CULTURE CRITICS — AMOS & JESUS
Amos 5:18-24; Matthew 25:1-13
24th Sunday after Pentecost; November 12, 2023
Pastor Ritva H Williams
Both of our scripture readings this morning are examples of prophetic critiques of society. Amos preached about thirty years before Assyrian Empire destroyed Israel in 722 BCE. He begins by indicting the kingdoms surrounding Israel: Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab for barbaric cruelty in warfare, atrocities against women and children, enslaving and exiling entire communities. He calls neighboring Judah to account for rejecting God’s commandments and idolatry.
Amos’ audience would have been nodding in agreement, convinced he and God were on their side, until he launches into three chapters of indictments against the wealthy ruling elites of Israel. They sell the innocent for silver and the needy for sandals, trample the poor and push the afflicted out of the way (2:7); store up arms and loot in their strongholds (3:10). They exploit the poor through over-taxation (4:10; 5:11), persecute the innocent and take bribes (5:12). They lead lives of luxury and idle pleasure while ignoring the misery they create (6:4-7).
In this morning’s reading, Amos declares that God hates and despises their festivals and solemn assemblies, refuses to accept or even look at their burnt offerings and sacrifices (they stink!), or listen to the music of their harps (5:21-23). These Israelite rulers were deeply religious people, committed to worshipping God. They were scrupulously diligent in following all rules about how and when to observe fasts and feasts, make sacrifices and bring offerings. Yet God passionately rejects their worship — not because it’s idolatrous or insincere — but because they have failed to establish justice and righteousness in their society.
Amos’ message is a warning for us. Jesus teaches us that the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Amos warns us that these commandments cannot be separated. As the writer of 1 John insists, anyone who says ‘I love God’ but hates another child of God is deluding themselves; if we can’t love God’s children whom they see, we cannot love God whom we cannot see (4:20). Bottom line, to borrow a quote from Dorothy Day, we only love God as much as we love our least favorite neighbor.
In our gospel reading we hear Jesus tell a parable that is confusing and strange, first of all, because it describes an event outside of our experience — an ancient middle eastern village wedding. In the cool of the evening, family, friends, and bridesmaids gathered in and around the groom’s family residence where they waited while the groom and his best friends went to get the bride from her father’s house. The groom would place the bride on a donkey, and with his friends deliberately take the longest possible route back home, wandering through as many streets of the village as possible so that the everyone could see and cheer them on. As they neared the groom’s home, the bridesmaids would come out and form an escort for the bride and groom, ushering them into the house where the party could finally begin.
In this parable the wedding party takes longer to arrive than expected and the bridesmaids all fall asleep. When the groom is finally sighted, they awaken to trim their lamps all of which are running low on oil.
This is where things get even weirder. Our reading talked about five foolish and five wise bridesmaids. But that’s not what the Greek says. The five who brought extra oil are described as phronemoi — prudent, shrewd, clever. The other five are labeled moros — morons or dimwits. The clever bridesmaids refuse to share their oil with the dimwits, because they’re afraid they might run out of oil — what if there isn’t enough to go around? These shrewd bridesmaids send the morons off to buy oil at midnight! Amazingly the dimwitted morons are successful, but return to the wedding banquet only to find the doors locked and the groom refusing to let them in.
This groom can’t be Jesus for two reasons: (1) Jesus tells his disciples to give to everyone who begs from you, and (2) Jesus promises that if we knock the door will be opened to us.
Conventional interpretations of this parable urge us to be like the shrewd and clever bridesmaids who like good boys scouts are always prepared. Personally, this parable makes me cringe. The labeling of the five bridesmaids as dimwitted morons over against the five clever ones makes me cringe. The behavior of the shrewd bridesmaids makes me cringe. So I offer an alternative interpretation.
In this parable, Jesus — like Amos — engages in a prophetic critique of society as it will unfold int he future. The clue is in verse 1 which begins with the word “then,” meaning “at that time.” What time? To figure that out we need to go back to the previous chapter where Jesus warns his disciples, “beware that you are not led astray” (24:4). He then discloses that God’s temple in Jerusalem will be desecrated and destroyed. The disciples will face persecutions, and experience the coming of the Son of Man one age/world ends and another begins. 40 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection Roman armies destroyed the temple, burned Jerusalem, killed and enslaved over a million Judeans.
The word “then” in chapter 25, verse 1refers to the future, when these things will happen. “At that time,” Jesus says, "the kingdom of heaven will be compared to….” The original Greek verb is in the future tense and in the passive voice. What that means is that Jesus did not say the kingdom of heaven will be like those 10 bridesmaids. We should rather understand Jesus to be saying,“in the future the kingdom of heaven will be compared to 10 bridesmaids.” Jesus does not say who will make such a comparison. My hunch it has been deeply religious folk like those Amos critiqued, like those who were offended by Jesus when he ate with sinners and outcasts, maybe even folk today who want to ban books, limit women’s access to reproductive health care, or deny gender affirming health care to those who need it.
No matter the point of this parable is to encourage us to keep awake and alert, to pay attention so that we are not led astray by people who imagine that God’s kingdom might actually be like this parable. Scripture gives us plenty of criteria by which we can evaluate not only the messages we hear in the world around, but also our own thoughts and biases. Always ask yourself how does this idea or message, this interpretation or preaching help me love God and my neighbor? Does it remind me of:
the steady refrain throughout scripture that God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (Exodus 34:6)
the promise that nothing in all of creation can or will ever separate us from God’s love in Christ (Romans 8:38)
the truth that God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5),
the reality that God lives in us and God’s love will be perfected in us (1 John 4:12)
Christ’s final command to love one another as he loves us (John 13:34-35).
Let me conclude with the poem, "Love So Easily Gets Lost” by Joyce Rupp.
love so easily gets lost in the winding caverns of the distracted heart,
pushed to the far corners, forgotten in the rush and run of everyday stress,
ignored in the folly of anger, rigidity, disdain,
unattended in the fog of depression and desolation.
love waits without whining,
stands tall and strong in the prison of forgetfulness, waits to be released.
love needs more than a valentine’s paper message, more than a hurried hello.
love longs to be called forth from the heart’s hiddenness,
yearns for faithful attention, uncluttered awareness.
listen, hear the stirring within, reach to where love eternally resides.
call love out from the deep recesses.
embrace what is so easily lost in a fragile uncertain world.
May that final stanza be our prayer for this day: O Lord call love out from the deep recesses of our hearts and souls. Help us embrace the love that is so easily lost in a fragile and uncertain world. Amen.
