I. Theme – Participation in Christ’s Ministry and Mission
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Amos 7:7-15
Psalm – Psalm 85:8-13 Page 709, BCP
Epistle –Ephesians 1:3-14
Gospel – Mark 6:14-29
Today’s readings invite us to reflect on our participation in Christ’s mission and ministry. A unifying theme in today’s scriptures is that when we try to be people-pleasers, when we say what others want to hear, we are denying the fullness of God’s intention for us. Rather, when we give ourselves over to God–when we authentically praise God with our words, our actions, our very lives–we find our own fulfillment and satisfaction in participating in God’s reign on earth. However, if we are like Herod, wanting to hear the word of God but wanting to please others, we end up doing things contrary to the Gospel. We talk the talk but don’t walk the walk, so to speak. God’s desire for us is the fullness of life, and in order to achieve that we must give ourselves fully to God’s ways of justice, love and peace.
Sometimes, like Amos, following God’s call is very difficult, even life-threatening. Amos defends his prophetic calling in the face of opposition from Israel’s rulers. In 2 Samuel, David brings the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem with song and dancing. The author of Ephesians reminds us that God has chosen us from the beginning to share in the redemptive work of Christ. Jesus instructs and sends out twelve disciples to share in his ministry.
We might expect a drum roll, or at least a lightning flash, when God chooses human beings to participate in God’s work. Yet in today’s readings we see a more human, humble face of the choice described so beautifully to the Ephesians. God “chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.”
Amos is an example of the lord’s stamp of destiny on responsive people, whom God may call from any modest quarter, fill with the Holy Spirit, and commission to speak God’s word. Amos had no credentials as a prophet, and sounds rather bewildered that he was called away from his sheep and sycamores. Nevertheless, he had no doubt that he had been divinely called to speak God’s word.
Like the people in Nazareth who turned a deaf ear to Jesus, so Amos’s listeners rejected his unpopular message. In less than fifty years, however, his prediction came true.
When Jesus sent out twelve disciples, they were ill-equipped by our standards—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts, no extra clothes. Only sandals on their feet—to carry them to the receptive and away from the unreceptive; and a staff—a support for walking and perhaps a symbol of the shepherd’s profession. Neither were they prepared for their mission by understanding fully what it was all about. Jesus sent them out with a message that had made him offensive even to his own family. Yet something about him must have impelled them to go forth with the same message.
How then do we follow their model? Perhaps they show us that we needn’t have our own houses perfectly in order before we minister to others. Nor do we need to spruce up our credentials: apparently none of the disciples took theology courses in the seminary. Jesus calls them in their ordinary clothes, pursuing their usual routines. To do his work, it seems more important to have a companion than a new wardrobe.
Their willingness enables them to drive out demons and cure the sick. They discover powers they didn’t know they had. And people knew there had been followers of Jesus among them. These disciples had been chosen for an astonishing destiny.
II. Summary
Old Testament – Amos 7:7-15
Amos is the first of the prophets whose words have come down to us in a separate book. Although he was from Judah his mission was to the northern kingdom of Israel about the years 760—750 B.C. when, under Jeroboam II, the kingdom was at the height of its prosperity. Its wealth and power rested, however, upon injustice.
Today’s reading follows the third of five visions (7:1–9:6) of the lord’s judgment upon the people. In response to the first and second visions, Amos had interceded for the people and God had relented, but now the condition of the nation is made so evident Amos cannot plead for them. By the lord’s measure, they are irrevocably warped (2 Kings 21:13; Isaiah 34:11).
Amos has a difficult message for the people, and it is clear that the other priests, especially Amaziah, don’t like Amos’ message that clearly goes against everything they have been saying. Amos isn’t in it for the money or fame–he even says “I am no prophet, but a herdsman.”
Today’s reading describes what happens when Amos incurs the anger of Amaziah, the representative of civil religion, for attacking the king, and he is told to ply his trade elsewhere. Amos answers that he is not a ‘professional’ prophet. He does not make his living at it (1 Samuel 9:6-10), nor is he a member of the guild of prophets (2 Kings 2:3; 1 Samuel 10:5; 1 Kings 22:6). He is merely a shepherd and a dresser of sycamore trees. This seasonal occupation meant puncturing the fig-like fruit, food only for the poor, so that it would grow large enough to eat. Rather, Amos has been constrained by the lord to speak God’s word. (3:8b).
Amos cries out against the injustice and abuse he has seen in the earthly kingdom, a message that is unpopular, but must be told because God has called Amos. Both this reading and the passage from 2 Samuel suggest that following and responding to God are not always received well. Michal despises David for dancing naked, for it makes her feel ashamed, whereas David feels he is showing humility in his praise to God. Amaziah is angry that Amos’ message appears to be doom and gloom because it makes him and the other prophets look bad to have a prophet like Amos preaching challenging words, whereas Amos wants nothing to do with the earthly fame of being in the club of prophets–he wants to do what God has called him to do.
