“It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.” —R.E.M.
Henry Palace always wanted to be a police detective ... to see justice done. That’s what we find him trying to do in Ben Winter’s novel, The Last Policeman. Only, now, a lot of people, including many of his peers, are puzzled by his dedication. Everyone has recently learned that a huge meteor is on its way to destroy all life on the planet. They don’t quite see the point of pursuing law enforcement when, six months along, there may well be nothing left.
Most think Detective Henry Palace should just cool it.
That’s exactly the attitude facing two people in a couple of this week’s scriptures: John the Baptist and Amos the Non-Prophet.
John’s message to King Herod that he had broken God’s Law by marrying his brother’s wife was roundly rejected. Herod threw him in prison for just telling the truth. Perhaps if he had stopped sooner, he might have kept his head. But, John couldn’t stop. He had been sent to call Israel to repentance … and that included the King.
Local leaders wanted Amos to know that he —and all his talk of justice for the poor— was no longer welcome in the northern kingdom of Israel. They begged him to go back to the south, to Judah, to peddle his prophesying there.
But, they missed something important.
Detective Palace continued to insist he was a policeman and pressed on in the pursuit of justice. Amos, on the other hand, balked. He rejected the title of prophet, declaring, "I am no prophet!”
Why would God’s prophet reject the title of prophet? In that time, being called a prophet was an insult. It implied you were just spouting whatever message would earn you some money … telling people whatever they wanted to hear just to get a payday. The title of prophet had fallen into such disrepute that Amos, God’s actual prophet, could not abide being called prophet.
Still, despite his reservations about being called a prophet, Amos responded to God’s call. He went where he was sent and said what he was told to say. It wasn’t a popular message: death-and-destruction was on its way.
Like Detective Henry Palace, Amos pursued justice in the looming shadow of destruction. All he asked: that people do right by one another despite what was to come. It was the end of the world as they knew it. But it was no excuse for continued injustice.
Amos and John the Baptist persisted in their missions despite the resistance of those to whom they were sent. On one side, people doing what God sent them to do. On the other, people who should have listened to and welcomed them. Yes, there were circumstances. But, aren’t there always circumstances?
Perhaps it did seem like the end of their world. But wouldn’t that be an ideal time to do what God calls us to do?
________________________
PHOTO CREDIT and a nifty little story (with a twist!) about the end of the world & the Mayan calendar:
_________________________
Big news! We will begin meeting DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast in person on Friday, July 23rd! More details as we get closer. In the meantime, join us this Friday morning on Zoom for another hour of great scripture discussion. We start at 8:00, and we leave plenty of room for laughter.
Blessings,
Steve
Contact me for the Zoom link
NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera if you don’t wish to be seen and to mute the microphone if you don’t wish to speak.
SCRIPTURES FOR THE COMING WEEK
Find them here:
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19
Psalm 24
Amos 7:7-15
Psalm 85:8-13
Ephesians 1:3-14
Mark 6:14-29
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 10 (15) (July 11, 2021)_________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment