Reflection Day Ninety Six National Lockdown Wednesday 01 July 2020

Amos 5:14-15, 21-24          Psalm 50:7-15         Matthew 8: 28-34

Good day dear friends,

The Amos material had at least three different historical settings. It began as an event in the eighth century B.C.E. The opening of the book tells us that Amos came from Tekoa in Judah and came to Israel to work as a prophet. Some think these designations indicate a migrant worker status for Amos, while others claim that he is a “gentleman” prophet. He was a shepherd and dresser of trees.

The second occurrence changes the imperative to a reference to the divine in third person. The third occurrence of the “seek and live” moral sayings (verses 13-14) replaces the reference to the deity with a reference to “good” and replaces sites of apostasy with “evil”. As for the prophetic story of the message of Amos, it becomes a constant inter-play between “good and evil” and “seeking after God”. Here we have good and evil  as reference to the behaviour of the people of God There is however an element of ambiguity and the term “good” can mean “good fortune,” just as “evil” can mean “disaster.” In other words, good leads to good fortune and evil leads to disaster.

The promise of the good fortune is the presence of the Lord the God of Hosts, a divine description, that likely points to the divine warrior tradition. This final “seek” saying has its negative as moved from the avoidance in the first event to the active and affective language “hate.” “Seek good, not evil” becomes “Hate evil and love good.” The good is defined as setting up justice in the gate, the location of village dispute resolution; it was the law-giving place and process in the time of Amos.

The recipient of the act of grace is the “remnant of Joseph.” This idea of remnant would resonate with the audience in the Persian period and later. The final verses (5:21-24) use the catchword “hate.” The listener was reprimanded to hate evil and then God is depicted as hating the liturgical pretence of humans. The criticism of human false confidence in human liturgical acts arises as a repetitive theme in scripture in general, but particularly so in the Old Testament and psalms i.e. Psalm 50:9 and Jeremiah 7:4.

The final imperative is verse 24. The metaphor has particular power when we remember the arid climate. The combination of “vibrant waters” is paralleled to the “sustained waters”. The prescribed language here reflects abundance, not lack. Abundance of justice and righteousness stands as a stark contrast to the world the prophet describes. This passage was quoted by Martin Luther King, Jr. in his “I have a dream” speech on August 28, 1963, and again in his “I’ve been to the mountaintop” speech the night before his death. Whether heard in the eighth or the twenty-first century, Amos calls through the ages. 

This psalm is one of instruction and tells of the coming of Christ and the Day of Judgment, in which God will call men to account; with the Holy Ghost as the Spirit of judgement.  It is the psalmists wish to impress upon the children of men the importance of following the right way of worshipping the Lord, in spirit and in truth.  It is a typical psalmists warning of the coming of judgement on the great day, our God shall come, and make those hear his judgement who would not obey his law.  Peace and joy would be visited upon those entering the covenant of grace, by faith in the Redeemer’s compensating sacrifice, and show the sincerity of their love by fruits of righteousness in word and act. Whilst those who trust on their own devices will suffer rejection, those trusting upon God and who seek him aright will graciously be accepted. To obey is better than sacrifice, and to love God and our neighbour better than all burnt-offerings. We are here warned not to rely on cleverly devised liturgical ritual, but to replace what is often called human inventions with true repentance, faith, and holiness.  As a people of faith we must acknowledge God in all our ways, depend upon his wisdom, power, and goodness, and surrender ourselves exclusively to him, and so give him glory.  We must keep up communion with God; meeting him with prayers under prosecutions, and with praises in deliveries. 

Today’s Gospel stresses the power of Jesus over the devil. In our text, the devil and the power of evil are associated with three things: 1) the cemetery, the place of death which strips the believer of quality of life!  2) The pig, an impure animal which separates from God!  3) The sea, symbol of chaos which destroys nature.  The Gospel of Mark, which Matthew uses as source, associates the power of evil with a fourth element, the word Legion referring to the army of the Roman Empire and the oppression, marginalization, alienation and exploitation of the people. 

This first verse describes the situation of the people before the coming of Jesus under Roman law which deprived them of their conscience, self-control, and autonomy, resulting in disintegration and the breaking up of community. This blinded the people to the restoration of a man to sound mind and made them focus on the loss suffered with the pigs charging into the sea. This episode of the pigs which threw themselves into the sea is strange and difficult to understand, but the message is very clear: before Jesus, the power of evil has no sovereignty, no consistency. 

Through rites and writings, intense prayer and complicated ceremonies, people sought to pacify spirits or demons in such a way that they would not cause harm to life, which instead of liberating people, promoted fear and anguish amongst them. For this reason the Gospels insist on the victory of Jesus over the power of evil, over the devil, over Satan, over sin and over death.  The Gospels encourage communities to overcome this fear of the devil and the message of today’s Gospel continues to be valid for us.

What oppresses and ill-treats people today? How does modern society try to downplay the existence of Satan? Who can say that he/she is completely free or liberated? What can we do to expel this power from within and from society?   What is freedom? What is free-will? What is choice? 

PRAYER OF THE DAY

God of all people, show us how to let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an every-flowing stream.  Manifest your power over evil through your Son Jesus Christ, within us and help us overcome forces of evil within and in society. Create justice and righteousness in us, that all may rejoice in your blessings. During this difficult time, continue to provide for the needs of your people and strengthen those in the medical arena in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.                       Amen.