Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist
wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the
Lord.’”[1] 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.
No one wakes the dead like the Irish. Although
the Irish no longer wake the dead in their parlors, one cannot help but be
moved by a poem set to music sung at an Irish funeral. The most moving funeral
experience I witnessed was listening to an Irish tenor sing “Danny Boy” toward
the end of the funeral for a police officer with family, friends and fraternal
colleagues filling the church and spilling onto the street. That poem set to
music sung in that setting softens hearts and moistens eyes. To quote a
Lutheran scholar, “A major function of prophetic poetry is persuasion. Through
[poetry], the Holy Spirit works to influence and change people. … The carefully
articulated words of Amos in memorable, compelling, persuasive poetic verse
are, at the same time, ‘the words of Yahweh’ (8:11).”[2]
Rather than seeing Amos as a street preacher
barking revelations from God to a world of heathens and backsliding sinners, we
should see him as a sophisticated agricultural entrepreneur firmly devoted to
Yahweh, subtly lambasting his hearers with poetry. Read Amos as you would
Whitman, Poe, Dickinson, Angelou – poets who move hearts and minds with
creatively crafted words. Martin Luther King wove Amos’ words into one of
America’s most memorable speeches at the March for Civil Rights in 1963 – “Let
justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”[3] In his day, Amos
creatively constructed God’s words to deliver a poetic message of divine
punishment and redemption. Poetic justice, perhaps?
This evening, I will read you chapter three;
reflect on two questions that the writers must have asked aloud; and finally,
how the passage challenges us today.
First, the chapter. Listen to the words of
Amos, the Word of God, words and woes for Israel.
Hear this word that the Lord has spoken
against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out
of the land of Egypt: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore
I will punish you for all your iniquities.
“Do two walk together, unless they have
agreed to meet?
Does a lion roar in the forest, when he
has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
if he has taken nothing?
Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
when it has taken nothing?
Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the
people are not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city, unless the
Lord has done it?
“For the Lord God does nothing without
revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who
will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?”
Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves on
the mountains of Samaria, and see the great tumults within her, and the
oppressed in her midst.”
“They do not know how to do right,”
declares the Lord, “those who store up violence and robbery in their
strongholds.”
Therefore thus says the Lord God: “An
adversary shall surround the land and bring down your defenses from you, and
your strongholds shall be plundered.”
Thus says the Lord: “As the shepherd
rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the
people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch
and part of a bed.”
“Hear, and testify against the house of
Jacob,” declares the Lord God, the God of hosts, “that on the day I punish
Israel for his transgressions, I will punish the altars of Bethel, and the
horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. I will strike the
winter house along with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses shall come to an end,” declares the Lord.
Chapter 3 poses two questions. The first
question is: Isn’t Israel elected by
Yahweh? The second: Who is Amos? The
answer to the first question is: Yes, Israel was elected by Yahweh, but for a
purpose.
Amos and Israel knew that Yahweh delivered
more than just their clan from Egypt. In 9:7, Amos wrote, “Are
you not like the Cushites to me, O
people of Israel?” declares the Lord. “Did I not bring up Israel from
the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor
and the Syrians from Kir?”
Israel alone, however, was granted a special
relationship. Israel was not merely known, but favored by Yahweh as His
covenant partner. God initiated this partnership. We read in Jeremiah: “Before
I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated
you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”[4] Paul, too, realized God
had chosen him. In Galatians, the Apostle wrote: “He set me apart before I was
born, and called me by his grace.”[5] Like the prophet and Paul,
Israel knew it was chosen to be protected by God in order to bring people to
Him, to Christ. Israel knew that its
relationship with God was special.
Because Israel went over to false gods, God
visited Israel in its guilt. When God visits people in their guilt, He brings
the Law and the Gospel. He can either punish you – as we read in Exodus – You shall
not bow down to [false gods] or serve them, for I the Lord
your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children
to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me[6] – or He can absolve you –
as we read in 2nd Samuel – David’s heart struck him after he had
numbered the people. David said to the Lord, “I
have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord,
please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”[7]
Amos’ rhetorical questions in verses 3-6
bolster his assertions in verses 7-8. (Open the Bible to this passage.) The expected
answer to each question is no. The unexpected response of
verses 7-8 answers my second question – Who is Amos? Amos is a prophet, and he prophesies
like a roaring lion because God revealed His Word to him.
