1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:05,800 We're going to be starting in chapter 2. 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:10,680 We're going to read verses 6 through 8. 3 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:21,840 Thus says the Lord, for three transgressions of Israel, and 4 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:25,280 for four I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell 5 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:29,840 the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. 6 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:32,439 Those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the 7 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:35,560 earth, and turn aside the way the afflicted, a man and his 8 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:40,600 father go into the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned. 9 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:44,960 They lay themselves down beside every altar, on garments taken 10 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:48,120 in pledge, and in the House of their God they drink the wine of 11 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:54,600 those who have been. Find chapter 5, verses 21 12 00:00:56,080 --> 00:01:05,239 through 24. I hate, despise your feasts, and 13 00:01:05,239 --> 00:01:09,200 I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 14 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:13,480 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain 15 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:15,680 offerings, I will not accept them. 16 00:01:16,320 --> 00:01:19,120 In the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not 17 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:24,360 look upon them. Take away from me the noise of 18 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:26,720 your songs to the melody of your harps. 19 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:34,080 I will not listen, but let justice roll down like waters 20 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,320 and righteousness like an ever flowing stream. 21 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:51,720 Chapter 9, starting in verse 11. In that day I will raise up the 22 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:56,040 booth of David that has fallen, and repair its breeches, and 23 00:01:56,040 --> 00:02:00,120 raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old, that 24 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:02,560 they may possess the remnant of Edom. 25 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,400 And all the nations who are called by my name, declares the 26 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:09,400 Lord, who does this? Behold, the days are coming, 27 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:12,200 declares the Lord, when the ploughmen shall overtake the 28 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,040 Reaper in the treader of grapes, him who sows the seed. 29 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,640 The mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall 30 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:21,600 flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of 31 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:25,360 my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and 32 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,040 inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and 33 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:30,480 drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their 34 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:32,720 fruit. I will plant them on their land, 35 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:35,760 and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I 36 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:38,040 have given them, says the Lord your God. 37 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:51,810 This is the word of the Lord. Well, good morning. 38 00:02:51,810 --> 00:02:54,370 My name is John. I'm one of the pastors here at 39 00:02:54,370 --> 00:02:56,810 Port City. I'm so glad you could join us 40 00:02:56,810 --> 00:03:00,040 today. We're continuing a series called 41 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:03,680 Turn Back My People and went, you know, we're talking about 42 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:07,920 and taking a broad look at the minor prophets and more 43 00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:12,320 importantly, at the heart of God for his people in the minor 44 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:14,960 Prophets. But before we kind of step into 45 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:18,400 Amos, I want to start with something you've probably 46 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:19,920 experienced. OK? 47 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:24,440 Have you ever seen someone who does all the right things on the 48 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:27,640 outside while something was deeply wrong underneath? 49 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:30,680 OK, think about that. Maybe it was a company whose 50 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,240 commercials they celebrated generosity in community, but 51 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,040 behind the scenes they were cheating employees. 52 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:38,600 You saw the documentary on that, right? 53 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,600 Or maybe it was a person who never missed a church service 54 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,600 like this one and knew all the songs, raised their hands high 55 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:47,280 in the air and worship, but yet they treated people with 56 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:50,760 harshness, indifference, or selfishness. 57 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:55,360 And when we see that something in you reacts, right? 58 00:03:55,600 --> 00:04:00,360 You feel the the disconnect, the injustice makes the outward 59 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,720 display feel hollow, even offensive, right? 60 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,600 We instinctively know the real devotion to something, whether 61 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:12,120 it's a cause, a valuer God, must be expressed in how we treat 62 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:14,320 others. Otherwise the worship rings 63 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:16,839 empty, right? The tension between outward 64 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:20,440 worship and inward injustice sits at the heart of the book of 65 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:22,000 Amos. That's the heart of it. 66 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:26,240 But who was Amos? Well, we learned from the text, 67 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:31,600 Amos was a shepherd and a dresser of Sycamore fig trees, a 68 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,920 blue collar worker for rule. You know, it's from rule Judah. 69 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:38,480 OK, Nobody would have expected him to be God's messenger. 