Readings for today: Amos 1-5
Violence. Slavery. Rage. Greed. Desecration. These are just a few of the sins of the pagan nations that prompt God’s judgment. Rejection. Disobedience. Deceit. Sexual immorality. Mistreatment of the poor. These are just a few of the sins of God’s people which God clearly will not overlook. It doesn’t matter that Israel and Judah have enjoyed a special relationship with Him for centuries. All the history of God’s mighty acts of deliverance on their behalf provides no safety blanket when it comes to sin. Humanity, especially the people of God, have tested God’s patience. They have pressed Him too far. As The Message puts it, “I’m hard-pressed - to the breaking point. I’m like a wagon piled high and overloaded, creaking and groaning.” (Amos 2:13 MSG)
It’s hard for us to imagine God’s patience being tested. We tend to think of Him as immutable - unchanging - or impassible - unaffected by emotions. And while these things are true on a certain level, they tend to reflect more Greek philosophy than Biblical theology. The God who reveals Himself in the Bible - and especially through the prophetic books of the Old Testament - is a God who is deeply moved by the actions of His people. He is a God who exists in intimate relationship with them and His heart breaks over and over again at their sin. One can hear the pathos of God throughout our reading today from Amos.
“Out of all the families on the earth, I picked you!” (Amos 3:2a MSG)
“Do two people walk hand in hand if they aren’t going to the same place?” (Amos 3:3a MSG)
“In the same way that a shepherd trying to save a lamb from a lion manages to recover just a pair of legs or the scrap of an ear, so will little be saved of the Israelites…” (Amos 3:12 MSG)
Amos presents God’s judgment as a kindness. An action by God to bring His people to repentance and back into right relationship with Him. “I’m the One who emptied your pantries…but you never got hungry for Me…I’m the One who stopped the rains…but you never got thirsty for Me…I hit your crops with disease…but you continued to ignore Me…I revisited you with the old Egyptian plagues…but you didn’t notice Me…I hit you with earthquake and fire…but you never looked My way…All this I have done to you, Israel, and this is why I have done it.” (Amos 4:6-12 MSG) What is it about us that causes such resistance to God and His ways? What is it about us that causes us to fight God every step of the way? Why do we bring such judgment on ourselves rather than turn and embrace Him?
Two reasons. First, we forget God. We forget who it is we are actually dealing with. God is not an idol of our own making. He is no abstract thought or philosophical idea or ethical system of our own creation. “Look who’s here: Mountain-shaper! Wind-Maker! He laid out the whole plot before Adam. He brings everything out of nothing, like dawn out of darkness. He strides across the alpine ridges. His name is God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.” (Amos 4:13 MSG) Second, we forget where we live. We live in God’s universe. We live under God’s rules, like it or not. We live in the world God made. Despite what we may think, we are NOT the masters of our domain. We are NOT the captains of our destines. We have little, if any, real power or authority. All that we have is given to us by a Will much bigger and greater than our own. “Do you realize where you are? You’re in a cosmos star-flung with constellations by God, a world God wakes up each morning and puts to bed each night. God dips water from the ocean and gives land a drink. God, God-revealed, does all this. And He can destroy it as easily as make it. He can turn this vast wonder into total waste.” (Amos 5:7b-9 MSG)
Now think about your own life. Are you aware of where you are and under whose authority you live? Do you cultivate a deeper awareness of God’s presence in your life? Do you marvel at all He has made and the gift it is to live in the universe He has made? Do you intentionally seek to grow your understanding of God’s greatness and glory? Do you intentionally slow down to see the beauty and wonder of a flower or watch a bird in flight or stand to take in waves of grain that grow in the field? Do you ever look up at the night sky and catch your breath in awe at the stars God knows by name? These are the kinds of everyday practices that draw us deeper into relationship with God and set our hearts on the path back to Him.
Readings for tomorrow: Amos 6-9