Advent 11…Famine

Issue one:
North Carolina has been much in the news this year after the state legislature made numerous changes to state laws which impacted the poor in significant ways. Public education, a foundational value of this state for many, many years, continues to be slashed. I have my opinions on how government should run, and so do people on the opposite side of the political spectrum. I'm not sure who is right…in good Presbyterian fashion, I believe the wisdom of a diverse group of people committed to each other, the country and their neighbors would make good decisions. I'm not seeing that happen much of anywhere. NC is not the only place this is happening. The nation reflects the pattern, perhaps even more intensely.

Issue two:
The state of the mainline church in today's America is nothing to write home about in most cases. We are worried. For years, we have looked for the "answer." Worship style, preaching style, buildings, lack of buildings, bicycle churches, coffee-shop churches…we haven't hit on "the answer" that we are pretty sure is out there somewhere. (We seem to be wrong about that.)

Issue three:
The 8 chapters of Amos repeat his primary theme. God doesn't want us to hurt the poor and oppressed. Today's reading after Amos calls out the people for trampling on the needy, bringing ruin to the poor of the land, making the "weight" of the wheat small and the price great, buying "the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals" (my image, pawn shops…):

The time is surely coming, says the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it.

Conclusion:
I leave this to you. I know where my prayers lie today. I recognize the attitudes God's people are called to cultivate. I see the judgment on my thoughtless, oppressive behaviors, and thanks be to God he doesn't give up on turning us again and again and again to who we should be as God's people.

God's advent into the world requires a repentant people. May I, in every way, be one of those.