’ll use the
poor here and in other countries as cheap labour and even make them and their
families and children as good as slaves. Why, we can even market the junk and
the trash that is swept off the floor of the workplace!’ Well, remember this! The
Lord has sworn by the Lord’s promises and has sworn on the Lord’s own
faithfulness: none of this had gone unnoticed and none of it is forgotten!
·
This is, at best, a poor update of the Word of the Lord spoken by Amos.
I wrote it and it frightens me. It makes me wonder how I’ve treated people
around me. It makes we wonder what sort of attitude I have to those who have
less than me. At times, it makes we wonder how much I am a part of the economic
problems that plague our world.
·
This reading from Amos has been paired with a specific passage in the
Gospel of Luke. Luke often comes down on the side of the poor. The poor were
despised in the time of Christ and the early Church. It is to them that the
Good News of the Gospel is addressed.
·
It is addressed to all who understand that despite what we perceive to
be our wealth and riches, we remain poor in and of ourselves. In the Gospel of
Luke, Jesus goes so far as to say You cannot serve God and wealth.
In older translations of the Gospel, the word “wealth” was rendered as
“Mammon”, a word that has been taken as the name of a demon representing
wealth, unjust gain, and materialism. Original meanings of words are hard to
figure out, so this might be true. In any event, it has surely come to mean
that in our speech in just about every language.
·
The parable we heard read today is somewhat hard to understand since it
seems to praise a sneaky and dishonest manager. Some scholars say the manager
is merely discounting the bills by what his mark-up would have been. He might
have made his money this way – cheating both sides of the deal. We don’t know
for sure. The story is a parable, intent on making a point, so such details are
just details.
·
One thing is for sure: We still live in a world of economic inequality.
We still live in a world where people are used and used up as commodities and
tools. There are people who live in slavery and many who barely squeak by,
living from payday to payday. There are still groups and forces around us that
place little value on human life or the development of the human person.
·
The words Amos spoke to the people of the kingdom of Israel those many
years ago are still powerful today. Amos is particularly sharp in his criticism
of those who have broken faith with their fellow human beings, buying
the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals… He
is also sharp in his critics of those who worship God but do nothing that God
requires of them outside of worship.
·
What both the prophet and the Church throughout its history even to this
day say remains the same; we are all saved by grace and that grace directs us
to serve each other. If this sounds somewhat political, well, it is. The
message of the Gospel is at the same time spiritual and personal as well as
political and communal. Our faith leads us to actions for the common good. The
creation and the grace we all share leads us to respect shown in our attitudes,
our words, and our actions.
·
There’s no question we have a long way to go to finally eliminate the
injustices that continue to exist and have existed since before Amos’ time. We
may never get rid of them all in our lifetimes. But that doesn’t mean we
shouldn’t try.
No
slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the
other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and
wealth.
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