Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Readings- Amos 7: 7-17; Psalm 82; Colossians 1: 1-14; Luke 10: 25-37
How do we measure up? Amos envisioned God “setting a plumb line in the midst of [the] people Israel”. Do you want to live life to the fullest? Jesus answered that question for an attorney of his own day, and he answers it for us in our day. Have mercy! It is not about following all the rules. Have mercy! Be generous. Share what you have. Follow the guide of the foreigner, one outside the faith, the Good Samaritan. He shared his time. He went out of his way. He brushed aside the inconvenience. He shared his wine for cleansing. He shared his healing oil. He shared his transportation. He shared his lodging. He shared his money. All these are elements of the Good Samaritan story.
In our own day it would be like a Palestinian helping an Israeli, like a Russian helping a Ukrainian, like an Iranian helping an American.
How do we measure up? God’s plumb line is set.
Mercy for the Good Samaritan was up close and personal; for him was a getting down on his hands and knees; it was getting in the messiness of life. While the priest and the Levite chose to walk by on the other side of the beaten man, the Good Samaritan stopped.
In 1756 France was falling apart. Their revolution was beginning to ferment. Voltaire saw the chaos coming, and in his book, Candide, at its very end gave advice to the French of his day, via a Muslim Turk, “We must cultivate our garden”. In the midst of chaos, we are to stay close to home, we are to do the practical. We are to get our hands dirty. Rather than engage in naïve optimism and philosophical debate, we are to take personal action and personal responsibility, focusing on our own sphere of influence and surroundings. We are to keep it simple. KIS. Rather than trying to change the world, we are to look to the roads we walk for those who have been robbed and beaten, and to stop, to share cleansing wine, to share healing oil, to share transportation, to share our lodging, to share our finances.
How do we measure up? God’s plumb line is set.
In England during World War I, and again in World War II, when the bullets were flying and the bombs were dropping, the watch word was “Keep the home fires burning”.
From the Gospel according to St. Matthew —
You’re here to be a light, bringing out the God-colors in the world.
God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as
public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t
think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting
you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on
a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your
lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up
with God, this generous Father in heaven. (5:14-16) The Message
How do we measure up? God’s plumb line is set.
Like Amos, herder, dresser of sycamore trees, an agricultural worker, it is the common folk who do God’s will in their everyday living. They are the ones who show mercy and goodness.
The Psalmist (82) wrote – God takes the stand…
v. 3 Save the weak and the orphans; defend the humble and needy; v. 4 Rescue the weak and the poor, deliver them from the power of the wicked.
How do we measure up?
From Colossians – “bear fruit” of mercy and goodness, even in tough times
“be prepared to endure everything with patience”, and know [hold on to this] that God “has rescued us [saved us, claimed us] from the power of darkness and transferred us[already] into the kingdom of his beloved Son…”
Amen
