Love What Is Right
Amos 5:4-15
10/19/03
He was a man of God. When we hear those words, we most often think of some famous TV evangelist like Billy Graham or perhaps a prophet or priest. Professionals. Today I want to introduce you to someone I’m willing to bet you don’t know very well who was a man of God—a person whose life was devoted to serving the Lord and whose lifestyle reflected this devotion, although he was by no means a professional.
His name is Amos. He was not a professional religious leader, he was not the son of a prophet or a priest; he wasn’t famous in any way. As a humble sheep herder, he could’ve stayed in Judah, the southern kingdom where he was born and lived, doing his job, providing for his family, worshiping his God.
But God gave this simple shepherd a vision of the future and told Amos to take this message to Israel, the Northern kingdom. The North had become very prosperous but they were living under a fake kind of religion, worshiping idols, oppressing the poor, enjoying their wealth and luxury.
The Israelites believed their wealth and religious rituals gave them security. But Amos shocked them by singing a song of grief for them as if they had already been destroyed. “Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel,” Amos began in chapter 5.
“Fallen, no more to rise, is maiden Israel, forsaken on her land, with no one to raise her up. For thus says the Lord God: The city that marched out a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which marched out a hundred shall have ten left. For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek me and live; do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Gilgal, or cross over to Beer-sheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile and Bethel shall come to nothing.”
Amos, a common sheep-herder, bringing this message to the wealthy and prosperous, singing it to them. This would be like my husband, Larry, in his shy nature, standing on the lawn of the White House and telling George W. Bush to “Seek God and live! Don’t seek the churches where it looks like lots of worship is happening!”
Don’t seek the house of God, seek the God of the house. Seek God and live, seek GOD, who lives in each of us, whether we’re gathered in a building or scattered across Marshall County. It’s not this church building that is sacred, it is GOD who is sacred.
God used places that were familiar to the Israelites in this message—Bethel, Gilgal, Beersheba. Bethel, which reminded them of the temple they journeyed to for formal worship. Gilgal, a place rich in their history where war had been fought as well as the place where their first king, Saul, disobeyed God and performed sacrifices to get blessings for himself.
Don’t seek the methods of God, seek the God of the methods, Larry tells George W. as Amos the Prophet tells us. Don’t seek Gilgal; don’t get stuck in the past, what God has done, or in going through the motions.
And don’t seek Beersheba. That word means water of the covenant. Jesus reminds us in the New Testament “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” (John 3:5). Baptism. Being clean. John 15:3 says “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”
Don’t seek the word of God, seek the God of the Word.
It reminds me of the scholars who study the Bible, wanting to know more and more about it. I had a professor in seminary who knew just about everything there is to know about the words in the Bible but I felt like he knew nothing about God—the passion, the love, the wonder of God.
I remember how impressed I was as a teenager because my stepmom told me she had read the entire Bible, cover to cover. I thought about that again, recently, when I spent time with her a few weeks before she died and realized she didn’t KNOW God. The Bible wasn’t meant to be read cover to cover. It’s not like any other ordinary book! God created the Bible so He could speak to us through it.
When you read the Bible, remember to tune into the piece of God’s own self that he implanted in your body, His Holy Spirit. Because it’s that Spirit who illuminates the word of God and uses it to pierce our hearts with conviction. Don’t miss that personal relationship in your reading!
Tony Campolo, a contemporary Christian writer, once said, “If (Christians) would spend as much time reading the Bible as they do arguing about it, how things would change!”
”Seek God and live,” Amos says. And Amos reminds us of the strength of God. Verses 8 and 9: “The one who made the star constellations, who turns deep darkness into morning and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, the Lord is his name, (and he) makes destruction flash out against the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress.” (Amos 5:8-9, my own paraphrase)
Now shy, humble Amos is on a roll, and he continues saying “You hate the honest judge, you hate the one who speaks the truth. You trample on the poor and steal from them, you make fun of the righteous, you take bribes, you push aside the needy using the courts.”
