Proper 10.C.25
Amos 7:7-17
Melanie L. McCarley

This week’s reading from the Old Testament introduces us to the prophet Amos—a self-described herder and tender of Sycamore Trees—who has been called by God to leave his pastoral life and bring a message of judgment to Israel. Amos is tough. Amos is blunt. Amos says things that no one wished to hear 2,800 years ago, and things no one much wishes to hear today.

He says: “See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

Now, a plumb line is a string with a weight attached. Plumb lines were used to make certain the walls of a building were straight and true from top to bottom. If one was to build without the use of a plumb line—odds were good that building would eventually collapse. Think of the plumb line as an instrument of judgement.

Both the timing and the place of Amos’s message is interesting. Amos has come to Bethel, to deliver his words. Now, Bethel was an important place for Israel. It means “House of God.” Bethel is where Abraham built an altar and talked with God. This is the place where Jacob slept and dreamt about a ladder to heaven. It was one of two primary places of worship for Israel, the other being the Temple in Jerusalem. This is the place where Amos has come to bring God’s message of judgment to the people of God.

The timing of Amos’s message more than likely seemed odd to the people of Israel. King Jeroboam is considered by most historians to have been a good king. His reign of forty-one years was marked by territorial expansion, aggressive militarism and unprecedented national prosperity. If one was to take a passing glance at the Northern Kingdom—it would have appeared that life (particularly if one was wealthy) was going very well, indeed. If it were America, the stock market would be up, unemployment down, and the interest rates low. Who was Amos to complain? But underneath that veneer of wealth and prosperity were the poor and needy whose hardship had a great deal to do with the wealth and prosperity of their kinsmen.

Amos has things to say, and he goes directly to the house of God to speak his piece. And here is where we meet Amaziah, the priest of Bethel. Interestingly, Amaziah doesn’t speak to Amos—at least not at first. First he goes to King Jeroboam—which is a pretty clear statement as to where Amaziah’s loyalties lie. Amaziah presents Jeroboam with a conspiracy theory saying: “Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words.” In other words, Amos is making people upset. He is trying to upend the status quo.

And here is where things get interesting. Amaziah arrives in the shrine at Bethel and tells Amos to go away because Bethel is the king’s sanctuary and it is a temple of the kingdom. Notice how things have changed! No longer is Bethel a house belonging to God—it belongs to the king. And Amos, a prophet of the Most High, is not welcome in the king’s temple.

And this is when God’s judgment thunders from Amos’s mouth: “Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be parceled out by line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’” In other words: “Your land will be taken. Your people will die by the sword or go into exile. Things might look good right now, but before you know it, things will turn bad. Why? Because you’re not following the ways of God”. History, by the way, was on Amos’s side. Not many years after the death of Jeroboam, Amos’s prophecy would come terrifyingly true. While some might listen to the words spoken by Amos and hear therein God’s punishment; we might perhaps do better to consider that Israel’s fate was one she chose for herself.

What do these ancient words have to say to us today? Quite a lot. In this reading Amos, is harshly denouncing a political agenda of a King that has coopted the worship of God. Amos is decrying policies that promote the well being of the wealthiest citizens at the expense of the poor—all glossed with a “religious” veneer. Boil it all down, and what we see in this situation of almost three thousand years past is a conflict about linking political policies, faith and God’s will.

It's a conflict ripe for our time. What we are seeing in America today, is the rise of Christian Nationalism—the belief that Christianity should be the cultural center of the nation—and not just Christianity in general—but a Christianity which comes with a specific political agenda attached. A politicized Christianity—which is working hard to eliminate the separation of church and state. If you doubt me, just this past week, the IRS issued a ruling that it is now permissible for denominations and pastors to endorse political candidates from the pulpit. The reasoning is “they’ve always done it, now we are legitimizing it.” But that is news to this priest of thirty-four years who has never and will never endorse a political candidate from the pulpit. Now, it is true that frequently political decisions have moral and ethical implications, and as such, they are appropriate fodder for sermons. It is the church’s job to speak clearly about moral and ethical matters. However, how you vote and which political party you support is, in my mind, none of my business—it belongs to you alone—it’s one of the principles upon which this country was founded. How you reason out who to vote for and which policies to support, this is entirely up to your interpretation of faith and your understanding of God’s will. It is not up to me, as a priest of the church, to link your vote either to your salvation or your membership in this church. Hear me clearly, please. To speak from the pulpit is qualitatively different than a personal conversation. To speak from the pulpit is to speak the Word of the Lord, it carries with it the authority of God. It has to do with salvation and membership in the Church.

Listen to these words, preached from this pulpit by The Rev. Francis Lee Whittemore, former Rector of St. Paul’s, who in his sermon in 1920 titled “The Church in the Nation” writes: “Mr. (James) Bryce…paid a great tribute to the wisdom of our forefathers, who refused to tolerate any formal connection between Church and State, and who had profited by the lessons of history. …they well understood how the exercise of temporal power is destructive alike to the usefulness and the integrity of the Church.”

Now I could go on about how the rise of Christian Nationalism is in opposition to the separation of church and state—but what I think is important here, as we look at Amos’ message both to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, almost three thousand years ago, and to ourselves today, is the stern reminder that while we should be patriotic—we should never confuse patriotism with following God. For Christians, following God comes down to following Christ—and there are times when the government and our faith do not walk hand-in-hand and we should be well-schooled as to how to tell the difference.

From my perspective, the answer as to how to discern a faithful following of Christ comes from the reading of the Bible—specifically, your reading of the Bible. Not mine, not someone on television, not a best-selling book, not a radio program or podcast. As you read, imagine Jesus is speaking to you. The Gospel lesson for today is a case-in-point. The parable of the Good Samaritan. A lawyer comes to Jesus with a question: Who is my neighbor? At the end of the parable Jesus asks the lawyer: “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” and he answers, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus says to him, “Go and do likewise.” Imagine these same words spoken to you. “Go and do likewise.” Who is deserving of your mercy? What do you believe Jesus would have you do? In the end, our response should not be predicated upon what political leaders or governments say, but what our faith in God proclaims. In Jesus’ name. Amen.