Amos 8: 1-12, page 651
This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit.
“What do you see, Amos?” the Lord asked.
“A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered.
Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing. Many, many bodies – flung everywhere! Silence!”
Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, saying,
“When will the new moon be over that we may sell grain,
And the Sabbath ended that we may market wheat?”
Skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales,
Buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals,
Selling even the sweepings with the wheat.
The Lord has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.”
“Will not the land tremble for this, and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise up like the Nile; it will be stirred up and then sink like the river in Egypt.
“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord.
“I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
I will turn your religious feasts into mourning and all your singing into weeping.
I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.
“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “When I will send famine through the land – not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.
Sermon
These are hard words from Amos – hard words that have not lost their strength or their meaning despite the thousands of years in between the time when they were spoken by the prophet and today.
There are other words however, who’s meaning changes, whose strength fades.
Have you ever heard someone say that they do something religiously?
Today, when people say that they do things “religiously,” I’m not always sure what they mean.
I think that what they’re trying to say is that they are committed to it, that they are dedicated to it, that they do it, whatever it is, as though their salvation depended on it.
But when I think about folks in our culture and the amount of time they’re willing to give to their religion, I’m tempted to think that doing something “religiously” isn’t really all that impressive.
I walk my dog religiously, someone might say. But what does that mean – that your poor dog only gets walked on Christmas and Easter?
We have a problem in our world today – and it’s not nearly as different as the problem that Amos’ word had although it would be nice if things were otherwise.
The prophet spoke the word of the Sovereign Lord, the jealous God who was running short on patience with this people who couldn’t wait to get finished with the New Moon and the Sabbath so that they could get back to business, get back to making money.
Dr. Dana Kind said it well in Bible study last Thursday, “The gospel became a burden to them,” they were tired of it because their religious practice was getting in the way of their true religion – making money.
Theirs was the gospel of cash – and God’s word was getting in the way – the Gospel became a burden to them and they began to resent it, they started complaining about it – and God decided it was time to stop suspending judgment – that the time was ripe for my people Israel and I will spare them no longer.
The time was ripe for them – and all they did was resent the Sabbath – what will become of us then?
The time was ripe for them – and all they did was resent the Sabbath, not do away with it all together.
The time was ripe for them – as making money took a front seat to worship, silver or a pair of sandals became more important than the poor as the drive to make money trumped everything else – and God’s judgment was the consequence.
In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord.
“I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
I will turn your religious feasts into mourning and all your singing into weeping.
I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.
“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “When I will send famine through the land – not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.
Harsh words for them – harsh words that I can’t imagine coming out of Jesus’ mouth – but Christ is just as clear about the consequences of selfish actions.
Jesus tells the story about a man who gained so much grain he decided to build up an additional barn to store it in. He worked hard and he looked forward to the day when he would be able to sit back and say to himself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink, be merry!”
That very night his life was taken, and all that he prepared? Who did it profit?
It’s important that this parable here asks the question, “Who did it profit,” as profits are certainly the focus of our passage from Amos as well as Jesus’ parable.
I don’t think it’s accurate to say that Christianity is incompatible with economics, but what is clear is that in the mind of God, economics is not worth being religious about, as where the Christian life can bring something worth having, salvation, purpose, joy, community – the continual pursuit of wealth, a pursuit that values profit over all else will leave you lost and alone.
It’s not that business is bad, it’s not even that money is bad, it’s that there are things more valuable than either – it’s this lesson that the Israelites forgot, and I pray that our society will learn from their mistakes before it’s too late.
Before it’s too late, remember that there is more to life than profit – that there is something more worth having – that time with your family is worth more than the money you could earn working through the weekend.
That time with your God is worth more than the money you could earn working on a Sunday.
Those relationships with your neighbors are worth more than the money you could gain cheating them.
There is more to life than profit – thanks be to God.
But isn’t it hard to believe it, when all around us people are focused on nothing more than profits.
There is hope however – every time I want a chicken sandwich on a Sunday I resent Chic-fila, but its proof that success in the marketplace can be gained without losing your integrity.
There it is, proof that money can be made without selling your brother or sister short.
Proof that a business can be run successfully without giving it everything you have, making profit your foremost concern.
Proof that the God who holds us back, demands our allegiance, never lets us forget the poor in our midst, doesn’t want us to fail, but desires that we not only have life, but life abundant.
Amen.
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