Walking Away from God

Father, we ask that you would gently but deeply pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.

Father, we confess before you that we flatter ourselves too much to detect or hate our own sin.

In fact, Father, that so often we flatter ourselves so much we don't even know that we are flattering ourselves.

And we become deaf to your word.

We also confess, Father, how easily the world forms us in its mold.

How the world forms our heart without us even realizing it.

So, Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would use your word in a powerful way in our minds and hearts and lives today.

That you would, Father, bring us freedom.

The freedom to repent.

The freedom to turn to you.

The freedom to be gripped by the gospel.

And this we ask in Jesus' name, your Son and our Savior.

Amen.

Please be seated.

Amen.

So, some of you are going, I don't know how closely you're listening to Nigel read, but some of you are maybe going,

Whoa!

Did the Bible just say that God causes disasters in the city?

Did the Bible just say, did Nigel just read in the book of Amos that if there's disaster, it's caused by God?

But some of you, that might have jumped out at you.

I have to confess, I'm going to talk about this a little bit more.

I'm a fast reader.

And I have to really force myself to slow down and look at things slowly.

By nature, I'm not like a, I don't read poetry unless I absolutely have to.

And I like novels, the type of novels that grip you and you just want to keep turning the page and turning the page and going and going until they're done.

And that's like a really, really good thing when you find a novel that grips you and you just want to keep reading and you don't really pause to notice the prose.

And so, when I was first reading this text to prepare to preach on it, I'm going, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I wonder what on earth I'm going to say, what I'm going to say.

Whoa!

God causes disaster in the city.

And then after that, I could hardly pay attention to the rest of the text.

And so, we're going to look.

Is that what the Bible said?

What exactly does it say?

What does it not say?

Some of you, when you hear that the text, does disaster come to a city unless the Lord has done it?

Some of us will think, how dare God?

Or some of us will think, I always knew that God was evil and that's why I don't believe he exists.

Others of you might say, I know now why my life sucks because I always knew that God hated me.

There's no hope.

I meet people who say that.

My life sucks.

I think God hates me.

And so, is that what's going on in the text?

Well, let's look.

Be really helpful for me if you open the Bible yourself.

And we spent some time in God's word in Amos 3.

And here's how it begins.

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.

Now, we're just going to pause here.

We have to sort of think about this verse.

I don't know how many of you are like me and you by nature are very, very fast readers.

But there's different ways that the Bible can talk about hearing.

And in this particular case, there's a very particular sense that it's using the word like to hear.

Many of us, when we're in conversations, hearing really means we just have an opportunity to catch our breath.

And so that when the other person stops talking, we can continue to talk.

Because what the other person is saying is actually completely and utterly irrelevant.

We don't really want to listen and understand or hear.

We just use the other person speaking as a chance to marshal our thoughts, to catch our breath while we continue to speak.

And some of us, when we listen to people or listen to particular people, we're really only listening to them because we already know that they're stupid.

And we're listening for examples so we can then once again prove to them that they're actually pretty stupid.

We often listen because we want to mock.

We want to listen because we don't respect them, but we just have to endure it.

I mean, there's all sorts of reasons and ways that we hear.

And in this particular context, it could almost be translated hear to obey.

Hear, H-E-A-R, listen with an attitude that you're listening to obey.

So in other words, the model underneath it, the image underneath it, if you were to give it a modern cast, would be you discover that you have something very seriously wrong with you.

You have a very, very serious medical condition.

And you go to the doctor.

And the doctor starts to tell you not only what your condition is, but the next two or three or four things, including the medication you have to take and the steps you have to take.

And unless you're like a complete fool or an idiot, when you're listening to the doctor at that point in time, you're listening to obey.

You're listening very, very, very carefully.

You don't want to go home to your mom or your dad or your husband or your wife or your best friend.

And they said, what did the doctor say?

And you go, I don't know.

I think they said I have something wrong with me.

What are you supposed to do?

Well, I don't know.

Like that might happen.

I mean, many of us go to listen to the doctor.

And afterwards, it's hard to remember what they said.

And we want to bring somebody along with us.

But when the doctor tells us that this is very, very, very serious, it's cancer, it's hard, it's some serious liver problem or kidney problem, some serious disease,

we listen very, very carefully.

And we listen because we want to get better.

We listen with the intention that we will remember it and take the steps that we need to obey.

And that's the way the text opens today.

Now, it's going to eventually talk about some very, very hard and difficult things.

And many of us in our culture, we don't really like listening to God in that type of a sense.

In fact, for many of us, the way we listen to God is we listen like this.

Sort of waiting to see if it matches with what we think and with what we agree with.

In fact, actually, if you read books on preaching, there's even a whole range of books that tell you about how to speak to the Bible that you have to answer the so what and now what question.

