“TO AFFLICT THE COMFORTABLE, AND TO COMFORT THE AFFLICTED”
A sermon by The Rev. Gene Tucker given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Sunday, July 12, 2009
Proper 10 -- Amos 7:7–15; Psalm 85:7–13; Ephesians 1:1–14; Mark 6:7–13
“To afflict the comfortable, and to comfort the afflicted….”
Maybe I ought to say that again: “To afflict the comfortable, and to comfort the afflicted.”
You might be asking, “What does this mean, and what does it have to do with today’s lectionary and our lives in God?”
Well and good, it is, to ask these questions.
Allow me to provide some answers:
- The preacher’s task: Is to afflict the comfortable, that is to say, to stir up our complacent hearts and dull minds to God’s truth as it comes to us in every age and at every point in our lives, is one task that the preacher must undertake. On the other hand, the preacher also comes, offering comfort to those who are troubled and afflicted, reminding them that God is present in their lives (yes, even in the problems, troubles and afflictions) and that God is still in charge, even when it seems that just the opposite is true.
- What does this have to do with today’s lectionary: Everything! Let’s consider our Old Testament reading from Amos, and our Gospel reading for today, from Mark:
Amos: Amos, the 8th century BC prophet who was sent by God from the Southern Kingdom of Judah to the Northern Kingdom of Israel , was sent to “afflict the comfortable”. His origin in the Southern Kingdom was already grounds for a rough reception. But Amos’ message made the reception he received all the more hostile.
Amos is sent by God to a people who were quite comfortable…Israel was enjoying a time of peace militarily and prosperity economically. Jeroboam II was sitting on the throne of the Northern Kingdom. He reigned from 786 – 746 BC. It was a time of sitting back, a time of enjoying the “good times”. Eat, drink and be merry! But Amos comes, bringing with him the chilly message that these good times would not last.
“And the Lord God showed me: Behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ And I said, “A plumb line.’ Then the Lord said, Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”Why did Amos get the unenviable task of delivering this message? Because, in Israel, the truth is that there was rank injustice which permeated the entire culture….The rich exploited the poor, and people dealt falsely and maliciously with each other. Yet, there was a veneer of respectability about the culture, for the nation’s religious observances were excellent, magnificent affairs. At least it was a good show!
And so, as a result of this pervasive wickedness, God tells the people through Amos that He is walking away from Israel. God tells them through Amos that, despite all the outward appearances of peace, prosperity and fine worship ceremonies, there will come a time when the sanctuaries of Israel will be no more, and a time when the kingdom will vanish. And so it came to be, in the year 722 BC, that the Assyrian armies swarmed into Israel from the north and the east, and the nation was swept away.
Amos’ prediction had come true. Amos, whose task it was to “afflict the comfortable” proved to be a faithful servant of God.
Mark: Having met with a chilly reception in His hometown of Nazareth, Jesus now sends out His twelve disciples on their first missionary journey. As they go, they are carrying a message of comfort, for theirs is the task of “comforting the afflicted”.To understand how this was so, we need to remind ourselves of the conditions under which the people of Israel were living 2,000 years ago: Recall with me that the entire land (and much of the known world) was under the domination of the Romans, for the Roman Empire stretched from Spain in the west to Babylon in the east, from North Africa in the south to northern Europe in the north. Roman rule in Palestine was cruel, and taxation to support the occupying Roman army was extremely high. God’s people longed for the day of deliverance from Gentile, Roman control and occupation. Moreover, the Jewish leadership of Jesus’ day was corrupt and self-serving. Strict adherence to the minutest details of the Law of Moses was the order of the day.
Jesus, laments this situation (in a text we will hear next week, noted that the people were like “sheep without a shepherd”).
So Jesus’ disciples go out, two-by-two, carrying the good news, the gospel, of Jesus Christ, the good news that the Kingdom of God has come! Theirs is a message of comfort to a deeply afflicted people.
Amos and the Twelve go forth in response to the command to “go”. Each one carries a message that is appropriate for the circumstances of the people they are sent to. Each one either meets, or is warned about, rejection. Amos encounters it, as Amaziah (the priest of the temple at Beth El) says, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there.” Likewise, Jesus warns His disciples that some will reject them and the message they bring.
Surely, as the Lord observed in our gospel reading from last week, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country.”
Well, turning to our situation, what should we make of these two aspects of God’s word, as we receive it, and as we are called to proclaim it?
As I ponder that question, the following answers come to mind:
God’s message will change as the circumstances dictate: God’s message to us isn’t always one of light, peace and love. (Admittedly, sometimes we wish – and even think – that it is, or should be!) No, sometimes God comes to “afflict” us with a message that nudges us to awaken to His truth. Sometimes, the message is jarring to hear. Sometimes, the message is deeply troubling at first hearing (but it brings comfort and health if we heed the message and the warning in order to amend our lives and come to live in accordance with God’s commands and God’s desires for us).
At other times, however, it’s just exactly God’s love, God’s peace, and God’s presence that we most need, depending on the circumstances.
God’s message can come from the most unexpected sources: Consider our two readings for today: Amos was a herdsman (a shepherd), and the keeper of sycamore trees, as we hear in our reading today. Moreover, he was a stranger from that “other” country, Judah, the Southern Kingdom.
Likewise, the twelve disciples form a most unlikely bunch to come bringing good news about God’s plan of salvation. After all, they were illiterate, working class people (for the most part). They certainly weren’t rabbis, or Pharisees, or priests (for the most part). They were the ordinary folk of their day. Perhaps that’s why Jesus warns them that they, too, will face the possibility of rejection, just as He had in the synagogue at Nazareth. Maybe some of the people who encountered these twelve, who travelled two-by-two, said much the same thing that was said about Jesus, “Where did these men get all these things? Aren’t they just plain folk?”
And so, God’s message comes to us in ways that we need to hear. God’s message comes to us in the most unlikely of ways, and perhaps from the most unusual of sources. (I can recall many times when the voice of God was contained in a passing remark made by a casual acquaintance, to cite but one example from my own life.)
For God will “Afflict us when we are too comfortable”, and He will “Comfort us when we are afflicted”, and all for His love’s sake and His high regard for our wellbeing.
AMEN.