70 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,360 I mean, he's literally from the middle of nowhere and he was 71 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:43,040 actually going to go to the northern Kingdom of Israel. 72 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:47,280 But God calls him saying in verse Chapter 7 of Amos, he says 73 00:04:47,280 --> 00:04:49,920 go prophecy to my people, Israel. 74 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:53,680 And Amos didn't live among the people he was actually going to 75 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,040 confront. He actually lived in a place 76 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,200 called Tokoa in Judah. Let's look at this map that I 77 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:02,360 have up here. You'll see that Tokoa set just 78 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:06,080 South of Jerusalem, but Amos's ministry would actually take 79 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:08,240 place in the northern Kingdom of Israel. 80 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,360 So if you remember after Solomon's reign, the nation was 81 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:15,320 split in the 2, it's the Judah was in the South and then Israel 82 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:17,280 was in the north. So you have southern Kingdom, 83 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:20,560 northern Kingdom. And so Amos prophesied during 84 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:23,720 the reign of Uzziah, who was king, and Judah the southern 85 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,160 Kingdom, and Jeroboam the second, who was king of Israel 86 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:30,080 in the northern Kingdom. And most of his message was 87 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:32,400 actually delivered in a place you look on the map. 88 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,320 That's called Bethel. Now, Bethel, as we learned in 89 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:37,560 previous weeks, is a religious power center. 90 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,640 It was intentionally set up to keep people from going to 91 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:41,920 Jerusalem. All right? 92 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:45,360 It was a royal sanctuary filled with priests, leaders and 93 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,880 national rituals. This is where Amos, a simple 94 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:53,120 shepherd, was sent to speak truth to power. 95 00:05:53,840 --> 00:05:58,320 But who is this message for? OK, Israel. 96 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:02,040 In Amos's day, they were experiencing prosperity, 97 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:05,240 military strength, and national confidence even. 98 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:09,600 But beneath the surface was a widening gap between worship and 99 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:13,200 the way people actually lived. OK, the wealthy thrived while 100 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:15,360 the vulnerable were ignored or exploited. 101 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:18,320 Injustice. It flowed through the courts. 102 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:21,680 Worship gatherings were full, but hearts were hollow, right? 103 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,240 The people believed their covenant identity made them 104 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:26,720 untouchable. I'm God's person. 105 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:28,800 He's not going to let anything bad happen to me. 106 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:31,160 Amos arrives with a different message. 107 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:35,040 And he says privilege brings responsibility, not immunity. 108 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,200 Not immunity. See, God was impressed and was 109 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:42,440 not impressed by their songs. If their society silenced the 110 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:44,800 oppressed, he was not oppressed. He was not impressed with them. 111 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:48,600 Their offerings meant nothing if their courts denied justice. 112 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:51,960 Their worship was loud, but their compassion was quiet. 113 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,960 See, Amos steps onto the scene to declare that true worship is 114 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:01,840 not measured by sound or ceremony, but by justice, by 115 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:05,120 lives that reflect the character of God. 116 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:09,800 Even despite Amos's humble background in life, the Lord 117 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:14,040 still called him to his people with a message to turn back to 118 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:15,200 him. Turn back. 119 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:18,280 What we ultimately see in Amos is this. 120 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:22,000 God's people are meant to embody God's heart. 121 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:26,040 But Israel had abandoned justice, and therefore their 122 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:30,440 worship had become empty. So Amos gives them and us a 123 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:33,560 sobering message. See, here's the message. 124 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:37,400 God will judge a society that oppresses the vulnerable. 125 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:40,200 He rejects empty worship without justice. 126 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:44,160 And yet ultimately, he promises restoration in the end. 127 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:47,120 So let's look at these three things from Amos. 128 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:51,880 Judgement of oppressors, worship without justice and restoration 129 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,200 in the end. Let's look at that first one, 130 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:58,560 judgement of oppressors. We're looking at chapter 2. 131 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:04,160 So Amos starts out with a series of judgements in his book about 132 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:08,800 the surrounding nations, but it ends with the judgment coming to 133 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:11,920 Israel. See, Amos puts Israel alongside 134 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:14,880 the other nations, and he's essentially saying you may be 135 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:18,120 God's people, but he will judge you just like every other 136 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:19,560 nation. He will. 137 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:22,600 God is going to judge Israel for what they have done and they're 138 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:24,920 currently doing. So what are they doing? 