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| 6 Pentecost 16 July, 2006 The Rev. Robert C. Granfeldt |
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This morning we have had the rare pleasure of hearing a reading from the Prophet
Amos! I say rare because we only get to hear from Amos twice a year over the three
year lectionary rotation, for a total of just six brief selections – which is not enough.
One of my objections to our lectionary is that we don’t hear enough from the
prophets, in general, and Amos in particular, along with a couple of others. I had
hopes that our new lectionary, just adopted by General Convention, but I don’t think
it will.
Amos was probably the first of the great, Classical prophets, and he’s a great
introduction to the type – which is why I say it’s a pleasure to hear from him! But I
especially like today’s selection because it uses one word in particular, that’s very
interesting – a word that speaks to a point I have tried to make in the past.
In the middle of the 8th Century, BCE, the Kingdom of Israel – that is, the northern of
the two kingdoms into which King David’s undivided kingdom broke under his
grandson’s rule – the Kingdom of Israel reached the height of its power, its
expansion and its wealth. The glory days of the kingdom!
But into this glory walked Amos announcing the Lord’s condemnation of the country’s
militarism, its social injustice, the immorality of the people, and their shallow and
meaningless piety, and calling the nation to repent of the decadence that would soon
lead to its demise, and return to its Lord!
Making Amos – what’s the saying? – about as welcome as a polecat at a garden party!
In today’s selection, Amaziah – the Priest of Bethel, and very much part of the
establishment – informs King Jeroboam about Amos’ rabble-rousing, and tells Amos
to get out of town – to go prophesy in the next Kingdom – the Southern Kingdom of
Judah – saying, “O Seer, go, flee away to the Land of Judah, and eat bread there, and
prophesy there!”
“O Seer, go….”
“Seer,” Amaziah calls him! And what is a Seer?
In today’s language, the word speaks to us of fortune-tellers and predictors of the
future; crystal ball gazers, and tea-leaf readers! But that’s not what the word meant.
The word translated from the Hebrew as “Seer,” meant exactly what the translation
sounds like; not one who could peer into the future, but one who could SEE – really
see, in ways that most can’t. A Seer could look beyond the trappings of wealth and
empire and prosperity, not into the future, but to the truth! A Seer could peer through
the disguised greed, injustice and cruelty! A Seer could grasp the shallowness and
selfishness of worship, could perceive how religion was used to control the
populace.
A Seer was one who could see through to the underlying realities, and in so seeing,
could see, as well, the inevitable consequences of what he saw! The idea of “seeing”
as fortune telling came later, based, I’m certain, on the seemingly uncanny
predictions the Seer made, but confusing astuteness with the supernatural, acuity
with the magical. There was nothing either magical or mystical about the work of the
prophet. It was nothing more, and nothing less, than looking deeply into the face of
reality; than to learn to understand human nature and to see through the
camouflages human beings use; than to perceive the inevitability of the
consequences of the behavior – national and personal! And having seen, the Seer
was called to proclaim what he had seen, and to warn the people – called to prophesy!
When Amaziah told Amos to leave, and to go prophesy in Judah, Amos reacted
negatively, saying, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I am a herdsman and a
dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the
Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people, Israel.’” He was denying being a
professional prophet for hire – a paid advisor, a sycophant, like Amaziah, who
CLAIMED to understand, but was really only interested in what he could get out of the
deal.
He was just a Seer – one who could perceive and understand reality – who was sent
to proclaim what he saw, sent to prophesy what the people were heading toward.
Prophecy was not Amos’ JOB. It was his calling; his ministry; his gift. It was the kind of
gift and kind of ministry that Saint Paul talks about when he describes the varieties of
gifts God’s people are given, and the ministries they’re called to. But while each of
us may have certain things we’re called especially to, all Christians are called to
exercise ministries as broadly as possible: we’re all called to teach; all called to heal;
we’re all called to mediate God’s love.
And we’re all called to be Seers and prophets.
We can’t all be Amoses, certainly! But we’re all called to be Seers, in our own lives.
We’re all called to LOOK and to SEE! To look more deeply than others into the
realities around us; to refuse to accept the illusions offered to us. We’re all called to
work to understand more fully the nature of what we see going on around us, to
compare what we see in the world with the vision the Lord calls us to, not accepting
the conventional wisdom, but interpreting what we’ve perceived in the light of the
Gospel. And we’re all called to be prophets to our own, little corners of the world.
God needs Seers. God needs prophets. God needs each of us to be both, seeing
deeply and clearly, and interpreting God’s will for his people.
God needs more Amoses – and so does this broken world we live in.
In Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.
Amos! I say rare because we only get to hear from Amos twice a year over the three
year lectionary rotation, for a total of just six brief selections – which is not enough.
One of my objections to our lectionary is that we don’t hear enough from the
prophets, in general, and Amos in particular, along with a couple of others. I had
hopes that our new lectionary, just adopted by General Convention, but I don’t think
it will.
Amos was probably the first of the great, Classical prophets, and he’s a great
introduction to the type – which is why I say it’s a pleasure to hear from him! But I
especially like today’s selection because it uses one word in particular, that’s very
interesting – a word that speaks to a point I have tried to make in the past.
In the middle of the 8th Century, BCE, the Kingdom of Israel – that is, the northern of
the two kingdoms into which King David’s undivided kingdom broke under his
grandson’s rule – the Kingdom of Israel reached the height of its power, its
expansion and its wealth. The glory days of the kingdom!
But into this glory walked Amos announcing the Lord’s condemnation of the country’s
militarism, its social injustice, the immorality of the people, and their shallow and
meaningless piety, and calling the nation to repent of the decadence that would soon
lead to its demise, and return to its Lord!
Making Amos – what’s the saying? – about as welcome as a polecat at a garden party!
In today’s selection, Amaziah – the Priest of Bethel, and very much part of the
establishment – informs King Jeroboam about Amos’ rabble-rousing, and tells Amos
to get out of town – to go prophesy in the next Kingdom – the Southern Kingdom of
Judah – saying, “O Seer, go, flee away to the Land of Judah, and eat bread there, and
prophesy there!”
“O Seer, go….”
“Seer,” Amaziah calls him! And what is a Seer?
In today’s language, the word speaks to us of fortune-tellers and predictors of the
future; crystal ball gazers, and tea-leaf readers! But that’s not what the word meant.
The word translated from the Hebrew as “Seer,” meant exactly what the translation
sounds like; not one who could peer into the future, but one who could SEE – really
see, in ways that most can’t. A Seer could look beyond the trappings of wealth and
empire and prosperity, not into the future, but to the truth! A Seer could peer through
the disguised greed, injustice and cruelty! A Seer could grasp the shallowness and
selfishness of worship, could perceive how religion was used to control the
populace.
A Seer was one who could see through to the underlying realities, and in so seeing,
could see, as well, the inevitable consequences of what he saw! The idea of “seeing”
as fortune telling came later, based, I’m certain, on the seemingly uncanny
predictions the Seer made, but confusing astuteness with the supernatural, acuity
with the magical. There was nothing either magical or mystical about the work of the
prophet. It was nothing more, and nothing less, than looking deeply into the face of
reality; than to learn to understand human nature and to see through the
camouflages human beings use; than to perceive the inevitability of the
consequences of the behavior – national and personal! And having seen, the Seer
was called to proclaim what he had seen, and to warn the people – called to prophesy!
When Amaziah told Amos to leave, and to go prophesy in Judah, Amos reacted
negatively, saying, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I am a herdsman and a
dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the
Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people, Israel.’” He was denying being a
professional prophet for hire – a paid advisor, a sycophant, like Amaziah, who
CLAIMED to understand, but was really only interested in what he could get out of the
deal.
He was just a Seer – one who could perceive and understand reality – who was sent
to proclaim what he saw, sent to prophesy what the people were heading toward.
Prophecy was not Amos’ JOB. It was his calling; his ministry; his gift. It was the kind of
gift and kind of ministry that Saint Paul talks about when he describes the varieties of
gifts God’s people are given, and the ministries they’re called to. But while each of
us may have certain things we’re called especially to, all Christians are called to
exercise ministries as broadly as possible: we’re all called to teach; all called to heal;
we’re all called to mediate God’s love.
And we’re all called to be Seers and prophets.
We can’t all be Amoses, certainly! But we’re all called to be Seers, in our own lives.
We’re all called to LOOK and to SEE! To look more deeply than others into the
realities around us; to refuse to accept the illusions offered to us. We’re all called to
work to understand more fully the nature of what we see going on around us, to
compare what we see in the world with the vision the Lord calls us to, not accepting
the conventional wisdom, but interpreting what we’ve perceived in the light of the
Gospel. And we’re all called to be prophets to our own, little corners of the world.
God needs Seers. God needs prophets. God needs each of us to be both, seeing
deeply and clearly, and interpreting God’s will for his people.
God needs more Amoses – and so does this broken world we live in.
In Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.
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| Calvary Episcopal Church, Rockdale |
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If you would like to see all of the words to the hymn - click here. If you would like to hear the hymn - click here. |