First of all, a happy and safe July 4th to all of you! May God lead us to true freedom. 

 

When I was a kid, I remember that a big deal was made about a new soda.  It was called "Ok" soda, and was very much hyped in commercials.  One slogan I remember was, "What's the point of OK? Well, what's the point of anything?" . To be honest, I remember the soda, it was, well, just okay.  It was bland, and nothing in particular made it stand out.  After trying a couple sips, I quickly realized I'd never buy the soda again, and I suspect that so many other people felt the same way that "Ok Soda" quietly left the grocery store shelves and was never sold nationwide.

I'm reminded of that idea of okay-ness and "everything being okay" with today's scriptures, because it is clear that God is pushing us to be more than just "Ok."  In the first passage (Amos 8:4-6, 9-12) the prophet begins by being truthful about what the people are already doing.  They are cheating God by wanting to rush through the Sabbath so they can make their money again.  But the point of the Sabbath is that people rest, and that we realize that our work is not all of who we are.  We are meant also to enjoy life together.  By being greedy, Amos's audience ignores what it means to be human and ignores one of God's laws.

But in ignoring God's law, Amos's audience is also not treating other people rightly.   They are cheating and lying by making their scales and measures appear to be "okay", but in reality they are weighing them down and forcing their buyers to pay more for less.  They are buying the poor, and cheating them - according to Amos, the worth of a poor person is no better than the "refuse of the wheat they sell."  They are so intent on making and earning money that they can't see all the other good aspects of life. 

These people are pretending things are okay.  And the more they pretend things are okay, the more okay everything seems.  But the thing about "okayness" is that it isn't stellar or spectacular, and so it's all too easy to name something as being "okay" even when it isn't.  It's a slippery slope: the more people accept the "status quo" as normal and "okay" the more likely we are to say that even evil things like being greedy and treating poor people like dirt are okay.

Thus it is that in the gospel (Matthew 9:9-13) Jesus is clearly calling for something higher than "okay".  He calls people out of "okayness" - like Matthew, the tax collector - but asks them to do very great things.  Matthew turns his life around; the other apostles leave their lives behind.

Notice that Jesus calls out of our "okayness" (just like he does with Matthew) but asks us to do much greater things than just "okay" things.  That is, Jesus calls us just as we are - as sinners - but he does not let us remain there in our sin.  He is the Physician for us, and the healing medicine for our "okayness" is that we reject all those evil things that we once thought were "okay".  Instead, we pick up our own crosses and do great things, in the name of Jesus.

Today, let us reflect on whether there are parts of our lives that we have thought are "just okay" but which are actually actions that prevent us from living fully as disciples of Jesus Christ.

 - Jana M. Bennett