That after people listen, they want to say, they're saying internally, so what?

Or now what?

Without ever sort of challenging whether, in fact, that's the wise way to listen to God.

That maybe a wiser way to listen to God is to listen with the question, how shall we then live?

How shall I then live?

But it's very common to listen with a type of skeptical cast.

And so this text in the Bible begins with a very, very stark challenge to how we listen.

It says, once again, if you listen to it, hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you or about you.

It can be translated the same way, either against or about, oh, people of Israel.

Against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt.

Now, in this particular case, it's really, really important that you notice the rest of verse one.

It's going to really, not only does it challenge how we listen, but it challenges something else in terms of our whole attitude to the rest of the text.

My wife will tell you accurately that I am a very slow learner in terms of marriage.

Fortunately, we've been married a long time, but I still have a lot to learn about marriage.

And one of the hardest lessons for me to learn about marriage, one of the many hard lessons for me to learn about marriage,

is that when Louise confronts me, she confronts me because she wants to connect with me more deeply.

In fact, in most marriages in North America, when the wife who loves the husband confronts the husband,

the husband often experiences the confrontation as pushing away behavior.

But in fact, the wife is confronting because she desires to connect.

She's trying to grab you by the shirt and say, listen up, I want to connect with you.

I'm not pushing you away.

I'm shaking you so you come closer.

And I'm a really slow learner at that.

And it's really important for us to understand verse one.

Not only is it asking us to listen, is it challenging how we listen?

It's challenging us to understand that all of the rest that's going to happen,

and the way the book of Amos is structured is that the first, it's structured in three sections.

And the first section, chapters one and two, it's a series of oracles.

And amongst other things, it's showing that God is, in fact, a judge, is bigger than the nations.

And he's untamed by the nations.

And he's going to judge the nations.

And he has the right to do it.

And the last three chapters of Amos, chapter seven, eight, and nine, are a series of visions

about Israel and just about life.

They're a series of visions.

And in between, chapter three, four, five, and six, it's sort of a list of,

it's God speaking to his people with what's going on in their lives

and what they need to deal with.

And it's sort of, you know, Old Testament writers, by modern standards, they're loopy.

By that I mean is they sort of talk about something, and then they talk about something,

and then they loop back, and then they loop over here, and then they talk about, you know,

like it can often drive us, you know, A, B, C, D, one, two, three, four types of people

really nuts because it keeps looping back.

It's just the way they talk.

But it's the beginning of this God sitting before Israel, what's really going on in their lives,

what really is the status of their hearts, how they really look from God's perspective

at the level of the heart.

And at the very, very start of it, he wants his people to understand that he's confronting them,

to connect with them.

Actually, if, I've already sort of missed some points.

I'm way out of whack with my thing.

Well, I'm just going to fix this, and we'll go back to the other point.

Look at verse one again.

Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel,

against the whole family that I brought up out of Egypt.

He's saying, he's reminding them that he's talking to his family.

He's reminding them that he's the one who made them his family.

They didn't make him their dad.

He made them his children.

And not only did they not make him dad, that he made them his children, that he adopted them.

And not only did he adopt them, he was the one who rescued them out of bondage and slavery.

And it was him, it was God, who rescued people, slaves, out of bondage, out of slavery.

He rescued them, and he adopts them, and enters into a covenant with them.

And that's the one who's speaking.

Now, I just need to put a couple of things up.

Could you put the first point up?

This is the first thing which I neglected to say, but I need to put it up.

It's very, very important all the way through this that it's clear that you understand that the Bible is claiming that this is God speaking.

As I put it up there, the Bible is God's word written down for every age, including our own.

Amos isn't saying, I spent some time on the mountaintop with God, and I think this is what God means.

And Amos isn't saying, I spent some time up there with God, or I've had a vision, and I know this is what he means, and I'm going to try to say it as best I can.

No, the claim all the way through this text.

It's the claim in verse 1, in verse 7, in verse 8, in verse 10, in verse 11, in verse 12, in verse 15.

And if you go back and look at chapter 1 and 2, basically every oracle begins and ends with the statement,

this is God saying this, and the Bible is making this claim.

You don't have to necessarily accept it.

I accept it.

I believe it.

This is what the Bible teaches.

I believe it for a whole range of reasons.

But this is the claim that the Bible is making.

I have to try to understand it.

But it's not Amos trying to understand something that God has said.

It's God speaking the words that he wants through Amos in this particular case.

And those are the words that we are to hear with the attitude that we desire to obey it,

like listening to a doctor after he's told us something serious.

And if you could go up to the next point, Andrew, and this is the last part of verse 1.

God confronts me to connect with me.

In fact, not only here in Amos, it's the way we're to read all of the Bible.

All of those parts that make us want to scream.

All of those parts that make us angry.

All of those parts that make us afraid.

