SERMON June 16, 2002
Donkin-Morien-Birch Grove Pastoral Charge
Amos 4: 1-13
“Minor Prophets I: Amos, justice and judgement”
This morning I begin my summer preaching project which will consist of twelve sermons on the Minor Prophets of the Old Testament. These 12 prophets form the closing part of the Old Testament in our Christian Scriptures, but in the Hebrew Bible they form one scroll, one book. The order in which I am going to preach on them is chronological, and is not the same as the order in Scripture.
The first prophet is Amos. Amos was from a small village about 12 miles south of Jerusalem, a village resting in the hills, a place called Tekoa. He lived in this place as a herdsman, and as a grower of sycamore trees. He was an unlikely prophetic voice. Most of the prophets and religious leaders in this era, around the mid 8th century BCE, were schooled in prophecy in places like Jerusalem. But Amos had no formal religious training, and was a stark contrast to the religious voices of his day.
Called from his herds in the hills around Tekoa, Amos was sent by God into a foreign land, into the Northern Kingdom of Israel. This was a good time in Israel, at least in external and physical ways. The economy was doing well and trade was booming. There was a sense of peace in the land, as the king, Jeroboam II, fortified the borders and made peace with his neighbours. And the religious life of the nation also appeared to be in good shape, at least superficially. The temples thronged with worshippers and their sacrifices.
Amos saw that the superficial veneer of success and wealth was not all that it seemed to be. The bountiful trade had led to an oppressive social pyramid, with few at the top. The religion of the people was a religion in name and form alone, without any sense of moral obligation. Amos was called by God to prophesy to the people in a way that had not been done for many years. He preached to the people in terms of their unique and special relationship with God, and what that relationship entailed. God had brought this people through so much, and had brought them to the land which they now ruled in peace. And now what did they owe to God.
They had violated the original covenant relationship of Sinai, a covenant which knew no classes, a covenant which offered all the Promised Land. But now Israel had become a promised land to few and a debtor’s prison to the many. Amos is strident in his condemnation of the luxury of the wealthy, in contrast to the oppressive poverty in the rest of society. And his clarion call was a call that God’s judgement rested on the people of Israel. God would not and could not allow this evil to continue. God did not look down on the rich sacrifices and empty words of his people with joy. Amos had lived a simple life in the hillside, and as he called on the people of Israel to recognize their sin, he knew there was another way to live. He knew that God had called his people to more.
Chapter four is the most important chapter of the whole book of Amos. It is a micro version of the whole book. It shows all the elements of Amos’ preaching to the people of Israel. It begins with a rousing description of the evils that Amos witnessed in Israelite high society, with the judgment that will come to those who do not heed the call. “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, "Bring us some drinks!" The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness: "The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks. You will each go straight out through breaks in the wall, and you will be cast out toward Harmon,”
Amos’ words are directed to those who live in great luxury while the poor struggle, and to the society that allows this to happen. One can almost picture Amos, casting his eyes to the hills of a famous place, like Hollywood or the French Riviera, looking at our television and magazines with their focus on celebrity and fame and luxury, and we can hear Amos say the same words to our world, to our society, with its warped sense of value and loss of perspective. And to this world will come judgment.
Verses four and five show that even the worship of that society was destroyed. "Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years. Burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings- boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do," declares the Sovereign Lord. The world had turned the houses of worship in places of sin. They go to worship God and yet their lives do not match their worship. They appear to be a very spiritual society, yet it is all a horrible, twisted lie. God is not fooled by their boasts of true spirituality.
Again can we not see Amos looking at our world, with its search for the spiritual? Our modern quest for spirituality is based far more on self-interest than any sort of Biblical standard. A spirituality set out on our terms, a spirituality designed for our life, a spirituality that does not get in the way. That is not a Biblical spirituality. Amos and his preaching call us away from that, to a belief in a God that forces us to look beyond ourselves, to look at the problems in society and say, “That will not do.”
