Amos 8: 1-12 (links validated 8/8/22)
Quick Locator
| Readings | Related Pages | Resources | Information |
|
|
New Resources
Amos: Will Not the Land Tremble?
Whenever I read the ancient prophet Amos, I'm reminded of the modern prophet Daniel Berrigan. Both were troublers of the conscience who protested against national delusions. Both of them exemplify how Biblical "prophecy" is more about forth-telling God's word to contemporary society than about fore-telling our future in heaven. When Berrigan died on April 30, 2016 at the age of ninety-four, the church lost a singular witness to the gospel. His niece Frida was with him when he died, and observed that Berrigan owned almost nothing — he still wore the same black shirt that he did at her wedding fifteen years earlier. "Deeds, not things, made Father Berrigan one of the best-known Roman Catholic priests of the 20th century," observed Jim Dwyer in his NYT obituary. "He departed indifferently penniless from a world that often seems to keep score in gilded ink." Berrigan was a Jesuit priest, poet (15 volumes), playwright, author of over fifty books, university professor, and peace activist. He spent a long life celebrating the good news of Jesus rather than the bad news of caesar...Sermon Starters (Proper 11C)(2022)
The whole event lasted less than thirty minutes. Yet within the span of that grisly half-hour, New York City experienced the worst workplace disaster in the nation’s history up to that point. It was March 25, 1911, just before quitting time on the 8th and 9th floors of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in Greenwich Village. The workers in this sweatshop were eagerly getting ready to punch out and change into their best clothes so they could have a little fun out on the town that Saturday evening. But just as people were beginning to gather their things, the cry was heard: “Fire!” Thirty minutes later 146 people would be dead, most of them young immigrant women who worked six days a week to earn a meager income making the then-popular shirtwaists worn by fashionable women all around the country...Justice for the Poor and Needy
Each morning Brother Martin, the youngest of the novices, went out begging for the monastery. After several months he had developed a daily route. From a few kind shopkeepers he received a few coins. The baker always provided a few loaves of bread. Most of the food Martin received came from poor people, who gave cheerfully. Though his daily route took him past the office of a lawyer named Grubbs, Martin never approached him. Grubbs was a man who made most of his living renting run-down homes to the poor. Townspeople knew him as the biggest slum landlord. One day lawyer Grubbs, offended that Brother Martin passed him up, went to the monastery to complain to the prior. “I’m an important man in this community,” Grubbs shouted. “Your novice treats me as if I am trash.” Not wishing to offend a wealthy man, the prior assured him that Brother Martin would visit him the next morning. Then the lawyer left, the prior called the young novice. “It is not your task to judge the character of those who wish to contribute to the work of this monastery. Tomorrow I want you to take two sacks to the office of Mr. Grubbs and accept whatever he gives you.” Brother Martin silently agreed. The next morning his first stop was at the office of the lawyer...
Resources from 2019 to 2021
Sermon Starters (Proper 11C)(2019)
The idea of sin rebounding on the sinner isn’t a negative idea held only by grumpy old conservatives. It is the spiritual version of Newton’s Third Law of Motion: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Our only hope for surviving the recoil of our sins is God providing a substitute who will take the blow for us. I read recently that the cost of raising a child in North American culture is $250,000. Actually, it’s much more than that. Raising a child requires the sacrifice of a parent’s life. All parents know that from experience, although there’s a growing emphasis in our culture on taking care of yourself first...A Basket of Fruit
The fruits of summer are enticing. Peaches are at their peak in July and August (in the northern hemisphere). Watermelons, blueberries, and raspberries are all part of summer. Those may not have been the exact fruits that Amos saw, but the result would have been the same: just looking at the fruit would give you a taste of summer (Amos 8:1-12). Students (and teachers!) know that as those fruits ripen it means that summer is moving on toward fall. It's not always a great feeling. You wish for what has passed. You want more time to do the things you haven't yet done over summer vacation. You do your best to live in the moment, not thinking about the change of seasons that is to come...
Resources from 2016 to 2018
Amos and Daniel: The Center of the Gospel and the Fringe of Culture
Back on April 30, 2016, the church lost a modern day prophet when Father Daniel Berrigan died at the age of ninety-four. I liken Berrigan to Amos in this week's reading. Both were troublers of the conscience who protested national delusions. Both epitomized how in the Bible "prophecy" is more about forth-telling God's word to society than about fore-telling the future.Darkness at Noon
Mark Twain wrote a novel called A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. It’s the fanciful story of a man from Connecticut named Hank, who’s somehow transported back in time to the days of King Arthur. Things don’t go so well for him there. He gets on the wrong side of the powerful magician, Merlin, who convinces the King that Hank must be burned at the stake. Well, it so happens Hank is familiar with an almanac that records a historic eclipse of the sun that happened in England in the year 528. By good fortune, the date of the eclipse coincides with the date of Hank’s execution. He sends a messenger to the King, to warn him that he, a mighty wizard, is going to blot out the sun if the execution isn’t called off forthwith.
Resources from 2013 to 2015
Resources from 2010 to 2012
Proper 11C (2010)
"The whole event lasted less than thirty minutes. Yet within the span of that grisly half-hour, New York City experienced the worst workplace disaster in the nation's history up to that point. It was March 25, 1911, just before quitting time on the 8th and 9th floors of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in Greenwich Village..."
Resources from the Archives
Revelatory Moments
("There is a poignant scene in the movie, Separate But Equal, that portrays a listening, discerning moment like the one Mary was experiencing with Jesus. The movie describes and documents the historical time in U.S. history when the Supreme Court took a stand against the principle of "separate but equal" in our nation's public schools, and moved the country into an era of desegregation...")Justice for All
"In the rainy Pacific Northwest, you might think water scarcity would be the last thing on the minds of members of Trinity Lutheran Church, Lynnwood, Washington," a recent article read, "but when Trinity members discussed whether they should air condition the church gymnasium, Rick Steves, the well-known television travel host, pointed out that the same $50,000 could provide clean running water for five or six thirsty villages. Money spent on air-conditioning to be used only a few days out of the year, could provide healthy, clean water for villages whose women walk for water every day rather than do the parenting they want." Rick Steves is quoted as saying, "It is not wrong to be comfortable; it's not wrong to be wealthy but I think as Christians, we need to be honest with each other and speak up when we tend to think our suffering is worse than somebody else's."...The Lure of Boardwalk and Park Place
("A good illustration of this craving that each one of us has can be found in just about everyone's home. It is a board game called Monopoly...")