Amos 2:6-16

Well, football pundits are not known for being people who have great deep insights into life.

They might have great insights about football formations or managers strategies, but rarely about fundamental principles of life.

However, I clearly remember one great exception. A long time ago, it was the 94-95 football season. Newcastle United were playing in some European tournament.

I think they were playing a big team. I think it was Barcelona. I can't remember. That doesn't matter.

And they were 2-0 up at half-time at St. James' Park. And the pundits back in the studio were raving about the performance.

And at the end of the match, they squandered it. I can't remember if it was a draw or they lost. I don't recall.

But I went back to the studio and Des Lynam, who was the anchor man at the time, just turned to Alan Hansen and just said,

Well, Alan?

And Hansen delivered a line that only a sort of Church of Scotland minister of my youth where I grew up could deliver.

He stared at the camera and in his low tones uttered,

Complacency is an evil word.

And he may not have been talking about Newcastle United.

He could have been talking about Israel in 760 BC, the year that Amos was preaching.

They were complacent people.

They took God's grace for granted.

They enjoyed the privilege of being God's people,

but had forgotten the purpose for which they were God's people.

They enjoyed the privileges, but forgot their purpose in God saving them.

Not only that, but the way Amos has been speaking up to now might have confirmed them in their complacency.

If you read through chapter 1 up to chapter 2 verse 5,

you'll see that Amos has been declaring God's judgment against all the nations around them.

Against their bitter enemies, the Amorites,

who in chapter 1 verse 13 had invaded a bit of Israel and killed pregnant women, ripping them open.

The Israelites would have been delighted to hear God's judgment against them.

And then Amos had pronounced God's judgment on Judah to the south,

their tiny insignificant neighbour,

those self-righteous ones who had the temple in Jerusalem,

who were still under a king in David's line.

And of course that meant Amos had preached against seven nations.

Seven, the Hebrew idea, number of completeness.

So at chapter 2 verse 5, the congregation are expecting Amos to sit down.

They're cheering.

Well done, God's going to judge those horrible people around us.

They'd be confirmed in their complacency.

But Amos has a shock for them,

in that the longest judgment is the eighth one.

I've told my sermons like this,

they feel like I'm coming into land and then I take off again.

That's what Amos does.

That's a warning for later on, by the way.

That's what Amos does here.

He takes off again and God's greatest judgment,

the longest piece of text is directed against Israel in verses 6 to 16.

Against their complacency.

They are enjoying the privileges of being God's people,

but have forgotten the purpose.

Now I wonder how often we can be like that as Christians.

We can turn up at church,

we can enjoy the gospel message

that we are forgiven freely by God's grace,

which we are.

And we enjoy that privilege,

but become complacent about the purpose for which God saved us.

What is that purpose?

Well, it's the same as the purpose of saving Israel in the Old Testament.

Exodus chapter 19, verses 5 and 6,

Exodus 19:5

God had said,

you will be to me a holy nation,

and a royal priesthood.

And those are words that Peter picks up in 1 Peter chapter 2,

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

where he says this of Christians today,

you are a chosen race,

a royal priesthood,

a holy nation,

a people for God's own possession.

Why?

That you may proclaim the excellencies of him

who called you out of darkness

into his marvellous light.

As those who have been rescued by God's grace,

were to show his beauty,

his excellencies,

and declare those to the world around us.

Once you were not a people,

but now you are God's people.

Once you have not received mercy,

but now you have received mercy.

The people of Amos' day were complacent

because they just counted the privilege

and forgot the purpose.

We can become complacent

when we remember that God is love,

but forget that he is light.

When we remember what we've been saved from,

sin and death and hell,

but not what we've been saved for,

to be a holy nation and a royal priesthood.

So Amos' words to Israel in 790 BC

are also relevant to us today.

Because his message is essentially

that God has graciously provided

everything you need for salvation.

And therefore, God's people must show his holiness

in every facet of our lives.

Well, how were the people of Israel

failing to do that?

Well, in two main ways.

