P&F Lectionary Commentary:7-Pentecost 07/15/2001

Lectionary Commentary

Amos 7: 7-17
Psalm 82
Colossians 1: 1-14
Luke 10: 25-35

Amos 7:1-9,10 contains five visions received by Amos, punctuated by small narrative sections. This week and next contains the pair of visions three and four. In today's reading, we have vision number three which ends with an oracle against Jeroboam; Amos then takes the opportunity to tell us a little story about his conflict with Jeroboam. Most people would preach about "plumb line" metaphor and the need to follow God's standards. However, David Reimer says that the word translated as 'plumb line' could also be translated as 'wall of tin,' a symbol of military might, and a word that sounds very similar to the Hebrew word for 'groan.' Reimer says that such a reading would make vision three consistent with what is shown as a note in the NRSV reading of vision four. Such a reading makes more sense of verses 8b-10. Amos' confrontation with Jeroboam and Amaziah gives us an insight into Amos' understanding of a prophet. He says "I do not make my living as a prophet or as an oracle, I am a farmer. I prophesy because the Lord tells me to!" This is a common theme of the prophets, they speak because they are compelled to by some inexplicable force that is taken to be the summons of God. Wonderful examples of hearing the lure of God and acting upon it without any fear of the consequences.

As Christians we are often asked how we compare the many religions or beliefs of the world. The Israelites regarded their God as incomparable in sovereign power and in covenantal solidarity. In Psalm 82 the psalmist tells us what he thinks God regards as 'power.' One would expect that the God of Israel in divine council with other 'gods' would display great power. But no, the other gods are scolded for not displaying the true marks of godliness, justice. They are told to " Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." Many philosophers of religion argue that all religions worthy of being called one must have these criteria as part of their internal controlling principles.

How different the opening section of the letter to the Colossians is to the letter to the Galatians. After a short greeting, the Galatians are given a strong rebuke for their backsliding. The Colossians on the other hand are treated in a very positive way, after the normal greeting they are treated to a long thanksgiving and intercessory prayer. There is debate about the authorship of Colossians, but this should not detract from the lesson to be learned. The church in Colossae is what could be called a second generation church. It is an established church not started by Paul and whom Paul has never visited. Like many of the early churches, the people at Colossae were being influenced by gnosticism, one aspect of whose teaching was that gnosis or special knowledge could lead to a special relationship with God. It was a teaching that the author (and Paul) saw was in danger of drawing some believers away from the wholehearted devotion to Christ. The prayer in verses 9 and 10 is carefully worded to show that knowledge is from God and for a purpose. It is the knowledge of God's will leading to right action that is pleasing to God. In the context of the letter it seems that the author is telling them as a church that they have to find a way of organising themselves in order to make the intimacy, growth and learning actually happen. In verses 13 and 14 the author indicates that the kingdom of God is with his "beloved Son" here and now, and it is because of the Son that we now have knowledge of God's forgiveness and redemption. This is a major change from the eschatology of Paul's early writings where the kingdom was yet to come, and the return of Jesus was expected.

There are two process themes that could be expanded upon in this reading: (a) All knowledge is from God and is to be used to the glory of God. The obtaining and acceptance of knowledge is one way in which we hear the lure of God. God's lure is for us to "bear fruit in every good work" and to "grow in the knowledge of God." We should never be satisfied that we "know it all," we must continue to grow in knowledge and in faith. (b) Growing in the knowledge of God is a communal thing, we cannot do it alone. Growing in the knowledge of God requires a relationship with God and a relationship with other Christians, and we should include a relationship with people of other faiths. On June 15 Marjorie Suchocki mentioned that the sin of pride is the "refusal to learn from another.".

This is possibly the most well known parable in the Bible, the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is so familiar to us that it is almost impossible to recapture the original shocking impact. When we read such a well known passage do we miss something, do we allow our preconceptions to get in the way of seeing something new each time we read it? The story is firstly a story about 'who is your neighbour,' and we all know that our neighbour is anyone regardless of race or creed or colour or social background. We have all looked at the roles played by the different players. The wounded man was most likely a Jew; the lawyer treated the wounded man as a topic of discussion; the thieves, as an object to exploit, the priest, as a problem to avoid, the Levite, as an object of curiosity. It is only the Samaritan who treated him as a person to love. We are often asked to picture ourselves as one of the characters, how would we behave? We are also asked what would be the setting if Jesus was telling the story now. Why did Jesus chose a Samaritan as the hero of the story? Obviously there was the shock factor, no one would have expected a Samaritan to be a hero and because of that everyone would have listened and remembered the story of who is my neighbour. Using the 'good Samaritan' could have been also used in order to break down age old prejudices; the Samaritans were a race of half-casts despised by the Jews. In the Qumran Manual of Discipline Jews are told to "love everyone whom God has elected and to hate everyone whom he has rejected." The Jews 'knew' that the Samaritans were the rejected of God. I find it interesting that in the end of the story the lawyer could not even say the word Samaritan, he only said "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus was teaching love for all, even those outside the pale. In modern marketing we have a saying "Give the customer more than he expects." Jesus was saying that to have eternal life we must give more love, mercy, compassion,care, justice, than is expected. This is what the psalmist is telling us in Psalm 82. In his life and actions Jesus showed us that God is unbounded love, and that we are to do likewise.

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