Amos 3

Wow, this was a difficult passage to read. Do you agree?

But I am going to try not to shy away from tough passages, and rather wonder who God is in the midst of these passages. What do I make of "When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?" (Amos 3:6) Is God really behind every disaster, punishing people for sin? I think it would be a hazard to go that far from this one verse, especially since the very next verse claims that God would not do that without sufficient warning from the prophets.

Amid the claims of Christian commentators that the Haiti earthquake was based on a punishment for demonic alliances, this passage would be an easy one to misquote. But that doesn't tell the whole story, no version of "why" really does. At the end, suffering is the ultimate challenge. God is good, God is all-powerful. So why evil and why suffering? I'm not sure we will ever know, even after the resurrection and we are with God forever. While we are here, and suffering is all around us, perhaps our best response to evil is to follow the example of the prophets and ultimately Jesus. When Jesus came face to face with suffering, he lamented and grieved it. Then he responded to it. Let us be people who respond to evil with compassion and the love of Jesus. Amen.

Amos 2

Can you imagine a crowd of people in Israel listening to the first couple chapters as Amos speaks them? God's mad at the same people they're mad at. Ammon, Gaza, Damascus, Tyre, Edom, Moab, all of them ancient and powerful enemies of Israel. And now they're hearing about how God is going to destroy them. I can imagine them cheering. But then Amos talks about Judah, the other kingdom of the people of God. At this point, Judah and Israel have separated, but they hold the common bonds of being children of Abraham. Now I picture the crowd getting a little nervous. And then Amos points the finger toward Israel and exposes their sins in the longest of any section. Now I picture the crowd getting furious.

After all, it's easy to talk about the failings and frailties of other people. It is much more difficult to engage in honest self-reflection. That's tough! Israel was guilty of the same things as their neighbors- oppression, slave-trading, ignoring God and God's ways. But they were not willing to look at themselves and ask the tough questions. They went on with their lives assuming that their neighbors were more evil than they were. They were blind to the ways that they were hurting other people- and indifferent to them.

George Bernard Shaw tells us that "indifference is the essence of inhumanity." As long as we fail to ask ourselves the hard questions of our impact on the world around us, we will allow the worst things to happen. An ancient Christian practice is the practice of "examen." A person takes their lives and wonders how they fit into Christ's double law- to love God and neighbor. This doesn't mean we have to work to be saved, that is not what examen is about. It is only because we are soaked in grace that we can hope to examine ourselves in a prayer of examen. Let's engage in examen together as a community and as individuals, hoping that we would see our inhumanities and turn to God to bear good fruit. Amen.

Amos 1

Good morning! As we read through the book of Amos, I want to start with this warning- it will be a hard read. For those not used to the minor prophets (the shorter prophets from Hosea to Malachi), they often deal with more uncomfortable aspects of God. God's wrath and anger, for example, take center stage for the next few chapters. And Amos is rehearsing God's anger at several kingdoms. Now, we can take this opportunity to learn something valuable about God. After all, when our anger is aroused, it is because something important to us has been challenged. For God it is similar. While God experiences anger and other emotions in a different way than human beings (that is, God is never overwhelmed with emotion to the point of doing something God would regret), God's anger reveals some of the things that God really cares about.

And in chapter one of Amos, we learn that God deeply cares about how these kingdoms treated one another. Damascus violently destroyed its opponents (an example is 2 Kings 8:7-15), especially God's people. And by treating God's people horribly, they will lose their kingdom. Gaza and Tyre were greedy kingdoms that betrayed their allies, broke their promises and engaged in the awful practice of slave trading. Edom not only bought those slaves, but stifled compassion and let anger be their decision-making tool. Ammon committed horrible crimes against humanity (to use a modern legal term)to expand its territory.

We learn from this chapter that unchecked greed, violence, fury and slave trading are against God's will. And all of those things are just as powerful today, if not more so. There are more slaves being traded today than ever in human history, and our country contributes to that directly and indirectly. As for greed, violence and fury, we live in a world of genocides and spousal abuse. I am struck by compassion being "stifled." So for today, I challenge us to let our compassion flow freely. Allow for at least one day the ability to hurt with the victims of violence. Hurt with the victims of slavery. Because only when God-given compassion is allowed to soften our heart can we stand, like Amos, against the tide.