They dishonoured God by their actions.

They dishonoured God by their actions.

That's verses 6 to 9.

And they despised God's gracious gifts.

Verses 9 to 12.

Let's look at those things first

before we turn and see how it works out for us.

So first of all,

they despised God's character

through their actions.

Look at verse 7 for a moment.

To the end of verse 7.

There's a key phrase there.

What does Amos say?

My holy name is profaned.

They were supposed to be a holy people

showing God's excellency and glory and light.

But they were dragging God's name through the mud

by the way they acted.

They did that in three particular ways.

First of all,

by their social interactions.

And then by their sexual practices.

And then finally,

by their self-centred worship.

So first of all,

they're social practices.

That's what Amos is talking on about

in verse 6 for example.

Thus says the Lord,

for three transgressions of Israel

and for four,

I will not revoke the punishment.

Because they sell the righteous for silver

and the needy for a pair of sandals.

Now the righteous in this context

are not the morally perfect,

but they're the legally innocent.

They're the innocent party

in a civil case in the law courts.

But what's happening is

rather than the judges

exercising justice fairly,

the judges are being bought with a bribe.

You can pay them silver

and they're ruling the rich person's favour.

Or give them a bit of land.

Perhaps that's what the sandals refers to.

Land being transacted.

And they'll make the right,

they'll call the innocent person guilty.

There was no justice there.

And yet the Lord is just.

So they're dishonouring his character.

Also there's a lack of mercy.

The Lord is merciful.

Remember in Israel's history

he rescued them

out of slavery in Egypt.

Not because of anything they had done,

but because he heard their cry

and was faithful to his promises.

Yet look how,

look how the Israelites

are treating the poor and needy.

Look at verse 7.

You who trample the head of the poor

into the dust of the earth

and turn aside from the way of the afflicted.

The afflicted are downtrodden

with no strength or resources of their own.

And yet where God has shown mercy

to the Israelites,

they are not showing mercy to each other.

They are despising the weak and the needy.

Now what we need to remember

as we read these words,

who they're addressed to.

It's very easy, isn't it,

to look out on the world

and see injustice around the world.

Or look out on our society

and see where the poor

and the afflicted are trodden upon.

But this is not written

to any particular nation.

This is God's word to Israel.

Israel were his covenant people.

People who had entered into relationship

with God at Mount Sinai.

The people he called for his own possession.

So first and foremost,

we need to read this as to us,

the church,

to God's people on earth.

And not worry about the sins

of the nations around us

or the culture we're part of.

So the challenge for us

as we read about Israel's social sins

is what are our social practices?

Do we dishonour God's name

in the way we act together

as a people?

I'm sure we're good and tender-hearted

towards those who are financially

poor and afflicted.

See they drop in here

as I look at the news sheet.

That's great.

But I wonder how we deal

with other kinds of affliction.

I know of people who have struggled

with mental health issues in church

for years,

be it depression

or bipolar disorder.

And they never feel

they can voice their difficulties

and voice their problems

because they feel they'll be judged

and disregarded

and maybe trampled on.

How do we deal with those

in that kind of affliction?

Are we merciful and compassionate

as God is?

Or do we disregard,

turn aside from the way of the afflicted

as the Israelites did?

So they dishonoured God

through their social practices

but also through their sexual practices.

Look at verse 7.

The end of verse 7.

A man and his father

go into the same girl

so that my holy name

is profaned.

There's a pattern here.

Once again,

it's the powerful

exploiting the weak.

The powerful,

the men

who had the rights

and the property

and everything else in society.

Oppressing

the vulnerable,

the weak,

the girl in this case.

And again,

whereas the Lord

is faithful,

here's a picture of a man

totally bailing out

in his marriage vows

and maybe even

taking his son along with him.

It's a picture of sexual promiscuity

of the worst type.

Because the question for us

is how does our sexual conduct

honour God?

In a sex-mad society,

a society where

we read that 50%

of men in a church

will be addicted

to internet pornography.