Whether it's talking about abortion or about, you know, same-sex marriage.

Or whether it's talking about sexual matters.

Or whether it's talking about doctor-assisted suicide.

Whether it's talking about, you know, ways to wage war or not to wage war.

How it talks about tithing.

And how it talks about money.

And how it talks about telling the truth.

And how it talks about heaven.

And how it talks about hell.

And how it talks about divine power.

And human responsibility.

And whatever it is that can sometimes for us in our culture.

In terms of we're just thinking how harsh it sounds.

We can think about how we would hate our friends to hear this.

Because they would think I'm seriously crazy to actually listen to this stuff.

It can terrify us.

We might want to explain it away.

We have to understand in every case that God speaks it with the idea and the hope.

We won't say so what and now what.

But that we'll listen very carefully.

And he speaks even his hardest words to connect with us.

That's his heart.

That's his heart.

And for Christians, after the cross, we know that even more deeply.

Now, the very next part, you sort of have to understand.

You see, the problem we often have with reading the Bible is the way we carry certain images towards the Bible.

And we sort of invent a context which isn't the Bible's context.

A few years ago, a friend of mine who's a pastor, he had his daughter, his young daughter.

She got very, very sick.

It ended up being quite serious.

She went to Emerge.

And after Emerge, she went into the department where they were going to deal with her.

And Emerge, they brought the doctor.

Anyway, it was very, very serious.

It was actually very, very serious.

But they started to get it under control after, you know, whatever, 12 hours, 24 hours.

So after he'd been there about 36 hours, he'd slept there.

He went down to the cafeteria to get a coffee and get something to eat.

And while he was in the coffee getting something to eat, he bumped into somebody from his church.

He's a pastor.

He bumped into somebody from his church.

And this person from his church was the head doctor of one of the departments in the hospital.

Big cheese.

Whole floor of the hospital that dealt with certain types of things.

He was the head.

And he bumps into my friend in the cafeteria.

And the doctor says, you know, I'll just call him Bob.

Bob, what are you doing here?

And Bob says, well, it's been really touch and go.

My daughter came in like 36 hours ago.

It was like emergency.

He came in by ambulance.

It was really hard.

And he talks.

And, you know, the doctor was very listening.

And he said, well, listen, I'll come up and I'll visit her with you.

It's not a joke.

I'm smiling, but it's not a joke.

So they get in the elevator.

And as they get in the elevator, just before the elevator closes, another woman comes in with a younger man.

And the woman says hi to the doctor.

And she said, where are you going?

And he doesn't get off at his floor.

He keeps going higher.

She said, oh, where are you going?

He said, well, I'm going up to your floor.

She's the head of the department.

Where my friend's daughter is.

She's the head doctor.

And he said, well, my buddy here, who's my pastor, his daughter is in your department.

You know, she had this problem.

And I'm going up to visit her.

So now the head of the department, who hasn't, I mean, there's no reason for, you know, the fellow's daughter had only seen interns and stuff.

But he had no complaints about his care or anything like that.

But now the head of the department looks and looks.

Oh, he's not just some schlub.

He's important.

A guy who's really high up in the hospital is coming up on my floor to check on one of my patients with his pastor, his friend.

So after my friend's friend leaves, the head of the department comes in to examine his daughter, concerned, of course, that she's getting the best care.

And in the course of the conversation, she says to him, listen, here's my private mobile number.

If you have any concern at any time about your care, give me a call.

I'll deal with it.

So here's the, this whole context, right?

This is what we see in the world all of the time.

That if you know the right people, things go, you know, go better.

I had a knee pain a couple of, you know, a week, a couple of weeks ago.

And, you know, I, you know, I just self-diagnosed myself and all that.

But you know how it is.

Like if I was a senator's player or if I was in the NFL and I was an important player and I had knee pain, I would see a doctor right away.

And if I needed surgery, it would happen the next day, right?

I mean, in Canada, there is two-tier medicine.

Like we never think about it.

But the star player on an NHL team does not have to wait three months to see a specialist.

Why?

Because he's the star player on the Maple Leafs.

He's the star player in the Canucks.

He's the star player on the, on the Ottawa Senators.

The whole season depends upon him.

He doesn't have to wait an extra three months after he finally sees the specialist to finally get an ultrasound.

And then after that, wait two months to see the specialist again.

And after that, wait four months to see a doctor.

Right?

It's funny.

We don't even think about the fact that, okay, my, my aunt has to wait a year for surgery.

But the star player of the Maple Leafs is operated on the next day.

And that's partially because in our culture and just in our human flesh, we understand that if you're important and you matter, the rules are different.

Isn't that what we think?

So in that context, listen to verses one and two again.

And when you, within this context, you're going to understand the shock of verse two.

