Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr

 Lectionary: 378

 You alone have I favored, more than all the families of the earth; 

Therefore I will punish you for all your crimes.

To their astonished dismay, the Prophet Amos lambasted the Israelites in the last of his pronouncements against the nations. In this third chapter, which we hear this morning, he continues the harangue because, "You alone have I favored, more than all the families of the earth."

 

The Letter to the Hebrews would echo that sentiment centuries later, 

"Endure your trials as discipline; God treats you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are without discipline, in which all have shared, you are not sons but bastards."

"Too many bastards!" A shopkeeper told me as he watched his neighborhood disintegrate. Their parents were not married, their fathers were nowhere in sight. 

And yet we often prefer abandonment to discipline. And then we deny the fatherhood of God as we insist our God is a good God who will not punish. The plagues of violence -- abortion, suicide, mass shootings -- we regard as most unfortunate occurrences but not the consequences of sin. God neither causes them nor wants them to happen to us. 

Amos has heard that nonsense and argues against it with seven rhetorical questions: "Do two walk together unless they have agreed? Does a lion roar in the forest when it has no prey?...." When the President of the United States incites a mob and on that very day they trash the Capitol, kill police, and threaten legislators, is there no connection between his speech and the violence? 

But some will argue the punishments are out of proportion to the sin. No school, shopping center, church, or town should suffer mass shootings. Cling to that reasoning if you like, the universe is full of opinions.

Or accept Jesus's insistence: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Abortions were supposed to eliminate unwanted children. Do you remember that? After Roe v Wade, children would be wanted, favored, coddled, and given the best opportunities for nurturing, formation, and education. So why are children killing themselves? The punishment for committing the forbidden sin of abortion fell upon the nation. Even the beloved, like the firstborn of Egypt, are destroyed. 

Unlike today's patron saint, Amos was the least irenic of prophets. There is little softness in his message; and little sweetness to fit the taste of modern readers. He cannot back down; in today's reading he insists, 

Indeed, the Lord GOD does nothing

                        without revealing his plan

                        to his servants, the prophets.

            The lion roars—

                        who will not be afraid!

            The Lord GOD speaks—

                        who will not prophesy!

After hearing God roar, "You alone have I favored, more than all the families of the earth!" we should be afraid of not fearing the Lord