Do you remember the Occupy movement that flourished fifteen years ago? It was an international protest movement against social and economic inequality, its primary goal being to make the economic structure and power relations in society fairer; the global financial system controls the world in a way that benefits a cheating minority. Today, the movement is dead, failing to do two things that the prophet Amos and the prophet Jesus succeeded in doing – establishing their authority so that people would listen to them – and communicating clearly to people how they should respond.
How did Amos establish his authority to speak against royal policy on government property? Amos strongly believed he was sent by God, and he had a clear message. When he met the priest Amaziah, an official of the king, he says “I was no prophet,” meaning that he was not a professional prophet who at that time made their living from involvement in politics. Rather, God called him from his farm, “took him from following the flock,” and gave him the words to speak. His message is simple: God is about to chastise Israel for its sins against its own poor. If Israel responds, God will also respond and draw near to the people in mercy.
In the Gospel today, Jesus likewise avoids vagueness. He makes it clear to the Twelve that he is re-founding Israel and announcing the reign of God. He sends them forth with very clear instructions: Trust the local people they meet, share the life of the communities they visit. They are to wish peace on the houses in which they find hospitality. Essentially, they are to preach that God is doing a new thing and the people should open their hearts and minds to it.
In Jesus’ case, he sent the Twelve, who represent the church, to convey his message. And that fact gives us our takeaway for today. Jesus speaks to us today through others. Moreover, he does not always “speak” by giving others words to say, but by enabling them to be good examples. As St. Francis of Assisi famously said to one of his Franciscan brothers, “Let us go, brother, and preach in that town and, if necessary, use words.”
Their message: find who are those who speak God’s word to us today, and who are those who are examples of God’s message to us? The important thing is to be receptive and appreciative. What do we notice? What sticks in our mind and comes back in a day or two? Take their good words and their good example seriously. It can be God speaking through them.