Speed Bumps

It started along the sea front and gradually migrated into suburbia. Now, even in my own street, within the next few months they will arrive: speed bumps. Those misshapen rolls of tarmac and bituminous paint whose aim it is to have an argument with my car’s mortal coils. Unlike certain Top Gear presenters, I appreciate the need for these bone shakers as they serve a valuable purpose reminding us of our surroundings and giving a wake up call to our (legal) obligations not to speed. The book of Amos is littered with ‘speed bumps’, uncomfortable but necessary reminders to the people of Israel and for us today to wake up and pay attention.

It sounds as if the Israelites had fallen asleep at the wheel, certainly with regard to their worship. The heater is full on, the radio is blaring and the windscreen wipers are doing that funny hypnotic thing that windscreen wipers do. They choose to ignore the rather large warning signs about the road conditions, fallen trees, potholes, fuel shortage and the small matter of earthquakes. They choose instead to rely on the false cosiness of the tin box in which they are travelling – shame about the four flat tyres. Then comes that speed bump, Amos 4 verse 12: ‘prepare to meet your God’. Did they even see it coming? The Israelites had chosen to ignore God and now they were going to be introduced to Him…formally. I sense that Amos struggles to find words to express the enormity of the impending presence of God. He looks around him and his eyes settle on the surrounding mountains: “see them? that’s God that is”. He stands amazed at the creative genius of the sun rising: “see that? that’s God that is”. As the Message puts it: ‘His name is God, God-of-the-angel-armies’. Talk about smelling the coffee.

It is a timely reminder of our relationship with God. God speaks directly into and through every part of our living. In the case of the Israelites he shows them hunger so that they should be reminded of their daily need for Him. He shows them thirst so that they should recognise the dire condition brought about by not relying on Him. He even puts stench in their nostrils to contrast with the sweet scent of being in His presence. It begs the question: what has God shown me today for me to hear him speaking? I cannot get away from those words: prepare to meet thy God. There is a clear sense of confrontation, as opposed to the psalmist who also mentions hunger and thirst (the good kind) and cannot wait to meet with God – Psalm 42 verses 1 & 2. There is a world of difference between meeting God and meeting with God.

So there we have it. It’s on this cliff hanger, with the bus teetering on the edge Italian Job fashion, that we wait for the outcome with Amos.  Are we there yet?…are we there yet?… are we there yet?

Greentea

Amos Chapter 4

So there were just the 4 of us. Abandoned for the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia by our leader and chef (only now could we really know how Take That felt without Robbie); and fortified by a poor substitute for his renowned breakfasts, we approached Amos 4 with more than a little trepidation.

We already knew that Amos is not an easy read and Chapter 4 certainly fell short on feelgood factor. Cos we immediately find that, if the Israelite men were bad, their womenfolk ("The Cows of Bashan"), are even worse, exhorting the men to exploit the poor and needy even more so that they can continuously gorge themselves on drinks and high living. God’s frustration then pours from every verse, you are even abusing special rituals (sacrifice) through empty hearted gesturing He says, why not just go to our special places (Bethel and Gilgal) and abuse those through sin as well. You are ignoring the warning signs I send you, He adds, even though your own history tells you how important these are.

And then the climax… "prepare to meet your God".

Here we were thinking Amos was one of the least well known books of the Bible and here we find one of the Bible’s most quoted verses, but now in its proper context the words revealing a power and authority that never could have been transmitted from the side of a barn or a poster outside a shabby little gospel hall in East Belfast. Judgement is coming for you all, and you are not prepared – are we?       

Justcoffeforme

Here, There & Everywhere; Brilliant Disguise; Shelter from the Storm & Into the Mystic

Isn’t it funny how people can see or pick up on different things from a piece of art? I read Graham Willmott’s book about my beloved Jam (Sounds from the Street) while on holiday and was somewhat surprised that, although Willmott clearly loved Weller, Foxton & Butler every bit as much as I do, his reviews of virtually every Jam album highlighted different “must hear” classic tracks from the ones I would have chosen. Equally, if I was to ask the lads across the breakfast table to name the most memorable track on, say Revolver, Tunnel of Love, Blood on the Tracks or Moondance for example, I would have started an argument so long that the Bibles would never get opened before 10:00 am! And guess what? If I asked the same question a month later everyone would pick different songs and still argue passionately for them!

So what’s all this got to do with Amos? Well I’ve found that each time I re-read my favourite single book from the Bible (John’s Gospel) I tend to pick up different and sometimes new things. Is this because I’m older? My mood is different? It’s a different time of year or even of the day? I’ve no idea at all but the chef’ll probably tell me next time I see him.

Anyway, we worked through Amos Chapter 3 last Saturday and one verse/image has stuck with me throughout this week. Verse 12 states:

“This is what the Lord says: ‘As a shepherd saves from the lion’s mouth only two leg bones or a piece of an ear, so will the Israelites be saved’”

Although what is happening in the Lebanon this week might lead one to conclude that the verse is frighteningly prophetic, to my mind what God has said to Amos here is that no matter how worthless and useless they might appear to the world (can you get more useless that a chewed bone and a piece of ear? – England football fans need not answer), these are still my people and I will love and value them.

