Links for today’s readings:
Apr 22 Read: Amos 6 Listen: (2:13) Read: Matthew 26 Listen: (10:01)
Scripture Focus: Amos 6:1, 4
1 Woe to you who are complacent in Zion,
and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria,
you notable men of the foremost nation,
to whom the people of Israel come!
4 You lie on beds adorned with ivory
and lounge on your couches.
You dine on choice lambs
and fattened calves.
Reflection: Let Them Eat Cake
By Erin Newton
“Better a low motive than no motive,” my mother used to say. The statement was always somewhat of a joke, noting how action was at least better than inaction. As far as a Christian ethic is concerned, I don’t think it’s really the mindset we are supposed to adopt. But what about inaction? If action is better than inaction, is inaction better than… wrong action? Or are they both just as bad?
Amos declares to Israel’s elite that they are complacent. Complacency is defined as: “marked by satisfaction with the status quo especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies.” Satisfied with the status quo alongside obliviousness toward danger. Synonyms are “self-satisfied” or “unconcerned” or “apathetic.” Amos could have just said, Woe to you who are satisfied with how things are and are oblivious to the dangers in Israel.
Do they approve of the dangers in Israel? It doesn’t necessarily say that they are participating in the danger or that they are financing or supporting the evil around them. They simply do not care enough to react.
The “notable men of the foremost nation” implies that these were the elite, the powerful, the important leaders of the community. What are they doing? They are lounging. They are lying around in their fancy furnishings. They are eating their expensive foods. They are comfortable. They lack nothing. But most importantly to God, they lack empathy.
Sometimes we view overt sinful actions as the worst thing we can do. That mindset leads us to avoid evil (which is a good thing) but can lead us to avoid doing anything. Amos reminds us that there is something just as bad as doing evil, it is to care so little that we do nothing.
Why don’t the notable people of Israel do or say something? I assume they fear losing the luxuries they have. Like Marie Antoinette, when faced with the starving multitudes who beg for a crumb of bread, the elite shrug and reply, “Let them eat cake.”
Maybe the fear is not just losing one’s own comforts but not knowing where provisions will come from. In contrast to this apathetic mindset, Jesus faced a multitude of hungry people and told his disciples, “Feed them.”
Complacency is abhorred by God just as much as sinful actions. Let us open our eyes and loosen our grips to see the dangers in our community and then do something.
Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
Jesus said to the disciples: “In truth I tell you, when everything is made new again and the Son of man is seated on his throne of glory, you yourselves will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or land for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times as much, and also inherit eternal life. Many who are first will be last, and the last, first.” — Matthew 19.28-30
– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle
Read more: Of Pride and The Sword
Jesus pointedly referenced the theme of the sword in scripture…a warning to Peter and…a condemnation of religious leaders and the empire with which they were partnering.
Read more: Victims and Victimizers
Let us be humble and repentant. Otherwise, God may become terrifying to us and bring comfort, peace, and justice to our victims.