1 John 5

I am sure that John was a pastor, and a good one at that. We get to the end of his book where he lays down some impressive challenges, and we read these words: "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). What a great starting place? It's a great assurance that even we who still continue to become ensnared in sinful behavior are not cast away from God, but still embraced by God and we can be confident approaching God.

After all, sin carries enough shame with it. The power of sin to repeat itself in our lives comes when shame tries to hide that sin. And the more we try to bury sin, the more ashamed we get. It is similar to Edgar Allen Poe's "The Telltale Heart," when a murderer drives himself mad believing that he is hearing the heartbeat of his victim. Eventually, he cannot hide the crime anymore. That power of shame is one that John tries to gently sooth away by reminding us that we can go before God with everything. And we have a reliable testimony about who God is- that God is love (1 John 4:8). So today, celebrate the fact that Christ has won victory for us and that when we feel overcome by sin or the pressures of the systems in which we participate, "the Son of God has come and has given us understanding" (1 John 5:20). Delight that we know the true god and eternal life. Amen.

Please join me for Amos 1 tomorrow.

1 John 4

How do we test the spirits?

Sometimes, the divisions in the Bible between "sections" can get in the way of understanding the great point of the whole book. Testing the spirits comes in two ways- the way of love and the way of truth.

The way of truth begins the chapter. If one were to look at my shelves in my library, you would see a decent variety. There are books I agree with, and books I don't. How often do we take time to appreciate the ideas of others? John challenges us to put the spirits to the test, because many claim to follow Christ but are actually using Christ for personal gain. It was seen in the days of the Crusades as well as in some of the churches in Nazi Germany.

The way of love finishes the chapter. And this one challenges us. Belief is one thing, action is something else. And what is really challenging is that sometimes our actions betray our true beliefs! But today is another day to start again, trying to love each person I meet. And I pray this prayer, to let God's love be formed in me so that I can love better. Let's make that our prayer for today.

1 John 3:11-24

This one passage in 1 John may be worth the whole book. It is certainly what makes this book one of my favorites in the New Testament. The message from the beginning- We should love one another. And love is "with actions and in truth" (1 John 3:18). Words are powerful, certainly, and I don't think John is putting down words. He is using several of them in his letter. But he's also using words as an inspiration of action.

John makes an interesting move here, and not one I hear very often. John connects the sacrifice of Jesus to caring for the poor. How is God's love in us if we have no concern for the people around us? And with earthquakes in Haiti, high unemployment in the country (and especially in this state), there are plenty of opportunities for our compassion. But true compassion does not come out of guilt or shame, it comes out of love. True compassion is not because we are different, but because we are similar. We are part of the family of God, and families look out for one another. When we are wracked with guilt, we live out of anxiety. And that's no way to live. This passage says that we can "set our hearts at rest in his presence" (1 John 3:20). We do not need to condemn ourselves, we can live instead out of love. And love drives out fear (which we will see later in the book), drives out guilt and drives out shame. All that is left is the ability to connect with people and show each other God's love (and also to be open to receive God's love, too!). May God place people in your way today whom you can love and be loved by. Amen.

1 John 3:1-10

Have you ever read such comforting words next to such challenging words? On the one hand, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1) On the other hand, "No one who lives in him keeps on sinning" (1 John 3:6). Can I pick between the two halves of this passage? Can I take the children of God without the challenge to stop sinning? I admit that when I read this passage, I start right in with the excuses. "No one can just stop sinning!" "That's impossible, where do I even start!" "God just doesn't understand how hard this is!" And that's where I'm caught. What do I mean "God just doesn't understand?" How can I say that with a straight face. Jesus took on skin and bones, Jesus pitched a tent here on Earth for a while and became our neighbor. And Jesus dealt with all of the temptations of the world. Jesus overcame all of those temptations and went on to secure for us adoption into God's family. And thank Jesus we are children of God!

