Plumb the Depths
July 11, 2004
 

Rev. Kyle Ann Lovett

Amos 7:7-17; Luke 10:25-37

The Logic:

Sword Drill

Recurring themes in Bible

Amos has one of those recurring themes: faithfulness to God

Presentation in Amos is harsh.

Plumb line - measure against what?

The themes in the Bible!

The Luke passage begins with a question that makes us see that we need to know the Hebrew Scriptures in order to "hear" and "understand" the message of the NT.

New Testament themes repeat Hebrew Scripture themes: "The one who showed him mercy." 
    It would be chesed if it were written in Hebrew.
    It is Greek - eleos - compassion, tender mercy.

 

Sword Drill

 Have you ever played the Bible game "Sword Drill?"

What is a Sword Drill? A Sword Drill is a way for youngsters (and adults) to learn their way around the Bible. By looking up verses, they quickly get to know the location of the different books of the Bible and how the Bible is structured.  Here are the instructions I pulled off the web [i]:

 1.    First, if some children do not know how to do a Sword Drill then first of all explain that the Bible is the Christian's sword.

2.    Have all the children close their Bibles and hold them by the binder.

3.    Shout "Sheathe swords" - at this the children should put their Bibles under their arms.

4.    Shout "Draw swords" - the children should now hold their Bibles in the air with straight arms.

5.    Tell the children a book, a chapter, and a verse of the Bible, and have them repeat it after you. For example, "John chapter 3 verse 16."

6.    Once the children have repeated the reference, shout "Charge" - the children should now try to look up the verse as quickly as possible.

The instructions go on to have the children shout out the first few words of the verse once they've found it – or stand up to indicate they've found it, or raise their hand.  Then instructions go on to tell how the leader should have the winner come forward to the front of the class.  When a few rounds have been played and there are 4 or 5 winners up there, then the leader is to stop the game and have the "other children" listen to the bible passages and try to guess the common thread or word.  Then there's a final round where an overall Winner is chosen, and the other children sit down.

Well, we're not going to play a full game of "Sword Drill" today, and we're certainly not going to do the competitive Winners and Losers thing.  But let's see how we do with a few rounds of questions.  Let's start with some basics:

–       Find John 3:16 (the football point after quote)
–       Find Mark 16:15 (the Great Commission)
–       Find one version of the 10 commandments (Exodus 20:1ff; Deut 5:6ff)
–       Find the Beatitudes (Matt 5:3ff; Luke 6:21ff)

 Now, how about if we try a thematic Sword Drill?

 Sword Drills:

 Plumb (only 2):

Psalm 139:15
Micah 7:19
Mat 13:5
Mark 4:5
Romans 8:39
Eph 3:18

Samaritan:

2 Kg 17:29
Mat 10:5
Luke 9:52; 10:33; 17:16
John 4:9
Acts 8:25

Love:

Genesis 24:67
Deut 6:5
Ruth 4:15
1 Sam 18:1

Psalm 136:1 ($2() – lovingkindness; steadfast love

Ecclesiastes 3:8
Song of Solomon 2:13
John 3:16
1 Cor 13:13

 Justice ()��/ - mishpat) & (897 - tsadek)  (Righteousness):

Deuteronomy 16:20  (897 - tsadek)  (Justice, and only justice, you shall follow)

Psalm 99:4 ()��/ - mishpat) (Mighty King, lover of justice, thou hast executed justice and righteousness in Jacob)

Proverbs 29:26 ()��/ - mishpat) (but from the LORD a man gets justice)

Isaiah 30:18  ()��/ - mishpat) (For the LORD is a God of justice)

Amos 5:24 ()��/ - mishpat) (But let justice roll down like waters)

Micah 6:8()��/ - mishpat) (what does the LORD require of you but to do justice)

Mat 12:18 (κρίσις) (he shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles)

Acts 24:25 (δικαιοσύνη) (as he argued about justice and self-control)

Hebrews 11:33 (") (enforced justice, received promises) (alt trans "righteousness")

How did that feel?  Were you surprised at how much you knew? 
Were you chagrined at how hard it was for you to find your way around the Bible?

We could have played Sword Drill with any number of words.  There are themes that run throughout the Bible, both Hebrew Scriptures and Christian New Testament. 
The themes in the Bible are the plumb line for our lives.

 Amos 7:7-17

No Wiggle in a Plumb Line: (Amos): the plumb line hangs straight, not wobbling or wavering.
No exceptions.

Amos’ harsh judgement:  Now, I am NOT going to draw a connection between how poorly we did at Sword Drill and the plumb line held up to us by God. 

Luke 10:25-37

The Problem with Memory Verses (Luke): the lawyer did well at "Sword Drill," where you raced other Sunday School kids to see who could find a verse quickest. He knew his Bible, but didn't do what he knew. Well, so who does?

 Luke 10 – An Alternate Reading

 Defining "Neighbor"

 Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus.
"Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?"

He answered, "What's written in God's Law? How do you interpret it?"

He said, "That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence--and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself."

"Good answer!" said Jesus. "Do it and you'll live."

Looking for a loophole, he asked, "And just how would you define "neighbor'?"

 Jesus answered by telling a story.
"There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.

"A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man's condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, "Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill--I'll pay you on my way back.'

 "What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man
attacked by robbers?"

"The one who treated him kindly," the religion scholar responded.

 Jesus said, "Go and do the same."[ii]

 Here's how Harvey Mozolak[iii] puts it in Another Verse of the Gospel, in the Ecunet meeting "SERMONSHOP 2004 07 11"

 _inherently more inheritance_

 what must I do to get an A plus?

what must I do to get into college?

what must I do to get a great job?

what must I do to get a wonderful marriage?

what must I do to get a secure retirement?

is there anything beyond my doing?

 

what must I do to inherit?

someone must die

that's the doing

and not the one who wants to be enriched

beyond death

 

to inherit eternal life

one must live beyond the gravest thing

and that is nothing one can do

by doing

 

doing and inheriting are deep divergences

one is carving a stone

doing the difficult chiseling of time

and the other is not needing

any monumental epitaph

 

beyond being here

for Lord and neighbor

_keeping inn_

 

love the Lord with everything

all of you and your

and the other as yourself

from Jerusalem to Jericho

a view of hate

in the distance of a beating

the walls of Jericho had fallen once

before

now new walls had to fall

of tribe and hatred

 

love the Lord with everything

all of you and your

and the other as yourself

the Sudan

is a little larger than the space

where the man fell on his trip

from Jerusalem to Jericho

2 million dead

4 million fleeing for their lives

there is much more room to pass by

Africa from the path in Pittsburgh

in the news' channels and pages

that brings us closer

to doing death and evil

and inheriting good and life

loving the Lord

oil, wine, a donkey and two denarii

at a time