139 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:28,680 Well, he told us they look back at chapter 2, verse 6. 140 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:31,400 It says thus says the Lord. That's the way prophets rolled. 141 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:33,240 They said thus says the Lord and that's what he said, right. 142 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:36,360 He says for three transgressions of Israel and for four, I will 143 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:40,120 not revoke the punishment because they sell the righteous 144 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:42,440 for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals. 145 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:45,200 Those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the 146 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:48,600 earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted, a man and his 147 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,400 father go into the same girl. That's as bad as it sounds. 148 00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:54,760 So that my holy name is profound, profane. 149 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:58,440 They lay themselves down beside every altar, on garments taken 150 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,520 in pledge, and in the House of their God, they drink the wine 151 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:05,800 of those who have been fined. See, Amos begins his ministry by 152 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:09,440 exposing Israel's sin. With painful clarity, he names 153 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:12,560 the injustices that had become so common that no one even 154 00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:15,280 questioned them anymore. It's just the life in Israel. 155 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:19,080 Amos condemns how the powerful sell the righteous for silver 156 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:20,400 and the needy for a pair of sandals. 157 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,880 They trample on the poor into the dust, and they deny justice 158 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:27,080 to the oppressed. These weren't isolated events. 159 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,120 They had become the economic engine of the nation. 160 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:33,000 See debt. Sell slavery over trivial 161 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,960 amounts, unfair fines, briberies in the courts, cheating in 162 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:40,840 business practices. Israel's elites built their 163 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:44,000 comfort on the crushed backs of the helpless. 164 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:48,160 See, they even tax grain in ways that ensure the poor could never 165 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:51,040 get ahead and sold the what's called the sweepings of the 166 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,040 wheat, or essentially the chaff, the stuff you throw away. 167 00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:57,240 Like they sold that to those who had no other option. 168 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:01,320 That's what we see in chapter 8. This wasn't only a moral problem 169 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:04,000 though, it was a covenant violation. 170 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:08,800 Their society had replaced God's values with greed, pride, and 171 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:13,400 self-interest. So Amos reminds Israel of who 172 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:17,360 they truly are. He tells them a people delivered 173 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:21,560 by God, set apart by God, and entrusted with reflecting God's 174 00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:25,560 character to the world. For those who don't know, God 175 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:30,480 actually rescued Israel out of slavery and oppression in Egypt, 176 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:33,400 and then he led them into a new land of their own. 177 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:35,640 See, here's what Amos says in chapter 3. 178 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:37,560 You'll have to look in your Bible for that one. 179 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:41,360 It says, hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O 180 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:44,280 people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up 181 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:47,920 out of the land of Egypt. You only have I known of all the 182 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:51,360 families of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for 183 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:54,880 all your iniquities. See, God is their Redeemer, He's 184 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:57,400 their savior. He freed them from oppression 185 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:00,600 and they turned around and became oppressors. 186 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:04,840 See, Amos calls that out. They knew that God was a just 187 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:08,760 God and he had loved, loved them by enacting justice on their 188 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:11,280 behalf. Yet they failed to turn and live 189 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:15,120 that out. What that privilege with With 190 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:17,520 that privilege came the responsibility to treat the weak 191 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:20,600 with the justice and mercy. And instead they crushed the 192 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:24,160 people, very people that God had asked them to protect. 193 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:27,120 They were to be righteous people, but they were 194 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:29,400 unrighteous. But what if? 195 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:32,080 What does it mean to be righteous? 196 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:35,400 One pastor was helpfully He's helpfully said that biblical 197 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:38,840 righteousness is not merely about personal morality. 198 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:42,280 It is about right relationships. Right relationships. 199 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,280 To be righteous is to live in such a way that the people 200 00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:48,520 around you are treated with the dignity, fairness, and 201 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:51,120 compassion that reflect the heart of God himself. 202 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:54,440 That's what righteousness is. By that definition, Israel's 203 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:57,360 injustice wasn't just social failure. 