Author: John Tillman

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Fat Cows and Fat Cats

Links for today’s readings:

Apr 20  Read: Amos 4 Listen: (2:21) Read: Matthew 24 Listen: (5:59)

Scripture Focus: Amos 4.1-3

1 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, 

you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy 

and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!” 

2 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness: 

“The time will surely come 

when you will be taken away with hooks, 

the last of you with fishhooks. 

3 You will each go straight out 

through breaches in the wall, 

and you will be cast out toward Harmon,” 

declares the Lord.

Reflection: Fat Cows and Fat Cats

By John Tillman

Amos called Samaria’s women “cows of Bashan.” He wasn’t body shaming, but he was drawing attention to shameful things.

Just as the poet of Song of Songs was not insulting the bride by saying her hair was like a flock of goats (Song of Songs 4.1; 6.5), Amos was not insulting the physical appearance of these women by comparing them to prize cattle.

The region of Bashan was a symbol of wealth and power. Bashan had rugged mountains and terrain (Psalm 68.15-16), towering forests of strong trees (Ezekiel 27.6; Isaiah 2:12-14; Zechariah 11.2), and strong, well-fed cattle of all kinds. These fattened animals were desirable for eating (Ezekiel 39.18) and for sacrifices.

In agrarian societies, cattle are a symbol of culture and wealth. This is why Pharaoh saw fat and skinny cows in his warning dream about the famine. (Genesis 41.1-4) Amos’s “fat cow” metaphor is less instinctive to our finance-driven society, but “fat cats,” which is similarly unrelated to physical appearance, still resonates today. 1920s journalists coined “fat cats” to shame ultrawealthy industrialists and robber-barons who had outsized influence on political campaigns and public policy. Their influence contributed to increasing poverty and the Great Depression. 

Amos shamed the wanton appetites and greed of Samaria’s society that contributed to the oppression of the poor. Their hearts, not their bodies, were misshapen and we can find the same “heart” in our society. Amos would not have to look far today to find “cows of Bashan” and “fat cats” and we don’t either.

Don’t make excuses, thinking Amos only meant uber-wealthy people. His condemnation is broader. Amos wasn’t just talking about rich women—he included everyone. Take the log from your eye first. (Luke 6.41-42) Much more is demanded of those who have been given much (Luke 12.48), however, greed is not just a sickness of the wealthy. It infects us all.

Our society promotes and celebrates unfettered appetites of greed and pleasure. If you want it, you need it. If you need it, you take it. Or, better yet, force someone to give it to you. We cannot sit in this river passively—we’ll be swept away to destruction. We must constantly resist the current by paddling toward mercy, benevolence, and equal justice and anchoring ourselves to the generosity of Christ.

Like God, look at the heart, not outward appearance. (1 Samuel 16.7) It is shameful for those blessed by the generosity of Jesus to find our hearts shaped by greed. Continually confess and repent this cultural influence of greed and power.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

For the sake of your Name, lead and guide me. — Psalm 31.3

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Prepared to Meet God

Through the mediation of Jesus, we can prepare to meet God with confidence.

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Read more: Cherishing Chaff

Many things the disciples prized, Jesus recognized as poison. Many things they cherished Jesus called chaff in the wind.

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Burden Bearers

Links for today’s readings:

Apr 17  Read: Amos 1 Listen: (2:38) Read: Matthew 21 Listen: (7:10)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Apr 18  Read: Amos 2 Listen: (2:12) Read: Matthew 22 Listen: (4:56)
Apr 19  Read: Amos 3 Listen: (2:11) Read: Matthew 23 Listen: (4:53)

Scripture Focus: Amos 1.1-2

1 The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa—the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel. 
2 He said: 
“The LORD roars from Zion 
and thunders from Jerusalem;

Reflection: Burden Bearers

By John Tillman

Amos, the fig picker and shepherd prophet, was an outlier. He was not trained as a prophet, was not a part of the priestly lineage or profession, and was not a part of the higher class of educated people from whom most prophets came. And even if all of that were not the case, he was an out-of-towner. He came from the southern kingdom of Judah to the northern kingdom of Israel to confront one of Israel’s most powerful and successful kings.

Financially and militarily, Israel was at its peak of power when Amos arrived. 

