Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Richard Davenport September 25, 2022 - Proper 21 Amos 6:1-7 Laurie and I have a problem. We just aren't very good at vacationing. Usually when you think of taking a vacation, its going off somewhere to relax, unwind, and forget about the daily cares of life for just a while. You picture going off on a cruise for a week and enjoying the time sailing about, the warm weather and the sea breeze, the food and entertainment. You picture going camping and being out in the wilderness out away from all the busyness and noise of civilization where the only sounds are the breeze and chirping birds, where you can finally hear yourself think and there is nothing to intrude on your peace. When Laurie and I are vacationing, unless it's with extended family, we don't really do any of those kinds of things. We took our honeymoon to Seattle, in part because it had a lot of things to see and do around town and the public transportation was good enough we didn't need a car. We were there for a week or so and each day we'd get back to where we were staying at the end of the day and promptly fall into bed dead tired. There was just so much we wanted to do. So many things to see. Museums, tours, restaurants, and walking, so much walking. We enjoyed ourselves and saw a lot of really interesting things. We learned a lot and had some great food, but we had utterly failed to rest and relax. It's been a problem for us all along. We've recognized the problem and are thinking we might try and do some of that relaxing stuff. We'll see how it goes. People spend their vacations in all sorts of ways. Sometimes taking vacation isn't about an actual vacation at all, you just need to be free from your regular responsibilities for a little while so you can go deal with some other crisis. When others hear about vacations that are all business or are packed with an exhausting amount of activity, you'll hear the well-known quip, "You need a vacation from your vacation." There are definitely times that's felt true for us. It makes sense though. If your activity level, your stress level, isn't any different between your vacation and your work, why bother taking a vacation? The same could also be said in the other direction. If your life is so relaxing, so tranquil, so comfortable that things couldn't really get any better, than why bother taking a vacation? The message God gives to Israel through the mouth of the prophet Amos deals with this issue. Prior to our reading for today is another passage that shows up in our lectionary, "Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?" The people were looking for the promised day of the Lord. This is the day when God would bring peace, security, prosperity, and much more to Israel. They wait for it eagerly, not because they lack peace, prosperity, and such, but because they want more of it. They want God to shower them with everything they could possibly want. They want luxury and comfort and they want it to last forever. When God's day comes, and it will, it will not be pleasant for them at all. Everything that normally brings you safety and comfort will be taken away. Every place that is normally a place of security will become a place of danger and fear. Light brings security, for things can be seen clearly in daylight, but the day of the Lord will not be daylight at all, but darkest night. You escape from a lion and believe yourself safe from harm, only to run into a bear. You arrive home, where safety is your expectation, but instead you are bitten by a snake. The day of the Lord will turn everything upside down, all expectations the world proclaims will turn out to be wrong. This is what Israel finds as the Assyrian empire rolls through. The Assyrians do not bring peace. They do not bring security. They do not bring prosperity. Instead the people of Israel are scattered to the four winds and few ever live in the land again. Those that do intermarry with other nations. They are called Samaritans and treated as foreigners themselves. They never get back what they had lost. Amos speaks out against the leaders of Israel and Judah again in chapter 6. These are people living a life of indolence and luxury, who want for nothing. These are people who don't need to take a vacation, because what need have they of relaxation? What's more, they're doing religious things. The Hebrew conceals things a bit, but the bowls they are drinking from are those used in religious rites. In modern times we might say they are drinking the consecrated Communion wine right out of the bottle without any regard for propriety or proper use. Not only that, but the revelry they are engaged in is a feast which was well known for excess and debauchery. These are people who are dedicated to having a good time, to living life in comfort. The day of the Lord will still come, but again, this day will turn everything upside down. Those who have enjoyed living in comfort the longest will be the first ones to lose that comfort and go into exile where life will be hard and no one will be there to comfort them. The day of the Lord will come for all of them, none will escape. The day of the Lord's judgment that came for Israel and Judah in Old Testament times was a foreshadowing of the final day of the Lord, when he comes once again to complete everything he has set out to do. What happened during that earlier time will happen again, only on a grander scale. Everything will be turned upside down. This is what Jesus is continuously warning people about as he travels and teaches. He tells the crowds the day of the Lord will come like a thief, a thief who comes at night. He tells the crowds that the last will be first and the first will be last. He tells the crowds the day will not be one of comfort and peace, but of upheaval, of great change. He tells the crowds to always be ready and not be caught sleeping. He tells the crowds parables such as the one we find in our Gospel reading, where those who seek comfort and prosperity in this life will find it, but only in this life. Now, is God saying comfort and prosperity are bad? No, not at all. God even grants these gifts to his people on an individual or even a national basis. But, if your goal in life is to make it one long vacation, to go from day to day without a care in the world, if that has become more important to you than anything else, then something has gone terribly wrong and you are in great danger of being caught unprepared. When Luther is trying to evaluate whether a particular place or group of people can be considered a church, he lists a number of different criteria or "marks" to look for. One of these marks of the church is that the church is in conflict with the world around it. Are the people who call themselves a church avoiding its responsibility to address sin and call the world to repentance? Is the group trying to avoid being the target of hostilities? Is it trying to just get along with anyone and everyone, no matter what they say or do? Is the group seeking peace and comfort above all else? If so, then the group of people is probably not a church, because they are worshipping something other than God. As Luther would say, their god is their bellies. God wants you to know peace and prosperity, lives of ease and happiness are not bad in themselves, but they are not things we seek above all else. They, like all good things, are undeserved gifts and, when we have them, we give thanks for them. Whether we have them or not doesn't change who we are or what God has done for us. His salvation extends beyond this world into eternity. We are not called to get what we want while disregarding the needs of others. We are not called to prioritize luxury and happiness in this life, especially when it comes at the cost of eternity. Instead, we are called to look to God for all things, to depend on him in all things. We are called to trust in his love for us and his willingness to do what is necessary to save us. God would love nothing more than to shower us with everything we could possibly want right here, but he understands sin much better than we do. He knows that kind of contentment, that life of ease can be dangerous. It might lead you to think the day of the Lord doesn't apply to you, that God will just bring you more of the same. But those who think they are safe and secure living their own little lives will be the first ones to go into exile. Those who depend on the Lord, no matter their social status or economic stability, will be the first to enter into his eternal kingdom. Everything you have is a gift from God. Even his grace and your status as a child of God is a gift, a loving and undeserved gift. Give thanks that he has forgiven you in all things, even the times when you think you are fine on your own and you stop coming to him. Give thanks for the times of peace and the times of ease, but know they are gifts too and he has not promised they will last. Give thanks that the day is coming when God turns everything upside down and those fleeting moments of peace then stretch on to eternity. Focus instead in being busy about the Lord's work. God wants everyone to have what he has given you. He wants everyone to be ready and waiting for his arrival, to not be on the wrong side of things when he turns the world upside down. As you repent of your sins and know God's grace, confront the sins in the world around you, that others may repent and know that grace and forgiveness too. Give thanks for what the Lord has given you, that others may see what they have not as something earned or something that was due them, but as the gifts of a loving God who has sacrificed everything just to have his people back.