And many of us are shocked with verse two, the second part of verse two for a different reason, but it's because we haven't grasped something about our heart and about how we think the world works.

Listen to verse one and two again.

So 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.

But that's not how the world works.

I mean, for us, it's a bit of a shock because we maybe wonder if it's a sadomasochistic type of thing or what's going on.

But the biggest shock is, the biggest shock is that's not how the, you know, oh, you're a really important person I've now discovered because you know the head of another department.

Therefore, I am not going to help you.

No, no, that's not how it works.

Therefore, I mean, my friend never even, you know, this wouldn't have been the way it worked.

But imagine that he had gone in if he was another type of person and he had to take his daughter into an emergency.

And it turns out that her problem was exactly, his daughter was going to go to the floor where the guy from his church was.

And aren't there many of us who would want to say as we're in emergency, they say, just so you know, your boss, your boss is boss's boss's boss is my best friend.

And I think I've been waiting too long.

Did I just tell you again?

Like, you want, I have his personal mobile number.

I don't have to go through a secretary.

And that's your boss's boss's boss.

We want special treatment.

And so what's going to be going on, one of the big charges and one of the ways to understand the rest of chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, and even the visions is a particular human sin.

And it's a sin of presumption.

If you could put it up, Andrew, that would be very helpful.

Presumption is the perennial counterfeit to saving faith.

Presumption is the perennial substitute to saving faith.

And we presume that we will be treated differently.

We have a sense of entitlement, a sense of self-satisfaction.

We are self-congratulatory.

We are self-righteous, self-justifying.

We feel entitled.

We feel special.

We believe that the rules do not apply to us in the same way that they apply to other people in certain regards.

And it is very, very powerful in society and culture.

Like, I'll just, here's something which, I don't know, maybe some of you who have been in economics, you know this.

Did you know that if we were to go back 100 years ago and you had a choice of living in Canada or Argentina,

you know where most rational people would have chosen?

Argentina.

Argentina.

In the first three decades of the 20th century, Argentina was considerably wealthier, more prosperous, more stable than Canada.

Maybe not more stable, but richer.

In fact, in the early part, the first three decades of the 20th century, Argentina, by per capita, was the 10th richest nation on the planet.

10th richest.

If you were looking in terms of economic opportunities in 1916, you would choose Argentina over Canada and over Australia or over New Zealand.

That over most nations.

It was one of the most prosperous nations on the planet.

Now, in terms of prosperity, it's in the bottom half.

Why is it that we in Canada don't think that that could happen to us?

Why is it that we think that we can make any type of political decision or economic decision or economic policy,

and that what happened to Argentina can't happen to us?

Why is it that we think that in our culture?

Is there some divine right that means that just because we're Canadians,

that we will always be prosperous and safe and free?

Well, that's BS.

You don't have to zip that out, right?

I just used the letters, right?

But it's presumptuous.

And how presumptuous is it to listen to God's word and go,

so what?

Okay, now what?

I'm...

I just woke up one morning with a sore knee.

I don't know what it was, a virus?

Like, you just wake up with it one day.

And all of us, either ourselves or have family members,

is that one day all of a sudden there's something really bad going on physically.

We can be felled by this tiniest little microbe.

And yet we presume as if we are the judges of God and the judges of nations and the judges of people in the center of the universe.

And it can mask in religious and social and spiritual forms.

It doesn't matter how I live, I speak in tongues.

I'm spiritually sophisticated and more advanced than other people because I speak in tongues.

I'm more advanced than people because I use the Book of Common Prayer.

I'm more advanced than people because I know how to say Hail Mary, full of grace.

I'm more advanced than other people because I'm Reformed.

I'm more advanced and better than other people because I...

I don't know.

You just start to fill in the blanks because I'm Methodist, because I'm Wesleyan, because I'm Anic, because I'm whatever.

That it's not faith.

It's not a relationship.

We're not connected to God.

We're presuming upon God.

We're acting and thinking as if we are somehow entitled.

And we give ourselves a pass on thing after thing after thing after thing.

So to understand the text, we've only gotten into verse 2.

Just so you know at this rate, there's 15 verses.

This is going to be a three and a half hour long sermon.

We're going to go through a bit quicker.

But it's a really important beginning to the text, right?

It's this perennial danger about presumption.

And I'm going to put up two other texts.

Actually, where am I in my notes?

Always dangerous.

Actually, Andrew, could you put up the...

No, no.

We're going to go to verses 3 to 8.

Sorry.

So here's the thing then.

I told you I'm a really fast reader and I sometimes skip over things.

And I have to confess that when I read the text for the first time, I didn't notice...

One of the things that happens is when you read the text really, really, really quickly.

And you have to often read the Old Testament in particular very slowly and notice a very

subtle change that it makes in the text.

