Amos, Martin and Johann

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My focus is Amos 5:18-24, with an emphasis on v. 24: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”[i] Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Amos, Martin and Johann – wordplay on America’s beloved patriotic song Abraham, Martin and John. Written by Dick Holler and recorded by Dion in 1968, it was a tribute to the memory of four assassinated American icons of social change – Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy.[ii]

I will spare you my singing, but not my question: Who are Amos, Martin and Johann? Every Lutheran knows they are Amos the prophet, Martin Chemnitz the theologian and Johann von Staupitz, Luther’s confessor. In some detail, I will explore who they were, what they meant, and how we remember them.

First, Amos. Bible introductions classify Amos as a shepherd and farmer. More than that, he was a sophisticated agricultural entrepreneur firmly devoted to God, who subtly lambasted Israel with poetry. “Poetry?” you ask. Yes, poetry.

Read Amos as you would Whitman, Poe, Dickinson, Angelou – poets who moved hearts and minds with creatively crafted words. To cite a Lutheran scholar, a major function of prophetic poetry is persuasion. Through poetry, the Holy Spirit influenced and changed people. The carefully articulated words of Amos in memorable, compelling, persuasive poetic verse were the words of Yahweh.[iii]

Amos’ words were so powerful that Martin Luther King wove them into his memorable speech at the March on Washington for Civil Rights in 1963 – Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.[iv]

In addition to being the Baxter Black of his day, Amos was a prophet. Prophets, God’s right-hand men, were his circle of trusted intimates. Like the circle of angelic holy ones,[v] God graciously invited prophets into his council to hear his Word so they could preach it to the people.

In God’s council, prophets received visions. Recall that Amaziah labeled Amos as a seer.[vi] Once in God’s council, Amos possessed an authority that no king or apostate priest could nullify, try as they did – for his message was God’s.[vii]

Today’s passage opens with a recurring theme in prophetic literature, The Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord meant the divine warrior would conquer Israel’s enemies and bring it victory. Instead, Amos declared, it would be a night of judgment – darkness at noon – to shock Israel out of its indifference.

Despite their boundless optimism, the Israelites were oblivious to the dark, ominous clouds of doom encircling them like plagues over Egypt, for instead of worshipping Yahweh at his temple in Jerusalem, they worshipped in syncretistic shrines false gods that would line their pockets.

Israel thought it could worship God on the Sabbath and do whatever on weekdays. This was Israel’s rationale when the rich and prosperous trampled on the poor, exacted taxes of grain from the destitute, and turned aside the needy at the gate. However, a careful reading of the Pentateuch demonstrates one cannot compartmentalize worship from work. God was not pleased with Israel’s offerings when they trampled the poor and turned away the needy. Amos indicated Israel’s theology and practices were unjust and unrighteous. That is why the Day of the Lord would be darkness and not light.

The covenant of salvation Israel received in the past did not guarantee future security because the nation broke the Sinai covenant. Amos proclaimed, “Think again before longing for Yahweh to appear and settle matters of right and wrong. To eliminate evil, he will eliminate you because you are evil!”[viii]

Verse 24, the one quoted by Dr. King, is the climatic statement in our reading. “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Because justice and righteousness were not present, religious life with all its ritual accoutrements became a sham. Hence, the people who did not seek Yahweh were dehydrated, dry and dead.

We know this because at the heart of the verse is the water metaphor. It harkened to when David was in the wilderness – a dry weary land without water – and he thirsted for Yahweh and looked for Him in the sanctuary.[ix]

Amos connected Israel’s longing for rain and fertility with God’s yearning for his people to be just and righteous. People would enjoy God’s blessings for eternity only if they had a just and right relationship with him through faith. Then his gifts of justification and righteousness by grace would overflow in their actions of justice and righteousness, into their lives and behavior toward one another.[x]

This water imagery anticipated new birth through water and the Spirit,[xi] the Sacrament of Baptism. Jesus alone offers the gift of living water that wells up to become a spring within the baptized believer.[xii] Baptismal water delivers Christ’s love, which overflows through the baptized into lives and deeds of justice and righteousness in the world. Baptismal cleansing and new life are made possible because of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross and his glorious resurrection. Blood and water flowed from his side. Only the Christian life begun in baptism enables justice and righteousness to cascade as a river of life and mercy.[xiii]

My second point, Martin and Johann. Even though Fantastick lyrics suggest September and December are times to remember, November is an excellent month. We open by remembering saints and commemorating the dead and close by thanking God for blessing our nation. In between, we remember veterans, JFK and the contributions of Martin and Johann.

Look at The Church Year Commemorations in the Lutheran Service Book. Notice the commemoration for Staupitz and Chemnitz fall on November 8 and 9.

Johann von Staupitz, who lived from 1469–1524, headed the Augustinian Order in Germany, where Martin Luther was a monk. He befriended Luther, and as dean of theology at the University of Wittenberg, encouraged him to attain a doctorate in theology. He later appointed Luther as his successor to teach the Bible, which forced Luther to study Scripture and led to marvelous insights. Staupitz’s key contribution came as Luther’s confessor, counseling him to focus on Christ and not on himself in order to understand God's grace.

