Year B
Amos 7:7-15
Psalm 85:8-13
Ephesians 1:3-14
Mark 6:14-29<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth, O God, speak your truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the verses just prior to today’s passage from the prophet Amos\u2026 God pronounces a litany of indictments against an indulgent society\u2026 in which the powerful and wealthy are accused of arrogance and self-satisfaction\u2026 and in today’s reading\u2026 God is imaginatively described as standing beside a wall\u2026 which was built using a plumb line\u2026 which God is still holding\u2026 and God asks the prophet what he sees\u2026 and as we heard\u2026 he answers correctly\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A plumb line is used to measure\u2026 it uses the law of gravity to find right angles\u2026 to indicate the most direct route from top to bottom\u2026 and to keep things\u2026 well\u2026 plumb\u2026 a plumb line doesn\u2019t change or move with the whims of the carpenter\u2026 with gravity to guide it\u2026 the line remains true\u2026 so that all of one’s work can be measured against that line\u2026 or else it will miss the mark\u2026 think for example\u2026 about a door needing to be set squarely within its door frame\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the term plumb line is referenced in scripture in several contexts\u2026 in Isaiah 28:16\u2026 God is pictured as a builder and who says\u2026 See\u2026 I lay a stone in Zion\u2026 a tested stone\u2026 a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation<\/em>\u2026 this is a promise of an unshakeable kingdom\u2026 and as God builds the kingdom\u2026 God will ensure that there will be no crookedness\u2026 no skewed angles\u2026 no sin\u2026 the kingdom will be perfect in every way\u2026 and in the very next verse\u2026 God says\u2026 I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so with that in mind\u2026 God tells the prophet\u2026 See\u2026 I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel\u2026 I will never again pass them by\u2026 <\/em>and God does this to examine them\u2026 to see how they’re measuring up to God’s standards\u2026 and it’s not looking good\u2026 and the reluctant prophet continues God’s pronouncements\u2026 that the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate\u2026 and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste\u2026 and God will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword\u2026 nope\u2026 not looking good\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n So Amaziah\u2026 the priest of Bethel\u2026 does two things\u2026 he sends word to King Jeroboam\u2026 to tell him that Amos is speaking against him\u2026 and he tells Amos to flee to Judah\u2026 to prophesy there\u2026 and we can almost hear Amos saying\u2026 don’t blame me\u2026 I was minding my own business\u2026 doing the work I do\u2026 and God called me\u2026 and told me what to say\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Douglas King\u2026 Senior Associate Pastor at Brick Presbyterian Church in New York\u2026 wrote\u2026 when Jacob awoke from receiving his promise of blessing from God… he said this of Bethel\u2026 how awesome is this place\u2026 this is none other than the house of God\u2026 and this is the gate of heaven<\/em>\u2026 how ironic then\u2026 how illuminating it is\u2026 that Amaziah never once mentions God in this exchange\u2026 when he feels threatened by Amos’ words he turns to the king\u2026 when he speaks of the sanctuary at Bethel\u2026 it is not God’s sanctuary\u2026 but the king’s\u2026 and so the fulfillment of God’s blessing to Jacob\u2026 the creation of a kingdom with its many offspring\u2026 has led the people of God to a place beyond which they can even recognize the presence of God\u2026 the very abundance of blessings provided\u2026 has distracted them from the God who has provided them\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And like the previous verses from Amos\u2026 today’s Gospel reading is a continuation of last week’s reading\u2026 Jesus has just been going about from village to village casting out demons and healing people\u2026 and he sends out the disciples to do the same\u2026 and this is what Herod has heard about\u2026 and he’s afraid\u2026 the king of this world is afraid\u2026 because while some are saying that it must be Elijah who’s doing this\u2026 and while others are saying it’s one of the other prophets of old\u2026 Herod’s guilt elicits fear in him\u2026 because he thinks it’s John the Baptist\u2026 who in today’s Gospel flashback we learn he beheaded… but who has been raised\u2026 and he’s afraid because he knows that both the prophets\u2026 and especially John\u2026 are people who challenge authority\u2026 and Herod felt perplexed\u2026 and challenged\u2026 by his conversations with the Baptist\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pastor Isaac Villegas writes\u2026 Herod is part of the one percent\u2026 a member of the class of people who feast while others struggle for their next paycheck\u2026 he throws a party for his courtiers and officers and the leaders of Galilee\u2026 and the powerful eat