Almost like two prequels--(kind of like the more recent Star Wars movies, only with good writing)--two ancient preachers weave narrative sermons to the northern kingdom.
The main story originates on a day not unlike today. Jesus faced teachers of the Law in Matthew 22 who tried to trick him with the Law. "What's the best Law?" they asked. It was a setup. Try to pick from the 613. But Jesus responded, "Love God." And then he kept going. Second verse, same as the first. "Love your neighbor."
Now back to the two prequels.
Two preachers named Hosea and Amos shared an audience over a twenty year period to tell them two things:
Hosea said, "You forgot to love God."
Amos said, "You forgot to love your neighbor."
Hosea and Amos are like prequels to Jesus' summary. Love God, love your neighbor. That's it.
The sad part of the story is that Amos' sermon did not work. If it had, there would have been no need for Hosea twenty years later. The sadder part of the story is that Hosea's sermon did not work either. If it had, Jesus would not have had to summarize the Law, because the people would have kept telling the stories of Hosea and Amos the way they were intended. They were intended to be narrative glimpses into the intent of the Law.
Love God, love your neighbor. That's it.
Here we are, 2800 years after Hosea and Amos, 2000 years after Jesus, and yet we keep forgetting. I keep forgetting. I keep forgetting that the will of God for our communities of faith, for our families, and for our individual everyday lives all comes together around the cyclical action of loving God and each other.
I hear echoes of Hosea and Amos today to churches across the country. The prophets are still preaching. Stop building multi-million dollar buildings and calling that "church" unless you feed the hungry. Do not compose flawlessly timed worship services unless it helps shape who the worshipper is by the time Thursday rolls around. Be careful about the asinine debate over contemporary versus traditional that in the end only serves as a way to avoid cultivating humility. Stop using words like "missional" and "emergent" in every sentence unless it equips people to treat waiters and waitresses and people who work at the grocery store with respect and kindness. And do we really need to have another meeting?
Seriously.
I am afraid that the visible face of the church in America may be asking the wrong questions. The mission of God is not about tearing down barns and building bigger ones so that we can store more grain; the mission of God for the church has always been (and will always be) training disciples of Christ to go and learn what it means to desire mercy. Hunger and thirst for righteousness. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. Show others the same mercy God shows you.
As I write on this beautiful morning, I'm looking out the window. The sun is breaking up the haze. The grass is green, and so are the trees outside my office. The cup of ice water beside me is refreshing. Today is too good a day to be about the business of forgetting. Today is a day for remembering.
Simple. Easy. Remembering.
Today is the perfect day for loving God; today is the perfect day for loving each person we see.
