Clothing and debtors

On garments taken as pledges they stretch out beside every altar. Amos:2:6

Once again we look at the misuse of justice written in scripture concerning cloth. Whether this was the cloak or the regular clothing of the people who owed them something, we do not know, but God is not happy with them...to the point that He refuses to NOT take action against them. To take one's clothes in that day and age was to take their life. For many this was all they owned. Nakedness is spoken of and apparently was truly a condition of the desperate. To remove their clothing and leave them in a loin cloth or less would be a grievous act, not only of lack of mercy for their plight, but also lack of mercy for their reputation. The total humiliation of it for the person defrocked, for their families, for God's reputation as a giving and forgiving God was more than He was willing to put up with.

Not only did they lack mercy, they then went to church, perverted the whole worship into an orgy, and used the clothes that they had stolen as theirs, or as picnic blankets. They drank wine confiscated also from the poor, and had no unclear conscience about the whole matter. They felt justified, satisfied, and proud of their position as boss. They had no humility before their own boss, God, and showed no mercy. God was going to do them the same favor and show them no mercy, as well. With the same measure we use, God will measure out to us...in mercy, favor, wrath, and love. Those who give, to more will be given, and to those who take, all will be taken from them.

God owes us nothing, but He loves us anyway. He acted on our behalf to draw us to Him. He blessed us when we didn't deserve it, and pours out mercy when He could pour out wrath. But this doesn't last forever...He will some day repay those who scorn His goodness and do not reproduce it in their lives toward others.

And then to play church when we are filled with hatred toward our fellow workmen, well, He sees that as unforgivable. The verses before these speak of them first rejecting the law of the Lord, not keeping it, and lying about it to themselves and others. They exchanged truth for error first, and then started treating their fellow man with the same scorn. It all starts with one's attitude toward God. When we see who we are in His eyes, His holiness and our sinfulness, we have compassion on our fellow sinners. We see that no matter how hard we may try to love, to be patient or kind, we fail miserably. We hurt others intentionally or unintentionally, and we have to humble ourselves and apologize for not being what others need us to be. But when we take God's Word and see Him as less than He is, and us as more than we are, then we get an attitude. We are owed something, so we take. We want justice, so we mete it out however we see fit, even if it destroys our neighbor.

In this world of people hurting one another, we look for answers. World peace...when we can't live in peace with our spouse, community unity...when we can't even be consistent in keeping our homes together. We wish people could just get along, but there is always selfishness. We want others to be unselfish while we get what we want. And the answers we look for always require the others to change what THEY are doing, thinking, and being.

The only answer is to bow before the throne of God and be humble before Him, and taking that humility to those around us. Demanding what we want solves nothing, even when it is something good. Imitating the God of mercy and giving is the answer to a world in pain. If we all give to others grace and mercy, we all receive grace and mercy. When we give mercy, God grants us His mercy, whether people do or not. When we forgive the debts of others and don't make them “pay up,” God forgives us our debts. When we let go of anger and offense toward people who hurt us, God fills us with a peace that will make us wonder why we decided to fill ourselves with rage. The payback that we get is far more satisfying than anything we can take from another, be it in clothes or be it in emotional turmoil or anything else we subject people to to get even. God doesn't get even...He forgives...and pays the debt owed...and pulls the offending party to Himself if only they will come humbly.

And that, my friends, is too wonderful for us to fathom. And nearly impossible for us to imitate, but His Spirit lives in His people and if we heed it, peace can happen in small and large ways in a world bent on seeking peace through demanding it instead of living it.