Does our conduct

in private

that God sees

honour him?

Well, it wasn't just

their social practices

and their sexual practices,

it was also their

self-centred worship practices.

Look at verse 8.

They lay themselves down

beside every altar

on garments

taken in pledge.

In the house of their God

they drink the wine

of those who've been fined.

Almost every line there

is a contradiction

of the law of Moses.

The bottom line is

they were being

completely self-centred

in what they did

when they gathered

to worship God.

It wasn't God

they were worshipping.

It was their own desires,

their own lusts,

their own satisfaction.

You can imagine

the kind of conversations

these guys would have had

when they went into the office

on the next day,

the day after the Sabbath.

If you can imagine

them going to an office

the day after the Sabbath.

What did you do

on the Sabbath then?

Oh, it was great.

I just went up to the shrine

just behind my house.

It's very convenient.

You don't have to go anywhere.

It's just up there

on the hill.

And there's a very nice

shrine prostitute up there

so I spent some time

with her.

And I didn't want to get

my own coat dirty

so I took the coat

that I'd taken from the beggar

at the end of our road,

the guy who owes me some money.

Now he must have been cold

last night

because I hadn't given

this coat back to him.

I know you're supposed to

but hey,

I don't care about him.

I was able to lie down

on his garment

so mine didn't get dirty.

I had a great time

up at the shrine

and then the priest

came around at the end

with all the wine

he confiscated

from the fines

from other people

and we had a wild party

and drunk till dawn.

It was great.

In fact,

it's a miracle

I've been able to get

into work this morning

I've got such a bad hangover.

Now,

I know that doesn't go on

here at IPC,

it doesn't go on

at Duke Street

in Richmond either.

But,

but,

we need to see behind this

the self-centeredness

involved in this.

Not only the self-centeredness

but the way

they were worshipping

their God

was not the way

God had declared

they should

through the scriptures.

but it was the way

the nations around them

were worshipping

their gods.

Shrine prostitutes

and all that kind of stuff

altars wherever

you wanted them

lots of alcohol

that was what

the nations around them did.

This was

syncretistic worship.

It was borrowing

ideas and practices

from the world around them

rather than

faithful worship

of the true God

the way he had revealed.

Now,

are there ways

in which we can borrow

ideas from the world

around us

and they incorporate

themselves into the way

we worship God?

Even here

in a good

solid church

like IPC Ewing

or even in

Duke Street in Richmond.

Well,

let me suggest

a couple of ways

we can end up

doing this

inadvertently.

In this day and age

Eastern religion

is very popular,

isn't it?

Fits in with our

culture of post-modernism

and the idea

of meditation

is a popular idea

especially a stressed

out busy age

where

everyone feels

like they're online

24 hours.

So meditation

is a very popular

thing.

But Eastern meditation

is all about

emptying your mind,

having nothing

in your mind.

Biblical meditation

is about filling

your mind

with God's word.

That's one area

where sometimes

we can talk

very loosely

about meditation

and we end up

thinking about

all sorts of stuff

that isn't what

the Bible describes

as meditation.

So we can dishonor

God in our

worship practices.

Or when going

to church

is all about

our own preferences,

the kind of music

we like,

the kind of things

we like,

we can end up

just fulfilling

our own selfish

practices.

Or I have

friends who go

to some churches

who will say,

oh we had a great

time of worship,

which they've just

been singing,

and we sang

such and such

a song several

times and

and then God

really showed

up.

Really?

Really?

Do you think

you can cajole

God into action

by the amount

you play your

music or by the

way you sing?

That's not a

service of corporate

worship,

that's a rock

concept.

What you're

experiencing is

just your own

emotions.

Our emotions

are good,

our emotions

should be engaged

in worship,

but if we

confuse our

emotions with

God's presence,

if we act like

we have to do

something to

make God

appear,

then that's

just the same

basic idea as

every religion

in the world,

that what God

does is dependent

upon what we

do.

The Christianity

and the gospel

is the other

way around.