Because of God’s compassion for the people, God had used Jeroboam II to save them militarily, despite his being an evil king. (2 Kings 14.23-27) But God would also remove him. Bad news was coming. The good times were about to be over. The country was proud, powerful, and profitable, but the stench of spiritual rot was real, and the wealth of the few was squeezed from the poor. (Amos 4.1-2)

Amos would have been comfortable among the fishermen-followers of Jesus. When these men confronted the religious elite of their day, the Sanhedrin were astonished that “they were unschooled, ordinary men…” (Acts 4.13) 

Amos shared the background of the shepherds in the fields who heard of Jesus’ birth. He would have been more familiar with the smell of the sheep and the fields than temple courts and palaces. But instead of carrying “good news of great joy,” Amos carried news of great suffering, judgment, and disaster.

Amos’s name means “burden” or “burden bearer” and he certainly bore a burden. He was burdened with bad news. Yet, the Lord was still willing to relent. (God turned back two judgments due to Amos’s prayers. Amos 7.1-6) Amos was burdened with a love for Judah and Israel. Yet, he would be accused of being an unpatriotic outsider and a conspirator against the king. (Amos 7.10-17)

Part of the “good news” of the gospel is the “bad news” of our sins. This is a part of the burden we bear toward others to speak this truth to them in love.

May we, like Amos, be burdened to intercede and intervene. 

May we bring to others the news that Jesus Christ will, if we ask him to, bear our burdens of sin and spare us as a remnant from the judgment to come.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

You are the Lord, most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods. — Psalm 97.9

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: The Discrepancy of the Fig Tree

The fig tree discrepancy that concerns Jesus is the discrepancy between outward posturing and the true fruit of faith. Truly flourishing faith produces deeds.

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Prayer in our Vocation

Links for today’s readings:

Apr 16  Read: Joel 3 Listen: (3:20) Read: Matthew 20 Listen: (4:22)

Scripture Focus: Matthew 20.25-26

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.”

Reflection: Prayer in our Vocation

By John Tillman

In his book, Letters to Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayer, C.S. Lewis complained that he found it ironically unhelpful to turn into a church for midday prayers.

There always seems to be someone practicing the organ or noisily going about cleaning and mopping. “Of course, blessings on her,” Lewis says. “‘Work is prayer,’ and her enacted oratio is probably worth ten times my spoken one.”

We have not held tightly to the concept of work as prayer. We see work as occupation—something that takes time we would spend elsewhere. Christians have the unique opportunity to see work as vocation—choosing to give to others on behalf of Christ.

To some, it might be a surprise that one of the primary definitions of the word “vocation” is a divine calling. One does not have to be a staff member of a church or an employee of a Christian ministry (or even a volunteer, noisily cleaning up the sanctuary and disturbing an Oxford don’s prayers) to turn grudging occupation into prayerful vocation.

One prominent example of prayerful, secular work is Fred Rogers. Despite the lack of overt religious expression on his show, Mister Rogers was an ordained minister whose specific assignment was to serve children and families through mass media. And serve them he did.

Paying tribute to Rogers on NBC Nightly News, reporter Bob Faw said, “The real Mister Rogers never preached…he never had to.” Following his spiritual calling in no way interfered with Rogers becoming one of the most successful and respected television professionals of all time.

For every believer, the gospel is our vocation. We learn to express it through our occupations.

Rogers’ spiritual discipline and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit made his show a vehicle for the gospel without explicit language of faith. Many of our readers work in faith-negative environments where faith is unwelcome, but that doesn’t mean each action can’t communicate a gospel-filled love to others.

In our careers, we have a choice between the drudgery of meaningless tasks and the honor of serving others around us in Christ’s name. If we need a picture of what that looks like, it may be helpful to us to turn on an episode of “the neighborhood.”

May we make our work our prayer.

By every action, may we pray for our co-workers, our customers, our city, and our world.

Reflection: Prayer in our Vocation

By John Tillman

In his book, Letters to Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayer, C.S. Lewis complained that he found it ironically unhelpful to turn into a church for midday prayers.

There always seems to be someone practicing the organ or noisily going about cleaning and mopping. “Of course, blessings on her,” Lewis says. “‘Work is prayer,’ and her enacted oratio is probably worth ten times my spoken one.”