How humbling – especially when we know now that God sent His only Son to die on the cross to pay for the sins that Amos has outlined in such graphic detail in Chapters one and two.

And isn’t the image of the shepherd putting his life at risk to pull the useless remnants from the Lion’s mouth a powerful one?

During his sermon last Sunday, the young preacher (and what a preacher!) reminded me how bad I would feel if someone I loved passed away an unbeliever and I then reflected on the many lost opportunities to witness to them – how pathetic would “it’s never really been my gift” sound then!

Moreover, Jesus tells us to love all our neighbours – even the chewed bones and pieces of ear – and there are a few of those around our neighbourhood. So how am I to answer him now?

Justcoffeeforme

Prophets & Prophecy

Considerable disagreement exists among the scholars about prophecy and how the prophets worked. One question that frequently raises its head is whether they were fore-tellers or forth-tellers.

Did God tell prophets in advance what would happen in relation to these nations and ultimately Israel and Judah enabling them to predict or fore-tell events? Or were they blessed by God with unique insight to the circumstances of their days and an ability to read the signs of their times to see the ultimate, inevitable consequences in the absence of repentance?

It’s an interesting question.

Who was the Audience?

The early chapters of the book seem to skirt around the real target. From Syria, to Philistia, to Tyre, three circling nations who had a history with Israel and Judah that was frequently violent. Then come Edom, Ammon and Moab who were sort of related to the people of God. Then Judah, part of the immediate family, but estranged, and therefore probably capable of stirring the most heat, just as in real life. And finally, the arrow strikes the heart, and God speaks directly to Israel.

I think it is interesting to note that when God was condemning these other nations, none of them are condemned for their abuse of God’s people. The judgments come because of a whole series of relational cruelties—every ‘because’ has a personal dimension (1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1). But when it comes to those who should have known better, the true reason for judgment is given as a rejection of the word of God (2:4, 12). This is the true source of abuse; reject what God says and people suffer.

And so a particular anger is reserved for those who think they have the God-thing sorted out. God, who is peculiarly patient with respect to judgment (for three…even for four), eventually will roar his verdict. And when he does so, there is particular fury reserved for God’s people.

Being part of the people of God is a fearful belonging when the time of judgment comes.

Middle Ground

Gods message to Amos: ‘I’m not putting up with this any longer’ presents a question to the breakfasteers: why does the thought of ‘judgement’ on this scale sit so uneasy in these days of ‘grace’? Is it because we treat it as an old fashioned idea or has God mellowed over the centuries? If God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow then why are we not subjected to His “roar” which could so easily shrivel the Mourne peaks? My head was gently reaching its own meltdown trying to apply a formula of thought usually saved for Sudoku when I arrived at the ‘middle’ ground.

It was a Good Friday church service and the words from John Chp.19 were being read, recounting the journey of Jesus from the residence of Pilate to Golgotha and onto the cross: “Here they crucified him, and with him two others – one on each side and Jesus in the middle” (vs18). The last four words stayed with me for the rest of the service. It got me thinking: Jesus in the middle or just one in a row? Today we often associate ‘middle’ ground with neutrality. For Jesus, middle ground meant heartland. He always told it as it was, not afraid of offending where appropriate. Which is why on Golgotha, Jesus is not just one in a row but right in the centre and thick of it. For all my recent attempts at teasing apart the relationship between judgement and grace whilst reading Amos, the shocking image remains of Jesus crucified: judgement and grace meet in holy alliance. God roared in Amos’ day, but would it be pushing it to suggest that he roared loudest at Golgotha? To deny the place of Gods ‘roar’ of judgement in 2006 is to deny His grace offered by the death and resurrection of his Son.

I recently watched a documentary about storm chasers in USA, and although gobsmacked at the visuals, I was struck at the audio recordings of the twisters. The rushing winds were described (accurately) as the sound of a lion roaring. Then came the ‘eye’, the middle ground, of the storm were the roar disappeared and a reassuring calm, a contrary environment prevailed. I offer this as a limited image of the relationship between judgement and grace: the reassuring environment of one set within the inseparable context of the other. Not neutral ground but ‘middle’ ground where Jesus stands.

Greentea

Got me Again

Just when I thought the boys were winning me over to the Old Testament, our Chef points us in the direction of Amos. At first reading it appeared that all of us whose initial thought about Amos was “miserable get from a farming community with big sideburns” were not too far off the mark!

But “Emmerdale” left Mr Wilkes’ sidekick behind a long time ago. Shouldn’t we Christians do the same with this bloke? And yet …….

Hear we are reading about inhuman treatment of fellow human beings a day after 90 people are slaughtered coming out of Friday prayers in Iraq.
Here we are reading about injustice and oppression of the poor during a time of great prosperity at a time when, even after Live 8, people are starving to death in Africa.

Here we are reading about young men being carried off into exile at a time when the world’s most powerful nation is breaking international law and detaining hundreds of people of around 35 different nationalities in Guantánamo Bay, without access to any court, legal counsel or family visits.

