Scripture Text (NRSV)
Amos 8:1-12
8:1 This is what the Lord GOD showed me--a basket of summer fruit.
8:2 He said, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A basket of
summer fruit." Then the LORD said to me, The end has come upon my
people Israel; I will never again pass them by.
8:3 The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,"
says the Lord GOD; "the dead bodies shall be many, cast out in every
place. Be silent!"
8:4 Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the
poor of the land,
8:5 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,
8:6 buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals,
and selling the sweepings of the wheat."
8:7 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never
forget any of their deeds.
8:8 Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn
who lives in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about
and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?
8:9 On that day, says the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at
noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight.
8:10 I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into
lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on
every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the
end of it like a bitter day.
8:11 The time is surely coming, says the Lord GOD, when I will send
a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the LORD.
8:12 They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to
east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but
they shall not find it.
Comments:
Amos announces the coming of God's judgment upon the people of Israel,
who have continued to oppress the poor, engage in unethical business
practices, and break God's commands. Amos's vision is based on a
Hebrew wordplay: he sees a basket of summer fruit (qayits) that will
ripen at the end (qets) of the summer. The end of Israel will come
through a famine of hearing the word of the Lord.
I watched "Crime and Punishment"- the real-life "Law and Order" on
Saturday. One of the cases being tried (and which made it to another
Law and ORder show) was about "Bumfights," a video made by some young
men who incited homeless guys to fight while they filmed it. They've
made millions off it - all by exploiting the not-quite-together-ness
of the homeless men. Some were alcoholics, another was clearly lying
about things - they were mentally not with the mainstream. The young
men paid them comparatively small sums of money and gave them booze
and tattoos to pretend to be in the fight, and then egged them on
until the fight became "real." They were convicted of misdemeanor -
and got a slap on the wrist. They're free to continue the practice.
What got me during the trial is their finding amusement in the
homeless guys' testimony. They STILL, despite being brought to court,
didn't see anything wrong - and thought the whole thing was funny.
Disgusting.
Sally in GA
I watched "Crime and Punishment"- the real-life "Law and Order" on
Saturday. One of the cases being tried (and which made it to another
Law and ORder show) was about "Bumfights," a video made by some young
men who incited homeless guys to fight while they filmed it. They've
made millions off it - all by exploiting the not-quite-together-ness
of the homeless men. Some were alcoholics, another was clearly lying
about things - they were mentally not with the mainstream. The young
men paid them comparatively small sums of money and gave them booze
and tattoos to pretend to be in the fight, and then egged them on
until the fight became "real." They were convicted of misdemeanor -
and got a slap on the wrist. They're free to continue the practice.
What got me during the trial is their finding amusement in the
homeless guys' testimony. They STILL, despite being brought to court,
didn't see anything wrong - and thought the whole thing was funny.
Disgusting.
Sally in GA
I have always had a hard time with this image of summer fruit. I like
Sally's take on this. I wish I were using this passage in this week's
sermon. But, I'm afraid I wouldn't do it justice.
Would like to hear for more of you on this passage.
Steve in NC
The "Martha" in Amos continues to live from the self without regard
for the needy, without any interest in "listening" to the word of the
Lord, it is for this reason disaster will come upon the land. (It is
my sense that disaster has already come due to the indifference of the
people), thus the outer clothing of religiousity means nothing ... it
is too late, judgment has come, the people have been removed from the
presence of the Lord. The terrible thing is that the people are
unaware that they now live in exile from the Word of the Lord. We have
become wanderers in a land that is waste.
We must seek for Mary, who in listening to the Word, does the one
thing necessary .... caring for the poor and needy.
tom in ga
thanks, tom in ga - that's the word I've been looking for
"religiosity!" The religious-looking cloak we put on ...
hmmm... wonder if it's anything like Harry Potter's cloak of
invisibility?
so very difficult to preach this without having one particular woman
in mind.
Sally in GA
It was Calvin Coolidge who said, "the business of America is
business." It seems that in the day of Amos the business of Israel was
business.
Mark in W.Va.
I think this passage says something, too, about our lack of
understanding of the word "enough" in the contemporary American
vocabularly. We are conspicuous consumers. We never have ENOUGH.
