Did you hear what happened to Alexander Smith from Nicholasville, KY this week? Alexander is nine days old today. He was born a week ago, Friday. Michael and Chrissie, his parents, brought him home this past Sunday. The next day, on Monday afternoon, about an hour after Alexander was laid down for a nap, Michael looked out into his backyard and saw their dog, Dakota, standing right next to Alexander, who was lying on the ground. Dakota had picked him up from the crib with his teeth and carried him into the yard. Once Dakota saw Michael, he picked up the baby again and ran about 150 yards into the woods behind their house. When Michael caught up, Alexander was in rough shape, with cuts and puncture wounds to his tiny body and precious face. Alexander is still in critical condition in a Kentucky hospital. Man’s best friend? Not this time. Man betrayed by his best friend.
We don’t like betrayal, especially when it comes to betraying our God and our faith. We come down hard on Judas, and rightly so, for his betrayal of Jesus. The first sin in eternity wasn’t committed by Adam and Eve. It was committed by an angel who betrayed God’s holy will; the angel that went on to become the devil. It’s heart-breaking what those betrayals accomplished.
On the flip side, we have some wonderful examples of Christians firmly confessing their faith. We have Peter and John with their faith springing up so powerfully inside of them while standing in front of the Sanhedrin that wanted to kill them that they couldn’t help but burst out with, “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” We have Paul leaving his job, his home, his income, and life just so he could risk his life telling others about Jesus Christ simply because,as he wrote to the Corinthians, “Christ’s love compels us.”
That’s basically what Chris Driesbach did. Christ is the musician whose concert we hosted a few weeks back. He quit his job, fixed up his condo only to sell it, and now drives around the country, living out of his Honda Odyssey giving basically free concerts in which he simply tells people how much Jesus means to him. And why? Ask him. He’ll tell you it’s because he just can’t help himself.
In today’s sermon text, the prophet Amos had a choice – confess or betray the faith that lived inside him. The people of Israel didn’t want to listen to him. The king wanted Amos to leave them. And the king’s highest official, Amaziah, did everything he could to make keeping his mouth shut Amos’ most appealing option. But he didn’t. And maybe because he knew that this confessing and betraying stuff is serious business. The book of Romans it says, “If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Does that mean that if you betray your faith by not confessing it, you won’t be saved?
Now, God hasn’t called you to witness to Israel. He hasn’t called you to stand in front of the Sanhedrin. I’m not even saying that he’s called you to leave your home and job and tour across the country, preaching. But he has called you to be who he made you. And he made you something special. Like Michael and Chrissie crave the day their boy will be free to move and act in the way his little body was made for him, so God craves the day when all his children are free from the wounds and fears that hold them back from a life he promises is the most satisfying both for you and him.
(10) Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. (11) For this is what Amos is saying: “Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.”” (12) Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. (13) Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the King’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”
Are Christians ever criticized? Yes. Are Christians more often criticized for doing something wrong or something right? Do you recognize the name George Tiller? Do you know who that is? George Tiller is the name of the abortion doctor who was killed at his church this past May. He was killed by Scott Roeder, someone who believes it’s wrong to kill the unborn. Is it wrong to kill the unborn? Yes. Does God command us to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves? Yes. Does God allow us to murder someone to pay them back for their murders of others? No. It’s right to criticize Scott Roeder. It’s right to criticize Christians who murder in the name of religion. It’s right to criticize those who used the bible to support slavery, holocaust, and segregation. Sometimes Christians are rightly criticized because we do things wrong.
Amos was criticized, however, for doing what was right. Israel’s big sins at the time were oppressing the poor and excessive drinking. He told them that God hates those sins and promises to punish them. Anything wrong with that message? No, which is why the message wasn’t the first thing Amaziah criticized. He went after the messenger instead. What was the first word he said to King Jeroboam? “Amos.” “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you.” ‘Look what evil Amos is doing to poor little us. He’s trying to poison to the people of this land.’
In college I once pointed out to a friend the sin of underage and excessive drinking. You know what his first response was? It wasn’t, “You’re right; I’ve sinned.” It was, “Well, you’re not perfect either, you know,” which I don’t disagree with. But pointing the finger back at me was his way of avoiding what he knew was the truth. Anyone ever try to discredit your message by discrediting you? It doesn’t feel good, and it doesn’t make you more likely to express your faith next time. And sometimes they don’t stop with you. Sometimes folks are just as cruel to the words spoken by you.
I read an editorial this week in which the writer said that both President Bush and President Obama obviously and clearly believe gays are inferior to everyone else. Firstly, are gays inferior to everyone else? Well, is a person who sins homosexually inferior to the person who sins by stealing? No. They are equally sinful and equally in need of forgiveness. Both Presidents are on record as saying they believe marriage is between a man and a woman, but neither President ever said they believed gays were inferior. But, tweaking their words helped the editorial writer make his point. Do you think there is any ‘tweaking’ of words going on in the case of the black Harvard professor arrested by the white police officer? It is a powerful temptation for creatures who always want to be right. That temptation doesn’t pay any attention to skin color.
One of the more common examples of this in every-day life is when someone says, “You can’t judge me. Jesus said, ‘Don’t judge.’” Did Jesus say that? Yes, he did. What they mean is, ‘You can’t judge a person’s heart,’ and we shouldn’t try. But Jesus did tell us that we can recognize what’s in a person’s heart by judging their fruit; the words they say and the things they do. Jesus commanded us to judge those things. But misquoting what Jesus says makes it easier to get away with sin.
The hard thing is that this happens a lot. The most well-intentioned and loving Christians are often the most verbally assaulted, called unloving, uncaring, unsympathetic, and even a bigot. The phrase, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” doesn’t apply to Christians. We value our relationships and it hurts when those are broken; when we end up with lost friends, angry relatives, and alienated children.
