WHEN THE WORLD DEPRESSES US WITH ITS EVIL: “I just wish Jesus would come back!”
- Amos 5:18-20.
- The point of v. 19 is things going from bad to worse.
- There are two illustrations.
- In the first, a man runs from a lion. But then, exhausted, he runs right into a bear.
- In the second, a man comes into his place of safety only to get bitten by a snake.
- In light of v. 18, the point that is being made is something like this: you think the arrival of the day of the Lord is going to move things from bad to good. The truth is, though, that it would actually make things go from bad to worse. Why? Because you’re not ready for God. You are not serving and honoring God.
- Be careful what you wish for, God says to Israel here.
- In v. 18 God says “woe to you who long for the day of the Lord.”
- He asks them why they are longing for it. Obviously, it’s because they believe that it will be a day when God will destroy Israel’s enemies while praising Israel for being His people. That, it turns out, is not even close to being accurate. It will be a day of “darkness, not light.”
- What does that mean? It means that it is going to be a day of judgment.
- Verse 20 further emphasizes the point.
- Today we often hear Christians say, “I just wish Jesus would come back!”
- This usually happens when that person has heard news of a new inhumanity or of some sign of society going down the tubes. This passage should cause us to pause and ask, “Are we sure that’s something we should be wishing for?”
- Certainly we are saved, but could there be things that we are doing that put us in a similar category as Israel in this passage? Could it be that we would be subject to chastisement and humiliation rather than a joyful reunion?
- “But I’m saved!” Sure, you may be one of God’s people, but Israel was God’s people too.
- Let’s look into this passage more deeply and see what we learn about Israel and ourselves in it.
WHAT EXACTLY WAS ISRAEL DOING WRONG?
1. Their worship services.
- Amos 5:21.
- Back then they had several religious feasts each year. They amounted to lengthy religious celebrations. So these weren’t just your typical Saturday synagogue meeting.
- They put an enormous amount of time, effort, and money into these. People traveled from great distances. The activities would last for several days. The Mosaic Law commanded them to put aside 10% of their income to fund the various festivals throughout the year.
- Yet God was not pleased.
- In fact, it’s more than just not being pleased – v. 21 uses the phrases “despise” and “cannot stand.” Those are strong statements.
- God wasn’t happy with the way that they were worshiping.
2. Their offerings.
- Amos 5:22.
- The Mosaic Law commanded a number of different offerings. In v. 22 we have three mentioned: burnt offerings, grain offerings, and fellowship offerings. I don’t think it’s necessary for our purposes here to drill down into the specifics of each offering or to explore the other offerings. It suffices for us to simply note that there were a number of offerings that Israel was to bring before God as part of their worship and that God here says He will not accept them.
- God is unhappy with their offerings.
3. Their praise music.
- Amos 5:23.
- As part of their worship and their festivals they had music.
- But God is displeased with their songs. Undoubtedly they invoke God’s name, but they are not truly honoring to Him.
4. Their idols.
- Amos 5:25-26.
- The question in v. 25 is to be answered in the negative. Rather, they have continued to have idols that they worshiped.
- This, of course, is breathtaking when you consider all the miracles that God did for them in bringing them out of Egypt, yet they continued to bow down to false gods.
- Now, let’s go back through those four things, but talk about the church in America today. Are there ways that we do similar things?
- We want to see if we too need to think twice about longing for the day of the Lord.
1. Our worship services.
- Amos 5:21.
- Let’s look at some potential issues within the American church’s worship services:
a. Are we focused in worship on pleasing God or on what pleases us and makes us enjoy the service?
b. Do we sense the Holy Spirit in our midst naturally or do we try to manufacture emotional “Holy Spirit moments” through manipulative music and speech?
c. Do we see transformed lives as a result of our sermons and worship?
d. Do we see the church family sacrificing for each other and carrying each other’s burdens, showing true love in doing so?
2. Our offerings.
- Amos 5:22.
a. We are perhaps the wealthiest nation ever. Are we giving amounts that reflect that prosperity?
b. Do our lifestyles look just like the rest of America or do we live in ways that reflect a desire to give generously to the kingdom of God?
c. While some of us give a decent amount, do we ever actually sacrifice financially for the kingdom?