When Amos talks about abusing the needy he mentions selling the
"sweepings" of the wheat. While this could refer to adding the chaff
to the wheat to increase its weight and volume before sale, I find it
curious that it is mentioned AFTER the conversation has turned from
unscrupulous business practices to the mistreatment of the poor.
The word "sweepings" literally means "fallings". Could it not also be
referring to the practice of going over the fields and vines and trees
a second time, picking up whatever was missed or dropped by the
harvesters, and then selling it? Whatever was dropped or missed was to
be left for the poor to glean in the fields and vineyards, after the
primary harvest. In the days before the Department of Health and Human
Services (or whatever your state or local bureacracy is called), this
was God's provision for the poor and the needy. Taking everything from
your field, while it may have been your legal right as a property
owner, violated God's idea of how you were to use your property (not
to mention God's idea of who really owns the property).
Certainly, if you had already harvested the field/vineyard/orchard
once... and if you'd done it correctly...you had more than ENOUGH. And
while the poor might not get wealthy gleaning behind the primary
harvesters, they, too, would have ENOUGH to sustain life, to feed
their families.
We live in a land that has no idea what ENOUGH means. Someone
mentioned ENRON. Just last week in USA Today Business section there
was an articla on the corporate scandals of the last three or four
years...ENRON, Adelphia, Tyco were three of the biggest that were
mentioned but there were others. We live in a culture that idolizes
crass accumulation of wealth. All those "villains" were once heroes,
honored by numerous societies, foundations, universities, etc. For
what? For accumulating more money than the average person could spend
in 100 lifetimes.
What we believe about God is reflected in our priorities. I'm afraid
that doesn't bode well for most Americans. Last week's text talked
about learning who our neighbor really is, and what it means to be a
neighbor. Reading this week's text in light of last weeks text, I
wonder: Is the average, normal, working-class American exempt from the
condemnation of the wealthy who abuse or ignore the poor? Or in a
broader, world context, are we all among the wealthy who ignore and/or
cheat our neighbors?
Bruce in PA (temporarily)
I will center on this scripture for Sunday...I love the power of the
WORD! The thought of people wandering... looking for the word that is
the Lord's makes me giggle and cry at the same time. The Luke passage
affirms the power fo the word and the part that Mary plays in
listening at the feet of the master.
We are an age and people that are wandering and looking for the word
that is the Lord's word.
The word not only bears fruit in the summer but all the time. How we
act ...the deeds we do, the treatment of the oppressed (our oppression
of the needy and the poor as well as our quiet disgust of them) places
us under the same kind of Judgement as Israel.
How can we promise to not be distracted by our many tasks (Martha) and
receive the better part (Mary) and it inspires us to be about the
Lord's business? If Amos the shepherd and tree dresser can find and
pronounce the word of the Lord... are not we each able to get the
vision... live the vision... and share the vision. I think this sunday
the sanctuary and our worship, at some point, should be visited by a
basket of wonderful fruit! Maybe with the children!!! Certainly in the
sermon!!!
May a vision of the harvested fruit inspire you to preach and your
congregation to serve!
I live in a small town where 6 teenagers attempted suicide in a high
school with an enrollment of less than 100. The verses following these
speak of the toll this famine of the word of God will take on the
people. It says the young people will faint from thirst.
That's what I am seeing. But how do I relate this to my people in such
a manner that they understand that they are holding the water and
bread of life that these young people need?
GC in IL
Amos , through his experience with Yahweh, knew the Israelites needed
to be warned about their concentration on wealth and good times. Are
our own concentration on wealth, good times and safety like the summer
fruit that can't last?
Shalom, bammamma
This scripture reminds me of a classic Norman Rockwell print entitled
“The Butcher”. In it, a lady is buying a chicken at the market. The
chicken is on a scale suspended from the ceiling. The butcher and the
lady are on opposite sides, both staring upward at the weight of the
chicken. What neither of them see is that the butcher has his thumb on
the scale adding to the weight. And the lady is lifting up on the
scale. Both are trying to cheat the other but only the outsider can
see.
revgene
Is the famine due to lack of the presence of the Word, or inability to
hear it?
DGinNYC
Truly this is a refreshing site. Keep up the good work, 'll possibly
submit my contribution at a later stage. Many blessings. Richards in
Boston
