We Are the Plumb Line

One of two tall sycamore trees at our home in the Houston Heights.

We Are the Plumb Line

AMOS 7:1-15 (NRSV)

7 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. 8 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;

9 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.”

10 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. 11 For thus Amos has said,
‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
    and Israel must go into exile
    away from his land.’”

12 And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; 13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

14 Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, 15 and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

We are reminded in the book of Amos, of who God loves within the world. God chose Israel for a special task, indeed; God places a great responsibility on the Hebrew people to enact God’s justice and righteousness within the world. God also places them on the same level as all other nations and judges any behavior, to the contrary, harshly.

For God, is the God of all nations, and God seeks justice and righteousness among the people of all nations. God is calling into question the behavior and policies of Israel. There is a symbolic and literary metaphor at work here in this holy scripture. America today in the truest sense we can imagine is ancient Israel in the time of Amos, as a nation, we are chosen to enact God's mercy, compassion, justice, and righteousness.

Our responsibilities for this enactment and action are part of our core values and mission as a nation and people. Since the end of World War II, and the horrific holocaust witnessed durning that wartime, it has been seen and known as a sacred calling. It is a calling embedded in our traditional "Judaeo–Christian" or "Abrahamic Faiths" — ideals and vision as a liberal democracy. We find these same values at work in many other world faiths, which are now a part of a diverse landscape we share and live in together across America.    

Amos and other prophets view Israel as hostile towards God, whenever Israel is guilty of injustice to the innocent, the poor, the sick, and the young.  And the disenfranchised and dispossessed people of the nation and of the world. God is not only holding Israel and America to this standard, but all the nations of the world.

Amos lived in the first half of the eighth century BC. He was a herdsman and a trimmer of sycamore trees. He was a simple man, living a simple life. And yet, God calls him to be a prophet and to announce a judgement on the people of Israel. God’s judgement falls upon the rich and the spoiled of every nation, those who willfully refuse to hear the cry of God’s people across all the nations of the world.

In the Book of Amos, God’s judgement falls upon the political leadership and wealthy people of Israel for both the oppression of the poor and their support of idolatry and injustice. In a 21st Century Post-Truth world, how humankind and the nations of the world imitate this behavior today is a key question we must ask ourselves. 

Idolatry may come in many forms; our ideologies become idols when we ignore and oppress who God loves within the world. Our political divisions, our tribalism, our social judgements and perspectives and actions that harm others can be idolatrous. Because they prevent us, from enacting God’s love and compassion, helping to create the “Reign or Kingdom of God” within the world.


MATTHEW 25:31-46 (NIV)

​In chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew, we find another scripture that touches on this same theme, the parable of the sheep and goats. It is important to read these passages as a rule and guide to how we should treat one another and the strangers we encounter in life or at our national borders. In a Post-Truth world, this is true not only for us individually, but collectively too, certainly within our own communities, but also as a society and as a nation.

We should hold ourselves, as well as our political and global leaders accountable. They need our perspective. In many ways we are the “Plumb Line” in the midst of God’s people. So much is up to us, since as democracies, we may help select this leadership.


The Sheep and the Goats

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
​
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”







Sycamore Tree Photo © 2018 - Saint Julian Press, Inc.