204 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:00,240 It was relational and spiritual failure. 205 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,240 They were breaking relationship with God by breaking 206 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:05,320 relationship with neighbor, right? 207 00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:08,200 Their actions profane, God's holy name. 208 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:14,120 To profane is to disrespect or to or regard as nothing, right? 209 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:17,920 So Israel was disrespecting God by the way they were treating 210 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:19,560 others. One writer said. 211 00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:22,120 Righteousness is not a social status. 212 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:25,640 It is a way of life. It's a way of life. 213 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:30,240 So imagine with me for a second a world class orchestra. 214 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:33,240 You think about this orchestra, all the instruments and each 215 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,400 musician, They might be this amazing musician, OK 216 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,000 individually speaking, but if the strings are playing in a 217 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:43,160 different key than the brass, the music is just don't sound 218 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:44,840 right. It's just that it's a disaster, 219 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:46,520 right? Righteousness isn't just about 220 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:50,240 me and my instrument or personal morality, but rather it's about 221 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:53,440 the the harmony of the whole group, how we treat our 222 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:56,120 neighbors. So when the wealthy exploit the 223 00:12:56,120 --> 00:13:00,360 poor, the song of the nation becomes a screeching noise to 224 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:02,720 God is what Amos is showing, right? 225 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:06,160 But Amos audience didn't see themselves as monsters. 226 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:08,200 They didn't. That simplifies things a little 227 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:11,120 too much, right? They were they were probably 228 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:12,960 seeing themselves as the good people of Israel. 229 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:15,280 So how did they how did they get to the point where they're just 230 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:17,040 selling the needy for a pair of sandals? 231 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:19,880 How do you get there right? Well, research into human 232 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:22,920 behavior shows that injustice doesn't usually start with a 233 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:27,800 bang, but it actually starts with a slow systematic drift. 234 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:30,640 And so here's some ways that actually happens. 235 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:32,880 And may maybe you're familiar, but let's just go through them 236 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:34,920 real quick. The first one, this, this is 237 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:38,400 somewhat how people find themselves into injustice. 238 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:41,720 It's called ethical fading. It's this idea of that this 239 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:45,040 occurs when ethical colors of a decision start to wash out until 240 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:47,480 the decision looks purely practical. 241 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:49,840 Here's what that means. Like in business or personal 242 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:54,360 life, we stop asking is this right and start asking is this 243 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:57,040 efficient? Is this legal right? 244 00:13:57,360 --> 00:13:59,920 We turn people into data points or expenses. 245 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,400 And when a person becomes a line item on a spreadsheet, it it's 246 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:06,320 much easier, much easier to ignore their humanity. 247 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:09,000 So that's, that's one second one. 248 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:12,160 Maybe it's this, this idea that the power of like the in Group 249 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:15,880 bias this in Group, right. So sociologists have long noted 250 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:19,480 that we are hardwired to care for our people, right? 251 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:23,400 Those, those who look, vote and live like us, OK, And justice 252 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:26,000 grows in the gap between US and them. 253 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:28,920 Let me say that one more time and justice grows in the gap 254 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:32,800 between US and them. OK, when Israel prospered, the 255 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:35,200 wealthy spent all their time with other wealthy people. 256 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:38,960 Probably they lost the proximity required for empathy. 257 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:44,560 See, injustice is what happens when we stop knowing the names 258 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:48,160 of the people who are suffering. I don't know you and I don't 259 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:51,600 care, right? Or maybe it was something like 260 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:54,640 this one moral justification, this kind of the idea of the 261 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:58,440 good person myth, right? We are masters of just basically 262 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:01,280 rebranding our sins. We don't call it greed. 263 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:03,600 We, we call it smart investing, right? 264 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:05,280 We don't call it ignoring the poor. 265 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:07,240 We call it personal responsibility, right? 266 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:11,880 We research shows that once we do one good thing, like going to 267 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,560 a religious festival in Israel's case, we give ourselves this 268 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:19,160 moral license to be a little more selfish elsewhere. 269 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:22,640 So we think I'm a good person because I, I was, I'm here at a 270 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:24,600 church service. So it's OK if I'm a little 271 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:26,640 cutthroat at work. See how that works? 