Proper 11
Preaching
Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons:
With an Eye to the New
The lectionary often combines parts of two separate sections. The first three verses of this text represent the last of the four visions revealed to the prophet in 7:1-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 8:1-3. Verses 4-12 begin a long poem concerned with the "end" of Israel -- the end of her injustice (vv. 4-8); the end of her worship (vv. 9-10); the end of hearing the Word of God (vv. 11-14); the end of her life (9:1-6).
Nevertheless, 8:4-8 helps explain why the "end" (v. 2) will come upon Israel. Her greed for gain and her injustice toward the poor have brought the sentence of death upon the nation. With the growth of commerce and urban culture during the reign of Jeroboam II (787/6-747/6 B.C.), many peasants lost their land and were at the mercy of food merchants.
The sabbath and festivals held each month at the time of the full moon were supposed to be days of rest from work and buying and selling. They were gracious gifts of God who ordains for us that we not only have work to do, but that we also have periods of rest and refreshment. But like us in our consumer culture, the merchants of Israel did not want to miss a chance to make some money. They chaffed at the days of rest when they could not sell, just as so many in our society would like to ignore Sunday's rest altogether and open the malls so we can go shopping.
The merchants of Israel were so greedy for gain, however, that when they were allowed to open for business, they cheated their innocent customers (v. 5). They made the "ephah small." That is, the standard forty liter vessel used to measure out grain was secretly reduced in size. The shekel, which weighed about 11.5 grams and which was put on a balance scale to determine how much silver was owed for the grain, was made heavier, thus costing the customer more money. Even the balance scales were "false," bent, so that they did not weigh accurately.
The poor could not afford such dishonesty and fell into debt to the merchants, while the merchants made enough extra cash to buy one of the poor as a slave for the meager price of a pair of sandals (v. 6). But the poor were desperate for food, and so sometimes they even scraped up the leavings of grain that had the chaff mixed in with it. And for that too the greedy merchants charged them! Anything to make a buck and never mind your neighbor!
The Lord of the Bible, however, is a just Lord, and there are few commandments that he gave to Israel that are emphasized more than the commandment to show justice toward all. "A full and just weight you shall have," God had said through Moses, "a full and just measure you shall have ... For all ... who act dishonestly are an abomination to the Lord" (Deuteronomy 25:15, 16). "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," Jesus taught us, quoting Israel's law (Mark 12:31; Leviticus 19:18). And part of the way that we love our neighbor is to treat him or her justly. Not to cheat. Not to take advantage. Not to count our own welfare greater than that of our neighbor. How far we sometimes fall short of that commandment of love!
The point of Amos, then, is that God sees these things. We have little thought of God when we buy or sell, don't we? We take little heed of the Lord when we indulge in our conspicuous consumption, and add goods to goods, comforts to comforts, and, set making more money as our goal. But God sees, God knows, and dear friends, God weeps. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth," Jesus taught us, "but lay up treasures for yourselves in heaven" (Matthew 6:19, 20). Seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33).
Jesus spoke those words to us because God wants us to live, and as we learn from Amos, Israel in her greed and her neglect and injustice toward the poor, could not live. She forfeited her life. In 721 B.C., the ten northern tribes of Israel were carried into exile by the armies of Assyria, and they just disappeared from history. God did not forget Israel's greed and injustice, and those abominations cost Israel her life. Truly the teachings of the scriptures are a matter of life and death for us.
On this Sunday, as so many of us are heading out for vacations or returning from them, are these not things that we should ponder in our hearts and apply to our pocketbooks and our care for the poor? And should not we all perhaps repent and change the direction of our lives?
Lutheran Option: Genesis 18:1-10a
This story is simply an ancient and perhaps interesting -- and even sometimes unbelievable -- tale to a congregation unless they know its context. According to Genesis 12:1-3, God called Abraham and his family to leave their home in Mesopotamia and to journey to the land that God would show them. As part of that call, God promised Abraham that he would give him not only a land to call his own, but also many descendants. And most important of all, God promised that through Abraham's descendants, God would bring blessing on all the families of the earth. In Genesis 1-11, human beings live under the curse of broken community, of the loss of all good, and of death. But God sets out through Abraham to turn that curse into blessing.
In our story, therefore, Abraham and his wife and servants are journeying through the land of Canaan. They are both rather elderly -- as 18:11 says, Sarah is past the age of childbearing. Nevertheless, the Lord promises Sarah that in the spring of the year, she will bear a son. And that birth will begin to fulfill God's promise to Abraham of many descendants.
We have three versions of this promise of a son in the Old Testament -- in 15:1-6; 17:15-17; and here in chapter 18. This is probably the oldest version, but each writer has framed this important story in his own way. Certainly, however, this version has about it the most vivid and earthy character.
