We breathe death into the world that God breathed life into.
When the world was new, it was ordered. God created the world organized and structured. Though Genesis 1 and 2 are probably not intended to be read literally, they certainly express the order with which God created the world. It is structured, organized. Everything has its place; its purpose. God created a world that was full of life. The sun gives life to plants; plants are the food of life for animals. And God breathed life into the nostrils of humanity (Gen 2:7), humanity is the life that exists in relationship to God, and God made humanity responsible for the world (Gen 1:29-30).
And humanity took the world that God toiled over and the humanity that God breathed life into, and the structure that God called “good,” and we have breathed into it death and chaos. We oppress the poor by supporting the rich with our attitudes of consumerism. We buy name brands, gigantic televisions, and less healthy, more expensive food – and the money we waste on these items makes the rich even richer, and neglects to assist the poor. We compete in business, desperate to earn more money, using deceptive tactics and cheating people out of the little they have. Amos reflects this same sentiment,
“Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, "When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the Sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat." The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds” (Amos 8:4-7).
Our consumerist addictions lead to a nationwide sucker-punch, which sucks the breath of life out of the lungs of humanity, and breathes in death.
“Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.
For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate” (Amos 5:11-12).
Because we have sinned against humanity, and robbed our brothers and sisters of the life God offers us, the good things that we have built up for ourselves will be revealed as superficial. The vineyards Amos speaks of are our plasma televisions of today, and the investments we make in such things do not measure well against the investment we should be making in humanity – and in time they will be gone, but human suffering will remain. Our resources should not be spent in ourselves, but in others.
I will someday come back to these passages and investigate the words more in depth.
~mathētēs
Mat 21:6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them...