more than they need\u2026 and drink from bottomless glasses… Herod and his friends leer at Herodias\u2019 daughter \u2013\u2013 enlisted as their entertainment \u2014 in a scene of sexist exploitation\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And this exploitation exists still today\u2026 the Me Too Movement arose out of it\u2026 exposing the ways the Jeffrey Epsteins of the world treat women\u2026 and it goes as far as paying hush money to avoid exposing pre-election indiscretions\u2026 and while Herod may have spoken too quickly\u2026 while he may feel cornered by the rash promise he made to Herodias after she danced\u2026 his regard for his guests and those who support him\u2026 is apparently far greater\u2026 egregiously greater\u2026 than his regard for human life\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And in a small way\u2026 the entrance hymn we just sang reflects that\u2026 The Canticle of the Turning\u2026 is based on the Magnificat\u2026 when for example\u2026 the words of the canticle tell the king to beware\u2026 because God’s justice will tear every tyrant from his throne\u2026 the Magnificat says\u2026 He has cast down the mighty from their thrones\u2026 and has lifted up the lowly\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n We cannot understand these ancient stories and hymns\u2026 without also understanding that they are our stories too\u2026 we just affirmed that after Deacon Kim proclaimed the Gospel\u2026 and the truths expressed in them thousands of years ago\u2026 remain true in our time\u2026 and the transcendent themes of power and corruption are reflected in the news stories of our time\u2026 and I wonder how we can hear them without slapping on partisan labels\u2026 how we can hear them as a corrective\u2026 how we can hear them as an invitation to embrace God’s justice\u2026 how we can hear them\u2026 as we grapple with the gap between our nation’s ideals\u2026 and the work that we still need to do to achieve them\u2026 and are we willing to let God’s plumb line measure how far we are\u2026 from God’s sure and true guidelines\u2026 guidelines that are no arbitrary human construct\u2026 but which arise out of our evolving perception and integration of God’s construct\u2026 and God will save us from everything that blinds us to God’s will\u2026 but for those who benefit from a system that produces such dehumanizing disparities\u2026 salvation\u2026 coming back into alignment\u2026 will feel like desolation\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But coming into alignment won’t be easy\u2026 there will be a cost\u2026 because while Herod stopped John\u2026 while he’ll have a hand in stopping Jesus\u2026 we must still grapple with the actions of too many modern Herods\u2026 those who don’t see their role in public service as a sacred trust\u2026 but rather as an opportunity to promote themselves and their many interests\u2026 those who abduct children to scare immigrants from crossing borders\u2026 those who imprison truth tellers like Alexi Navalny\u2026 those who assassinate presidents as happened this week in Haiti\u2026 those who seek to manipulate voting laws solely so they can remain in power\u2026 and until the scales are tipped in God’s favor\u2026 there will be desolation for the unrighteous\u2026 and tragically\u2026 for some of the righteous alike\u2026 but God’s power to do good\u2026 to bring light\u2026 and to restore wholeness cannot be stopped\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The baptismal promises affirmed today’s Epistle to the Ephesians\u2026 that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world\u2026 to be holy and blameless before God in love\u2026 affirm that we have also obtained a divine inheritance\u2026 and while we see and experience glimpses of that inheritance in this world\u2026 we will experience it’s blessing\u2026 and completion\u2026 and utter fulfillment\u2026 in the next\u2026 and for that we say\u2026 thanks be to God\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year B Amos 7:7-15 Psalm 85:8-13 Ephesians 1:3-14 Mark 6:14-29 May the words of my mouth, O God, speak your truth\u2026 In the verses just prior to today’s passage from the prophet Amos\u2026 God pronounces a litany of indictments against an indulgent society\u2026 in which the powerful and wealthy are accused of arrogance and self-satisfaction\u2026 and in today’s reading\u2026 God is imaginatively described as standing beside a wall\u2026 which was built using a plumb line\u2026 which God is still holding\u2026 and God asks the prophet what he sees\u2026 and as we heard\u2026 he answers correctly\u2026 A plumb line is used to measure\u2026 it uses the law of gravity to find right angles\u2026 to indicate the most direct route from top to bottom\u2026 and to keep things\u2026 well\u2026 plumb\u2026 a plumb line doesn\u2019t change or move with the whims of the carpenter\u2026 with gravity to guide it\u2026 the line remains true\u2026 so that all of one’s work can be measured against that line\u2026 or else it will miss the mark\u2026 think for example\u2026 about a door needing to be set squarely within its door frame\u2026 