And that's probably one of the reasons why I often, in my own personal devotions, because

I read fairly quickly even in my personal devotions.

I probably don't get as much out of it as I should.

I should probably be a slower reader.

Those of you who are slow readers, you probably get more out of the Bible than I do many times.

But the Bible does something very, very subtle.

It's challenging us about what God's Word is.

It challenges us about the danger of presumption.

And then it's going to do something else that it talks about disaster.

It sounds very, very judgmental, but it's actually very, very, very open-ended in terms

of how it starts to go into the problem that the Israelites are facing.

Now, look, read with me with verses 3 to 8.

And then you probably won't notice it.

I'll go back and show you what it means.

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 on 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 blowing in a city and the people are not afraid?

Does disaster come to a city unless the Lord has done it?

That's a really scary verse we're going to look at in a moment.

For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants, the prophets.

The lion is roared.

Who will not fear?

The Lord has spoken.

Who can but prophesy?

Now, here's the very, very subtle thing in the text, but it's really, really very important.

And we're going to spend just a minute or two on it to try to help you see it.

But, you know, it's this sort of little thing that leads you to the shocking conclusion.

Can two walk?

You know, about the traps, about the roaring, about the disaster.

Whoa, God's causing disaster in the city.

I wasn't expecting that.

But if you'll notice, look at verses 4, 5, and 6.

There's always a pair in every case.

Verse 4, there's a pair around lions roaring.

In verse 5, there's a pair around traps.

In verse 6, there's a pair around fighting and about disaster to a city.

But in verse 3, it says,

It says, do two walk together unless they've agreed to meet?

But there's no second bit.

And that's because, as Amos is going to get into the rest of the book,

the challenge is for the listener to complete the couplet.

If you don't listen to God in words of obedience,

if you don't capture the fact,

if the fact that God's going to punish you only angers you,

it doesn't make you think that you're self-entitled,

that you're presumptuous, that you're self-righteous,

that you're self-satisfied, that you're self-congratulatory.

It doesn't make you think of any of those things.

All it does is make you mad.

Then there will be one second part to the couplet.

And the couplet will begin,

Do two walk together unless they have agreed to meet?

Can two people live together after they have divorced?

Or can two people walk together when one punches the other in the face?

Or can two walk together when one spends all of his time abusing the other person?

Or can two walk together when one person wants to walk away and run away?

Is that how it's going to finish?

Or is it going to finish?

Do two walk together unless they have agreed to meet?

Cannot two walk together when there has been repentance?

Like, Amos intentionally didn't complete the couplet

because he says,

How you listen to the rest of the book

will determine what the second part should be.

Now here we go, just before we go on.

Andrew, could you put up a scripture text?

This is a really good verse to memorize in life, folks.

It's from the book of Ezekiel.

And you'll notice there's a funny thing at the end

because there's three verses almost identical in wording.

And I had to look at, I ended up picking this wording,

but if you want to look it up,

all three of them are very, very similar wording.

Same idea.

For those of you who are old Anglicans,

it's actually a really important part of Anglican spirituality

because it's a key part of morning and evening prayer

to say a version of this verse

every time you do the daily offices.

God takes no delight in death of a sinner,

but rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live.

It's actually part of the basic structure

of Anglican Bible reading

as it was formulated by the English reformers.

But could you say this text with me?

Say to them,

As I live, declares the Lord God,

I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked,

but that the wicked would turn from his way and live.

Just think of this.

When Jesus died on the cross,

he died between two thieves.

And if you look at all the accounts of his death upon the cross,

the day begins with both thieves abusing Jesus.

But sometime during the day,

one of the thieves is convicted

and stops abusing Jesus.

And he eventually turns and says to Jesus,

Jesus,

remember me when you come into your kingdom.

And Jesus says to him,

today you will be with me in paradise.

And Jesus died between two thieves

with very different destinies.

The thief

who is the penitent

who we will see in heaven

if we have given our lives to Jesus.

That thief reminds us

that we should never despair.

That no person is so far from God

that repentance is not an option.

The penitent thief reminds us

that no human being should despair,

nor should we despair

in sharing the gospel with any human being.

And the thief that began the day

and ended the day abusing Jesus

reminds us that nobody should presume.

No one should presume.

Andrew, if you could put up A.

Here's just sort of two things to pause

before we just bring the servant to a close.

We have a bit to go still.

But dear Lord,

please deliver me from all traces

of presumption,

entitlement,

and self-satisfaction.

Instead, by your grace,

make me a disciple of Jesus

gripped by the gospel,

living for your glory.

Like for many of us,

this is the challenge.

That entitlement and presumption

slip into our lives

without realizing it.

And we're redeemed,

we're saved by grace,

but our walk with Jesus

is deeply burdened

and broken and compromised

because we aren't growing in holiness,

we're growing in presumption.