So lesson 1 then: Amos is as important to Christians in the Western World today as it was to the people of Judah and Israel some 2,700 years ago. Heat up the coffee Chef, you were right yet again!

Justcoffeeforme

Seeker-sensitive Communication

Don’t you just love the way Amos preaches? First of all, he’s the true outsider, coming as he does from Judah and preaching at the religious headquarters of Israel, the northern kingdom. But his message wins them over quickly. As they engage in their religious activity, no doubt also lamenting the godlessness of their enemies, Amos contributes to their religious xenophobia by condemning the surrounding nations in uncompromising terms.

“This is what the Lord says, ‘I will not turn away my wrath from Damascus…’ [cue the nodding of pious heads]. “And this is what the Lord says about Gaza…’ [more pious nodding and a shy Amen!], “and Tyre, they’ll not escape…” [prompting some loud applause], “And just in case you thought Edom had got away” [to the sound of vigourous applause and several 'preach it brother!'s] “neither is there hope for Ammon or Moab…” ['now we're talking' some are even doing what vaguely resembles a dance]….but wait, what’s that I hear Lord? JUDAH IS DONE FOR!…’ [to the sound of wild, hysterical cheering, several worshippers are slain in the spirit and awake with gold teeth in their mouths]

Then, “This is what the Lord say: ‘For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath…’”

Silence.

Too Much Judgment

It’s the message of judgment that is most disturbing. Several people referred to our preference these days for messages of grace. We did something that wouldn’t happen too often I guess; we read straight though from chp 1:1 all the way to 2:5, out loud and it was just unremitting in its intemperate language. God roared at the beginning, like a lion pouncing on its prey, and kept it up right through our reading, and I confess, that I wondered where we were going to go with this series of breakfasts.

As someone said, the various oracles against the nations unfolded with all the pattern and poetry of a Dylan song and boy did they hit home. What struck me was how each nation was condemned for their relational abuses. Damascus threshed Gilead, says the Lord, not with wooden threshes filled with wooden teeth, which normally separated the grain from the ears, but in a move of callous cruelty, replaced the wooden teeth with iron ones. Gaza held people captive, Tyre sold people into slavery and disregarded their common humanity, Edom pursued his brothers ruthlessly without compassion, Ammon destroyed generations of people to extend borders, Moab usurped the government of Edom, and Judah, for them it was worse. They rejected God’s law and were led astray by false gods.

All relational abuses. But since they were framed in terms of nations we all too easily jumped to the international level and saw these sins repeated by US and UK governments against Afghanistan and Iraq. Much harder to see how my individual behaviour abuses people for my own ends. Could it be that by drinking non-fairtrade coffee for instance I am contributing to the abuse of generations? Is my environmentally unfriendly lifestyle destroying the planet for the children of the future, and tantamount to ripping open pregnant women and killing the children.

The imagery is violent and disturbing and as such easily sidestepped by pious believers. Much harder to drill down into the material to see how it spotlights me, or my friends, or my church.

That’s why it’s best not to read it at all.

Live and Dangerous

A lot of people can remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news that J.F.Kennedy had been assassinated. For me the same is true when I heard of the death of Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy) on Jan.04 1986. This particular band formed a large part of my teenage formative years reflecting a mixture of rebellion, romance and rock – not necessarily in that order. I never could afford to go to a live concert so had to be content with wearing down the vinyl groove until distortion kicked in. Consequently I was left with the ‘cartoon’ image of the rock star in my head, which is exactly what Phil Lynott had intended, as I discovered having just finished Mark Putterford’s biography of the singer. Lynott loved to perpetuate the mytholological existence of the’rock star’ with a message at every gig. To to be honest the book was a little disappointing. I guess the bias in the book is more towards the origins of albums and their labels, for the anoraks, than it is about the life and person of Lynott. Still, it was important for me to revisit an old hero with a different mind set.

I have also recently been re-introduced to another man of stature, a character who I first came across at the same time of listening to Lizzy guitar riffs and pondering Jim Fitzpatrick album covers. At the men’s breakfast we have opened the can of social and moral worms (can you get worm flu?) that is Amos. A focussed individual with a hard hitting message at every gig. Here is a guy who could really get a crowd going. From the outset, Amos uses shocking lyrics to whip the fans up to a frenzy of righteous indignation against the injustices of another land. But this is where any comparison to a self obsessed rock star breaks down. Amos will go on (we sneaked a peek at the next gig) to unleash even greater venom and judgment on the fans themselves: the hard core, ticket touting, t-shirt selling, ballot rigging, head banging, boot legging, autograph hunting unwashed fans. And you wondered why he didn’t release more albums. There is a different ‘roar’ to be heard at these events: a roar that starts in those precious few moments before the main act takes to the stage. A roar that comes from backstage whilst the audience stand in stunned silence. It is the roar from Zion: God’s roar.

Is Amos the Geldof of his day? The scene is set for an interesting series of studies in Amos and I for one am looking forward to the challenges the book offers to my own faith walk (from paper recycling to music tastes). One thing is for sure: the boys are back in town.

Greentea