The land has been devastated by plagues of locusts, multiple
varieties of locusts, not just one. They
have successively ravaged the crops, what one doesn't destroy the next does,
until nothing is left. This plague is an
economic disaster for an agrarian economy.
It is worse than that for the nation whose prosperity is promised by the
Lord if they will obey Him. It is a sign
of judgment and yet they seem to have missed it. When we become syncretists in our religious
life, merging a variety of religious ideas into one, we lack the ability to see
clearly in such matters. We have hedged
our bets so many times that we no longer know where our problem might lie and
it lies in the syncretism itself. The
destruction of the crops leads to another crisis, a crisis in the church where
the priests receive no offerings because the people have nothing to offer. The symbiotic relationships of people and
land and priests and people are disrupted due to sin. The priests are commanded to put on sackcloth
and lament for "grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the
house of your God." Fasting and
mourning are always for the purpose of hearing, not because there is a quid pro
quo relationship between fasting and blessing.
Jesus gives more ethical and moral instruction, that we are
to eschew the idea of using hospitality as a means of social ladder
climbing. Instead of inviting those who
can raise you up the ladder, Jesus says to invite those who can do nothing for
you in return. In doing so, He brings a
ringing indictment against the ways of the world. One cries out in response, “Blessed is
everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Jesus' reaction to that is to speak of the
judgment of God on the nation. Clearly,
the ones invited to the heavenly feast were the Jews, the chosen people, the
covenant nation of priests. They are the
ones who cannot be bothered to attend when the time comes to punch their
ticket, and the king declares that they will not be allowed in, but the feast
will be enjoyed by those who now have nothing at all, the ones scorned. What does that say to us today in the
church? In an odd coincidence, just
before I read this passage I listened to a song by Sandra McCracken about this
feast, I share it here now with you.
The city was aligned with prosperity for many and these
mourn her destruction. In the midst of
this mourning, however, heaven and the saints are enjoined to rejoice over her
downfall. It feels unseemly to rejoice
at such a time doesn't it? Prosperity is
often a gateway drug, leading to many vices and little concern for anything
other than continuing the good times.
Having that taken away can be devastating. I know that in my own life I have experienced
failure at a time when I was prospering greatly and also tithing to the Lord
but in retrospect I know that my attitude was more that of attempting to bribe
Him to continue the material blessing that I really wanted. We have to come to grips with the reality
that we are deeply entangled in the world in many of our attitudes. The time is nigh to consider the divine
condescension of the incarnation and to remember just how far He stooped to
come among us.
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