TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C
Am 6:1a,4-7; P 146;
1 Tim, 6:11-16; Lk 16:19-31
GOD’S ANGER AT THE SUFFERING OF HIS PEOPLE
Today Amos relays God’s displeasure and anger about the people’s complacency, opulence and indolence.
The audience of the prophesies we read of in our first reading, are directed towards the inhabitants of both the North and the Southern Israel. He said, “woe to those in Zion (the capital of the Southern kingdom) and to those on the mountains of Samaria (the capital of the northern kingdom).
What this means is that this message is for all people. It is a message for all of us because we all bear the burden of creating a good and just society. And sin, no matter where it is found or who commits it, is still sin an offence against God.
In this text, God is very angry and passes judgement on the leaders of the people because they have grown complacent and have abandoned their duties. God’s anger is directed at those in power who tax the poor of the land but do not use the proceeds for good. They use it for their own opulence. The word of God says, “they drink wine and anoint themselves with oil”.
God describes the disparity between the life of the leaders and that of the people. The life of the leaders are described as having “beds of ivory”, “comfortable couches”, wine bowls” and “ best oils” while the people are described simply as “the collapse of Joseph”. This is what God is angry at and passes judgement upon.
In many of our countries and societies, these contrarieties exist between the leaders and the people they lead. We find leaders enriching themselves at the expense of the health and well-being of the entire community or nation. It is so bad especially on the African continent that even those aspiring to be leaders also have eyes and hope for enriching themselves. Many of our leaders sometimes behave as if the common resources are spoils of war to be plundered. If you are a leader and have this attitude, God is angry with you. Change!!!
Their evil also lie in their complacency and ease. Complacency is a feeling that we are okay and one does not need to get any better. It is also a feeling of having a legitimate reward for one’s life after a period of struggle. Many leaders who enrich themselves have this attitude of complacency. They do not think that they have any obligation towards the people any longer. They feel that it is right to reward themselves for their struggle to win political power.
Complacent leaders have a high sense of entitlement. But no leader deserves any comfort when the peoples life have not been improved. No leader is entitled to any kind of comfort when the conditions of our communities and country are not safe for all.
Amos noted that because of their complacency they were not made “ill by the collapse of Joseph”. This expression refers to all the children of Israel and their suffering. The greed and corruption of the leaders overshadow the needs and cries of the people. In Ghana, are our leaders not involved in illegal galamsey at the expense of our rivers, cocoa farms and forests?
This breeds moral decadence. The complacent leader does not care about the moral corruption and decadence of our people. Our values of selflessness, respect for the elderly, sharing, communal love and responsibility among others have been sacrificed for the interest of our leaders. What about issues of gender identity and homosexuality? Our leaders are ready to commodify our very moral fibre for a price. Indeed, they have no grief for the affliction or collapse of our nation. (Amos 1:6)
But this message is for all of us, not only the leaders because Amos was speaking to all God’s people. Christians generally can also be said to be complacent or at ease. Somehow, we have forgotten that the Lord will come soon and so we have relaxed. We have allowed ourselves to indulge in the gravest sins and unaccepted practices.
It is a complacent Christian who thinks that, he or she can live life anyhow, disregarding God’s commandments and yet is entitled to God’s blessings and favours. Many times, our blessings lie in the letting go of our life of sin and living righteously. For he who is in Christ is a new creation. He no longer lives in sin. (2Cor. 5:17)
Many times, it is Christians who tend to make fun of some stories in the Bible, or about our saviour Jesus Christ. These days it is Christians who use quotations from the Bible to justify their sin and inappropriate behaviour. Have we forgotten that, that is what the devil does? Let us read again Jesus’ encounter with the devil at the temptation, and we will see that it only the devil who uses scripture for evil. (Lk 4:1-13; Mtt 4:1-11).
Can you imagine what kind of world we would have if all of us Christians decide to live out our true Christian faith?
This is what God is angry at and passes judgement on. We must note that his anger is a result of his love: because he loves us, he gets angry when some people oppress and cause others to suffer. His anger is a sign of love for those who are suffering.
May his anger cause us all to live better.
God bless you.
BY Rev. Fr. Delight Arnold Carbonu