What God

has done

leads us to

do what we

do.

See, they

dishonoured God

with their

self-centred

syncretistic

worship practices,

with their

sexual practices,

and with their

social practices.

They dishonoured

God in all

those ways.

In their

complacency,

they didn't

just dishonour

God through

their actions,

but they

despised God's

gift in their

attitudes.

That's what

Amos is talking

about in

verses 9-12.

Can you look

at those?

Look at verse 9.

He reminds them

there that the

Lord defeated

their enemies.

What does the

Lord say?

Yet it was I

who destroyed

the Amorite

from before

them.

The Amorites

were the big

guys who

they'd been very

scared of as

they left

Egypt.

Numbers 13,

the spies

who Moses sent

out,

specifically

incite the

Amorites as

a good reason

not for going

into the

promised land.

Yet the

Lord destroyed

them.

The Amorites

whose height

was like the

height of the

Caesars,

and who

were as

strong as

the oaks,

are destroyed

their fruit

above and

their roots

beneath.

They were

completely

wiped out

by the

Lord.

He wiped

them out

because of

their sin,

as he

promised

Abraham

back in

Genesis 15-6.

And yet

now Israel

were living

in the

Amorites

land as

if they

just deserved

it,

as if they

got it by

right or

by their

own strength.

They despised

God's gift

and their

attitude to

it.

Not only

does the

Lord defeat

their enemies,

he delivered

them from

slavery.

Verse 10,

also it was

I who

brought you

out of

the land

of Egypt.

They

couldn't have

saved

themselves as

poor slaves

in Egypt.

It took

God's

great,

powerful

action,

and strong,

mighty arm

to deliver

them,

to give

them freedom,

just as we

cannot save

ourselves from

slavery to

sin.

The Lord

also taught

them dependency

in the

wilderness.

Look at

verse 10,

continuing,

I brought

them out of

the land of

Egypt and

led you for

forty years

in the

wilderness,

to possess

the land

of the

Amorite.

Do you

remember what

happened in

those wilderness

wandering?

At every

point the

Lord provided

for their

need.

We want

food.

He provided

manna from

heaven.

Six days a

week,

fifty-two

weeks of the

year,

forty years

they were

walking.

He provided

water from

rock.

He looked

after them,

he cared

for them.

The soles

of their

shoes didn't

even wear

out.

What was

he teaching

them?

He was

teaching them

that they

were dependent

upon him,

not on their

own power or

their own

strength,

but on

him.

And how

does that

apply to

us?

Well, the

Lord has

defeated our

enemies,

hasn't he?

The Lord

Jesus Christ

on the

cross triumphed

over the

powers and

authorities,

as Paul puts

it in

Colossians 2

15.

He defeated

our enemies.

He has

delivered us

from slavery,

from this

present evil

age, from

our slavery

to sin,

from the

slavery of

having to

try and earn

our way to

God.

Jesus has

defeated all

that, delivered

us from

that, through

the cross.

And he's

teaching us

dependency upon

him.

Like the

Israelites in

the desert, we

are currently

wandering in

the wilderness,

on our way to

the promised

land, on our

way to the

new creation

that we

receive when

Christ returns.

And in

this life, in

this pilgrimage

through the

wilderness, we

are dependent

upon him.

He pours his

spirit into

our hearts

when we trust

in Christ,

who changes

us, who

transforms us,

who gives

us gifts,

to rely on

him throughout

our lives.

So we have

these same

gracious gifts,

but exponentially

bigger than what

the Israelites

received.

And that wasn't

the end of the

gifts.

Look at verse

11.

Now the

prophets were

God's gift to

instruct his

people, and

the Nazarites

were God's

gift to

inspire his

people.

The prophets

declared God's

word to them.

That was their

job, not to

tell the future,

but to speak

God's word, to

help them keep

on track, to

remind them of

their covenant

commitment, and

of God's covenant

commitment to

them.

The Nazarites, you

can read about

in number 6,

they were people

who took a

vow to be

separated to

the Lord.

