7th Sunday After Pentecost – Amos 7:7-15
Rev. Michael Fry preaching
at East Bethany PC
July 15, 2012
I have been inspired recently by the books of Seth Godin, in
particular Tribes and Linchpin. His writing on leadership is prophetic in the
sense that he has the courage to speak out and write what he thinks and like
Amos his writing exposes some pretty harsh realities about our culture. While his books contain challenging material,
I find them to be energizing – most notably his concept of tribes, which are
very different from the tribes on the reality TV show Survivor, where cutthroat completion weeds people out as people are
voted off the island and at the end only one-person wins.
By contrast Seth Godin’s concept of tribes is reminiscent of
Native Americans or family clans like the 12 tribes of Israel who made up the
nation or people of God. We are their
descendants in faith, the heirs of people who were united in their service of
one God.
Likewise Godin’s concept of a tribe is of a group of people
who gather around a common purpose or interest and communicate with one
another. Think about it – tribes are
people who share an interest, talk about that interest, and have common
experiences that they share that are related to this interest.
Over time the concept of a tribe has evolved from the desire
to survive and produce offspring in order to care for the eldery to elaborate
systems of hierarchy, to simply being a fan of something.
What are you a fan of?
What are you loyal to?
What is something that you would be willing to sacrifice something
else in order to go and do?
Part of what has happened with our culture and to a certain extent
in churches is that they no longer have a shared identity or common experience
that really hold us together. We are
constantly bombarded with information and competing loyalties – between family
obligations, work, volunteering, church, sports events, and the list can go on
and on to include toys, video games, and hobbies from model train enthusiast to
quilting circles.
All these choices make us long for a simpler time when it
seemed like there were fewer choices and thus fewer obligations, and more time
to do things like be with family and go to church.
The hard reality is that we can’t go back to those times and
it is no use wishing that we could. What
we are called to do is to look where we are and choose how to move forward as a
people of God.
In many ways we are struggling with some of the same issues
that Amos was preaching about.
The abundance that the wealthy in Israel enjoyed made them
forget that everything ultimately comes from God. Have you ever noticed how some people’s level
of thankfulness seems to decrease as they gain more and more?
The elite of Israel had traded loyalty to God for what
appeared to be the promise of stability and prosperity. Like many people today have traded God for
some other activity.
Amos challenges this and makes those who are comfortable,
uncomfortable. And when the high priest
Amaziah challenges him, Amos tells Amaziah that he is not in it for the money,
not preaching for his food, because Amos is a farmer called by God to speak
these words and his loyalty rests in God.
Did you notice how when Amaziah confronts Amos he does not
mention God? Amaziah refers to Bethel as
the King’s place of worship and the national temple, instead of God’s sanctuary
and temple indicating that his true loyalty lies in preserving the kingdom of
Israel instead of service to God.
Moreover because of political alliances with Assyria, Israel
was experiencing unprecedented wealth, power, and prestige but this was really
only true about the people who had money and power.
Amos describes the condition of Israel by saying that the people
have rejected the law of the Lord and been led astray by false gods (Amos 2:4),
the righteous are sold for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals (2:6),
the heads of the poor are trampled upon and they are forced to provide grain
for the wealthy (2:7, 5:11), and not only are the poor oppressed but the needy
are crushed (4:1). Justice is not
administered and the righteous are oppressed (5:12).
Is our world, our country much different? Executives of businesses filing for
bankruptcy are asking to receive bonuses while pension benefits for retired
employees are being cut; these are the employees whose labor built the company
and made a small group of people a lot of money while some of these employees’
work took an extraordinary physical toll on their bodies.
People are caught in cycles of poverty in many ways,
including the predatory lending practices of some payday loan companies that charge
fees and interest at a rate that has an annual equivalent of 300 to 800 percent
causing people to go into deeply into debt for a relatively small amount, like
$300, because their car broke down while they still have to pay rent, and have
no savings from which to draw.[1]
And let us not forget that while some people have lost a lot
of money and their homes due to the housing crisis and recession the people who
created the conditions for the crisis, most of them are doing pretty darn
well.
Just as Amos challenged the elite of Israel we are
challenged to ask, in all seriousness: Do these business practices honor
God?
For Amos the answer was a resounding “No.” He boldly reminded the people they were part
of a tribe that God liberated from slavery, established as a nation, and exposed
the fact that they had stopped relying on God.
These people who had once shared a common identity as God’s people,
dependent on God and one another for their survival were now a group of
individuals looking out for their own self-interest.
In our time perhaps Christians need to be reminded that we too
are a tribe, a group of people who gather around a common purpose – to honor
God, who created us, who liberates us from sin, and who calls us to eternal
life. Honoring God with our lives in
service and worship. Christians are a group
of people who talk to one another and pray for one another. And by doing things together like sharing meals,
baseball games, worship, and Bible study we share experiences with one another
and develop a common identity rooted in God.
This is one of the reasons that I am excited about trying
something new this fall. On the first
Sunday of the month we are going to offer what we are calling sandwich school a time after worship for
children and adults to learn together exploring questions about faith and
worship.
East Bethany Presbyterian Church is already a tribe. We have a small dynamic group of people with
a range different gifts, talents, passions, and ages endowing us with a wealth
of different experiences and knowledge.
Our challenge is to figure out our purpose together, gather around that
common purpose or ministry, and communicate with one another all while trusting
in the goodness of our Lord and Savior to lead us.
God called Amos, who was a farmer, an ordinary person, to be
a prophetic voice in Israel, and Amos courageously answered this call.
As a tribe of God’s people, will we courageously answer
God’s call here in East Bethany?
[1] Lending With Grace: Breaking the cycle of
payday loans, by Jesse James DeConto, found in the Christian Century, June 27, 2012.
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