And the term plumb line is referenced in scripture in several contexts\u2026 in Isaiah 28:16\u2026 God is pictured as a builder and who says\u2026 See\u2026 I lay a stone in Zion\u2026 a tested stone\u2026 a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation\u2026 this is a promise of an unshakeable kingdom\u2026 and as God builds the kingdom\u2026 God will ensure that there will be no crookedness\u2026 no skewed angles\u2026 no sin\u2026 the kingdom will be perfect in every way\u2026 and in the very next verse\u2026 God says\u2026 I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line\u2026 And so with that in mind\u2026 God tells the prophet\u2026 See\u2026 I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel\u2026 I will never again pass them by\u2026 and God does this to examine them\u2026 to see how they’re measuring up to God’s standards\u2026 and it’s not looking good\u2026 and the reluctant prophet continues God’s pronouncements\u2026 that the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate\u2026 and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste\u2026 and God will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword\u2026 nope\u2026 not looking good\u2026 So Amaziah\u2026 the priest of Bethel\u2026 does two things\u2026 he sends word to King Jeroboam\u2026 to tell him that Amos is speaking against him\u2026 and he tells Amos to flee to Judah\u2026 to prophesy there\u2026 and we can almost hear Amos saying\u2026 don’t blame me\u2026 I was minding my own business\u2026 doing the work I do\u2026 and God called me\u2026 and told me what to say\u2026 Douglas King\u2026 Senior Associate Pastor at Brick Presbyterian Church in New York\u2026 wrote\u2026 when Jacob awoke from receiving his promise of blessing from God… he said this of Bethel\u2026 how awesome is this place\u2026 this is none other than the house of God\u2026 and this is the gate of heaven\u2026 how ironic then\u2026 how illuminating it is\u2026 that Amaziah never once mentions God in this exchange\u2026 when he feels threatened by Amos’ words he turns to the king\u2026 when he speaks of the sanctuary at Bethel\u2026 it is not God’s sanctuary\u2026 but the king’s\u2026 and so the fulfillment of God’s blessing to Jacob\u2026 the creation of a kingdom with its many offspring\u2026 has led the people of God to a place beyond which they can even recognize the presence of God\u2026 the very abundance of blessings provided\u2026 has distracted them from the God who has provided them\u2026 And like the previous verses from Amos\u2026 today’s Gospel reading is a continuation of last week’s reading\u2026 Jesus has just been going about from village to village casting out demons and healing people\u2026 and he sends out the disciples to do the same\u2026 and this is what Herod has heard about\u2026 and he’s afraid\u2026 the king of this world is afraid\u2026 because while some are saying that it must be Elijah who’s doing this\u2026 and while others are saying it’s one of the other prophets of old\u2026 Herod’s guilt elicits fear in him\u2026 because he thinks it’s John the Baptist\u2026 who in today’s Gospel flashback we learn he beheaded… but who has been raised\u2026 and he’s afraid because he knows that both the prophets\u2026 and especially John\u2026 are people who challenge authority\u2026 and Herod felt perplexed\u2026 and challenged\u2026 by his conversations with the Baptist\u2026 Pastor Isaac Villegas writes\u2026 Herod is part of the one percent\u2026 a member of the class of people who feast while others struggle for their next paycheck\u2026 he throws a party for his courtiers and officers and the leaders of Galilee\u2026 and the powerful eat more than they need\u2026 and drink from bottomless glasses… Herod and his friends leer at Herodias\u2019 daughter \u2013\u2013 enlisted as their entertainment \u2014 in a scene of sexist exploitation\u2026 And this exploitation exists still today\u2026 the Me Too Movement arose out of it\u2026 exposing the ways the Jeffrey Epsteins of the world treat women\u2026 and it goes as far as paying hush money to avoid exposing pre-election indiscretions\u2026 and while Herod may have spoken too quickly\u2026 while he may feel cornered by the rash promise he made to Herodias after she danced\u2026 his regard for his guests and those who support him\u2026 is apparently far greater\u2026 egregiously greater\u2026 than his regard for human life\u2026 And in a small way\u2026 the entrance hymn we just sang reflects that\u2026 The Canticle of the Turning\u2026 is based on the Magnificat\u2026 when for example\u2026 the words of the canticle tell the king to beware\u2026 because God’s justice will tear every tyrant from his throne\u2026 the Magnificat says\u2026 He has cast down the mighty from their thrones\u2026 and has lifted up the lowly\u2026 We cannot understand these ancient stories and hymns\u2026 without also understanding that they are our stories too\u2026 we just affirmed that after Deacon Kim proclaimed the Gospel\u2026 and the truths expressed in them thousands of years ago\u2026 remain true in our time\u2026 and the 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