We have not held tightly to the concept of work as prayer. We see work as occupation—something that takes time we would spend elsewhere. Christians have the unique opportunity to see work as vocation—choosing to give to others on behalf of Christ.

To some, it might be a surprise that one of the primary definitions of the word “vocation” is a divine calling. One does not have to be a staff member of a church or an employee of a Christian ministry (or even a volunteer, noisily cleaning up the sanctuary and disturbing an Oxford don’s prayers) to turn grudging occupation into prayerful vocation.

One prominent example of prayerful, secular work is Fred Rogers. Despite the lack of overt religious expression on his show, Mister Rogers was an ordained minister whose specific assignment was to serve children and families through mass media. And serve them he did.

Paying tribute to Rogers on NBC Nightly News, reporter Bob Faw said, “The real Mister Rogers never preached…he never had to.” Following his spiritual calling in no way interfered with Rogers becoming one of the most successful and respected television professionals of all time.

For every believer, the gospel is our vocation. We learn to express it through our occupations.

Rogers’ spiritual discipline and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit made his show a vehicle for the gospel without explicit language of faith. Many of our readers work in faith-negative environments where faith is unwelcome, but that doesn’t mean each action can’t communicate a gospel-filled love to others.

In our careers, we have a choice between the drudgery of meaningless tasks and the honor of serving others around us in Christ’s name. If we need a picture of what that looks like, it may be helpful to us to turn on an episode of “the neighborhood.”

May we make our work our prayer.

By every action, may we pray for our co-workers, our customers, our city, and our world.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. — Psalm 95.6Read more: Unprecedented Peace

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Misleading the Least

Links for today’s readings:

Apr 14  Read: Joel 1 Listen: (2:59) Read: Matthew 18 Listen: (4:25)

Scripture Focus: Matthew 18:6–9

6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.


From John: We return to this 2021 post today, at a time when the Epstein files and other scandals have revealed many who may need millstones, if we interpreted this passage literally. It is also a time in which we need to remember again that “these little ones” is not solely about age or the abuse of children, but the deception of those who believe in Jesus. Many today, old and young, are being led to stumble by algorithms (which is to say by the profit-motivated creators of those algorithms), by politicians, and by Christian influencers who spread cultural ideology and call it “biblical.” It’s easy and quick to focus outward and point fingers of blame. It’s better to focus inward and take responsibility for our own actions. Be wary. Devote yourselves to the scriptures. Watch out for the “little ones” around you.

Reflection: Misleading the Least

By John Tillman

The gospels record many times that people asked Jesus about “the greatest.”

There are religious debates about the greatest commandments and, multiple times, in many different settings, the disciples approach Jesus about, or are caught by Jesus arguing about, “the greatest.” (Matthew 18.1-3; 23.11; Luke 9.46; Mark 9.34)

Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven…
Can my two sons sit in the greatest seats…
Which of us is the greatest…

We want to know, don’t we?

Jesus definitively stated that the greatest in the kingdom should be the least, the lowest, the small, the “little ones.” Jesus used a child in this example, but did not use the Greek word referring to age. The word Jesus chose, translated little, implies low status or being unimportant. 

The unimportant, Jesus says, are of the greatest importance, but we, like the disciples, don’t quite believe it. We want to be important, big, mature, strong, and dominant. We want to win. In pursuit of importance and status we grasp at power. We grasp at fame. We grasp at wealth. All the grasping we engage in to be the greatest is meaningless—chasing after wind.

This is challenging enough to our sinful nature, but what comes next is more chilling. Jesus has a stark warning for the leaders of the little. To those leaders and influencers who, through actions or words, may cause “little ones” to stumble comes one of the most graphic pictures of punishment to cross the lips of Jesus. If Christ’s metaphor about millstones had been carried out literally through history, there might not be room in the oceans for the millstones and the irresponsible leaders tied to them by the neck.

Woe to leaders who mislead. Woe to influencers who cause others to stumble. Woe when we manipulate rather than educate. Woe when we foment sin rather than form spiritual morality. Woe when we lie and deceive rather than unfailingly cling to the truth.

Have we caused others to stumble? If so, how?

By being an example of greed or any other sin? By spreading a lie? By keeping silent in the face of injustice? By sharing an inflammatory post? By provoking others? By being purposely insensitive? By manipulating people?