272 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:30,880 Or maybe this last one, It's this habituation and 273 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:33,520 desensitization, right? The first time you see 274 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:36,040 something, someone suffer, it hurts, right? 275 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:38,200 You're like, whoa. The 100th time you see it in 276 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:40,640 your social media feed or drive past it on the way to work, 277 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:43,520 Yeah, your brain starts to filter it out and just becomes 278 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:45,200 background noise. Right? 279 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,120 This is why Amos uses such shocking language. 280 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:51,280 He's trying to breakthrough the calcification, right, of the 281 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:53,240 people's hearts. They they hadn't become more 282 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:55,040 evil. They had just become more numb. 283 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:59,640 This is how this is how injustices grow and and and and 284 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:02,000 persist. This drift is how a people can 285 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:04,000 get there. They didn't just wake up one day 286 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:05,920 and decide to be evil. They didn't do that. 287 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:09,080 That's oversimplification. It was one drifting step away 288 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:11,960 year after year, year after year. 289 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:16,960 See, if we want to hear Amos rightly, we have to let him hold 290 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,960 up a mirror to us. Where have we personally or as a 291 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:25,640 society grown comfortable with patterns that exploit, overlook, 292 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:27,720 or diminish the people around us? 293 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:30,400 Sometimes these patterns are close to home. 294 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:33,920 They're really close to home in our own city's history, our own 295 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:37,120 city's history. Discriminatory housing practices 296 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:39,520 have made it difficult for entire communities to build 297 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:42,280 stability. And even today, many immigrants 298 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:45,400 and asylum seekers experience treatment that fails to honor 299 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,440 their very humanity, their dignity. 300 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:52,280 Political opponents are demonized, mocked, and stripped 301 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:54,640 of their humanity. You saw the commercials, right? 302 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:58,200 People are demeaned continually by those claiming the name of 303 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:02,000 Jesus. Even see 11 writer wrote 304 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:04,400 something very hard. So bear with me. 305 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:06,680 The question. He said that he said this. 306 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:10,839 The question before the American church is simply as simple and 307 00:17:10,839 --> 00:17:13,359 terrifying. Will we be known for our public 308 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:17,359 displays of claiming Jesus as our own while completely denying 309 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:20,319 his teachings, or for faithfulness? 310 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:24,359 For will we be known for our access to power and wealth or 311 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:26,520 our allegiance to loving God and our neighbors? 312 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:30,320 He goes on. We must be honest that 313 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:33,560 Christians are not known by our love for one another and our 314 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:36,560 country right now. We must do the honest and hard 315 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:38,880 work of understanding and embodying that love of Christ 316 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:42,960 once again. Once again, see, Jesus taught us 317 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:46,320 in John 1335. He says by this everyone will 318 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:50,720 know that you are my disciples if you love one another, if you 319 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:52,800 love one another. But these examples aren't meant 320 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:55,280 to score points, guys. They remind us that the 321 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:58,800 injustice often hides in places where we've grown used to them. 322 00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:02,440 See, Amos calls God's people to open their eyes. 323 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:06,120 But the call to see isn't meant to leave us discouraged. 324 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:08,600 It's meant to lead us to faithful action. 325 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:12,480 It's it's meant to lead us to repentance. 326 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:16,560 See, Israel was to repent, which means to turn back. 327 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:18,480 That's what this whole book is about. 328 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:21,280 Turn back. We were to turn back to God, 329 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:26,360 just as we are to move forward, we must actually turn back to 330 00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:28,880 God. You are right and I am wrong, 331 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:33,360 but repentance isn't walking in. That is walking in a direction 332 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:36,000 of obedience. It's not just a feeling, it's an 333 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:38,800 actual action. Like we move into these things. 334 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:43,200 Our repentance is a turn, right? So here's a quick starting point 335 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,880 like the of of our repentance. We just need to do this. 336 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:51,200 Move one step closer to someone who is vulnerable in our 337 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:53,840 society. OK, Just move one step closer. 338 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:55,760 You don't have to solve entire systems. 