Self-satisfaction and entitlement.

And here's the second thing.

Andrew, if you could put up

the second prayer,

many of us read the Bible

with a so what, now what attitude.

And this text is challenging us

to consider praying a prayer like this.

If you don't have time to write it down,

it'll be on the webpage.

We'll maybe a little bit,

have to wait a little bit

because Shirley's on holidays,

but it will go on the webpage.

Or you can email me.

Dear Lord,

please deliver me from all vain,

false,

and self-congratulatory

listening to your word.

Please make me a disciple

of Jesus gripped by the gospel

who is learning to listen

to your word

humbly,

deeply,

obediently,

and well

so that I will live

for your glory.

Now, some of you are saying,

George,

you can't finish the sermon now

without dealing with disaster

in the city.

George, you just can't.

You can't,

you can't,

you can't.

You can't sort of just say,

okay, well, my time is up.

Let's just stop

and go, whoa,

you go, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,

George,

does disaster come to a city

unless the Lord has done it?

Does disaster come to a city

unless the Lord has done it?

Now, we're going to,

here's,

here's the thing.

I'm going to say one very important thing

about this text

and we're going to talk about it

more next week

because there's the same type of idea

only it,

it actually,

about half of chapter four

has the similar idea

so I'm going to talk about it

more next week

but I'm going to just give you

one analogy

to help you understand

the problem we have

when we hear it.

So the big problem we have

when we hear it

is we think of,

we think of a different context,

we think of a context

of an innocent person

that has something bad

happen to them.

I know some people

that if they hear this text

all by itself,

they say,

well, my life has been

one disaster after another

and I've always known

that God hates me.

Now I really know

that he really does hate me

and that's not the way

to understand it.

I want you to think

of the Kameshi affair,

I don't know if I pronounced

his name right,

the Kameshi affair

in CBC.

It was a disaster

for the CBC

and it was a disaster

for Kameshi.

But what type

of disaster was it?

And I have to be careful.

You know, it's funny,

sometimes people tell me

why do you always use

examples from other countries

and don't use

Canadian examples

and one of the reasons

is whenever I use

Canadian examples

I get so much pushback

from some people.

But anyway,

I'm going to do it

and here's the thing,

if the press

is to be believed

and I,

so I have to,

just a bit of a caveat

and I've been in the press

and I know that the press

doesn't always get things right.

There's a trail

and everything like that

but it appears as if

this man sexually harassed

quite a few women

over quite a long period

of time

and the system

and the CBC failed

and he was able

to get away with it

and eventually

somebody had the courage

to go to the press.

A lot of this came out

and it was,

what was it for him?

A disaster.

Isn't that a good word for it?

What was it for the CBC?

It was a disaster.

Now,

is it a disaster

for you and me?

Well,

I'm not going to talk

about the outcome

of the case

and all of that

and I know there's going

to be civil suits

and all of that

but you see,

here's the thing.

Here's the thing

about this text.

Here's the context

for the text.

Remember,

we've already begun

to get to the context

about this,

the problem of presumption,

the problem of people

listening to God

with a so-what attitude

and all of that

type of thing.

How did the people

in authority

listen to the woman

who had complaints?

Did they listen well?

They had authority

to stop it.

Did they stop it?

No,

they didn't.

Did Kameshi,

he didn't.

And it's not a disaster

on one hand.

It's a disaster

for an

unpenitent

wrongdoer

who's getting away

with terrible things

when all of a sudden

the day of reckoning

comes

and he can't

get away

from prospering,

from doing terrible things.

But if you have

an unpenitent heart

and you've been living

off the fruit

of doing evil

and you are presumptuous

and finally

the day of reckoning

comes,

it is a disaster.

disaster.

But it's not a disaster,

is it?

Something approaching

justice begins to happen.

In this text,

Amos has used

chapter 1 and chapter 2

to say,

listen,

nations think that God

is completely

and utterly irrelevant

and that at best

he's a kindly

doddering

old grandfather

who's asleep

in his chair

not noticing

what's going on.

Okay,

nations might think

that God is tame

but Amos has spent

chapter 1 and 2

establishing that God

is bigger than the nations,

that God will judge

the nations,

that the nations might say

what is right and wrong

but at the end of the day

there is a real right

and there is a real wrong

and they will be judged

and not only will individuals

be judged

but social structures

will be judged.

And for people

who write till the end

continue to maintain

that God is tame

and that they really are God

and they have gotten

his job,

when judgment comes

it is a disaster.

But Amos

is trying to us

understand

that God is bigger

than the nations,

he is bigger

than social structures,

that he is bigger

than Canada,

he is bigger

than the CBC,

he is bigger

than Hollywood,

he is bigger

than the education elites,

he is bigger

than the United Nations,

he is bigger

than NATO,

he is bigger

than the United States,

he is bigger.

