Servants

This morning's daily lectionary features Amos chapter six which is a stinging rebuke of the privileged of Israel whose luxuriant lifestyle is mocked by God through God's prophet. This can be either easily overlooked as God's word against people long ago and have nothing to do with me or it can be a lens through which to examine our own luxuriant lives especially in comparison to the bleak global reality.

Then again I'd like to split the difference this morning, especially as I look at my clock and see that I have about five minutes until I have to be on the other side of the building. While I'm not quite willing to assume that this Amos passage has nothing to say outside its historical context neither am I willing or able to go off on a social-justice tirade. Instead, this passage from Amos calls to mind the sight I beheld when I showed up in the bleak and utter chill this morning at church.

Although we didn't have a lot of snow we had enough to make me realize that I'd probably be pulling out the shovel in addition to my usual Sunday morning preparations. But when I showed up at church there was a four-wheeler with plow attached to it sitting out in front of the building, definitely out of the usual. As I got closer I saw that Rob Blackston had left the warmth and comfort of his home, donning hat and gloves and cleared the walk with his four-wheeler and swept the steps and front porch of the sanctuary building. If that's not service I don't know what is.

Rob's dedication of time and being out in the cold ensuring that others would have safe footing into the building today is the kind of lifestyle that Amos ultimately encourages us to live with the prophet's damning language in chapter six. What sometimes can be overlooked or used to rhetorically bludgeon can also point to sacrificial servant hood as I witnessed this morning upon arrival at church. Thank you, Rob for exemplifying the life that Amos and Jesus preached.