June 13, 2021 Prophets – Amos Amos 1:1, 5:10-17

            I think we all want to be “good people.”  We want to do what is right.  We want to be helpful and constructive.  We want our efforts to make the world a better place, even if it’s in just a small way.  While we know that all by ourselves we may not be able to make a difference, we believe that if everyone focused on making the world a better place indeed it would get better.  And we can look around ourselves – our homes and our neighborhoods – and see that truth becoming reality.

We want to have jobs that are fulfilling and worthwhile, and certainly ethical.  We look down upon people who try to make it through life by being manipulative, lying, and exploitative.  We place a high value on honesty.  And, without being smug or arrogant, we believe that our lives could be models for other people to emulate. 

We know that all of this take a good deal of hard work.  And it takes hard work over the long term.  You have to be responsible.  We know that bills have to be paid before luxuries can be bought.  We were probably taught as kids that our homework needed to be done before we went out to play with friends.  And in fact the education necessary to be a good person and to be productive takes many years.  And so we learned the value of discipline.

And indeed, with hard work, good choices, and a little bit of luck, most people can “make it.” 

In these ways we are very much like the people in the nation of Israel in the 8^th century B.C.E.  It was a period of relative peace.  There had been no major threats to the little nation from the surrounding superpowers, like Egypt and Assyria.  The peace seems to have brought about a period stability and prosperity.  Life was as it should be.

At least that was so for a relatively small number of citizens, but according to Amos, it was at the expense of the many.  The political, religious, and economic dynamics that were dominant were indeed working for some.  They felt like they were being good people.  They were living as God intended.  They were following the religious laws, worshipping in the right way, and making the correct sacrifices.  They were a model of righteousness for others to live by.

But Amos calls them out.  While some were flourishing, the majority were not.  The old tribal and family systems of land ownership were breaking down and a permanently wealthy class was emerging at the top.  It was probably happening legally and legitimately.  But Amos says it was wrong.

Remember in those days the economy was basically subsistence agriculture.  Most everyone worked in raising food.  And, according to the Old Testament economic laws, farmland could never be permanently sold out of a family.  It could be rented for a long period of time, but never permanently sold.  Houses in cities could be sold but not the surrounding land.  By this means there was always some measure of economic equality among the citizens.  As long as you had land you could survive.  If you didn’t have land you could be permanently impoverished. 

It is an economic system so foreign to us that we can’t really understand it in America today, but it was the intention in those days. 

…Except it doesn’t seem to have been followed.  People of means were using their means to gather more and more.  But feeling they were good people they didn’t feel they were doing anything wrong.  They were only making use of the opportunities that came to them.  And, after all, don’t the people with power influence the laws, if not outright make them?  Don’t those laws then reflect the needs and goals of their makers?  So of course what the wealthy and well-to-do were doing was legal.  They made the laws!

We read only a tiny excerpt from Amos and it doesn’t do justice to the full rant God gives throughout the book.  We didn’t read my favorite part, which is 2:4.  Here Amos is referring to the wives of wealthy men:

“Hear this word, you cows of Bashan

who are one Mount Samaria,

who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,

who say to their husbands, “Bring something to drink!”

 

The passage from chapter 5 that we read as our first reading talks about some of the subtle but systemic things that were exploitative.  Amos is very concerned with justice, specifically a fair legal system.  And throughout the book, Amos calls for the hearts of all people to be rooted in God, not in their own self-serving ambitions.

In the children’s sermon I used the image of a plumb line.  It is a powerful image.  A plumb line is a simple yet effective way to build something exactly vertical.  A plumb line follows gravity exactly and always points directly straight down to the center of the earth.  There is no deviation.  So too our hearts, or actually our entire lives, are to be focused on God’s love as the center.  That is easier said than done.  It is very easy to go askew.

In our quest to be good people we easily make the mistake of surrounding ourselves with things that help us to feel like good people but actually ignoring all the ugly things we don’t want to see.  You know the phrase, “Out of sight, out of mind.”  Without realizing it, we Americans do just that.

You may remember me saying things like this before.  We bring things into our lives that we buy at stores.  The stores insulate us from what it actually takes to produce things.  Few, if any, regularly see the factories where our clothes are made.  We do not see the mines where rare earth elements are extracted for all our electronic devices.  We do not live by refineries that make our gasoline or the foundries that process metal.  No, things for us come in clean pretty packages from a store.  We think that’s their origin; but out of sight, out of mind.

The same thing happens after we’re done with things.  We put out a garbage can and the waste of our lives just disappears; or maybe we do take it to the local transfer station.  From there, though, it’s just gone.  The landfills aren’t that far away, but I don’t believe any of us live withing sight or smell of them.

How about wastewater?  Where is the water (and everything else) that goes down your drain processed?  Do you even know where the water treatment plants are?  Perhaps.  But how many wastewater treatment plants are proudly placed among major thoroughfares?  And how would it be if one were upwind of Eastview Mall?

Do you know who made the clothes you’re wearing?  Again, out of sight, out of mind.  You know full well that almost all garments are made by people paid terrible wages.  Even, and perhaps this is too vivid, who made your underwear?  What unknown hidden person made the garments which touch you most intimately?  Again, we don’t know.

It is easy for us to think of ourselves as good people when all we see is that which is good.  Prophets like Amos boldly pointed out the ugly truth of everything that remained hidden.

I suppose I could all make us feel incredibly guilty about our lives of consumption and then the ridiculous way we call ourselves good people, when in fact our lives are very much like the lives of the people Amos condemned.  But I do not want to.  Amos’ message to the people is that it was too late.  They had been too bad for too long.  The destruction was inevitably coming.  Amos’ message was basically that when it did come the people would know why.

Perhaps it isn’t too late for us.  Keep in mind the image of the plumb line.  Use it to center your life on God’s love.  It is all too easy to spend our lives on opportunities to get ahead, or enjoy leisure, or look good.  But ultimately, what’s the point of that?  Only living in God’s love will really give you anything of lasting value.

I believe that when we do focus on God’s love we do everything from that perspective.  This always sounds ridiculous, but when you buy something – whether it be food, or clothing, or a new phone, or a new car – ask yourself how it will equip you as a child of God.

Also pay attention to the many things that are easy to ignore.  My colleague Johanna Rehbaum recommends that people regularly pray for the people who made their clothes.  When you get dressed in the morning say a prayer for the unknown people who made the clothes you put on.  Then live that day honoring their work.

The prophet Amos was not liked.  He reminded people of truths they didn’t want to see.  You simply can’t be a truly good person if you’re blind to everything bad your life causes.  But God sees clearly.  May we see with true sight and seek to live in a way that truly brings dignity and justice to all.