May we repent of any of our actions or words that may have caused others to stumble. It is better for us to cut those actions out of our lives than to cause harm to others.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

I will bear witness that the Lord is righteous; I will praise the Name of the Lord Most High. — Psalm 7.18

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

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Not every crisis is a judgment. But we would be wise to look first to our own hearts and our own sins rather than blaming outside forces or the sins of unbelievers.

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From Kissing Calves to Choosing Life

Links for today’s readings:

Apr 13  Read: Hosea 14 Listen: (1:39) Read: Matthew 17 Listen: (3:46)

Scripture Focus: Hosea 13.2-3

2 Now they sin more and more; 

they make idols for themselves from their silver, 

cleverly fashioned images, 

all of them the work of craftsmen. 

It is said of these people, 

“They offer human sacrifices! 

They kiss  calf-idols!” 

3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist, 

like the early dew that disappears, 

like chaff swirling from a threshing floor, 

like smoke escaping through a window. 

Hosea 14.1-2, 5-8

1  Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. 

Your sins have been your downfall! 

2 Take words with you 

and return to the Lord. 

Say to him: 

“Forgive all our sins 

and receive us graciously, 

that we may offer the fruit of our lips.  

5 I will be like the dew to Israel; 

he will blossom like a lily. 

Like a cedar of Lebanon 

he will send down his roots; 

6 his young shoots will grow. 

His splendor will be like an olive tree, 

his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. 

7 People will dwell again in his shade; 

they will flourish like the grain, 

they will blossom like the vine— 

Israel’s fame will be like the wine of Lebanon. 

8 Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? 

I will answer him and care for him. 

I am like a flourishing juniper; 

your fruitfulness comes from me.”

Reflection: From Kissing Calves to Choosing Life

By John Tillman

God sets before humans life or death. From the very first pages of the Bible, (Gen 2.15-17) this pattern repeats. (Deut 30.19-20) It continues in Hosea’s closing chapters.

As Hosea is writing, things are bleak. The government is corrupt. Leaders are inept. War and destruction are not theoretical possibilities or strategic risks—they are kicking down the door. Every drop of blood and tears is the result of people’s choices.

They chose to “kiss” golden calves over the true God. (Hosea 13.2) They chose to defraud the poor. (Hosea 5.10) They chose to shield themselves from legal consequences using wealth. (Hosea 12.7-8) They celebrated rulers who delighted in wicked lies. (Hosea 7.3-7) They planted wickedness instead of righteousness and now, it was harvest time. (Hosea 8.7) 

We probably ask, as God did, “Why will you die, people of Israel?” (Ezekiel 18.31-32; 33.11) Why choose death?

They kissed golden calves, claiming they were kissing God. (Exodus 32.4; 1 Kings 12.28) We are vulnerable to the same self-deception. We can also cry out, “These are your gods, Israel,” while kissing an idol.

Meditate on Israel’s choices and consider ours as individuals, communities, and nations. What golden calves do we kiss? Which vulnerable people do we defraud? What leaders spewing wicked words and deeds do we celebrate? What offenders do we forgive because of partiality to wealth, importance, political tribe, or community status?

Why do we keep choosing death? We are chasing power, lust, greed or something else that promises to be good but actually brings death. We kiss calves. (Romans 7.15-24)

Just as Hosea did not hold back horrific images of the consequences of choosing death, he does not hold back beautiful images of the blessings of choosing life. Hosea concludes with a hopeful, garden-like scene, describing the life-giving results of repentance.

Repentance means lips that turn from kissing idols to confess, repent, and praise God and hands that establish peace and security in which all people flourish and blossom, dwelling in the shade of righteousness. Repentance goes beyond inward devotion and not kissing golden calves. Repentance brings flourishing life and shows tangible love for both neighbor and enemy.

Jesus offered life, both physical and spiritual. Jesus fed, healed, and clothed people, paid Peter’s taxes and cast out moneychangers. Jesus also banished demonic influences, shame, and guilt, bringing freedom to hearts, minds, and souls.

There is no area, from the inner heart of an individual to the outer expressions of charity in a society, that are not affected by our call to choose life.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

Then he went into the Temple and began driving out those who were busy trading, saying to them, “According to scripture, ‘my house shall be a house of prayer’ but you have turned it into ‘a bandit’s den.’” — Luke 19.45-46

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

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