Being at Odds

Jim and Debbie:

Amos 7:10-17
Revelation 1:9-16
These passages both demonstrate how dangerous the word of God can be. Amos 7:10 tells us how Amazia, the priest in the temple of Bethel—the royal sanctuary for Israel after the division from Judah—took issue with the proclamation of Amos. “Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, ‘Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words.’” Revelation 1:9 describes the situation that John found himself in. “I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” These men are in trouble with the powers that be because of their devotion to God’s word. Those, then, who expect faithful obedience to God to lead to ease and comfort are likely mistaken. Often faithfulness will put us at odds with the world or with our society. Then we may have to choose where to place our hope and our confidence. Do we choose the path of least resistance in this life, the way that leads to easy acceptance from the world? Or do we remain faithful to God’s will even when it leads us to speak against the powers of the world? Amos and John obviously choose to serve God with as much faithfulness as they could muster, and it got them in trouble. One should never take the word of God lightly.

Psalm 146
Verses 3 and 4 echoes the choices that people of faith are called to make. “Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is not help. When their breath departs they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.” Faith leads us to make our decisions based on God’s will, not on the basis of earthly powers, for in the end, only God’s will remains and all the power and might of the earth will be cast away.

Matthew 22:34-46
Of course Jesus was no stranger to controversy. Far from being gentle, meek, and mild, Jesus was forceful and aggressive in asserting the truth of God’s word, especially when it stood in conflict with the perceptions and assumptions of the religious community.