Amos 5:18-27

If you've been following along with this study, then you might be feeling like I am. "Ok, I get it. Injustice bad, and false worship bad. How can you make nine chapters out of this." And while it is definitely true that this book does seem to run on and make the smae points over and over again, it is also true that when speaking to people who fundamentally believe themselves to be innicent of these things, repetition is a bit of a neccessity. It's only after enough examples that someone listening might say to themselves... "Wait, is he talking about us?"

You might think this is a ridiculous part of human nature, and this is true. But it is something that I'v seen countless times. Personally I have taken to this particular line in many different sermons over the years, "You might be thinking to yourself right now, 'yeah he's right. Other people do need to change on this.' But no, I'm talking about you, you need to change with this."

So it's about this part of the book that I think it becomes more and more apoarent. Amos is speaking ot the reader, he's speaking to us. YOU HAVE A PROBLEM! We talk about this book as a message that was spoken to a particular people. This is true. But it was also written down, adn things that are written down are meant to last. Amos likely never thought that his words would be talked about by a group of people in another language thousands of years later, (Ok, he definitely didn't expect that), but he did know that this was meant for people he didn't know, and would never meet.

I have yet to meet Amos. So in this passage it's hard, but we have to look at these familiar ideas and remember that this is still important. There are important ideas here.

And the biggest idea is, again, the relationship between ethics and worship. This passage contains some of the most famous lines about rejecton of worship. God hates, despises, and cannot stand... their worship? If you were to compse a list of all the things the Bible says God hates it could be extensive. But would you really think of worship as one of your top three? And yet the reasons given in this passage are simple. The worship of the worshipper is rejected because their ethics are incompatible.

And this is where I had to stop. Is this repeated? Becasue I was struck with the feeling that this direct connection hasn't been brought up before. Not directly. We've talked a lot about the heart of the worshipper, or the intent of thier worship. But thier ethics, diretly? And I think that this has the most important implications for the christian fatih. Namely, can our concious ethical failures turn our worship into a hateful excercise?

I think yes. I think that the idea that we can worship, praise, and thank God while living a life that is disastrous to ourselves and others is impossible to stand. I think that choosing evil while praising a God of love is too contradictory to happen. But what does this mean of grace? Very little I think.

Sometimes I feel like Amos. I can look at the church around the world and I know that the worship that is happening here or there is destructive. I don't think this because of the style, and I don't think this because of the theological issues. I believe this is true because the church allows injustice to stand, it allows evil to reign.

Think about it this way. We do not worship dispite our evil hearts. We worship by standing against the evil in our own hearts. I think that truly accepting this, would create a lot of change in the world.

For discussion: Read Amos 5:18-27
1) What do you think is meant by the Day of the Lord? Is this comforting, or is it frieghtening?
2) Bonus: Do you think that modern Christian Eschatology is escapism?
3) What examples have you seen of ethical dilema's hindering worship? Do you think any person is able to judge this for themselves?
4) What is the greatest ehtical issue in the way of proper worship today? How?