Amos had a way out of all of that. Amaziah even gave him a way out. He didn’t threaten to kill Amos, as happened to so many other Old Testament prophets. He just said, “Listen buddy, you seem like a nice guy. Very passionate, and I respect that. But hey, you’re not from around here. You don’t really understand us. So why don’t you take you and your nice prophetic robe and your walking stick and scoot on back down to Judah, where you belong. No hard feelings. No struggle, no hassle, no trouble.
How’s that sound? It sounds really good. Life would be a bit more comfortable if we just understood that prostitutes are just trying to make a living. Life is hard. Some tried to do things right for a long time but had the carpet pulled out from under them. And homosexuals are just doing what they feel is right. You don’t understand how powerful these feelings are for some. You really don’t. It feels as natural as breathing, and that’s the truth. And thieves, well, many steal because they’re just down on their luck; lost their family, lost their job, their home, their income. What else to you expect them to do? And, hey, teenagers and college students fooling around, well, that’s just the way it is these days. How much easier is it to hand them a condom and tell them, if you’re going to do this, at least be safe, than to have a potentially divisive conversation? That way you can feel like you’re doing something responsible and also give them permission to sin. I mean, who wants the tough discussion?
Amos didn’t. He never wanted to be a prophet. It wasn’t on his list of Top 10 things to do before I go to heaven. After Amaziah gave him a way out, this is what Amos said. (14) Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor a prophet’s son, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. (15) But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, “Go, prophecy to my people Israel.”
Micah used to drive semi. He would pick up a load of fresh meat in Green Bay. His job was to get the meat to New York City within one day so that they could sell it in New York as “fresh Wisconsin meat.” The quickest he ever made it from Green Bay to New York was in 16 hours. It is scientifically documented that, after driving for four hours, most people will be so tired that they will be driving as though they are drunk. To stay awake, he started snorting cocaine. A lot of it. And it kept him going, gave him a lot of adrenaline. He would be flying down the freeway at over 100mph. Micah also said that the mafia has organized prostitution rings at every major truck stop in the country. Take one guess how he knows that. He eventually started drinking very heavily, lost his family, and has been hospitalized multiple times with multiple failing organs. His heart is now paper-thin and he’s basically living on half a body, but he’s happier today than he’s ever been. Micah is taking membership classes with my dad at his church. He’s found someone, the Lord (not my dad), who can take him away from the pain of his past and give him a life that is wholly satisfying.
Without asking, the Lord took Amos from a life of shepherding, which maybe isn’t as important as taking David from a life of murder, Joseph from a life in prison, or Matthew from a life of lying. But they didn’t ask God to take them from those things. Just like Amos didn’t ask to be a prophet. David didn’t ask to be king. Joseph didn’t ask to be a ruler, and Matthew didn’t ask to spend three years with God’s perfect Son. That’s just who God made them.
You didn’t ask God to call Jesus guilty for every sin you’ve ever committed. You didn’t ask God to slaughter his Son so you could end up in heaven. You didn’t ask for a clean slate or a second chance. You didn’t ask for a book that has every answer to all your heart’s questions. You didn’t ask for a promise that you really are forgiven. You didn’t ask him to crush the head of the devil who overcomes you every day; and you didn’t ask him to give you a peace in your gut that goes beyond all human understanding. You didn’t ask to become one of God’s own children. That’s just who you are.
It doesn’t matter where you come from. It doesn’t matter if, in your past, is the shepherd field, or the condemning sin of sexual immorality, idolatry, adultery, male prostitution, homosexual offending, thievery, greed, drunkenness, slandering nor swindling because “That is what some of you were,” Paul writes to the Corinthians. You didn’t ask to washed, to be sanctified, to be justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet you are. No matter how often you look back in your life and struggle with who you were, God’s perfect child is who you are.
And to keep secret who you are is to betray who God made you. To keep silent about how Jesus fulfills the longings of your aching heart is to tell a lie about what’s really inside you. Amos couldn’t do that. He couldn’t make his fears more important than the God who rescued him, me, and you; which is why he shared a difficult message he knew would be ridiculed.
(17) Therefore this is what the Lord says: “Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be measured and divided up, and you yourself will die in a pagan country. And Israel will certainly go into exile, away from their native land.” Pastor Steinberg from St. Marcus was telling me about an older man that he began visiting in the hospital. He met him in the hospital when visiting one of his members. This man was not a Christian, and he did not want to be. Pastor Steinberg would start his visits by talking about sports, the weather, disco, any number of things. But when he turned the conversation to talk about Jesus, the man stopped him. He told him to be quiet. He told him to leave if he kept going. Pastor Steinberg kept visiting the guy. He was in the hospital for quite some time, but every time he started talking about Jesus, the man became angry and told him to leave. One day, while Pastor Steinberg was at home, his phone rang. It was the man’s daughter. He was expecting her to say that her dad was near death and wanted him to come visit. She didn’t. She said, “My dad’s dead” and “Tell me some good news.” He couldn’t. It wouldn’t be true.
Amos didn’t have good news either. He predicted a pretty harsh fall for Israel. And do you know what happened? Within 30 years, everything that he said. 30 years later, Israel carried away by the Assyrians. And what did that accomplish? For Jeroboam and Amaziah, the same thing the man’s death accomplished for his daughter - it showed that God was right. The wages of sin really are death. Those who reject him really will lose their life. They will never stop grieving because they will never find hope so long as they never find Christ. And for us? It also teaches us that God is right, that his Word is true; that when he calls you his child, he means it. When he calls you pure and forgiven, he believes it. When he promises you a throne of perfection right next to him, it means he will not let any devil, enemy, temptation, or sin steal it. He’s already made plans to see you in it.