If you could be any person from the Bible, who would it be? Would you like to be Adam or Eve barefooting around the Garden of Eden with no fear of stepping on a rusty nail or a thorn? Wouldn’t it be an experience to play with a full-grown lion the way you would a kitten? Both would have been possible in the Garden of Eden before the fall into sin. Or would you like to stand in the sandals of Moses – arms outstretched as the waters of the Red Sea part before you and a couple million Israelites stream past you to safety? Or maybe you would like to be the beautiful and clever Queen Esther – matching your wits against the schemes of Haman. There are so many interesting people in the Bible. There’s Deborah, David, Daniel, Mary, Amos, Amaziah…Amos and Amaziah? Who are those guys? That’s what we want to find out today because we want to be like the one but not the other.
You probably remember hearing the name Amos before. An Old Testament book of the Bible bears his name. Amos was a prophet who lived about 750 years before Christ was born. Although he was from the southern kingdom of Judah he had been sent to preach to the northern kingdom of Israel. Outwardly things were going well in that country. King Jeroboam II had expanded the borders and the economy was humming along. But while things were going well on the surface, they were atrocious when it came to inward, spiritual matters. Materialism was rampant. Concern for others was low. People were still active in worship but they were just going through the motions. Anyway they were worshipping at a temple that hadn’t been approved by God. This temple, or shrine really, had been built by King Jeroboam I to keep his people from traveling to Judah to worship in Jerusalem. I suppose it would be like the city of Morinville building a Walmart to keep its citizens from spending their cash in St. Albert.
You think it would have been obvious to the people of Israel that it was wrong to worship at the shrine in Bethel. After all Jeroboam had installed an idol there – a golden calf. But the priests who ran the place inisisted that the calf was not there to be worshipped but to carry their invisible God whom they were to worship. Still, what they were doing wasn’t right. God wanted all the Israelites to offer sacrifices to him in one place and one place only: Jerusalem. So God sent Amos to tell the people at Bethel to change their ways.
It usually doesn’t go over very well, does it, when someone from “corporate” shows up to tell the staff at the district office that their way they’re doing things is all wrong. That was the kind of reception Amos received. After hearing that if they would not shape up, God was going to destroy their country and send them into exile (Amos 7:9), Amaziah, the resident priest at Bethel, blasted Amos: “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom” (Amos 7:12, 13).
If this was all we knew about the incident, you might cast a beleaguered Tom Hanks to play the part of Amaziah while some stuffy corporate type would stand in for Amos. But we would have it all wrong. Amos was not a suit from headquarters. “I was neither a prophet nor a prophet’s son,” said Amos “but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel” (Amos 7:14, 15). Amos was hardly a professional – much less a career prophet. He was a shepherd who also ran an orchard. He had not made the trip to Israel because he thought he could make a quick buck preaching there or because he enjoyed stirring the pot. He went because God told him to deliver a message. Earlier in his book Amos explained with picturesque language why he, an “amateur,” was delivering a sermon in Bethel. “The lion has roared— who will not fear? The Sovereign LORD has spoken— who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8)
Amos was more like a whistle-blower who shows up at corporate to set things straight. Amaziah, on the other hand, was the corporate fat cat whose livelihood was threatened by Amos’ revelations. As far as Amaziah was concerned, Amos needed to be silenced otherwise the priests at Bethel would lose their positions and prestige.
Amos or Amaziah. Which are you more like? When a little voice pipes up from the back seat and says: “Dad, you’re driving over the speed limit.” Do you ease off the gas but only with some annoyance? When your mom says, “That’s not a T.V. show that honors your heavenly Father. Please turn it off.” Do you whine because now you won’t be in the know with your friends who do get to watch that show? Or have I ever said something from the pulpit that rankled because I applied a section of God’s Word that condemns something you do in private? This feeling of anger is not unlike Amaziah’s reaction to Amos. Amaziah was perturbed that someone would suggest that he wasn’t really worshipping the Lord. Wasn’t he a priest? Hadn’t the king of Israel given him his job? Surely his religion must count for something! Unfortunately it didn’t. Amaziah’s homespun “spirituality” was worthless. Worse than that, it was offensive to God.
The world is full of Amaziahs today. People have often said to me: “I’m not religious but I am spiritual.” What that usually means is “I don’t believe in following creeds, dogmas, or church teaching; I just follow the compass of my own life and do what I think is right. Surely God will be happy with that.” Today’s text makes clear that this is a dangerous way to think. Listen to what Amos said to Amaziah who thought he could live by his own set of rules. “You say,” ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and stop preaching against the house of Isaac.’ 17 “Therefore this is what the LORD says:” ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be measured and divided up, and you yourself will die in a pagan country. And Israel will certainly go into exile, away from their native land” (Amos 7:16b, 17). Amos wasn’t getting into a spitting contest with Amaziah. He wasn’t trading insult for insult. He simply told the truth about what happens to those who insist on living by their own rules and not God’s. If Amaziah didn’t want to live by God’s rules, then he would have to live far away from God’s blessings.
Are we who have gathered here like Amaziah in any way? Of course! Our sinful nature isn’t any more pure than the sinful nature of those people who have no use for church. It too doesn’t like to be told how to act. It too wants us to believe that if what we’re doing feels good, it must be OK. But that’s not much different than assembling your IKEA purchase without bothering to read the directions first. Oh sure, you feel like you know what you’re doing but why is it that you end up with a hand full of extra screws and nuts every time? There’s obviously something wrong with the way you put that bookcase together. If you don’t find the mistake, it’s not going to be fit for holding books! Neither are people who ignore God’s commands fit for his kingdom - no matter how insignificant those commands may seem to us.
So don’t be an Amaziah. Aim to be an Amos. Humbly listen to God’s Word and take it to heart. When the Lion of Judah roars listen with fear and trembling…and much joy because God does more promising than he does commanding in his Word. You see there would be no hope of joy for us if it weren’t for another priest in the Bible besides Amaziah. Jesus is that priest. Unlike Amaziah who only thought of himself, Jesus thought about us. He loved us so much that he offered himself on the altar of the cross to pay for our sins. There at the cross Jesus deflected away God’s anger over our sins – a little bit like the way the tires lining the race track for the Edmonton Indy this afternoon will deflect careening cars away from the fans. This God has promised you forgiveness and eternal life. This is a God worth listening to!
It’s true. Making the ongoing study of God’s Word an important part of your life will take time away from other activities. It did for Amos. He may have been away for weeks from his flock and orchard to go up to Bethel and preach. But frankly it was the most important thing he ever did. I mean Amos may have been a wildly successful businessman but if so, we don’t know about it. What we do know about Amos is the word of warning and comfort he shared with the Israelites. Isn’t that how you want to be known - as one who listens to God’s Word and then shares it with family and friends to warn them away from their sin and point them to their savior Jesus? Sure. So aim to be an Amos and enjoy the blessings Christ won for you. Amen.