3. Our praise music.
- Amos 5:23.
a. We have had worship wars for decades as people fuss about hymns versus praise music. In both cases, though, are people just focused on getting what they like in worship as opposed to being focused on what honors and pleases God?
b. When we sing, do we thoughtlessly mouth the words, do we focus on what we enjoy, or do we actually sing to God?
c. Do we work to manufacture emotion in our singing and then call it a movement of the Holy Spirit?
d. The Psalms contain a good number of laments. Do we sing songs today that accurately reflect the struggles and doubts of faith or do we solely focus on upbeat, positive songs?
4. Our idols.
- Amos 5:25-26.
a. Are materialism and money the gods of America?
b. Do we focus too much of our own pleasure?
c. Do we expect to be entertained and amused?
d. Do we put self first?
- Adding all four of those up, are we in the church in America in a similar situation as the nation of Israel that God is addressing in our passage?
- Are we deeply pleasing to Him or are we terribly compromised?
- To go back to the start, here is a key question: given the condition of the church in America, should we want Jesus to come back now?
GOD'S ONE COMMAND HERE: Pursue justice.
- Amos 5:24.
- Matthew 25:31-46.
- In the midst of all this justified condemnation, there is only one command that God gives and it’s not the one we would expect.
- God doesn’t cry, “Get a bigger Bible!”
- God doesn’t shout, “I want better singing!”
- God doesn’t demand, “Make your worship services better!”
- No, the one thing God commands for them to “let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (v. 24).
- Why is that the one thing He mentions? Justice isn’t usually the first thing we think of when we think of “getting right with God.”
- I think we might get a little insight from a key gospel passage.
- In Matthew 25 we have the famous “least of these” teaching. There Jesus says that what we’ve done to the least of these we’ve done to Him. It’s an important and challenging passage.
- One particularly challenging aspect of the passage is the larger context. It’s not just a passage about being nice to others. No, the larger context is judgment. The Son of man is separating the sheep from the goats. Those, of course, are representative of followers of Christ and those who are unsaved.
- As Jesus divides up the sheep and the goats, He uses what we might initially think of as the wrong criteria. In dividing them up, He doesn’t ask, “Were you saved?” He doesn’t look at records of church attendance. He doesn’t check if you were baptized. No, instead He looks at how you treated the least of these. That’s the dividing criteria. What in the world?
- Based on our usual theological statements, Jesus picks the wrong criteria. How can He divide based on how we treated the least of these?
- I would argue that it works like this. Living a life of compassion and mercy toward those around us who are struggling is a defining characteristic of someone who is a genuine follower of Christ. It’s not a personal faith that only affects where we go on Sunday morning at 11 and whether we read a chapter a day. No, it will transform the way we act toward those around us.
- Why? Because I realize I’m a sinner and that everyone else around me is struggling with the same problem I have. So I’m not better than everyone. No, I’m here to help fellow sinners like me.
- That’s why the church should be a refuge of grace and mercy. It should be a place where struggling souls can find encouragement. It should be a place where those who have done evil find a message of hope and forgiveness.
- Justice involves the idea of wanting everyone to be treated fairly, no matter your race, your economic status, or your background. It’s a movement away from only being concerned with myself. It’s a movement away from only thinking about whether a particular thing is going to help me. Instead, I want others to be treated fairly, especially those without the ability or resources to stand up for themselves.
- Where does that lead us? When I am looking out for the least of these, I am being loving toward them, I am being compassionate toward them, I am being selfless, I am looking out for those that God is concerning about. (On that last point, see the point in the previous sermon in this series.)
- Now, let’s go back to the original question under this point: why would God make “pursue justice” the one command in this section of Scripture. Does it make sense now? He is doing it because looking out for the least of these touches so many aspects of our faith lives. It’s such a good indicator of our heart being molded into the heart of God.
WHEN THE DAY OF THE LORD DOESN'T HAPPEN YET: God’s people will be disciplined.
- Amos 5:27.
- Hebrews 12:4-11.
- Here we have God ending what He has to say here with a word of consequence. He is going to send them into exile. This punishment is fully deserved.
- We know that in Hebrews God says that He disciplines those He loves. That means this principle isn’t void for our lives today.
- He may not physically move us into exile as He did with Israel, but there could certainly be actions by God that move us to a place where we don’t see His power or presence in significant ways. Sometimes God’s punishment is simply to give us what we want. In this case, as we’ve discussed, that might look like a shallow and fruitless faith that doesn’t change our lives or our society.
- Whatever it looks like, we are naïve to call out for the day of the Lord to appear when we aren’t anywhere near ready for it. And when the discipline comes, we need to recognize it and heed the call to repent.
