Sunday Sermon: "Be Part of the Solution"

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Sunday Sermon: "Be Part of the Solution"

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION: Please pray with me: Holy Spirit, as the Scripture is read, open our hearts and minds to hear the truth; shine your light into our dark places; convict us where our hearts have been hardened; and call us to respond with joy to your Word to us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.


SCRIPTURE READING: Amos 4:1-12 (The Message)
Our Scripture reading this morning comes from Amos, which is one of those little books toward the end of the Old Testament. Amos was a prophet—a messenger from God—in the 8th century BC. His job in particular was to bring the Word of God to the kingdom of Samaria, and this Word was a Word of judgment and a call for REPENTANCE.

Amos paints amazing pictures with his words. This particular passage I’m about to read sounds like he’s crashing the set of the TV show “Desperate Housewives” or “The Real Housewives of Orange County” and reading them the riot act about the way they are living. Even if you don’t watch these shows, I’m sure you can guess what they’re all about. So, as I read these words from three thousand years ago, try to picture the scene unfolding on Wisteria Lane:

1 "Listen to this, you cows of Bashan grazing on the slopes of Samaria.  You women! Mean to the poor, cruel to the down-and-out!  Indolent and pampered, you demand of your husbands, 'Bring us a tall, cool drink!'


2-3"This is serious—I, God, have sworn by my holiness! Be well warned: Judgment Day is coming!  They're going to rope you up and haul you off, keep the stragglers in line with cattle prods.  They'll drag you through the ruined city walls, forcing you out single file, And kick you to kingdom come." God's Decree.


4-5"Come along to Bethel-- the sanctuary of God-- and sin! And then to Gilgal—the house of the Lord-- and sin some more! Bring your sacrifices for morning worship. Every third day bring your tithe.  Burn pure sacrifices—thank offerings. Speak up—announce freewill offerings!  That's the sort of religious show you Israelites just love." God's Decree.


6"You know, don't you, that I'm the One who emptied your pantries and cleaned out your cupboards,
Who left you hungry and standing in bread lines? But you never got hungry for me. You continued to ignore me."  God's Decree.


7-8"Yes, and I'm the One who stopped the rains three months short of harvest.  I'd make it rain on one village but not on another.  I'd make it rain on one field but not on another—and that one would dry up. 
People would stagger from village to village crazed for water and never quenching their thirst.  But you never got thirsty for me.  You ignored me."   God's Decree.


9"I hit your crops with disease and withered your orchards and gardens.  Locusts devoured your olive and fig trees, but you continued to ignore me."   God's Decree.


10"I revisited you with the old Egyptian plagues, killed your choice young men and prize horses. The stink of rot in your camps was so strong that you held your noses—But you didn't notice me. You continued to ignore me." God's Decree.


11"I hit you with earthquake and fire, left you devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched from the flames.  But you never looked my way.  You continued to ignore me."   God's Decree.


12"All this I have done to you, Israel, and this is why I have done it.  Time's up, O Israel! Prepare to meet your God!"

The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever.

Can you see it? Can you see the picture Amos paints with his words? He watches the wealthy women, the elite of society going about their daily lives . . . eating, drinking, and making merry, all the while crushing the needy and oppressing the poor.

These “cows of Bashan” lead frivolous lives, urging on their husbands to break the backs of their slaves and servants so that they can make more money . . . so that their husbands can bring them anther “tall, cool drink.”

What a picture! What an indictment Amos gives on the wealthy of any society, the privileged upper-class who waste their days on parties and buying things, who profit from the hard work from other people’s backs. Amos really lets them have it, doesn’t he?

And we love it, don’t we? We might pretend we don’t, but I think secretly we do. We like to say, “Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” We like it when those who have lived life without rules or boundaries or limitations begin to stumble. The longer and harder the fall, the more pleasure we get out of it.

Tell the truth now: Who wasn’t just a little bit satisfied when Martha Stewart was sentenced to jail? Who didn’t smile just a little bit when Bernie Madoff’s empire began to crumble around him? And who wasn’t glad when Jon and Kate finally ended their reality show?

And between you, me, and this pulpit, I am a teeny, tiny bit glad to see the smug expression suddenly gone from Tiger Woods’ face. Deep down in the most sinful part of me, I have thought "oh, how the mighty have fallen" indeed.


#1
In our minds, these are the people we see as the “cows of Bashan”—the elite of our society, making a mint off of other people’s hard work and exploiting the people who are around them.

Samaria was a very prosperous part of Israel. Bashan, in particular, was known for its excellent timber and pastureland, and their excellent herds of fine cattle. So it is no surprise Amos calls the women “cows of Bashan.”

