In a week when a
majority of the House of Representatives of the United States
- voted to cut $40 million from the food stamp program, that provides meals for men, women, children, and elderly who go hungry in this country every day;
- and in this same week when they voted in favor of de-funding “Obamacare” which will provide medical insurance for 44 million in this country (16% of the population) who currently have no medical coverage and for an additional 38 million who are under-insured –
the
words of the Jewish writer Amos carry the same prophetic power and
warning today as they did when first written nearly 3,000 years ago.
In a time when Israel emphasized military security and economic
affluence for the few, the prophet proclaims “This is what the Lord
God says”:
“Hear
this, you who trample the needy
and
destroy the poor of the land . . .
You
who will buy the lowly for silver
and
the poor for a pair of sandals;
“The
LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob,
'Never
will I forget a thing they have done.
'They
shall fall, never to rise again.'”1
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| "Finding Jesus in the poor" (Source: http://livingthelectionary.blogspot.com /2013/09/pentecost-18-c-amos-84-7.html) |
The
Jewish and Christian scriptures express over and over again that God
has a particular and special interest and care for the poor.
Repeatedly we see how God defends and stands up for those who have
the least status in our world – the poor, victims, foreigners, the powerless, the marginalized.
And
in a deep sense, who I am called to be and who I believe we are all
called to be are a people who stand with our sisters and brothers,
especially those who are so often left to stand alone.
Is
it really too much to ask – that all be fed, that all be housed,
that all have the healthcare they need? That perhaps those who have
so much now may have less, so that all (not only in the United States
but everywhere in the world) might enjoy the a reasonable life with
dignity? The secret is that PEOPLE, not money and power, need to be our priority and focus.
Journey
Inward. Journey Outward. May
our inner life inform our daily actions. May our deeply held values
and priorities – even if they run counter-current to much in our
world – proclaim in deeds the hope and possibility of a different
kind of world.2
SHALOM!
1 Chapter
8 of Amos, the lectionary reading for today the 25th
Sunday of Ordinary Time in the Christian liturgical calendar.
2 For a wonderful little prayer based on Amos 8:4-7, see http://re-worship.blogspot.com/2013/08/prayer-amos-8-4-7.html
2 For a wonderful little prayer based on Amos 8:4-7, see http://re-worship.blogspot.com/2013/08/prayer-amos-8-4-7.html
Cousin, I disagree as to the responsibility to fulfill the Lords command.it is the job of the church, and the individual believers, not the government, to help the poor and needy. if the government would get off the backs of the industrious people of this nation, we would have more money to share with the truly needy. the government has imprisoned many of its citizens in poverty by its welfare system, which seems to ignore the apostle Paul's exhortation that "if a man doesn't work, neither let him eat."
ReplyDeleteHealthcare is not a God-given right, but a privilege afforded to those who labor for it, or serve their country to earn it.
The government is Amos' day was the church, so his words were true, to that form of governing. a representative republic has no debt to its citizens besides those laid down by the constitution. Your cousin, the politically conservative, evangelical, Gary
Thank you for the comment Gary. I agree that individual people of faith and communities of faith have responsibility and a calling to give from what we have to stand on the side of the poor. As we consider ourselves a "Christian nation," I would argue that as Christians in a democracy, we have the responsibility as well to call our government to these same priorities.
DeleteHowever, Amos' primary audience in this passage appears to be the "business people" of his day. The context speaks of those waiting to sell their grain, and who would use off-balanced scales to cheat their buyers. I believe there is good evidence today that it is the wealthiest of the wealthy in this country who are "buying" government officials and thus shaping government policy to their own advantage and to the "trampling" (to use Amos' word) of the neediest and the middle class (along with wanting to cut funds for education, social security, etc.).
I agree with Pope Francis who, just today, challenged all of us - governments, communities of faith, and individuals - concerning our "idolatry of the god called 'money.'"
I understand that you and I see things differently, but that is ok. As your cousin who is a political progressive/radical and who can no longer claim the banner of evangelical, I appreciate the exchange of thoughts and perspectives.