The prophets, God’s servants or right-hand
men, were like a circle of trusted intimates. Like the circle of angelic holy
ones,[8] God graciously invited his
prophets into his council to hear his Word so that they could preach it to the
people.
In God’s council, the prophets received
visions. In fact, in chapter 7, King Amaziah labels Amos as a “seer.”[9] Having been in God’s
council, Amos carried with him an authority that no king or apostate priest
could nullify, try as they did. His message was not his, but God’s.[10]
Amos’ message from God reminded Israel that
those who worship and defile holy things intentionally or unintentionally will
be punished by death.[11] The only solution is that
God will wipe away their guilt through blood sacrifice.
For that sacrifice, Israel praised God
through the Psalmist. “When iniquities prevail against me, you
atone for our transgressions. Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to
dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the
holiness of your temple!”[12]
Scripture reminds us that there are prophets
who are neither major nor minor. All who believe in God and worship Him are His
servants, His prophets. In Leviticus and Numbers 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.[13]
… Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his
Spirit on them!”[14]
The final prophet is Christ. The Son revealed
His Father’s redemptive plan that involves judgment and salvation, Law and
Gospel. Because of his atonement and reconciling work, we the baptized have
gained access to the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. Through Word
and Sacrament, we are in communion with our Triune God.[15]
Finally, how the passage challenges us today.
… It is quite easy for me to pose questions about how we are faithless to a
faithful God. … How we prefer our ways
to God’s ways. How we want to influence people and events more than the Holy
Spirit. How we want more Facebook followers than Jesus. How we determine what
God’s will must be for me.
Instead, my thoughts were piqued by the
writings of Reed Lessing, Scripture professor at Concordia Seminary. Lessing
challenges the ordained when he writes, “Pastors are called into the apostolic
office to be ‘stewards of the mysteries of God.’ Imitating Paul, they are not
to shirk from proclaiming ‘the whole counsel of God.’ The divine command is
revealed in God’s Word, which pastors are ordained to preach to God’s people
and to all. They announce that ‘the mystery of God, which he evangelized to his
servants the prophets,’ will be fulfilled at the seventh trumpet, upon the
return of Christ.”[16]
Like Israel and Amos, we are called into a
covenantal relationship with God. We who believe and worship our Triune God as
ordained and lay people are called into a serious, loving relationship through
Word and Sacrament. If we are in a serious relationship, then we need to be
engaged in that relationship. If we are not putting the time and attention into
serious relationships – friendship, marriage, family, church – then we are
disengaged. So, the challenging question for us is: Am I engaged in a prayer
life that demands both time and attention? In addition to reading God’s Word,
receiving Communion and offering a few prayers for family and friends, is my
prayer life deep, full, rich?
When I think of Amos comparing himself to a
roaring lion, he could do so because he took seriously the call from God to
prophesy, to announce the mystery of God. He took seriously his role as God’s
right-hand man, and he loved it. Being a prophet 2,700 years ago was no easier
task than it is today. It is a privilege to be called, is it not? And we take
seriously our divine call by spending quality time with our God in prayer. Let
God comfort and challenge, afflict and disturb, energize and engage you. … If
there is anything I can ask you to do, it is to take seriously your role as
prophets in the world and your commitment to God in prayer. As you do, may the
peace of God that surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7). Amen.
[1] Psalm
122
[2] R.
Reed Lessing, Amos. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009. p. 70.
[3]
Amos 5:24
[4]
Jeremiah 1:5
[5]
Galatians 1:15
[6]
Exodus 20:5
[7] 2
Samuel 24:10
[8]
Psalm 89:7
[9]
Amos 7:12
[10]
Lessing, 220f
[11]
Leviticus 7:18; 17:16; Exodus 28:43.
[12]
Psalm 65:3-4
[13]
Leviticus 25:55
[14]
Numbers 11:29
[15]
Lessing, 221
[16]
Lessing, 221