There follows in verses six to eleven, a discussion of the ways in which God has attempted to reach his people, ways in which God has offered an opportunity for repentance. There is description of famine, drought, crop failure, searing winds, hail, locusts, warfare, disease, earthquakes. The nation is compared unfavourably with Sodom and Gomorrah. And with each description of disaster, Amos closes the prophecy with the same words. "I gave you empty stomachs yet you have not returned to me," declares the Lord. "I also withheld rain from you yet you have not returned to me," declares the Lord. "I sent plagues among you yet you have not returned to me," declares the Lord. "I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. yet you have not returned to me," declares the Lord. Each opportunity for repentance is passed by. Each chance to recognize the God that protects and saves his people slips away. God power is visible, yet there is no repentance, there is no movement from sin.
But it is in verse 12 that Amos reaches the high point of his prophecy. It is here that he utters the most famous words in his whole book. "Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel." He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth- the Lord God Almighty is his name. PREPARE TO MEET YOUR GOD. These words come in the middle of a great doxology on the power and strength of God. Prepare to meet your God, the former of the mountains. Prepare to meet your God, creator of the winds. Prepare to meet your God, who has shown you his thoughts. Prepare to meet your God, who turns the dawn to darkness. Prepare to meet your God, the Lord God Almighty.
Prepare to meet your God. These are words that strike at the very heart of a people who had been chosen to be God’s very own. These are words that do not leave our encounter with God up to chance. We should not be shocked to find God at work in the world, at work in so many places. Amos is certain that God and his judgement will come upon us, each one of us. So, it is our task to prepare.
And so, I ask you, how will you prepare to meet your God? In Romans 12, we hear about the new life in Christ. We hear about offering ourselves as a sacrifice to God. We hear about using God’s gifts to God’s purposes, as a primary goal. And in so many ways and in so many places, we are called on to prepare to meet our God.
In worship. Too often we act as if we are surprised when God makes an appearance in our worship. How often do we say to ourselves, that was a spiritual service, or that was a worshipful experience, as if it was some rare occurrence. As if finding God in this service was a sort of blessed accident we happened upon this particular day. Our worship should always be a place where we are prepared to meet our God.
In life. St. Paul writes in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Prepare to meet God in all parts of your life. Do not allow your life to be segmented into godly bits and sinful bits. Be transformed. Be transformed by the Spirit of God. Be transformed in all your daily life. Be transformed beginning today. Prepare to meet God in your very transformation. Prepare to met your God in all that you do. In all the ways that Paul writes in Romans 12:10ff, “love one another in mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in Spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.” Even to get started on that would take a lifetime.
Prepare to meet your God in relationships. Paul and Amos agree that we are not detached believers. Amos cried out against the oppression of his day. Amos looked at a people about to swept away and knew that God was displeased. Paul looks at the believers and says we are the body of Christ, many members all together. All have different functions, but all belong together and all belong to Christ.
We must also prepare to meet our God in the way which Amos particularly meant at the time he wrote. Prepare to meet your God in judgement and in eternity. This is a troubling subject for many people. It is not a subject we treat well in the United Church of Canada. It is a subject we want to put off, put off indefinitely if at all possible. And I often think to myself, why do we fear. Amos had no trouble preaching these words, and his world did not want to hear them any more than we did. Jesus had no trouble speaking words of judgment on those who needed to hear. When we hear those words, prepare to meet your God, are we afraid to meet our God. And if we are afraid, then we need again to hear the words that are written in Holy Scripture. Amos said to his world, turn from your sins and prepare to meet your God. Jesus said to his world, repent, for the kingdom of God is upon us. Hear those words and drive the fear from your hearts. Prepare to meet your God in judgement and in hope. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have life everlasting.”
Amos has provided us with an incredible phrase with which to live our lives. Each day, prepare to meet your God. For that is what we are called to do. For each morning as we wake, we meet our God, who has loved us, sustained us, and delivered us from the bondage of sin. And each day as we walk we walk in the light of that God we meet. That God who created us, That God who died for us, that God whose spirit lives and breathes within us. Brothers and sisters, today prepare to meet your God. today prepare to embrace that God, and live each day in the joy and power which our God can provide.
