{"id":182,"date":"2025-09-28T04:53:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T04:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/caseyclough.com\/?p=182"},"modified":"2026-08-04T04:57:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T04:57:41","slug":"what-righteousness-we-hold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/caseyclough.com\/?p=182","title":{"rendered":"What righteousness we hold"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
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\u00a9Casey Clough<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Amos 6:1a, 4\u20137, Psalm 146, 1 Timothy 6:6\u201319, Luke 16:19\u201331
St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, Austin
September 28, 2025
Year C: Proper 21 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lectionary readings from the past few weeks are not going easy on us, are they? It\u2019s understandable that we might start to feel just a wee bit defensive after Amos, the Psalmist, Paul, and Luke have finished with us this morning. Whew. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The TV show Top Gear was playing in the background while I wrote this, and at one point Jeremy Clarkson said \u2014 while doing something very irresponsible in a very fancy Jaguar \u2014 that given the expanse of space, God must be a speed freak, but in this car, he was \u201cgoing to thrash God\u201d in a race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that\u2019s not something I can work with, I don\u2019t know what is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, my aim is not to be the seminarian who stands in front of you and talks on and on about the minutia of biblical authorship and historical context\u2026but I ask your forgiveness in advance, because I am going to, just a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d like to walk through some things in today\u2019s readings that jumped out at me, beginning with Amos. As you get to know me, you will learn that I spend a lot of my time in the Old Testament, and I will, given a chance, ramble on about it until your eyes glaze over. I promise stop before that happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This passage reads like a pretty straightforward condemnation of the wealthy; woe to those who lie on beds of ivory, drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with oil. Woe to those in Jerusalem who feel secure in their comfort while destruction draws ever closer. But then we get to the last part of verse six; now he adds something new. He gets more specific about who he is speaking of\u2014not the wealthy because<\/em> they are wealthy, but because they are \u201cnot grieved over the ruin of Joseph.\u201d While Amos levels his accusations at absolutely everyone, Joseph\u2019s name here is a shorthand way of referring to all Israelites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t know a lot about Amos and his life in the mid 8th century BCE, but we know this; he could. not. stand<\/em> the mistreatment of the poor he saw around him, the corruption, or the idolatry he saw both pagans and Hebrews practicing. He foretold the destruction of Judah and Israel, and also foretold the Israelite people being exiled from their lands, and he saw this coming crisis as an urgent warning for the people to reorient themselves to the ways of God. To turn away from the notion that wealth would keep them safe from harm, or that security could come from anywhere else but the Lord. Amos said, in no uncertain terms and sparing no one, that God would protect those who were righteous in God\u2019s eyes, who followed God\u2019s command to act with justice and mercy, and not those who deemed themselves righteous by virtue of wealth and security. I think Amos would have always used his turn signal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amos desperately wanted people to turn towards God and away from the injustice he saw all around him, to turn towards the responsibility towards one another and proper worship of the Lord. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Amos, the Psalmist comes for us with this, \u201cDo not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth, and on that very day their plans perish.\u201d He seems like he would be fun at parties\u2014we all love to be reminded of our own mortality and how fleeting our accomplishment and legacies really are. The Psalmist is only naming a truth, though\u2014even the mightiest of kings, the most powerful of leaders, the brightest stars, and out heroes will die, just as we will. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ouch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Psalmist keeps going, reorienting us once again to God. Happy are they whose help is in the Lord, who execute justice for the oppressed, who give food to the hungry. The LORD, the Psalmist says, loves the righteous. There\u2019s that word again. This Psalm was likely written after the Babylonian exile, when the Jewish people were allowed to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. This must have been a time of celebration and mourning, relief and uncertainty. In a time of very real disorientation, this Psalm is a reminder of what\u2014Who\u2014to hold onto. Hold on to the God who sets prisoners free, and who reigns forever. Put not your trust in the world and its powers, for stability and safety will not be found there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We then arrive at First Timothy. I admit, I find this letter a little difficult to approach with an open heart sometimes, but not today. The author warns us of the difference between the love of God and the love of money, and encourages us to \u201cshun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.