Why is it, I wonder, why does God put so much emphasis on how we treat the needy, the poor? Is it because when we give to the poor, we know we can’t expect to get anything in return? Because even when we think we don’t have an underlying motive for our actions, how we treat the needy in our society reflects our true selves. When we take a casserole to a sick neighbor, we can believe in our minds we’re not expecting anything back. But the next time you are sick in bed and that neighbor ignores you, doesn’t even call to see how you are doing, much less bring you food, you will remember that casserole you took HER.
And we have good excuses for not helping the needy, don’t we? Like, they don’t deserve my help. Or, any money I give them for food and medicine will be wasted or spent on cigarettes and beer. Or what if I give to someone who says he is in need of rent money and I become a victim myself, when I discover he told a lot of others the same story? Or, my own needs come first and the little bit I might have left over won’t make any difference in the long run.
What does God tell us to do? What has he been saying for thousands of years, through would-be prophets like Amos? Verses 14 and 15: “Seek good and not evil, that you may live. And so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate…”
Seek good and live! Seek GOOD and live! Our relationship with God BETTER affect our lives with other people, or else there’s something desperately wrong!
One of the times when the Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus into giving a wrong answer, they asked him which of the Ten Commandments was the most important one. Jesus responded, “…love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:34-39)
Recently, we have studied the words of the apostle James. He warns us that if we have faith which doesn’t show itself in deeds and action, we have no faith at all! Sometimes we are guilty of focusing on people’s (and even our own) sins. Pride, lust, drunkenness, smoking... I wonder why, as the gap between the rich and the poor in this world continues to widen, I wonder why the sins of injustice and oppression don't grab us. God is concerned about our society! A major theme throughout the Old Testament is how the majority treats the minorities.
Seek good and live!
What will change America? Bombing the oppressed who oppose us will not change America. Helping to rebuild the lands we destroyed will not change America. The Bible tells us to seek God, seek good, and not evil. The Bible never assumes large numbers will be saved. It’s a narrow gate, even as small as the eye of a needle, according to Jesus. But we are to be salt and light on our culture (not other way around!)
Ok, maybe that’s not personal enough for you. Maybe when we think about changing America, it seems too overwhelming, too big a job. So let’s look at YOU, on a personal level, as an individual. Do you realize that your actions have consequences? Amos reminds us that they do, but do WE realize that?
For example, if you drive fast on icy roads, you may be involved in an accident. Or if you smoke cigarettes for 20 or 30 or 40 years, chances are great that you will get emphysema, lung disease, or die young. Eat whatever you want, whenever you want, don’t exercise, you’ll gain weight, which can lead to heart disease, diabetes, and joint problems. Don’t discipline your children, let them have their own way, it’s easier and more peaceful at home that way. Until you face a teenager with an unwanted pregnancy, or a son who uses drugs to hide his feelings of being unloved. Consequences.
But there is hope. When we repent, God promises restoration, but even then, we may see the consequences of our wrong actions. Fast forward to the end of the Book of Amos. After the price of admission has been paid, after Israel and the seven nations pay, God promises restoration. But it didn’t come without restitution.
We can be forgiven. We can experience redemption, restoration and return. And perhaps the best thing of all is that Jesus Christ already paid our restitution. The next time you sin big time because you were looking for something in the WORLD for your happiness, remember that Jesus died a horrible death to pay for every sin you will ever commit. That alone should be enough to prod you to seek God, seek good, and live.
Please pray with me. Father God, reveal to us the evil we allow in our lives by doing nothing as people around us face hunger, and thirst for something they cannot name because they have never been told about your Son, Jesus. Give us holy boldness to open our mouths and tell them about you, your love, and your forgiveness. Amen.
BENEDICTION: I challenge you to read the few chapters of the book of Amos this week. And as you read, put yourself in the place of the Israelites and listen to God’s message. Ask yourself, “Have I grown complacent? Have other concerns taken God’s place in my life? Do I ignore those in need?” Then picture yourself as Amos, faithfully doing what God calls you to do. You too, can be God’s person. Listen for his clear call on your life, do what he says, no matter where it leads. Amen.
