Famine in the midst of plenty
Commentary
"One does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God" (Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4, Luke 4:4). These words are a bridge between today's Old Testament and gospel readings. Amos announces a famine "not of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord" (8:11). There is no shortage of bread for the body. The harvest has not failed. The bustle of the commodities market is interrupted only by the bothersome intrusion of Sabbath observance. As we read the prophet's words we can hear the clink of the cash registers and visualize the butcher using a rigged scale. The minions of the marketplace were riding high. The rich were getting richer and the poor were being ground down. Measured by economic indicators the happy days of Solomon's reign had returned. Measured by the discerning eyes of the prophet this prosperity covered a growing moral bankruptcy that threatened a collapse of meaning and the erosion of the bonds of community.
The more than bread theme emerges in the gospel reading in a different context. We are still in a section of Luke's gospel that concerns discipleship. He has used the parable of the Samaritan to give us the teaching of Jesus on what it means to love our neighbor. Living redemptively toward others is the way we serve God with our strength. In today's reading Luke uses the words of Jesus spoken in the home of Mary and Martha to instruct us in the need for more than bread for the body in our vocation. We need bread for the heart, mind, and soul. We who are called to be feeders need ourselves to be fed.
The epistle reading for today is a real head buster. This must have been written to a highly intellectual congregation. The overall thrust of the author in this epistle is to warn the congregation about some traveling preachers whose teaching subverted the gospel.
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Amos 8:1-12
The opening scene suggests the autumn festival. The basket of summer fruit could well be an offering brought to the shrine at Bethel. Where the worshippers would see in such offerings and the festival a promise of future harvests, Amos sees a sign of the end. In the Hebrew there is an interesting word play that you can check out in a commentary. In the rampant materialism around him Amos senses a coming debacle rather than a rosy future. Verses 4-8 give us the key to his foreboding.
Amos was nurtured in the old Sinai/Covenant tradition, but now it was a different day in Israel. Urbanization and a money economy had arrived. Materialistic values were a dominant influence on the scene. It is the background that links the words of Amos to our situation. Not too long ago the Rockefeller Foundation updated a study of education made in the '60s. The update supported the original conclusion that values are being shaped by the marketplace where the dominant image of the human person is that of consumer. This is an inadequate account of human personhood and of the wellsprings of human action. With the emergence and growth of the global market, it is my hunch that we can expect a massive surge of materialism and consumerism. In the days of Amos, shrines decorated the countryside and the name of God was publicly adulated, but the real business of the nation was business and acquisition. The compliant religious officialdom just put a pious frosting on the whole scene. The shrines teemed with worshippers. Amos was never invited in to be a guest preacher.
The striking language in verses 9-14 describes the collapse of meaning in individual lives when the dimension of transcendence goes into eclipse. Even the young men and women will grope in darkness in a world over which the sun of God no longer shines. You can take it from here. An old-time preacher was once asked how he got his sermon ideas. He replied, "I read the prophets to see what the rogues were doing then; I scan the news to see what they are doing today; then I put the two together."
Colossians 1:15-28
The letter as a whole reveals the author's concern to caution the Colossians about distortions of the faith that were abroad in the church at large. In this reading the writer sets forth the ABCs of the faith that center on God's revelation and action usward in and through the crucified and risen Lord. We can hear him in essence saying in these verses that Jesus is our key to understanding the intentions in the heart of God from the beginning of the creation.
The underlying concern of the writer does not belong exclusively to the first century. I find next week's reading more suggestive for a contemporary application of the underlying concern in the epistle.
Luke 10:38-42
Luke has inadvertently given us a portrait of Martha as a household drudge. A different estimate of her shines forth in the Fourth Gospel. In the story of the raising of Lazarus, John's admiration of Martha is obvious (John 11:17-27). I can well understand Martha's concern as a conscientious hostess. We do not live by bread alone, true! But we do live by bread also, or rice or potatoes or fish or whatever it takes to nourish the body. Cooks are important people. Martha wants to honor her guests. What preparations would you make if Jesus were coming to dine at your home? Would you just call the local pizzeria for a delivery? Setting a good table is one way of honoring a guest.
Verse 39 contains the stick of Lukan dynamite. It is probable that Jesus was accompanied by at least the inner circle of his disciples. Mary stops helping Martha to sit at his feet to listen. That is the posture of discipleship. In the world around Jesus theological discussion was not the province of women. Mary, a woman, is lifted up as a bona fide model of discipleship just as the Samaritan was. Both are models for all of us. We who are called to be servers, healers, and feeders need ourselves to be fed by the Word. This is the key to our inner sustenance. In this concluding segment of his section on discipleship, Luke reminds us that worship, Word, and prayer sustain the servant congregation.
Can we relate this reading to issues of burnout in both congregational and individual vocation? Being a Samaritan all the time can be a real drain. Nurses who care for people with incurable diseases testify how this daily unwinnable battle with death can wear down the spirit and deplete inner emotional reserves. Cheap faith is no help. Heart, mind, and soul cry out for nourishment. Just plain people dealing can be wearing. A friend in a major political office once told me, "It's not the administration that gets me down; it's the people problems."
The story is told of a doctor whose patient load was wearing her down in all ways. Late one afternoon at the close of office hours, her secretary noted her fatigue and careworn appearance with concern. She said, "Doctor, you need to let up. The Great Grimaldi is performing in the city this week. He is most refreshing. Why don't you let me try to make a theater reservation for you this evening?" The doctor consented and luckily there had been some cancellations so seating was available. The next day the doctor appeared at her office looking renewed and refreshed much to the delight of her secretary. Her first patient that morning was a man obviously in the pit of depression. After examining him she said, "I think you need to let up. I have an idea. The Great Grimaldi is in town. Go attend his performance. It will do you a world of good!" "But, Doctor!" the patient replied, "I am the Great Grimaldi!" -- Who feeds the feeders?