So prosperous had Bashan and its well to do inhabitants become that they no longer took notice of God. When they went to worship at Bethel and Gilgal, they did it to be the center of attention; they wanted to be noticed for their generosity. Amos tells us they did these things because it’s the kind of religious show they loved.

They had become so self-centered that they did not realize that the famines and the droughts and the fires were sent from God as a way to urge them toward REPENTANCE. Their hearts were so hardened that they didn’t notice that people were starving and staggering from town to town looking for water to drink.

The “cows of Bashan” didn’t notice the disasters falling on the land around them because they never went without. They always had food on the table, expensive clothes to wear, and warm beds to sleep in because they took from those who had and kept it greedily for themselves. They were oblivious to the needs of the people around them and how their actions at the top of the pile trickled down and ruined the lives of everyone below them.


#2
This seems like a pretty straightforward story, but usually that means there’s more to it than meets the eye. There’s a 2nd layer to this story.

Have you noticed how odd it is that Amos is addressing particularly the women in this situation? I mean, how many other times do you remember reading parts of the Bible directly addressed to women? Probably not many—a few snippets about Sarah, Debra, and some Marys, but the attention women get in the Bible is relatively small.

But the book of Amos dedicates a whole chapter to women. And he’s not just telling a story involving women characters—this is a Word of the Lord spoken directly to the “cows of Bashan,” the elite of society.

Usually, when God speaks it’s directed toward the leaders at the time and, back in Amos’ day, those leaders are usually men. But here, he turns his attention to an unlikely crowd.

I imagine these women were caught off guard—like I said, it’s like Amos crashing on to the set of “Desperate Housewives” and going off into a rant about they are crushing the needy and the poor. A crowd that is unsuspecting and probably pretty surprised by the, shall we say, enthusiasm he uses in his address to them.

Can’t you just see them getting defensive and saying, “Hey, we don’t crush the needy. We have nothing to do with the business in our family—that’s our husbands’ job. Our hands are clean.”

But Amos indicts them because they are part of the problem, because they encourage the oppressive business practices of their husbands in order have another long, cool drink brought to them. They are not a part of the solution, so that means they are part of the problem.

#3
And that leads us to a third layer in this story. Amos pronounces an indictment against not just the “cows of Bashan” but I think against ALL those who are a part of the problem and not the solution; he says if you’re not helping the poor and needy, you’re part of the problem.

And I think that is a Word from the Lord that still speaks to us today. If we’re not part of the solution of poverty and injustice, then we’re part of the problem.

One of the fundamental truths in the Old Testament is that the health of any society can be measured by looking at how the poor and needy are treated within society. If you want to know how healthy a society is, don’t go looking at all the big houses and big cars and big churches. Look at the state of poor, rundown neighborhoods with hungry people desperately trying to survive. Is there anyone one there helping them?

If you want to know how healthy a state is or how healthy a community is or even how healthy a church is, look at the poor among them and see how they are treated.

Amos tells us that it is the responsibility of everyone in a society who is in a position to give to be part of the SOLUTION, not a part of the problem.

This is a message we need to hear all year long but it doesn’t hurt to hear it repeated during this season of season of spending—I mean GIVING. Maybe this year we can be part of the solution by using the money we intended on spending on just one gift and instead give it to a non-profit organization that helps the poor and needy. With just one gift, we can be part of the solution, not part of the problem.


CONCLUSION
That Amos guy . . . he’s pretty sneaky. When we read the beginning of Amos 4, he gets us all whipped up, thinking that he’s putting the smack down on all those rich, smug people we resent because they have the world handed to them on a silver platters. They are part of the problem of poverty and injustice, NOT part of the solution.

And we want to cheer to see how the mighty have fallen, until we suddenly realize that we are part of the problem too. If we are not helping the poor and needy among us, then we are the “cows of Frankfort Springs.”

And Amos’ words to the people of Bashan three thousand years ago still ring true in our ears because if we are not part of the solution, we are a part of the problem.

In this season of giving, take the money from just one gift and donate it to the poor and needy instead. If your Christmas shopping is all done, take something back and donate that money instead.

Listen, we all buy junk for someone who is hard to shop for—this year, take the money you’d spend on them and donate it in their name to a non-profit that they like or some place that has meaning for them. I promise this is the best kind of Christmas gift you can give.

If we’re not part of the solution, we’re a part of the problem. And Amos has a word of judgment for us. Listen to Amos as he calls for repentance. Israel’s fate is sealed by the time Amos begins to prophesy. It was too late for them but it’s not too late for us. Repent, and be a part of the solution for poverty and injustice, not a part of the problem.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.