i'm preaching at the baptism of my nephew amos this weekend. the assigned texts are do not include anything from amos, but i'm going there anyway--how often does amos come up in the lectionary, anyway? well, i had to go look, but it turns out in the three year lectionary amos comes up five times, including all the 'famous passages' but not including most of the horrible blood and guts stuff. probably better that way.
so anyway, i had this passage on my mind as i rode to work, dropping grace off at abiyoyo preschool and then isaiah at edgewood school. yes, i know, the family biking is a bit precious. but anyway, i'm riding down whalley ave into downtown and thinking about how we've passed the peak oil production in the world. amos wrote 'seek good and not evil--and live! you talk about god being your best friend. well, live like it, and maybe it will happen!" (5:14, The Message). and i was laughing as two big trucks, one a suburban, would roar past me, only to be stuck at the next red light. i matched them, block for block, for two miles into town. every block, i'd zoom off and they'd roar past me, and then i'd catch them at the next light. it seems that we unintentionally separate evil from the mundane of everyday actions, but amos had a vision of faith lived daily, and that ultimate things are found in the little decisions we make.
i'm no zealot. i drive when it is raining or when the day is complicated with meetings here or there, or if i'm staying late. still, i think it is mighty easy to fall asleep in my privilege in this nation of wealth and not take seriously how amos and the prophets desire to shape my discipleship. live it, he says, and then we might actually build a friendship with god that by grace has been offered to us freely.
+peace
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