Israel was doing well. The tribes that became a kingdom under David and was expanded under Solomon didn’t survive to the next generation, and that which was once united was now sometimes at war and sometimes vessel states of each other. The northern Kingdom was Israel and it was thriving when Amos crossed from Judea to bring them the word of God.
Because Israel was thriving. The wealthy were building homes and acquiring land. The leaders had resources coming in and were allying with neighbors. They were collecting and buying gold and silver and jewels, they were dressed only the best. It was an amazing time to be in Israel, and the king, and powerful, and wealthy.
Because the word of God through Amos was that not everyone was thriving. That the powerful and the wealthy were maintaining their privilege on the backs of the poor and the marginalized. The translation says they sell the righteous, trample the poor, push the afflicted, over taxed the workers for their grain.
But they showed up for the national pilgrimage festivals, gathered with their community for celebrations, did the daily offerings of meat and grain, and offered gratitude for their blessings at home:: the corporate, the daily, and the private practices of their faith as laid out in the Torah. It seemed to them like it was enough. That’s what you do right? You go to the temple, sing the songs, say the prayers, burn and eat the meat.
And yet… they were selling and trampling, pushing and levying the poor, those without, those who were unwell, those who had little.
And the words of God came to them through the prophet Amos–I hate your festivals, find no delight in your worship, reject your offerings, find your songs nothing but noise; because you have let injustice thrive.
In the mid to late 1990s brought the world a slew of Christian worship songs. Big churches had full worship teams that were bands and lights and sound systems and it started to become a lot.
In one church they started to recognize the show-ness of their Sunday gatherings–that people would come in and just listen to the songs. And the pastor decided to put the worship team on hiatus, and turn off the huge music sound system.
Out of that season of that church, where the gathered community had to sing. They had to find a way to participate. They had to offer something in their worship when they gathered together. That was the question the pastor asked: what do you offer when you come to worship. And the song that came out of the seasons is by Matt Redman called: The Heart of Worship–a song whose chorus says worship is about Jesus and that should be the focus. That when we, as individuals or as a community, come together in worship, we bring our singing as our offering, our very voices in praise of Jesus.
And it was really meaningful for that community. And the song was sung in church and cars and events all across the world. And by me. Worship is our response to God’s goodness. God has already done something and our response is the songs song with our whole heart–and guitars, drum kits, rockin’ bass, 4 backupsingers.
And we will talk about our songs rising up to God, like the smoke of the sacrifices in days of old, but without the visible smoke, we don’t know if they are received, we don’t think about God doing much of anything at all.
God through the prophet Amos isn’t upset that they are just going through the motions, or because their worship doesn’t seem heart-felt enough.
I wonder if that isn’t the God who would say: I hate it when you gather for gather and claim the unity of communion, and is like a clanging gong when you play the Christian music in your car, your prayers of thy kingdom come are hollow…
Until…
THE BIG DAM STORY by Danny Nettleton
I know we are in Church and it pains me to have to use this sort of language. Just know it is crucial to the story which I am about to tell. Cover your little ones’ ears if you must. Here goes… Once there was a dam. It was no ordinary dam. It was the biggest dam you ever saw. The dam to end all dams.
The dam in question was a beaver dam. You may know from science class that it’s quite natural for beavers to build dams. They do it every year as winter turns to spring, just before the river thaws. Beavers gather sticks and build structures that hold the waters back just enough to create a little pond, right there in the middle of the river. That way, they can swim back and forth without worry of the powerful currents and the supply of fish for them to catch will be increased. No one has to tell beavers when to do this. And no one has to teach them how. They just do. They wake up one morning and there’s a little voice inside of them that tells them, ‘it’s time, it’s time!’ And they feel a mysterious tug pulling them to the spot the dam will be. Then they start to build together. They build until that same little voice says, enough,’ and then they stop. And the voice always seems to time it just right. The dams are almost always big enough to give the beavers what they need for a season without really affecting things downstream.
Almost.
But early one spring, just before the thaw, as the beavers were gathering sticks to build their usual dam, one of the beavers asked out loud, “Why do we do this every year, year after year?”
None of the beavers really knew why they did this year after year. As I said, when they feel that tug and they hear the little voice within them say, ‘it’s time, it’s time,’ they start. And when they hear that same voice say ‘enough,’ they stop. But once you start questioning that voice and asking why you do the things you are compelled to do, well, there’s not much turning back from it.
“What else would we do?” asked another beaver.
“Well,” said the first. “If we all really worked hard together. If we gathered ten times the sticks, if we pushed past when our instincts tell us ‘enough” and we just kept going, we could, build the biggest dam you ever saw. A dam to end all dams. Then we’d only have to repair it from time to time and we could begin to build other things. The dam would be so strong that the river would barely trickle out of it. We’d have all the fish we wanted!”
This seemed like a great idea to the other beavers. And so they worked together. They gathered ten times the sticks they normally did. They silenced the little voice inside of them that told them ‘enough’ and they just kept building their new dam was done. It was no ordinary dam. It was the biggest dam you ever saw. A dam to end all dams.