Mamre is located in the southern portion of Palestine, just north of Hebron. Abraham earlier built an altar at Mamre (13:18), and near the site is the field of Machpelah where the patriarchs and their wives later were all buried. But Mamre is southern and it is hot.
So Abraham is sitting quietly at the door of his tent at Mamre when suddenly, out of nowhere, three men stand in front of him. Already a mysterious note is sounded in the story. Abraham is a model semite, however, who knows how to practice hospitality. As in our south, hospitality is a mark of a pious person. So Abraham runs to meet his visitors, begs them to stay for a meal, washes their feet, calls himself their servant, and tells Sarah quickly to prepare fine meal cakes. Then Abraham himself runs to select a calf, the most prized meat, and gives it to his servant, who hastens to prepare it. The note of haste, emphasizing hospitality, is prominent throughout the story. Abraham is doing everything to make his guests comfortable and welcome. He even waits on them while they eat by themselves.
In contrast to all such attentive hospitality, however, the guests ask a startling question. "Where is Sarah your wife?" (v. 9). That is a shocking query. What does this stranger know about Abraham's wife? Once again, a mysterious note is struck.
Finally, however, one of the three men is identified. "The Lord said" (v. 10). Abraham has been entertaining the Lord! God has suddenly appeared to him in human form! And the promise that God states is overwhelming. In the spring of the year, the Lord will return (v. 14) and Abraham's elderly wife will bear a son. The birth will not be a natural occurrence, but made possible only by God, because as verse 14 reads, nothing is too hard for the Lord.
It is rather unfortunate that the lectionary omits vv. 11-15, for they show the very human characteristics of Sarah, and indeed, of us all. Sarah has been eavesdropping behind the tent door flap on the conversation, and when she hears the promise, she laughs. She cannot believe it, just as Abraham himself does not at first believe it in the other versions of the story (cf. Genesis 15:2-3; 17:17). Sarah and Abraham, despite their pious hospitality, are no models of faith. They initially do not believe, and the son's name, Isaac, which means "laughter," enshrines that disbelief.
But nothing is too hard for the Lord, and his purpose is not defeated by unbelief. In the spring of the year, Isaac is born, in fulfillment of God's promise (Genesis 21:1-2). God's history of salvation is begun, and that history will finally come to its climax in the descendant of Abraham, Jesus Christ (cf. Matthew 1:1), the Savior of us all. God keeps his promises. Nothing is too hard for him. On those facts rests our faith.
Nevertheless, 8:4-8 helps explain why the "end" (v. 2) will come upon Israel. Her greed for gain and her injustice toward the poor have brought the sentence of death upon the nation. With the growth of commerce and urban culture during the reign of Jeroboam II (787/6-747/6 B.C.), many peasants lost their land and were at the mercy of food merchants.
The sabbath and festivals held each month at the time of the full moon were supposed to be days of rest from work and buying and selling. They were gracious gifts of God who ordains for us that we not only have work to do, but that we also have periods of rest and refreshment. But like us in our consumer culture, the merchants of Israel did not want to miss a chance to make some money. They chaffed at the days of rest when they could not sell, just as so many in our society would like to ignore Sunday's rest altogether and open the malls so we can go shopping.
The merchants of Israel were so greedy for gain, however, that when they were allowed to open for business, they cheated their innocent customers (v. 5). They made the "ephah small." That is, the standard forty liter vessel used to measure out grain was secretly reduced in size. The shekel, which weighed about 11.5 grams and which was put on a balance scale to determine how much silver was owed for the grain, was made heavier, thus costing the customer more money. Even the balance scales were "false," bent, so that they did not weigh accurately.
The poor could not afford such dishonesty and fell into debt to the merchants, while the merchants made enough extra cash to buy one of the poor as a slave for the meager price of a pair of sandals (v. 6). But the poor were desperate for food, and so sometimes they even scraped up the leavings of grain that had the chaff mixed in with it. And for that too the greedy merchants charged them! Anything to make a buck and never mind your neighbor!
The Lord of the Bible, however, is a just Lord, and there are few commandments that he gave to Israel that are emphasized more than the commandment to show justice toward all. "A full and just weight you shall have," God had said through Moses, "a full and just measure you shall have ... For all ... who act dishonestly are an abomination to the Lord" (Deuteronomy 25:15, 16). "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," Jesus taught us, quoting Israel's law (Mark 12:31; Leviticus 19:18). And part of the way that we love our neighbor is to treat him or her justly. Not to cheat. Not to take advantage. Not to count our own welfare greater than that of our neighbor. How far we sometimes fall short of that commandment of love!