But that has implications. I know that I am saved by grace, I know that I can not earn salvation. But if I am God's child, don't I want to act like my Heavenly Father? I learned recently that children take on their parents' walk. I have my dad's walk. Ask anyone who knows us both, and they will tell you that I walk like my dad. I want to "walk" like my Heavenly Father. I want to act like Jesus. I don't want to be stuck hurting myself and others, sinning against God and other children of God. I want the seed of God to grow in me so that I look to the Kingdom rather than my own kingdom. I get tired of living in the old way, and it gets me nowhere. May the Son of God destroy the work of the devil in me so that I can chase after God with all my heart (1 John 3:8).

1 John 2:18-29

Are we being kept in the dark? Are we on the outside of an inside joke? These thoughts must have been passed around John's church, because they had been overtaken by a powerful religion that fed on other religions around it. It was powerful because it was based in secrecy, at least it was based in the idea that there was a secret. Without the secret, one could not experience the truth. In the eyes of this religion, there was the general population of "believers" and the higher tier of people who had discovered the secret- that the world itself is a distraction to truth. This group, known as Gnostics, taught that Jesus (or other religious leaders) had passed down secret knowledge to a few disciples and had dispersed them to tell the truth only to people with a certain "divine spark." Thus, churches had whisperings around them that they were on the outside while elite believers were on the inside. What if Jesus is not the Christ, but something else?

John challenges this hierarchical, secret-based system, arguing that it is so off-base that it challenges the fundamental purpose of Jesus. For God so loved the world, right? Jesus did not come to pass along powerful secrets to people, He came to reveal God to the world. And certainly there is some mystery there, but not a secret. Not something to hold over one another. Instead, something that gives us confidence and takes away our shame (1 John 2:28). The anointing of the Holy Spirit is the great equalizer, as we all receive one anointing. Therefore, let us shed the hierarchy of faith and recognize our one-ness in Christ!

1 John 2:1-17

1 John takes on a new and unique character when viewed in the light of the present age. Coming out of the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr, reading passages like the first half of 1 John 2 exposes to light some of the darkest corners of the human heart. "Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother lives in the light..." How can we read this in the light of MLK and not be astonished by how many Christians used the Word of God to justify hatred of their fellow humans? How many Christians marched against integration of schools, and how many Christians opposed civil rights? And what may be worse is that many of those Christians saw nothing wrong with the racism in their hearts.

A scary thought is that those Christians are no different than me. There are no monsters in this world unless we are all monsters. We share the same DNA as Stalin and Mother Theresa. But this thought comforts me and I hope it comforts you: "Its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining" (1 John 2:8). How are you seeing the true light shine around you?

1 John 1

Good morning, and welcome to the first installment of this living worship experiment. As many of you know, I am an ancient language geek (having studied ancient languages as my major in college). The first book I translated completely was this one, 1 John. As with the Gospel of John, the word choice is simple but the theological significance of John's words (and the ambiguity of those words) leaves a lot of room for discussion. One word choice that struck me right between the eyes today comes from 1 John 1:7. The NIV reads: "... and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." And in my study Bible, there is a footnote telling us that "all" could be "every." And that is an important distinction! If we are indeed saved from "every sin," then sin is just a wrong choice. It gives us the impression that we are fully capable of not making that wrong choice. It's simple. Perhaps, too simple.

Sin is deeper than a set of bad decisions. Sin is the fundamental disconnection between God and human beings, and human beings and each other, and human beings and themselves. Sin is brokenness. Despite the masks of perfection we put on our faces, despite our best attempts to the contrary, before God we see our brokenness. In God, where there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5), we see the darkness within ourselves. We have to (1 John 1:8). What is the cure? How can we be free from this disconnection? What can put our broken pieces back together? "The life appeared, we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us" (1 John 1:2). Amen?

Living worship

A wise professor once challenged me to compare how my experience of worship matched the rest of my life. After asking myself that question for a year now (and artfully dodging any real answer), I have decided to try an experiment. Can I live my life as a worship service that begins every day? Can I adapt my day into an approach to God, an encounter with God in the Word and then live my life in response? To be honest, I don't know. But I can give it a try. And I hope that you, the reader, will find some benefit as you post along with me your thoughts and as we grow "as iron sharpens iron." I look forward to living worship with you.

Blessings always,
Andy