And it worked! The whole next year it held, save for a few minor repairs. So in the early spring when the beavers got the urge to build, they built other things instead. They built more elaborate homes. They build warehouses to store their fish. They built a town hall to discuss beaver issues. They even built a little beaver church right there in the middle of the pond. There they would sing songs to the Creator and burn some of their extra fish as an offering (they had plenty extra to offer). What had once been a makeshift pond was now a permanent beaver utopia.
This has all been a long wind up to tell you about an extraordinary young beaver named Claudette. See, Claudette was born many generations after the dam was built. By that time, the beavers had lived with it forever and assumed that it had always been there. They simply called it ‘the wall.’ Claudette was raised her whole life in that big beautiful beaver pond. She lived in one of those nice beaver houses. She went to beaver school on weekdays and on Sundays she went to beaver church where she would offer a fish from her supply to thank the Creator for all her many blessings. She was quite happy.
But early every spring, just as the river was about to thaw, she wasn’t sure what but it was all consuming. And she would hear a voice from deep inside of her saying, ‘It’s time! It’s time!’
Time to what? That was any beaver’s guess. They don’t teach about that voice in beaver school. She did her best to suppress the voice like all the beavers her age but one spring it was just too strong. She woke up in the morning and that voice within her was practically screaming, ‘It’s time! It’s time!18
Time to what? Claudette felt the tug pull her in the direction of the wall. ‘It’s time! It’s time!’ Claudette paddled toward the wall not sure what she was going to do when she got there. She was just obeying the voice. She paddled and paddled and paddled and soon she reached the wall. She climbed to the top of it and looked down, for the first time in her life, at the river below.
Not that there was much of a river below. It was more of a stream. But from that vantage point, she could see the misery of all the wildlife that lived on the other side of the dam. It was a different world below. There were barely any fish. What fish she did see were dead from lack of water. She saw other mammals: muskrats, otters, and badgers, starving in their burrows all could feel this tug. She saw other mammals: muskrats, otters, and badgers, starving in their burrows all along dry banks with dead trees and crumbling soil. Claudette wondered to herself why the Creator would allow such misery on this side of the wall.
She sought answers the next Sunday at beaver church. When the time came for prayer, she spoke up. “Yesterday, a voice deep within me called me to the edge of the wall. When I looked over the top, I saw a hurting world down below full of starvation and death. I believe the voice is the creator, within me, telling me that it is time to do something for those animals that are born on the wrong side of the wall and are far less fortunate than we.
The other beavers were moved by Claudette’s plea but they asked her what they should do.
“Well. Every week, we offer some of our extra fish to the Creator. Rather than burning it as an offering, wouldn’t it make the Creator far happier if we took that fish and offered it to the animals on the other side of the wall?”
The beaver congregation was quite happy about this. It seemed like the right thing to do and everyone praised Claudette for her leadership. From that Sunday on, everyone brought some of their extra fish and instead of burning them, they collected them in a basket, which they would wrap up tight, place in a giant slingshot, and shoot over the top of the wall. Their hearts would swell with pride as they thought about the poor little mammals on the other side of the wall, gathering around the basket and eating the fish. They did this for a year and they were quite happy to. After all, the Creator had blessed them with so much fish!
But the next spring came around and Claudette woke up to that same voice calling within her: ‘It’s time! It’s time!’ And she felt that same tug pulling her toward the wall. Once again she stood on top of it and looked down. To her disappointment, she saw the same scene she had seen the year before: a poor stream leading to dry banks where trees were rotting and mammals were dying of starvation.
She realized that after a year of offerings, nothing had really changed on the other side of the wall. If anything, things were worse. Fish was even more scarce and there were more starving mammals. In that moment, Claudette understood that what her little beaver church was able to do once a week was not going to cut it. They were only feeding a few mammals for a day while conditions continued to worsen around them. The Creator must be telling her it’s time to do more!
So this time Claudette went to the town hall and called a meeting of all the beavers. Claudette spoke passionately about the problem on the other side of the wall and the good work her church was doing but convinced them that they all needed to do more. The town had plenty of fish in reserve. They could make an offering of fish every day and still have plenty left over. To their credit, the beavers agreed. They prided themselves on being a colony that cares where everyone looked out for each other.
So, for a year, the beavers donated fish from their stores every day. Every day there was enough to fill several baskets which they would slingshot over the wall. The church, for their part, continued making their weekly offerings. For a year the whole community felt happy about what they were accomplishing with Claudette’s leadership.
But the next year when the ice began to thaw, Claudette woke up once more with that voice telling her, ‘It’s time! It’s time!’ And once more, she felt something tugging her toward the wall— this year more strongly than ever!
When Claudette looked down from the top of the wall, what she saw was even more discouraging. She saw that some mammals closer to the wall were eating fish out of baskets. But the mammals further down were still hungry. And all along the banks of the stream it was dry and nothing was growing. Claudette wondered again to herself why the Creator was allowing such disparity on the other side of the wall. But now she was out of ideas. She had tried everything she could do. She realized that even if they doubled and tripled the baskets, they wouldn’t even begin to address the problem.