\u201d He says directly that the danger of wealth is to trust in it, as fickle as it is. We\u2019re again told what righteousness means to God, and again it is not what we collect or the security we try to hold onto with it; for God will richly provide for us. Trusting that God will provide for us is one of the harder parts of day to day living in faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This letter was probably written in the mid First century, when the theology and teachings of the church were new and not solidly established. Even the word \u201cChristian\u201d was new, and the emerging faith was figuring out its place within larger society. The church in Ephesus was facing conflicting teachings, and the author is trying to define what church leadership and church doctrine should look like. It wasn\u2019t uncommon for people at the time to return to their previous religious traditions amidst the confusion, and it must have been disorienting and sometimes disheartening for those called to follow Jesus trying to find a stable path to follow. First Timothy again urges a reorientation toward\u2019s God\u2019s righteousness as a way of managing this uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke then brings us to the most visceral exploration of the lesson in this set of readings in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Poor Lazarus, hungry, suffering, and covered with sores, dies. The rich man, not protected from mortality by his wealth, also dies. In the conversation that the rich man and Abraham have across the chasm between them, the rich man asks for Lazarus to be sent\u2014not asked, sent\u2014to soothe him. Upon refusal, he asks Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his family of the fate waiting for them. Abraham answers, I imagine a bit sharply, \u201cThey have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.\u201d That line hits me in the stomach every time. This is the risk of clinging to wealth, to the illusion of self-made righteousness; not Hades, or not only Hades, but the loss of the ability to see what justice even is. He did not care for the vulnerable at his own gate in life, and in death is only capable of seeing Lazarus as a tool to be used, a servant to be commanded, and not as a person beloved by God. This is, ultimately, where the belief that we can \u201cthrash God\u201d in any kind of way gets us. The rich man did not place his faith in the Lord\u2019s power, but his own. He has, not through the existence of his wealth but because of his faith<\/em> in his wealth, lost sight of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This passage differs from the others in that no way out is offered to the rich man. Jesus is issuing a warning about the result of improper stewardship \u2014 right on the heels of the Parable of the Dishonest Manager in last week\u2019s readings. Reverend Alyssa taught us last week that the best use of money is building relationships and community, and today\u2019s readings follow that idea by teaching us that our relationships and communities need to be oriented and re-oriented toward God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each of the four readings today illustrates for us the difference between the kind of righteousness that gets us into trouble \u2014 the illusory kind that relies on our own resources, our own strength, our own intelligence, our own wealth, our own individualism, the kind that all too often harms the most vulnerable\u2014and the kind of righteousness God intends for us. It\u2019s very easy for us to grab what we can see, what we can spend, what we can wrap around is \u2014 those things that make us feel physically safe from the elements, from noises we can\u2019t identify, from uncertainty and scary people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is in our nature to seek whatever safety we can in times of turmoil, and goodness knows turmoil is the default state of human history. I think all of us can feel that in the world around us right now\u2014I can feel in myself the urge to make sure I am as protected and secure as I can be, and that maybe buying yet another soft fuzzy throw blanket will make everything better \u2014 and maybe some of you are feeling that urge as well. It\u2019s very human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in these difficult readings, I find there is a line connecting them to one another. A line of hope \u2014 for what would the warnings of prophets be if there wasn\u2019t time to change our ways? What future could exist for people in exile, if the dictates of princes lasted forever? There is way we can take hold of the life that is really life. At a time when very little in the world around us feels stable, much less safe, we have a roadmap. Not only a roadmap, but a God who will remind us and reorient us with endless patience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As many times as we can lose sight of what righteousness means in God\u2019s eyes, and we focus instead on the security and status that material success can bring to us, God will call us