Psalm – Psalm 85:8-13 Page 709, BCP
Psalm 85:8-13 is also a psalm of praise, praise for the ways of God–righteousness and peace. This national lament gives thanks for the exiles’ restoration and recounts the people’s affliction and need for God’s continued help (vv. 4-6). The lord’s answer comes (vv. 8-13), perhaps as an oracle uttered by a prophet or priest.
The “right-ness” of God’s ways are in alignment with the ways of peace. We are called into God’s righteousness–right-living, seeking justice for all and loving our neighbor–and this is also the way of peace, lifting up the oppressed and bringing in the marginalized
Verses 10-11 beautifully reassure the people of God’s gracious care. These four qualities—steadfast love, faithfulness, righteousness, and peace—spring from God and are the genuine foundation for relationships among God’s people.
Epistle – Ephesians 1:3-14
This letter was probably first circulated as an encyclical letter to a number of churches, for there is no mention of Ephesus in the many early manuscripts or in quotations from the early fathers. You may say it is the first chain letter. There are no personal greetings, and the letter seems to presuppose that the recipients do not know Paul personally (1:15, 3:2-9). The letter may possibly have been a baptismal homily for new converts.
Chapter 1 centers on the privileges of the believer’s new life in Christ. This passage reminds us that we are all children of God, Jew or Gentile, because God has chosen all of us. The fulfillment of God’s desire is to gather all things in heaven and earth, all peoples, together. God has offered forgiveness and grace so that all of us might be gathered up to God.
After the initial greeting, the usual Pauline thanksgiving (which comes in 1:15-23) is displaced by a blessing in the form of a hymn. In Greek, verses 3-14 are one long sentence, linked by relative clauses and prepositional phrases. The hymn is trinitarian in emphasis, framed by the repeated phrase “the praise of his glorious grace” (1:6, the Father; 1:12, the Son; 1:14, the Holy Spirit), and centered about the revelation of God in Christ. Just as Christ’s mission of redemption was not a belated stop-gap measure on God’s part but rather part of God’s will for all time, so likewise the believer has been chosen to participate in that mission since “before the foundation of the world” (v. 4).
“The mystery of his will” (v. 9) is not an incomprehensible secret, but God’s age-long purpose now revealed in Christ. God’s aim is the unity of all things, heavenly and earthly, in Christ. The ultimate cosmic re-unification is to be shown forth on earth by the unity in the Church of Jew and Gentile (3:4-6). The individual believer appropriates a role in the Church through baptism, the sealing with the Holy Spirit, as the down payment on his new life (2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5; Romans 8:23).
Gospel – Mark 6:14-29
In this section of the gospel, Mark uses one of his familiar “sandwich” constructions to highlight the meaning of the mission of the disciples. In between their sending (vv. 7-13) and their return (v. 30), instead of narrating the details of their mission Mark recounts the death of John the Baptist. His message is clear: there is no privileged form of discipleship. Sharing in Jesus’ mission will always cost.
The earliest followers of Jesus, according to John’s Gospel, were followers of John the Baptist first. John heralded the way for Jesus. John was honest and did not hold back his thoughts on God’s ways, and for this, he ended up in prison. The Gospel accounts show us that Herod did not want John dead, but merely out of his way so Herod could continue to live the life he wanted to (married to his brother’s wife), but because his desire was to live as he wished, he wanted to please everyone–and in order to please his wife and stepdaughter, he had John killed. We all know people-pleasers. Living to please others rarely results in a life that is fulfilling.
In Mark’s gospel, the fate of John the Baptist and Jesus are closely linked. When John is arrested (Greek, handed over), Jesus then began his ministry (1:14). Now in the ministry section, the fate of John serves as a warning about the hardships that disciples will also face after Jesus’ death. John’s death also foreshadows the difficulties that Jesus must face in carrying out his mission. He will soon have to reveal to the disciples that his death must be an essential part of his messianic role (8:31, 9:31, 10:45).
Later in the gospel, John will once again be mentioned when Jesus arrives at Jerusalem and engages in his final controversies with the Jewish authorities before his death (11:27-33). The authorities’ inability to answer about the meaning of John and his authority leaves them also unable to decide about Jesus.
III. Articles for this week in WorkingPreacher:
Old Testament – Amos 7:7-15
Psalm – Psalm 85:8-13
Epistle – Ephesians 1:3-14
Gospel – Mark 6:14-29