And yet she still felt that tug in side of her and heard that voice still called to her, ‘It’s time! It’s time!’
Time to what? That was any beaver’s guess. But Claudette felt that tug pull at her and pull at her. So, for the first time in her life, and for the first time any beaver could remember, she went to the other side of the wall. It was no easy feat. The wall was very tall and very steep. But slowly and carefully, Claudette climbed to the bottom of it.
When she got to the bottom and looked up she could barely see its top in the clouds. The wall looked much different on this side. She could see clearly that it wasn’t a natural formation. That it was the result of painstaking labor. She looked at the way the sticks were expertly piled and criss-crossed and knew in her gut that it was beaver’s work. Then she noticed coming out of the bottom of the wall was a slow steady trickle of water that was feeding the shallow stream she was standing in.
Suddenly she understood. Suddenly she knew why the beavers lived so well on their side of the dam and why all the muskrats, otters, and badgers were living in such misery. “The Creator didn’t do this,” she whispered to herself. “We did.” This was no wall. It was a dam. The biggest dam you ever saw. The dam to end all dams!
Then she heard the voice and felt the tug more strongly than ever. It’s time. It’s time! IT”S TIME!’
Not knowing what she was doing, acting purely on instinct, Claudette rushed toward the dam and grabbed a handful of sticks. When she did so, another trickle of water appeared. Claudette felt a deep sense of relief. She knew what she was doing was natural and right and that she was obeying her inner voice to its fullest. So she grabbed another handful of sticks and watched another trickle appear. Excited, she ran alongside the dam, grabbing handfuls of sticks and creating more trickles of water.
With each handful she grabbed, the dam began to buckle and shake then finally there was a WOOSH! It was no ordinary WOOSH! It was the greatest WOOSH! you ever saw. A WOOSH! to end all WOOSHES! And the river came surging through the dam carrying sticks and logs, and beaver houses as it went. Grown up beavers were clinging to logs and screaming while the little beavers were yelling, “Wheeeeee!”
All along the shore, the muskrats, otters, and badgers were cheering from their burrows and gathering fish from the shores. And Claudette, herself, stood proudly atop the steeple that had once belonged to her beaver church as she floated down the river shouting, “It’s time! It’s time! It’s tiiiiiiiime!”21 She and the other beavers rode that great WOOSH! of justice until the river was once again restored and they found themselves panting and gasping for breath along the banks with their fellow mammals.
By the next spring when the waters began to thaw, the other beavers had largely forgiven Claudette. They were happy to see their fellow mammals healthy and eating again. They were also glad to see life coming back to the banks of the river and agreed that the new state of things was the Creator’s will. And now when Claudette woke up feeling a tug and hearing a voice telling her It’s time. It’s time,’ she and her beaver neighbors began to build once more. They gathered the sticks they needed and then when the voice said ‘enough,’ they stopped. And so it was from that day forward. The voice always seemed to time it just right. The beavers’ dams were always big enough to give them what they needed for a season without really affecting things downstream. Why they ever thought they needed anything else is any beaver’s guess.
~ My Own Parable
God might say: I hate your performative worship, your passive participation, even your old organ hymns, until…
Until justice rolls like down like the Niagara, and righteousness like the mighty Mississippi.
Here’s a thing about water–we, humans in general, try to tame it, control it, claim it, restrict it, dam it, divert it, and channel it. We think, we try, to make it ours and follow our will.
And the denial of access to clean, drinkable water I think would be on that list of evils that Amos presents. But again and again, we are reminded that water can still be the force of chaos that God subdued at creation. Rivers meander, some become rapids and dangerous, oceans have riptides that even the best swimmers can’t escape, Lake Superior is a burial ground of ships and lives because storms would come up cold and fast. Banks overflow, levies fail, hurricanes devastate, flooding can devastate lives in cities and in the woods. Water does what it can to be uncontrolled. And it remains–the molecules of water have been around for millennia, breaking apart and coming together–they remain.
Is justice and righteousness, then, like the water and the streams and the rivers? That they have always been here, they are the innate way of the world, they are always seeking out what is good?
And it is us, humans, who put up dams to stop it, canals to divert it,
When we should be stepping in, bringing buckets, passing it on.
At the very least, the work of justice is not getting in the way, not dam-ing the already flowing justice. But really, it’s the recognition of each and every person as made in the image of God and worthy of life and life abundant. That there is enough to eat, places to lay one’s head at night, that no one’s worth is attached to their work, that the poor are not trampled by the rich, that those who speak truth are not silenced by the truthmaker-uppers, that those with more than enough aren’t taking more from those who can’t afford it.
It is the image of the Kingdom of God and it is already flowing. It is already the work of God and the work we are called to. It is the purpose of our worship, the purpose of our community, the purpose of our life together. That is what it is to be the people called church. That is what we strengthen each other to do in the world when we leave these doors. Our tables and chairs are for planning, not to control the wellspring of justice and righteousness, mercy and compassion, but how to drench the earth in it.