The Rt. Rev. Ernest Shalita
St. Margaret's Episcopal Church & School
Amos 5:6-7, 10-15| Mark 10: 17-27, (28-31)
A word of prayer and greetings to the people.
A word of thanks to the Rector and his entire staff and all the people for their invitation and warm welcome to St. Margaret’s Church.
On behalf of African Team Ministries and on behalf of Joy and I, we are grateful for the support you have continued to give the ministry for the support of orphans in Uganda. The parents and guardians of the children have asked us to convey to you the message of appreciation for the wonderful ministry you are offering them through African Team Ministries. Without your support these children would be sitting at home idle.
We wish to express our thanks to the Bishop for the warm welcome he always gives us in his diocese. The support he gives to the ministry is a source of encouragement to us and cements our relations in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What do people need to live? We need food. We need to work hard. We need medications that fight against diseases that might attack us. We need political stability in the world. This is also God’s wish for us.
What does Prophet Amos see and say? Amos was a prophet to the people of the Northern Kingdom known as Israel that had ten tribes. He saw injustice and bribery being carried out by the well-to-do people. Mistreatment of the poor, the needy, the widows and orphans. Misuse of balances of scales. There was corruption in the Kingdom. Corruption in government and religious circles.
Seek the Lord and live, Amos 5:6. Real life centers in seeking the Lord God. Life is not in material gain. It is not found in following empty Gods as the children of Israel were doing. They put their trust in material gain. The gain that was obtained through doing wrong which were injustices and real corruption. There was corruption of life. The worst thing a person can do is to corrupt his life.
Seek good and not evil. vs 14. God is willing to give life to those who seek to do good to their fellow men. It is unfortunate to see that man has continued to live in the ways of injustice and corruption. Corrupt life leads to death and uncorrupt life leads to life. It is by doing good that God can be with us. It is by being faithful that we can maintain our relationship with God. I speak of the time that Amos was lacking relationship with God and he was calling them to amend their ways. We need to hate evil and love good. We need to hate injustice and love good. God is willing to be with us all the time. With God we are sure of safety and security.
What must I do to inherit eternal life? Mark 10:17-22
This is the rich man that is in need of life but is not sure how he can have it. He is looking for answers from the great teacher whom he calls "Good Teacher". Do you also have the same question? This is what he was told: "Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother." Jesus’ concern was to remind this rich man of the requirements of the law in relation to the rich man’s fellow man. Why? When you do good to your fellow man you are already in good relationship with God. What is my relationship with my neighbor? Neglecting the law and its requirements to a fellow brother or sister will be loss of eternal life. Being faithful to the law earns the person eternal life.
The Richman’s Choice.
The man indeed said that he observes the law. All that Jesus said was already in his mind but not in action. "But you lack one thing". What was he lacking? He was asked to sell the property he had and give to the poor and follow him. He found this hard to do. He chose to remain with his tribes and gave up eternal life. This is what was happening in the time of Amos and in our time today. You cannot be rich when you keep things to yourself. It is by giving away that you can receive more. You cannot serve God and then become poor. All we have came from him. He is the real source of what we possess. The man has failed to surrender his riches and have eternal life. We never surrender what we have in order to be in relationship with God. We need to surrender all those things that may deprive us of our relationship with God and in the end, eternal life. The rich man did not know that all he had came from God and he could easily lose it within a short time and become poor. All that we have belongs to God who gives us. The rich man is like a bank manager—gives and receives.
The poor, widows, and orphans that you share your property with, please God. It is important to surrender all we have and our lives to God and enjoy life here, leading to eternal life. By sharing we become rich.
Conclusion
Do good and hate evil. Serve the Lord without reservation. You will never be poor because you have given some of your riches to the poor. A rich man shares all he has with others. In doing so he is sharing with God. Following him will always keep him in relationship.
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