Martin Chemnitz, who lived from 1522–1586, is, after Martin Luther, the most important theologian in the history of the Lutheran Church. Chemnitz combined a penetrating intellect and an encyclopedic knowledge of Scripture and Patristics with a genuine love for the church. When doctrinal disagreements broke out after Luther's death in 1546, Chemnitz gave himself fully to restore unity in the Lutheran Church. He became the leading spirit and principal author of the 1577 Formula of Concord, which settled doctrinal disputes based on the Scriptures and largely succeeded in restoring unity among Lutherans. Chemnitz also authored the Examination of the Council of Trent, in which he rigorously subjected the teachings of Trent to the judgment of Scripture and the ancient church fathers. The Examination became the Lutheran answer to the Council and a thorough exposition of the faith of the Augsburg Confession.

Now, how does knowledge of Amos, Martin and Johann affect my life today? How does it affect our lives today?

I rephrase my question because of the last verse of Holler’s song.  Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby? Can you tell me where he's gone? I thought I saw him walkin' up over the hill with Abraham, Martin, and John.[xiv]

Walkin’ up over the hill with Abraham, Martin and John evokes an image of the four icons walking together. The image describes who we are as church when we use the term synod.

As members of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, we walk together. Synod comes from two Greek words that mean walking together. The term has rich meaning in our church body because congregations voluntarily choose to belong to the Synod. Though diverse in service, congregations hold to a shared confession of Jesus Christ as taught in Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.[xv]

As we walk together, we walk with those who have gone before us – icons of social change, icons of religious change, beloved veterans of the military and the Church Militant, family members and friends who have influenced us – perhaps more than Martin Luther or Martin Chemnitz, perhaps less.

As we walk, we step closer to the Day of the Lord. What will that Day be for sinners, for saints, for me? A day of vindication and victory or punishment for a hardened heart and an unrepentant life?

Folks, take time today to do two things. First, remember the people who influenced how you live your faith. Second, imagine how your children and grandchildren will remember how you set a good example for them to live their faith. Do it today because, like the Day of the Lord, your time is short, as is mine.

A conversation with my mother reminds me how short time is. On Aril 17, 2003, we were sitting in the parking lot of a flower shop eating McDonald’s chicken sandwiches. We just came from the funeral home where we selected a casket for my dad. Between bites, mom remarked, “Well, that was fast.” Mom was referring not to the morning’s activities, but the 53 years she and my dad were married. If 53 years flies by quickly, how quickly the end comes for each of us. Do not be deceived by Satan’s whisper, "You have time to repent.” Quickly the end comes for each of us.

Returning to Amos, I remind you that there are prophets who are neither major nor minor. All who believe in God and worship Him are His servants, His prophets. In God’s Law we read, “For it is to me that the people of Israel are servants. They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.[xvi] … Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”[xvii]

Friends, Christ is the final prophet, and through Him, we, the baptized, have gained access to the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. Through Word and Sacrament, we enjoy communion with our Triune God.[xviii] We enjoy communion with God for a purpose – to spread His merciful love like indiscriminant farmers spreading seed everywhere.

The Day of the Lord reminded Israel that Yahweh would punish apostates and judge nations, but all who repented and called upon his name in faith would be saved, for there shall be a saved remnant of believers from Israel[xix] and from the Gentile nations.[xx] Judgment upon the nations and restoration for the faithful remnant saved by grace alone.[xxi]

The only hope for Israel and for us is Yahweh’s final word to humanity: his incarnate Word, Jesus.[xxii] God’s gracious YES in the Gospel of Jesus Christ justifies believers and removes them from the NO of the Law’s condemnation.[xxiii]

As you await the Day of the Lord, prepare for it by setting an example of Christian living that people will remember for generations. Live love as Christ loved so that when you pass, people who say nothing but good about the dead will not say about you, “Good, he’s dead,” but will remember your good example. From now until the end of your days may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[i] Psalm 122

[ii] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham,_Martin_and_John

[iii] R. Reed Lessing, Amos. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009. p. 70. See Amos 8:11.

[iv] Amos 5:24

[v] Psalm 89:7

[vi] Amos 7:12

[vii] Lessing, 220f

[viii] Lessing, 358.

[ix] Psalm 63

[x] Lessing, 375

[xi] John 3:5.

[xii] John 4:7-15; 7:38-39. Amos 5:24 may well be part of the OT background of the Scripture (John 7:38) Jesus cites for this promise.

[xiii] Lessing, 376.

[xiv] http://www.americansongwriter.com/2009/12/behind-the-song-abraham-martin-and-john/

[xv] http://www.lcms.org/belief-and-practice

[xvi] Leviticus 25:55

[xvii] Numbers 11:29

[xviii] Lessing, 221

[xix] Amos 5:15; 9:11

[xx] Amos 9:12; Joel 3:5; Acts 2;21

[xxi] Ezekiel 33-48; Zephaniah 3

[xxii] John 1:14; Revelation 19:13

[xxiii] Lessing, 359.