The more than bread theme emerges in the gospel reading in a different context. We are still in a section of Luke's gospel that concerns discipleship. He has used the parable of the Samaritan to give us the teaching of Jesus on what it means to love our neighbor. Living redemptively toward others is the way we serve God with our strength. In today's reading Luke uses the words of Jesus spoken in the home of Mary and Martha to instruct us in the need for more than bread for the body in our vocation. We need bread for the heart, mind, and soul. We who are called to be feeders need ourselves to be fed.
The epistle reading for today is a real head buster. This must have been written to a highly intellectual congregation. The overall thrust of the author in this epistle is to warn the congregation about some traveling preachers whose teaching subverted the gospel.
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Amos 8:1-12
The opening scene suggests the autumn festival. The basket of summer fruit could well be an offering brought to the shrine at Bethel. Where the worshippers would see in such offerings and the festival a promise of future harvests, Amos sees a sign of the end. In the Hebrew there is an interesting word play that you can check out in a commentary. In the rampant materialism around him Amos senses a coming debacle rather than a rosy future. Verses 4-8 give us the key to his foreboding.
Amos was nurtured in the old Sinai/Covenant tradition, but now it was a different day in Israel. Urbanization and a money economy had arrived. Materialistic values were a dominant influence on the scene. It is the background that links the words of Amos to our situation. Not too long ago the Rockefeller Foundation updated a study of education made in the '60s. The update supported the original conclusion that values are being shaped by the marketplace where the dominant image of the human person is that of consumer. This is an inadequate account of human personhood and of the wellsprings of human action. With the emergence and growth of the global market, it is my hunch that we can expect a massive surge of materialism and consumerism. In the days of Amos, shrines decorated the countryside and the name of God was publicly adulated, but the real business of the nation was business and acquisition. The compliant religious officialdom just put a pious frosting on the whole scene. The shrines teemed with worshippers. Amos was never invited in to be a guest preacher.
The striking language in verses 9-14 describes the collapse of meaning in individual lives when the dimension of transcendence goes into eclipse. Even the young men and women will grope in darkness in a world over which the sun of God no longer shines. You can take it from here. An old-time preacher was once asked how he got his sermon ideas. He replied, "I read the prophets to see what the rogues were doing then; I scan the news to see what they are doing today; then I put the two together."
Colossians 1:15-28
The letter as a whole reveals the author's concern to caution the Colossians about distortions of the faith that were abroad in the church at large. In this reading the writer sets forth the ABCs of the faith that center on God's revelation and action usward in and through the crucified and risen Lord. We can hear him in essence saying in these verses that Jesus is our key to understanding the intentions in the heart of God from the beginning of the creation.
The underlying concern of the writer does not belong exclusively to the first century. I find next week's reading more suggestive for a contemporary application of the underlying concern in the epistle.
Luke 10:38-42
Luke has inadvertently given us a portrait of Martha as a household drudge. A different estimate of her shines forth in the Fourth Gospel. In the story of the raising of Lazarus, John's admiration of Martha is obvious (John 11:17-27). I can well understand Martha's concern as a conscientious hostess. We do not live by bread alone, true! But we do live by bread also, or rice or potatoes or fish or whatever it takes to nourish the body. Cooks are important people. Martha wants to honor her guests. What preparations would you make if Jesus were coming to dine at your home? Would you just call the local pizzeria for a delivery? Setting a good table is one way of honoring a guest.
Verse 39 contains the stick of Lukan dynamite. It is probable that Jesus was accompanied by at least the inner circle of his disciples. Mary stops helping Martha to sit at his feet to listen. That is the posture of discipleship. In the world around Jesus theological discussion was not the province of women. Mary, a woman, is lifted up as a bona fide model of discipleship just as the Samaritan was. Both are models for all of us. We who are called to be servers, healers, and feeders need ourselves to be fed by the Word. This is the key to our inner sustenance. In this concluding segment of his section on discipleship, Luke reminds us that worship, Word, and prayer sustain the servant congregation.
Can we relate this reading to issues of burnout in both congregational and individual vocation? Being a Samaritan all the time can be a real drain. Nurses who care for people with incurable diseases testify how this daily unwinnable battle with death can wear down the spirit and deplete inner emotional reserves. Cheap faith is no help. Heart, mind, and soul cry out for nourishment. Just plain people dealing can be wearing. A friend in a major political office once told me, "It's not the administration that gets me down; it's the people problems."
The story is told of a doctor whose patient load was wearing her down in all ways. Late one afternoon at the close of office hours, her secretary noted her fatigue and careworn appearance with concern. She said, "Doctor, you need to let up. The Great Grimaldi is performing in the city this week. He is most refreshing. Why don't you let me try to make a theater reservation for you this evening?" The doctor consented and luckily there had been some cancellations so seating was available. The next day the doctor appeared at her office looking renewed and refreshed much to the delight of her secretary. Her first patient that morning was a man obviously in the pit of depression. After examining him she said, "I think you need to let up. I have an idea. The Great Grimaldi is in town. Go attend his performance. It will do you a world of good!" "But, Doctor!" the patient replied, "I am the Great Grimaldi!" -- Who feeds the feeders?