And as such,

they were a

kind of example,

an illustration,

an inspiration to

Israel for what

their lives could

be, as those who

were set apart

for God.

But one of the

key parts of the

Nazarites'

vows was that

they wouldn't

drink alcohol.

You know, look

at how the

Israelites despised

their gift.

verse 12.

You made the

Nazarites drink

wine, and you

commanded the

prophets, you

shall not

prophesy.

In other words,

they despised

God's gracious

gift, they

despised the

prophets, I

don't want to

listen to your

word, God, they

despised the

Nazarites, I

don't want to

see an example,

an inspiration of

what a life set

apart to you is

like.

Now how does

God give us

those things

today?

Well, he

doesn't give us

prophets anymore,

because he's

given us the

final prophets.

The Lord

Jesus, Hebrews

Hebrews 1:1

chapter 1, verse

1, God spoke

to us in the

former days

through the

prophets, but

in these last

days, he's

spoken to us

by his

Son.

Not only

through Jesus

the word

incarnate, but

now through

the word in

scripture, the

Bible that we

have, and the

Holy Spirit, who

helps us to

grasp this

truth.

God speaks

to us.

So how do

we tell God's

word to be

silent now?

Well, maybe

some of you are

thinking, Stuart,

be quiet, we've

heard enough, so

you might want to

be telling me to

be silent.

But aren't

there other

ways we do

it?

We've got God's

word in our

own languages.

Yet isn't it

true we sometimes

find it easier to

check out the

internet, to

surf on Facebook,

to see what

people are doing,

rather than open

the scriptures?

Christians.

The sense in which

when we're doing

that, we're

despising God's

gracious gift of

his word to

us.

It's like telling

the prophets to

be quiet.

What about

Nazarites?

He doesn't

give us

Nazarites

today.

But can't

you think of

people who

God has brought

across your

life, who are

inspirations to

you of a life

devoted to the

Lord's service,

where you see

God's grace so

clearly?

I think of a

dear lady in

our own church,

who was a

missionary for

many years in

Thailand, who

as a single

lady, she would

love to have

had children, but

instead she's

invested her

life, she says

I've got hundreds

of grandchildren

and children now,

in the way that

she's loved and

opened her heart

to people of

every generation.

She's an

inspiration to me

of self-giving

and love for

Jesus.

Or think of

families I know

who, yes, they've

got pots and

pots of money,

but they use

that so

generously,

supporting Christian

service, opening

homes, giving

holiday homes to

people to use.

They're an

inspiration of a

life set apart

for the God.

Now what do we

do with those

people?

Do we thank God

for them?

Do we encourage

them?

Or do we try and

ignore them?

Or do we even

discourage them,

even if we try and

sound loving at

the point, as we

talk to them?

Oh, it's great what

you're doing, but

maybe you need to

just take it easy,

take a bit more

time for yourself,

look after yourself.

Do we sometimes

inadvertently

discourage people?

A bit like the

Israelites saying

to the Nazarites,

go have a drink,

relax, don't take

everything too

seriously.

Well, these are

God's gracious

gifts.

Do we despise

them in our

attitudes, or are

we grateful for

them, as the

Israelites were

not?

Well, in their

complacency, they

dishonoured God by

their actions, they

despised God's

gifts through their

attitudes.

So what was going

to happen to

them?

Well, verse 13

to 16, let's

prepare to be

destroyed by God's

judgment.

Look at verse

13.

Behold, I will

press you down in

your place, as a

cart full of

sheaves presses

down.

The images of a

loaded cart at

harvest time, pressing

down on the ground.

Israel are going to

be pressed down by

God's wrath, his

punishment against

them for the way

they have treated

him and broken

their covenant

promises.

And who's going to

escape the

squashing?

Who's going to

escape God's

judgment?

Verse 14.

Flight shall

perish from the

swift, the

strong shall not

retain his

strength, nor

shall the mighty

save his life.

