The Last Policeman and the Reluctant Prophet (a Steve Orr Lectionary reflection)

Their world was ending, but it was no excuse for continued injustice.

Henry Palace always wanted to be a police detective ... ever since he was a boy and his mother was murdered. The detective leading that investigation explained every step to the young boy who had lost his mother. And, somehow, from that terrible crucible came a desire to investigate and solve crimes ... to see justice done.

And that’s what we find Henry trying to do when Ben Winter’s novel, The Last Policeman, begins. Only, a lot has changed since Henry was a boy. And now, a lot of people, including many of his peers among the detectives of the Concord, New Hampshire PD, are puzzled by his dedication.

You see, everyone has recently learned that a huge meteor is on its way to destroy all life on the planet. There are those who 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. But someone —maybe more than one someone— wants him gone for good.

Oddly enough, in one of this week’s Lectionary scriptures, Amos encountered a similar mindset while delivering God’s prophecies to the northern kingdom of Israel. Local leaders wanted Amos to know that he, and all his talk of justice for the poor, was no longer welcome in the north. They begged him to go back to the south, to Judah, to peddle his prophesying there.

But, where Detective Henry Palace continued to insist he was a policeman and must press on in the pursuit of justice, Amos balked. Amos rejected the title of prophet, declaring, "I am no prophet!”

What was going on there? Why would God’s prophet reject the title of prophet? The answer: in that time, being called a prophet was tantamount to an insult. It implied you were just spouting whatever would earn you some money. Yes, some people, supposedly speaking for God, were telling other people whatever they wanted to hear just to get a payday. The title had fallen into such disrepute that God’s actual prophet could not abide being thought of as one.

Still, despite his reservations, Amos responded to God’s call. Unlike Jonah, who also objected to some aspects of being a prophet, Amos went where he was sent and did what he was told to do. He carried God’s message that Israel, because of the injustices leaders heaped upon their own people, was about to be devastated by a foreign invader, that death-and-destruction was on its way.

And so, like Detective Henry Palace, Amos pursued justice in the looming shadow of destruction, asking only that people do right by one another despite what was to come.

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PHOTO (and more about The Last Policeman by Ben Winters): https://www.amazon.com/Last-Policeman-Novel-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B0076Q1GW2

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 10 (15) (July 15, 2018)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//

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
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No matter what may be coming your way, consider taking some time to be with God’s people. Join us Friday morning at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We meet at the Waco “Egg and I” Restaurant and begin at 8:00. An hour later, you will have read scripture, eaten breakfast, discussed how we can live, and laughed. Sounds nice.

Blessings,
Steve

Expecting Justice? (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

We went to his office expecting Justice.

That was not a crazy thing to think, under the circumstances. My classmate and I had an interesting situation, but not a new one. These kinds of things happen from time to time, even to the best of people. Mistakes can be, and are, made. We're all human.

The situation: on the midterm exam, we both had answered the same question the same way. But, on my paper the answer was marked as correct. While on my classmate's paper, the same answer was marked as incorrect. To our thinking, the professor need only fix the mark on my classmate's paper and then adjust his overall midterm grade.

That is not how it went.

At first, once we had provided him the two exams and explained the problem, he just looked at us. At us, not at the exams. That silent stare of his lasted long enough to begin to feel uncomfortable. Then, still not looking at the exams, he said to us, "I don't change grades. You know this. I have stated this on several occasions. In fact, I make that announcement before every exam." [To be fair, what he always told us was, "I don't negotiate grades." I guess we were naive, but this didn't seem, at least to us, to fall under the term, "negotiate." This was an error, made either by him or by his grader. All we were asking was for a simple correction.]

There's no need to drag this out. Everything we said that afternoon was for nought. He was firm in his stance, and he never changed my classmate's grade. It was a profoundly disappointing experience, on many levels. He was an excellent Professor, the kind who makes the learning process come alive. To find he had this bizarrely obstinate side to him was a shock. We felt that we had been let down by someone we had, up until that moment, respected.

A strong social bond had been broken.

This experience came back to me as I read through this week's Lectionary scriptures. Most of this week's selections deal with God's shock and disappointment to discover His people had broken covenant, had broken the contract, if you will.

What contract, you ask?

Throughout history, God has repeatedly asked His people to provide justice for the weak, equal treatment for all, help for those in need, to speak God's word faithfully, for leaders (whether religious leaders or otherwise) to not mislead the flocks they shepherded. This list goes on and on. A reductionist might choose "equity" as the word that sums it up. However, I think we do ourselves a disservice to reduce it down.

We are not asked to merely ensure equity exists. We are asked to actively seek it and provide it. It is not enough to just check to see if people are being treated as they should be. God asks us to do something about it. Each of us.

In the Isaiah passage, God is deeply disappointed because "he expected Justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!" When you expect Justice, as did my classmate all those years ago, the disappointment is deep and lasting when you receive the opposite.

You could say, "Oh, it's just a grade, not something significant." But I would suggest it all depends on whether you're on the receiving end or not. Think of it this way: if it was so disappointing for "just a grade," how awful it must be for someone who expects fair treatment ---from the courts, from the marketplace, from the church, from neighbors, from the halls of government--- and finds the opposite, or at best, indifference.

Now you know how God feels about it.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 15 (20) (August 14, 2016)
First reading and Psalm
Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19
Alternate First reading and Psalm
Jeremiah 23:23-29
Psalm 82
Second reading
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Gospel
Luke 12:49-56
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Join us if you can Friday morning at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant. Lectionary Breakfast starts at 8:00 and goes for about an hour. We spend our time looking into the mind of God by reading scripture' we visit, discuss, and, yes, laugh.

Enjoy the week!
Steve