back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As often as we may try to outrace God, holding on to our idea of our own power like a young child who doesn\u2019t want to share her toys, God\u2019s at our window, tapping to get our attention. We might as well turn around and return to our loving home in Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amos 6:1a, 4\u20137, Psalm 146, 1 Timothy 6:6\u201319, Luke 16:19\u201331 St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, AustinSeptember 28, 2025 Year C: Proper 21 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord. Amen. The lectionary readings from the past few weeks are not going easy on us, are they? It\u2019s understandable that we might start to feel just a wee bit defensive after Amos, the Psalmist, Paul, and Luke have finished with us this morning. Whew.  The TV show Top Gear was playing in the background while I wrote this, and at one point Jeremy Clarkson said \u2014 while doing something very irresponsible in a very fancy Jaguar \u2014 that given the expanse of space, God must be a speed freak, but in this car, he was \u201cgoing to thrash God\u201d in a race. If that\u2019s not something I can work with, I don\u2019t know what is. Now, my aim is not to be the seminarian who stands in front of you and talks on and on about the minutia of biblical authorship and historical context\u2026but I ask your forgiveness in advance, because I am going to, just a little. I\u2019d like to walk through some things in today\u2019s readings that jumped out at me, beginning with Amos. As you get to know me, you will learn that I spend a lot of my time in the Old Testament, and I will, given a chance, ramble on about it until your eyes glaze over. I promise stop before that happens. This passage reads like a pretty straightforward condemnation of the wealthy; woe to those who lie on beds of ivory, drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with oil. Woe to those in Jerusalem who feel secure in their comfort while destruction draws ever closer. But then we get to the last part of verse six; now he adds something new. He gets more specific about who he is speaking of\u2014not the wealthy because they are wealthy, but because they are \u201cnot grieved over the ruin of Joseph.\u201d While Amos levels his accusations at absolutely everyone, Joseph\u2019s name here is a shorthand way of referring to all Israelites. We don\u2019t know a lot about Amos and his life in the mid 8th century BCE, but we know this; he could. not. stand the mistreatment of the poor he saw around him, the corruption, or the idolatry he saw both pagans and Hebrews practicing. He foretold the destruction of Judah and Israel, and also foretold the Israelite people being exiled from their lands, and he saw this coming crisis as an urgent warning for the people to reorient themselves to the ways of God. To turn away from the notion that wealth would keep them safe from harm, or that security could come from anywhere else but the Lord. Amos said, in no uncertain terms and sparing no one, that God would protect those who were righteous in God\u2019s eyes, who followed God\u2019s command to act with justice and mercy, and not those who deemed themselves righteous by virtue of wealth and security. I think Amos would have always used his turn signal.  Amos desperately wanted people to turn towards God and away from the injustice he saw all around him, to turn towards the responsibility towards one another and proper worship of the Lord.  After Amos, the Psalmist comes for us with this, \u201cDo not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth, and on that very day their plans perish.\u201d He seems like he would be fun at parties\u2014we all love to be reminded of our own mortality and how fleeting our accomplishment and legacies really are. The Psalmist is only naming a truth, though\u2014even the mightiest of kings, the most powerful of leaders, the brightest stars, and out heroes will die, just as we will.  Ouch.  But Psalmist keeps going, reorienting us once again to God. Happy are they whose help is in the Lord, who execute justice for the oppressed, who give food to the hungry. The LORD, the Psalmist says, loves the righteous. There\u2019s that word again. This Psalm was likely written after the Babylonian exile, when the Jewish people were allowed to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. This must have been a time of celebration and mourning, relief and uncertainty. In a time of very real disorientation, this Psalm is a reminder of what\u2014Who\u2014to hold onto. Hold on to the God who sets prisoners free, and who reigns forever. Put not your trust in the world and its powers, for stability and safety will not be found there. We then arrive at First Timothy. I admit, I find this letter a little difficult to approach with an open heart sometimes, but not today. The author warns us of the difference between the love of God and the love of money, and encourages us to \u201cshun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.