Usain Bolt cannot

outrun it, the

world's strongest

man cannot stand

against it, the

world's greatest

survival expert and

brave man, be it

Bear Grylls or some

die from the SAS,

will not be able to

outlast it.

It goes on.

He who handles the

boat shall not

stand, he who is

swift of foot shall

not save himself, nor

shall he who rides

the horse save his

life.

No weapon can

stave off God's

wrath.

No bravery, no

military power.

Verse 16.

And he who is

stout of heart among

the mighty shall

flee away naked in

that day, declares

the Lord.

Do you hear what

God is saying?

You've been

complacent, you've

dishonoured my

character, you

despised my

gifts, after all

I've done for

you.

No one is going

to be able to

stand when I

act in anger.

But sure

enough, 722

BC, the

Assyrians came

in and destroyed

Samaria, wiped

out Israel.

The punishment

they thought could

never come came.

Now it's easy

isn't it for us

to say, well

hang on, we're

under the new

covenant now, we're

not under the law

like these people

were.

Surely it's

different for us

Christians.

Well, it's

different in the

grace we have

received is even

greater, the

rescue we've

received, the

deliverance, the

gifts, all even

greater through

Jesus.

So our

responsibility to

accept and remain

in those is

greater.

Hear these words

of Jesus, you

might want to

turn if you like

to John chapter

John 15 · chapter mention

15 in your

Bibles as we

get near the end.

What does

Jesus say?

John chapter

John 15:1

15 verse 1, I

am the true

vine.

He's picking up

language from

Jeremiah chapter

Jeremiah 2 · chapter mention

2, Jesus

is saying, I'm

the true Israel.

I'm what Israel

was supposed to

be.

You, my

father is the

vine dresser.

And verse 5, I'm

the vine, you

are the branches.

You are the

branches.

If we trust in

Christ, we are

branches in him,

rooted in him,

built into him.

What does Jesus

go on to say in

verse 5 of John

15?

I'm the vine, you

are the branches.

Whoever abides in

me and I in him,

here it is that

bears much fruit.

For apart from me

you can do

nothing.

How do we

ensure that we

are truly forgiven?

How do we

ensure that in our

actions we don't

dishonour God?

How do we

ensure that in

our attitudes we

don't despise God's

gracious gifts?

We remain in

Jesus.

We remain in

Jesus.

We have his

words in him.

We trust in him.

We do not move

from that.

We remember his

gracious promise that

he will never turn

away anyone who

calls on him.

We remember why he

came.

The son of man did

not come to

condemn the world,

but to save the

world.

We remain in

Jesus.

And as we trust

in him, as we

remain in him,

so we bear

fruit, so we

are transformed.

So we do

honour God with

our lives and

are fit for

purpose to be a

kingdom of priests

and a holy

nation.

But, listen to

how Jesus goes

on.

Go back to

verse 2.

Every branch

of mine that

does not bear

fruit, he, the

Father, takes

away.

Every branch

that does not

bear fruit, he,

the Father, takes

away.

Or verse 6.

If anyone does

not abide in me, he

is thrown away like a

branch and withers.

And the branches are

gathered, thrown into

fire, and burned.

So that's the choice we

face, isn't it?

Do we abide in

Jesus for a life

where he works his

fruit through us, so

that we do honour

God in our actions, we

do honour him in our

attitude, so that we

can be, fulfil the

purpose for which he

saved us, to be a

kingdom of priests,

showing the world his

greatness.

Or do we fail to keep

holding on to the

gospel, fail to keep

trusting in Jesus, fail to

have his words remain

in us.

In which case, what

happens?

The branches are cut

off and thrown into

the fire.

What happened to

Israel, it says, is a

warning to all of us,

not to be complacent,

not to accept really the

privileges of being

God's people, but also

remember the purpose.

Not just to remember

that God is love, but

to remember that he is

light.

That by his grace we

might bear fruit to

him and be the

kingdom of priests, the

holy nation, that he

called us to be, that he

might declare his

excellencies in a needy,

broken world.

Let's pray.