The point of Amos, then, is that God sees these things. We have little thought of God when we buy or sell, don't we? We take little heed of the Lord when we indulge in our conspicuous consumption, and add goods to goods, comforts to comforts, and, set making more money as our goal. But God sees, God knows, and dear friends, God weeps. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth," Jesus taught us, "but lay up treasures for yourselves in heaven" (Matthew 6:19, 20). Seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33).
Jesus spoke those words to us because God wants us to live, and as we learn from Amos, Israel in her greed and her neglect and injustice toward the poor, could not live. She forfeited her life. In 721 B.C., the ten northern tribes of Israel were carried into exile by the armies of Assyria, and they just disappeared from history. God did not forget Israel's greed and injustice, and those abominations cost Israel her life. Truly the teachings of the scriptures are a matter of life and death for us.
On this Sunday, as so many of us are heading out for vacations or returning from them, are these not things that we should ponder in our hearts and apply to our pocketbooks and our care for the poor? And should not we all perhaps repent and change the direction of our lives?
Lutheran Option: Genesis 18:1-10a
This story is simply an ancient and perhaps interesting -- and even sometimes unbelievable -- tale to a congregation unless they know its context. According to Genesis 12:1-3, God called Abraham and his family to leave their home in Mesopotamia and to journey to the land that God would show them. As part of that call, God promised Abraham that he would give him not only a land to call his own, but also many descendants. And most important of all, God promised that through Abraham's descendants, God would bring blessing on all the families of the earth. In Genesis 1-11, human beings live under the curse of broken community, of the loss of all good, and of death. But God sets out through Abraham to turn that curse into blessing.
In our story, therefore, Abraham and his wife and servants are journeying through the land of Canaan. They are both rather elderly -- as 18:11 says, Sarah is past the age of childbearing. Nevertheless, the Lord promises Sarah that in the spring of the year, she will bear a son. And that birth will begin to fulfill God's promise to Abraham of many descendants.
We have three versions of this promise of a son in the Old Testament -- in 15:1-6; 17:15-17; and here in chapter 18. This is probably the oldest version, but each writer has framed this important story in his own way. Certainly, however, this version has about it the most vivid and earthy character.
Mamre is located in the southern portion of Palestine, just north of Hebron. Abraham earlier built an altar at Mamre (13:18), and near the site is the field of Machpelah where the patriarchs and their wives later were all buried. But Mamre is southern and it is hot.
So Abraham is sitting quietly at the door of his tent at Mamre when suddenly, out of nowhere, three men stand in front of him. Already a mysterious note is sounded in the story. Abraham is a model semite, however, who knows how to practice hospitality. As in our south, hospitality is a mark of a pious person. So Abraham runs to meet his visitors, begs them to stay for a meal, washes their feet, calls himself their servant, and tells Sarah quickly to prepare fine meal cakes. Then Abraham himself runs to select a calf, the most prized meat, and gives it to his servant, who hastens to prepare it. The note of haste, emphasizing hospitality, is prominent throughout the story. Abraham is doing everything to make his guests comfortable and welcome. He even waits on them while they eat by themselves.
In contrast to all such attentive hospitality, however, the guests ask a startling question. "Where is Sarah your wife?" (v. 9). That is a shocking query. What does this stranger know about Abraham's wife? Once again, a mysterious note is struck.
Finally, however, one of the three men is identified. "The Lord said" (v. 10). Abraham has been entertaining the Lord! God has suddenly appeared to him in human form! And the promise that God states is overwhelming. In the spring of the year, the Lord will return (v. 14) and Abraham's elderly wife will bear a son. The birth will not be a natural occurrence, but made possible only by God, because as verse 14 reads, nothing is too hard for the Lord.
It is rather unfortunate that the lectionary omits vv. 11-15, for they show the very human characteristics of Sarah, and indeed, of us all. Sarah has been eavesdropping behind the tent door flap on the conversation, and when she hears the promise, she laughs. She cannot believe it, just as Abraham himself does not at first believe it in the other versions of the story (cf. Genesis 15:2-3; 17:17). Sarah and Abraham, despite their pious hospitality, are no models of faith. They initially do not believe, and the son's name, Isaac, which means "laughter," enshrines that disbelief.
But nothing is too hard for the Lord, and his purpose is not defeated by unbelief. In the spring of the year, Isaac is born, in fulfillment of God's promise (Genesis 21:1-2). God's history of salvation is begun, and that history will finally come to its climax in the descendant of Abraham, Jesus Christ (cf. Matthew 1:1), the Savior of us all. God keeps his promises. Nothing is too hard for him. On those facts rests our faith.