\u201d He says directly that the danger of wealth is to trust in it, as fickle as it is. We\u2019re again told what righteousness means to God, and again it is not what we collect or the security we try to hold onto with it; for God will richly provide for us. Trusting that God will provide for us is one of the harder parts of day to day living in faith. This letter was probably written in the mid First century, when the theology and teachings of the church were new and not solidly established. Even the word \u201cChristian\u201d was new, and the emerging faith was figuring out its place within larger society. The church in Ephesus was facing conflicting teachings, and the author is trying to define what church leadership and church doctrine should look like. It wasn\u2019t uncommon for people at the time to return to their previous religious traditions amidst the confusion, and it must have been disorienting and sometimes disheartening for those called to follow Jesus trying to find a stable path to follow. First Timothy again urges a reorientation toward\u2019s God\u2019s righteousness as a way of managing this uncertainty. Luke then brings us to the most visceral exploration of the lesson in this set of readings in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Poor Lazarus, hungry, suffering, and covered with sores, dies. The rich man, not protected from mortality by his wealth, also dies. In the conversation that the rich man and Abraham have across the chasm between them, the rich man asks for Lazarus to be sent\u2014not asked, sent\u2014to soothe him. Upon refusal, he asks Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his family of the fate waiting for them. Abraham answers, I imagine a bit sharply, \u201cThey have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.\u201d That line hits me in the stomach every time. This is the risk of clinging to wealth, to the illusion of self-made righteousness; not Hades, or not only Hades, but the loss of the ability to see what justice even is. He did not care for the vulnerable at his own gate in life, and in death is only capable of seeing Lazarus as a tool to be used, a servant to be commanded, and not as a person beloved by God. This is, ultimately, where the belief that we can \u201cthrash God\u201d in any kind of way gets us. The rich man did not place his faith in the Lord\u2019s power, but his own. He has, not through the existence of his wealth but because of his faith in his wealth, lost sight of God. This passage differs from the others in that no way out is offered to the rich man. Jesus is issuing a warning about the result of improper stewardship \u2014 right on the heels of the Parable of the Dishonest Manager in last week\u2019s readings. Reverend Alyssa taught us last week that the best use of money is building relationships and community, and today\u2019s readings follow that idea by teaching us that our relationships and communities need to be oriented and re-oriented toward God.  Each of the four readings today illustrates for us the difference between the kind of righteousness that gets us into trouble \u2014 the illusory kind that relies on our own resources, our own strength, our own intelligence, our own wealth, our own individualism, the kind that all too often harms the most vulnerable\u2014and the kind of righteousness God intends for us. It\u2019s very easy for us to grab what we can see, what we can spend, what we can wrap around is \u2014 those things that make us feel physically safe from the elements, from noises we can\u2019t identify, from uncertainty and scary people.  It is in our nature to seek whatever safety we can in times of turmoil, and goodness knows turmoil is the default state of human history. I think all of us can feel that in the world around us right now\u2014I can feel in myself the urge to make sure I am as protected and secure as I can be, and that maybe buying yet another soft fuzzy throw blanket will make everything better \u2014 and maybe some of you are feeling that urge as well. It\u2019s very human. But in these difficult readings, I find there is a line connecting them to one another. A line of hope \u2014 for what would the warnings of prophets be if there wasn\u2019t time to change our ways? What future could exist for people in exile, if the dictates of princes lasted forever? There is way we can take hold of the life that is really life. At a time when very little in the world around us feels stable, much less safe, we have a roadmap. Not only a roadmap, but a God who will remind us and reorient us with endless patience.  As many times as we can lose sight of what righteousness means in God\u2019s eyes, and we focus instead on the security and status that material success can bring to us, God will call us back. As often as we may try to outrace God, holding on to our idea of our own power like a young child who doesn\u2019t want to share her toys, God\u2019s at our window, tapping to get our attention. We might as well turn around and return to our loving home in Him. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/caseyclough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/caseyclough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/caseyclough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caseyclough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caseyclough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=182"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/caseyclough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":186,"href":"https:\/\/caseyclough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182\/revisions\/186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/caseyclough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caseyclough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caseyclough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}