And that

if in many cases

we have to wait

until death

before there is

judgment

and justice,

it will come.

God's lack

of action

is mercy

in the hope

of repentance,

not agreement

that he is

daughtering,

incompetent,

disinterested,

or tamed.

He is none

of those things.

He is the

roaring lion.

Let's just,

I want to read

the rest of the text

and I see the time

but I just want to say

a couple of other things

about the rest

of the text.

Let's read

verse 7.

For the Lord God

does nothing

without revealing

his secret

to his servants,

the prophets,

the lion is roared

who will not fear.

The Lord has spoken

who can but prophesy.

This is that last part.

I'm not going to talk

about this much

other than to say

this is terrifying

because this is a word

to us.

If we hear God's word

there is an obligation

for us

to have the courage

to speak a word

of God's word

when it disagrees

with our culture.

And he goes on

to say verse 9,

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 stronghold

shall be plundered.

Remember Israel

was destroyed

in 722 BC.

Thus says the Lord

as the shepherd

rescues from the mouth

of the lion

and 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 a 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

and 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.

Andrew if you could

put up the first

the next point please

just very in brief

we read this now

listening to it

knowing that the

you know in the old

westerns in the 50s

you could tell who

the good guys

and the bad guys were

if they were a white hat

or a black hat

if you watch

the original Star Trek

you know that people

with a certain color shirt

are going to die

and people with a certain

color shirt

are going to live

and so we sometimes

read the Old Testament

this way

but the first thing

just very briefly

is if you put up

the point Andrew

social structures

customs and institutions

can be powerful forces

leading me away

from saving faith

in Jesus

and that's

that's the point here

and the hard part

about the point is

because we're looking

at it like they're

wearing the right

the wrong color shirt

or they're wearing

the wrong color hat

but you have to

think about it

for a second

these guys are Canadians

they're spiritual

not religious

they have many altars

they're not hung up

on just one way

to God

they're not hung up

with just one way

or just one word

from God

they're not hung up

with these things

they're spiritual

and they're not religious

and they practice

their religion

in a way that it

doesn't sort of bother

other type of people

and there can be

as many altars

as you want

and when it talks

about winter house

and summer house

you know

isn't it usually

that in the citizen

or the national post

or the globe and mail

don't they usually

have the rich

and the famous

and the powerful

at little benefit

types of things

and don't they have

homes that they

sort of go

and they take you

through

and don't all

the magazines

talk to you

about the most

spectacular houses

and all of that

type of thing

and don't they

always do it

in such a way

that it's a fawning

type of thing

about the rich

and the powerful

and don't they have

things that are

made out of ivory

isn't that just

a sense that you

isn't that just

telling you

that you're not

just a you know

you're not just

some poor schlub

who thinks

that going to

McDonald's

and having a Big Mac

is the height

of a haute cuisine

but you know

the right types

of restaurants

you know

the right types

of things to eat

you know

the right way

to dress

you know

that when you

can wear brown

shoes

and you know

when you can

wear the type

of chandals

you should have

you understand

that if you see

somebody walking

down the street

you can tell

whether that's

a good purse

or a bad purse

or whether the

watch matters

and that's why

you have the

fancy magazines

with all of those

types of things

and if just

whoa whoa whoa

don't read it

with

read it

it's talking

about Canada

strongholds

is another word

for elites

fawning

descriptions

of the new

heads of universities

fawning descriptions

of the new

chief of staff

for the prime minister

fawning descriptions

of the coolest

restaurants

the sign

that you have

just exquisite

taste

not part

of the

hoi polloi

it's written

in the citizen

in the national

post

in the globe

and mail

and put on

television

and twitter

and facebook

so that those

of us

in the

hoi polloi

know what

matters

and these

social structures

the strongholds

have led to

presumption

and people

being away

from God

and

and one

other thing

actually

Andrew

if you could

put up

the point

five

I don't

really have

time to

describe this

but it's

I'm just

going to

put it

up there

the sacrificial

death of

Jesus upon

the cross

is God's

subversive

fulfillment

of idolatry

the sacrificial

death of

Jesus upon

the cross

is God's

subversive

fulfillment

of idolatry

why is it

subversive

fulfillment

it's subversive

because this

whole text is

just saying

listen you

trust in

your possessions

you trust

in all of

these types

of things

they're all

going to

fail

they're all

going to

fail

and

but at the

same time

you know

when we

we have

we have a

sense that

there is a

better

we have a

sense that

