PLAYING CHURCH?
Amos 2: 6-16
Amos 5: 21-24

           I’ve heard it said that every journey involves at least two stops along the way (those who’ve taken a trip with children know what I am talking about). That statement is going to hold true for us today. This message has an intended destination. Getting there, though, is going to require a couple of stops along the way.

           The first stop I want to make is at the dictionary. I admit I make lots of stops at the dictionary, but it is important for us to be on the same page concerning definitions, so that you know what I mean when I use a certain word or phrase. As we stop at the dictionary, I want to define the two words that make up the title of the sermon. The first word, play, can have a wide range of definitions. For our purposes, play is being used as a synonym for “pretend”—a false sense of being. The second word I want to define is “church”. Numerous sermons could be preached on the definition of that word. In today’s world, church is usually used to reference the building. However, if we trace the word “church” through its linguistic lineage, we find ourselves at Matthew 16 where Peter makes his confession of Jesus as Messiah and Jesus declares that on the rock of Peter, Jesus would build his “church”. In the Greek text of the New Testament, the phrase we translate as church was ekklesia kuriake, which means “congregation of the Lord”. It seems clear that Jesus was talking about the church as a group of people, not a building. To bring that into contemporary times, and make things a little personal, YOU are the church. You as individuals and us collectively as a group comprise the Church. We are part of the congregation of the Lord! We are part of the assembly of those who call themselves people of God!

           Stop number 2 on our journey this morning allows us to establish the context of Amos’ message. This stop will be a part of most, if not all, of our engagements with the Minor Prophets. It will allow us to see what was going on that caused God to speak through a particular prophet, and perhaps draw some parallels between the ancient world and our world today. Amos lived and prophesied around 750 BCE. As best as we can tell, this was a time of relative peace and prosperity in Israel. It was a time of economic prosperity, political stability, and a time of few, if any, invasions from outsiders. However, as has been the case down through history, this time of prosperity contributed to it also being a time of materialism and selfishness; a time where people became so consumed with earthly things that they became driven to get more and more.

           We read from chapter 1, verse 1 that Amos prophesied under two kings. The first was Jeroboam II. Not much is known about his reign except for a few verses in 1 Chronicles 14. There we are simply told that Jeroboam II “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord”. We aren’t told what exactly it was that he did that was evil, but suffice it to say that his reign was not the most Godly in Israel’s history. The second king was Uzziah. Uzziah reigned for about 52 years—one of the longest reigns in Israel’s history. We read Uzziah’s story in 2 Chronicles 26. There we read that, initially, Uzziah did “what was right in the sight of the Lord”. We aren’t really told what he did that was right, but his reign was apparently more Godly than Jeroboam II. As a result, Israel experienced that time of prosperity and peace. However, things began to erode quickly. As Israel grew stronger, Uzziah grew more and more prideful in what “he” had done. This pride eventually led to his downfall (2 Chronicles 26:16).

           It was against this backdrop that Amos prophesied. During that time, there were two kinds of prophets. One kind of prophet was trained in a prophetic “school” and was essentially a “professional” prophet. The other kind of prophet was what we might call a “second career” prophet—they were not trained in the prophetic schools and were believed to be divinely called for a specific purpose. Amos was the latter kind of prophet. We know that he was a shepherd, but not a shepherd in the traditional biblical sense. He was more a rancher than a shepherd—he owned large herds of livestock and likely had several hired hands. From this vocation, though, God called him and gave him a message to give to all of Israel—a message that likely was not the most pleasant to hear.

           Amos’ prophecy begins with God pronouncing judgment upon seven of Israel’s neighbors, for various transgressions. Part of me wonders if this did not cause Israel to puff up with a bit a pride rather than reflect upon themselves. After all, these other nations weren’t really “the people of God” (or so Israel might have thought). However, God then turns to pronounce judgment upon Israel. Our passage from ch. 5 gives us a clue for the reasoning behind God’s judgment. In reading that passage, we are left with the impression that Israel remind faithful in keeping the covenantal laws of worship—the offered the required sacrifices, the celebrated the appointed feasts and festivals, they worshipped at the Temple. Therein was the problem, though. It was this keeping of these laws of worship that angered God. You see, at the same time that Israel was offering pious worship to God, they were turning a deaf ear and a blind eye to those around them! On one hand, they were praising God; on the other hand, they were cursing and ignoring each other!

           The passage from chapter 2 expands a bit on what exactly Israel was doing that aroused God’s anger. We hear of the rich preying upon the less fortunate. We read of false accusations being made against the innocent, so that they become the persecuted. We see the poor being trampled upon and those who are “afflicted” or “helpless” get tossed aside, ignored, and told they are of little to no importance to God or the community. We see God’s prophets being told not to speak God’s message. CAN YOU SEE HOW GOD MIGHT BE JUST A TAD UPSET WITH THIS?!?! It seems that Israel was just pretending to be the people of God—all they were concerned with was receiving God’s blessings and offering the required worship. Either they didn’t realize or didn’t care that being God’s people involved more than receiving God’s blessing and the function of worship! Amos’ message, while encompassing nine chapters, is really quite simple: worship doesn’t just happen at the Temple, at a certain time, on a certain day, in a certain way! Instead, worship happens anyway, anytime God is lifted up! Worship could be offering a hand of fellowship, giving a voice to those whose voice has been silenced, anything that allows us to look beyond ourselves and to the needs of those around us. Amos ends his prophecy by announcing the Israel’s peace will be interrupted and Israel will be invaded and will be overthrown, all because of Israel’s unfaithfulness to the covenant.

           These words of Amos are harsh. They present a picture of God that many of us do not like. Does anybody like the image of the punishing, judging God? I didn’t think so. Contrary to the impression the message gives, though, God was not “out to get” Israel. Remember, this was the people that God led out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. God is actually in the business opposite punishing and judging; God was out to have Israel experience the fullness of life God offered to them. Part of that fullness of life was the joy that came from being in service to one another; the joy that came from being equals with one another; the joy that came from not being so concerned about ourselves but about others.

           That offer of fullness of life is made to us as well. As Christians, we know and proclaim that offer through faith in Jesus Christ. If we look closely, we see in the life of Jesus the image of what God desired for Israel. In him, we see the perfect marriage of pious worship and genuine concern for neighbor. The New Testament makes it clear that Jesus participated in all the appointed acts of worship for Israel. It is also made clear that, for Jesus, part of serving and worshipping God was looking out for someone in need, who often had no one else to look after them.

           It is tempting to fall into the trap of thinking that having a “genuine concern” for someone—whether an individual, a family, or a group of people—means giving up everything for that purpose. If that is what God is calling you to do, go for it. However, having a genuine concern for somebody else doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to lose everything. It can be as simple as acknowledging those needs—as simple as acknowledging that poverty exists in our community, that there are those who struggle with addictions, there are those who have been made outcasts or shunned. It can be as simple as offering a prayer to God on their behalf. The possibilities are endless when it comes to looking out for one another.

           Here is my question for us as the church: where do we fall? Looking at God’s message to Israel through Amos—are we anything like Israel? Are we acknowledging the needs of those around us? If you say yes, how are we doing that? If we can humbly say that we are not doing that, what can we do to begin acknowledging and meeting those needs so that, when we are looked upon by the world and by God, we are not accused of “playing church” and only pretending to be the people of God? AMEN.



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