THURSDAY, December 10 International Human Rights Day

Amos is the Bible's first universalist. Gods in ancient times, including Israel's god, were seen as localized deities, inhabiting a certain place and exercising power on behalf of the people who lived there, whom they favored over other people. A god's authority was rather like that of a modern sheriff--one had to pay attention to it, but its jurisdiction was limited by geography.

Then Amos, speaking on behalf of Israel's god, said the chosen people were no different in God's eyes than the Ethiopians. If God had done something special for Israel, he had done something special for everyone else, too, including Israel's sworn enemies. God has no favorites and his authority extends everywhere. In his brusque, in-your-face manner, Amos says one nation is no more precious than another.
In this day of immigration controversy, ethnic suspicion, religious absolutism, xenophobic frenzy, and false patriotism, Amos speaks a sobering word: "You're no different from anyone else. I love you, but I love your enemy, too, and if you don't also love your enemy, you are no friend of mine."

PRAY for the Diocese of Western North Carolina (Province IV, USA)

Ps 37:1-18 * 37:19-42; Revelation 2:8-17; Matthew 23:13-26