21st Jan 25

Good morning everyone,

 

I have been watching the news this morning, and apart from president trump and the Southport problems, I see no mention of the ceasefire in the Middle east. I hope that's because it's holding at the moment. I'm sure we would soon get news if it all collapsed. But I am quietly hopeful, praying that peace will soon be a stable entity throughout the region.....Ukraine next?

 

Today's reading is Amos 7.

This is what the Lord God showed me: he was forming locusts at the time the latter growth began to sprout (it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings). When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,

‘O Lord God, forgive, I beg you!

   How can Jacob stand?

   He is so small!’

The Lord relented concerning this;

   ‘It shall not be,’ said the Lord.

This is what the Lord God showed me: the Lord God was calling for a shower of fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. Then I said,

‘O Lord God, cease, I beg you!

   How can Jacob stand?

   He is so small!’

The Lord relented concerning this;

   ‘This also shall not be,’ said the Lord God.

This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘A plumb-line.’ Then the Lord said,

‘See, I am setting a plumb-line

   in the midst of my people Israel;

   I will never again pass them by;

the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,

   and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,

   and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.’

Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, ‘Amos has conspired against you in the very centre of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said,

“Jeroboam shall die by the sword,

   and Israel must go into exile

   away from his land.” ’

And Amaziah said to Amos, ‘O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.’

Then Amos answered Amaziah, ‘I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycomore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”

‘Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.

You say, “Do not prophesy against Israel,

   and do not preach against the house of Isaac.”

Therefore, thus says the Lord:

“Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city,

   and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,

   and your land shall be parcelled out by line;

you yourself shall die in an unclean land,

   and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.” ’

 

Reflection.....

Can mere mortals really make God change his mind? Amos, I have to say, is not the only biblical figure to have argued with God, but the wonder, and the conversation here, is not about who wins or loses here, but more about the fact that it took place at all! ...God does not seek unthinking obedience from his people, more that they have an engaged relationship that leads to full mental and spiritual development.

God would be our equal, not our creator, if he needed our friendship to make him complete, he doesn't seek us out because he is lonely, but because his relationship with us is God's very essence. The nature of love is to give; God exists in the three in one, his mutuality based in this orientation to relationship. For God to change his mind does not suggest that he is wrong or needs human input to correct that view. We are part of God's creation, and it depends on relationships for it to function. When we engage with God the world begins to right itself. Amos could see that his people were on the verge of bringing disaster upon themselves and the way to solve it was to restore that human-divine relationship.

Today's prayers....

Eternal Lord, our beginning and our end: bring us with the whole creation to your glory, hidden through past ages and made known in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Have a great day

Rev Rie