there is

that you know

it might get

confused by

just taste

and looking

down our

noses at

people who

eat Big

Macs

and you know

or just go to

Tim Hortons

and don't

can't tell

what you know

they don't

know the

right type

of coffee

or you know

even worse

they go somewhere

even worse

than Tim Horton

like you know

we have this

sense that

there is

something better

we have this

something that

there is

something above

us

we have this

sense that

there is some

type of

of

of

there's some

type of

a quest

that we

should be

on

and on

one hand

the Bible

is going to

completely

and utterly

keep knocking

everything out

it's going to

keep saying

this is the

wrong path

this is the

wrong path

this isn't

something you

can stand on

it's going to

subvert it

it's going to

critique it

it's going to

knock it

down

but at the

same time

it's trying to

knock all these

downs

it's trying to

confront us

and knock

these things

down

because

there is in

fact a

fulfillment

that comes

from God

that if we

lose

our self

congratulation

and our

self

justification

and our

self

righteousness

that we

can actually

look to a

power that

comes from

God

where God

justifies

and God

makes

righteous

and God

makes

right

and he

does it

purely and

utterly

as gift

and as

grace

I had a

friend

come up to

me this

week just

on Friday

and he

described himself

as spiritual

not religious

he described

himself as a

nun

and he

said so

what are you

going to talk

about this

Sunday

are you

going to

do

you

sort of

misunderstand

me

I almost

said his

name

I'll call

him Bob

you know

the Christian

faith is

one beggar

telling another

beggar where

to find

bread

I'm a beggar

I'm going to

tell people

where to

find bread

that's my

hope

and he

said

well that's

a clever

line

although I

prefer to

say it's

the blind

leading the

blind

and I

say

well that's

a pretty

good line

too

and I

acknowledge

that I'm

blind

I'm a

blind man

telling other

blind people

about the

one who

can make

them see

and it's

not me

I said

you know

I happen

to know

that this

guy both

claims to

be spiritual

not religious

he was also

a huge

fan of

Christopher

Hitchens

I said

you know

Bob

Christopher

Hitchens

and Christians

agree on

many many

many things

I said

you know

one thing

I know

you've

puzzled

about

is the

fact that

Christopher

Hitchens

mocked

people like

yourself

who are

spiritual

not

religious

and I

and Christians

agree

that we're

blind

that the

finite

cannot

possibly

know

the

infinite

but what

if the

infinite

speaks to

the finite

in words

that the

finite

can understand

and what

if the

infinite

comes and

acts

for the

finite

so the

finite

can belong

to God

I make

no claim

that I

can see

all I

can do

is say

there is

one who

can make

you see

there is

a beggar

there is

there is

a food

that God

will freely

give

to beggars

and do the

final

the first

of the

final two

prayers

many of

us have

to leave

here

praying

dear

Lord

please

make

me

a

disciple

of

Jesus

gripped

by the

gospel

who

has

a

heart

for the

world

not a

heart

formed

by the

world

so that

I will

daily

live

for your

glory

and the

final one

and with

this

could you

all

stand

please

the

challenge

of the

text

for many

people

is this

prayer

I mean

the other

three

prayers

are all

really

important

challenges

to us

but this

is a

conversion

prayer

for many

of you

if you

wonder

how to

give

your

life

to

Jesus

and maybe

you feel

under

conviction

this is

how you

give your

life

to

Jesus

you know

my words

aren't magic

or special

I just

try to

take this

text

and form

it in

terms

of a

way

that if

you

believe

that it's

time

for you

because

you

haven't

been

actually

walking

with

God

or

connected

with

God

you've

just

been

presumptuous

and the

time is

to come

to leave

presumption

and to

enter into

saving

faith

I've

just

tried

to put

it into

words

and I'm

going to

ask us

all to

close by

saying this

prayer

together

for those

of us

who are

Christians

it's like

saying the

pledge of

allegiance

in the

states

you're

already

an

American

but it

can

sometimes

just be

so good

Canada

doesn't

have

anything

like it

it

must

be

just

sometimes

so

good

just

to

remember

once

again

the

start

of the

Christian

life

prayer

and what

you're

standing

on

what you're

not

standing

on

and how

you're

gripped

and for

some of

us here

in the

room

maybe this

will be

the

prayer

that

begins

your

Christian

life

and if

you haven't

begun the

Christian

life

I urge

you to

pray this

prayer

out loud

saying to

God

this is

me

this is

this

I want

this to

be me

let's

pray it

together

dear

Lord

I turn

from the

hopes of

this

world

from

all

idolatry

and from

all

presumption

I turn

to you

I turn

to Jesus

Christ

crucified

your

son

and my

savior

I open

myself

unreservedly

to the

Holy Spirit

please make

me a

disciple

of Jesus

gripped by

the gospel

living for

your glory

thank you

amen

father pour

out your

Holy Spirit

upon us

make us

disciples of

Jesus

gripped by

the gospel

living for

your glory

and this

we ask

in Jesus

name

amen

amen

to

God

s

fors

ing