The Spirit of the Lord can become distorted when it is yoked to the concerns of worldly power. The priests of Bethel had become used to telling the king what he wanted to hear and certainly never ruffling royal feathers with anything like a prophetic challenge. Amos was from the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and preached at Bethel in the mid-eighth century B.C. His message was as crystal clear as it was unwelcome. Israel had become corrupt and unjust; the most elementary aspects of justice and equality were routinely trampled on. Unless the kingdom mended its ways and returned to the ways of God, disaster would overtake them in the form of natural events and military defeats. The Kingdom of Israel did not heed Amos’ words, and in 722 B.C. the Assyrians totally destroyed the Northern Kingdom, erasing it from history.
Ample warning is always given to people when they have strayed from the path of God and are courting disaster. These warnings are a great opportunity for a new beginning. Sometimes they are heeded, but more often than not they are ignored and the moment of reckoning arrives. Warnings come in many forms — they are not always religious in nature. We have been warned of potential disaster in the political, economic, social, religious and environmental realms. Our “prophets” are sometimes well-informed scientists and experts, and we cannot say that they are not sent by God (even if they are unaware of their mission) to bring us to our senses. Pope Francis has joined his prophetic voice to the truth that comes to us through the work of scientists in his encyclical Laudato Si’. He warns humanity to mend its ways, for continued disregard for the environment and contempt for the created order can only end in tragedy for all. If the work of scientists or the words of the Pope are ridiculed or rejected out of hand through ignorance, fear or self-interest, then we have no one to blame but ourselves. We can only hope that minds and hearts are open to his prophetic warning.
As much as human beings make a mess of the world, God is always a few steps ahead of us. God’s plan for humanity has been unfolding since before the foundation of the world. We have been singled out for the forgiveness of our sins and spiritual blessings beyond what we can ever imagine. God has intended to gather all things into Christ for reconciliation and unification — in a sense, all came from God and to God all will return. There is a long and bumpy road in the meantime, and we are not relieved of the responsibility of making the correct choices in life.
God’s warning also came in the form of the Twelve’s proclamation as emissaries of Jesus. The Twelve were granted power over all demons and illnesses as evidence of their divine authority. They were to travel extremely light — just the clothes on their backs — because with the Spirit they bore they needed nothing else. Their message was simple: it’s time to repent! Repentance in its original setting meant a change of mind and heart — new values, new worldview, new way of life. It was not limited to a superficial and often short-lived moral reform.
Repentance in our modern context also calls for a whole new mindset and way of life, a point made in Pope Francis’ encyclical. Humanity is always in need of repentance and sin takes many forms. We need to stand back and see the bigger picture — how our collective sins take their toll on our world and on all humanity.