339 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,640 You don't have to fix the world, but you can take one step 340 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:03,640 forward of merge towards mercy and compassion of the people 341 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:04,800 around you. You can. 342 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,080 This might look like something like this. 343 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:10,840 Building a relationship with a family who recently immigrated 344 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:13,080 and helping them navigate life here, right? 345 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:15,960 Supporting a local ministry that works with refugees, the 346 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:18,000 unhoused, or the economically vulnerable. 347 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:21,000 Learning the stories of the communities in our city that 348 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:24,040 were affected by past discrimination and asking how 349 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:26,760 can we come alongside you today? Right? 350 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:29,840 Entering in and learning about what's happening to the 351 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:31,920 marginalized. Becoming friends with people who 352 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:35,760 do not look like you, think like you, or have the same background 353 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:37,680 as you. Volunteering with an 354 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:40,760 organization that advocates for the fair treatment of, or 355 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:45,000 provides practical help. It's just a step that we will 356 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:48,960 not all take the same step. We won't, but we can take a 357 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:51,600 step. OK, see, these are not grand 358 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:53,800 gestures. They're just simple, faithful 359 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,280 ways to bear God's character in everyday life. 360 00:19:57,120 --> 00:19:58,800 Amos doesn't just confront us, though. 361 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,120 He invites us. He shows us the gap between the 362 00:20:02,120 --> 00:20:06,280 world as it is and the world as it should be, or as God intense. 363 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:09,760 And then he calls God's people to step into that gap with 364 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:12,200 compassion, humility, and courage. 365 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:16,960 So the first point is this. God's judgment falls on Israel 366 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:19,520 not because they lacked religion, but because they 367 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:22,800 lacked love. True righteousness is found in 368 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:26,560 right relationships that protect the dignity of the vulnerable. 369 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:31,440 OK, but if in the first part of Amos he exposes how Israel 370 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:34,080 treated the vulnerable, this section, this next one, it 371 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:38,680 reveals something even more unsettling is that God rejects 372 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:42,320 their worship because their lives contradict their songs. 373 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:46,480 So let's look at Amos 51 more time. 374 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:51,160 He says, I hate, I despise your feasts and I take no delight in 375 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,960 your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your 376 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:57,200 burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept 377 00:20:57,200 --> 00:20:59,240 them. And the peace offerings of your 378 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:01,600 fattened animals, I will not look upon them. 379 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:05,600 Take away from me the noise of your songs to the melody of your 380 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,080 hearts. I will not listen, but let 381 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:13,240 justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever 382 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:16,160 flowing stream. And then he goes on to say this. 383 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,640 Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings during the 40 years in 384 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,320 the wilderness? O Israel, you shall take up 385 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:26,360 Saikuth and your king, and king, you your star God, your images 386 00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:30,400 that you made for yourselves, and I will send you into exile 387 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:34,840 beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts. 388 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:38,120 Look at that again. I hate, I despise your 389 00:21:38,120 --> 00:21:40,520 festivals. Take away me your noise of your 390 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:42,760 songs. Let justice roll down like 391 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:46,000 waters. The shocking part is that Israel 392 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:51,160 was worshipping passionately. The festivals were crowded, the 393 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:54,640 offerings were abundant, the music was loud, but their hearts 394 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:57,080 and their society were unchanged. 395 00:21:57,120 --> 00:22:00,360 It shows that this is rooted in a dangerous theology, the 396 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:03,720 assumption that religious ritual guarantees God's approval 397 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,880 regardless of how we live. Or worse, they thought their 398 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,640 political prosperity was a sign of God's favor. 399 00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:13,560 See, the people believe the day of the Lord would bring them 400 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:17,320 victory, but Amos warns them it will bring darkness because 401 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:19,320 injustice has hollowed out their worship. 402 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:23,440 See, they thought they were good because they did the things and 403 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:26,320 things seem to be going well, but they were wrong. 404 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:29,400 Judgement was coming. It's kind of like this. 405 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:31,480 This is what he's getting after. If you could just imagine with 406 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:34,480 me for a second, imagine a husband who buys his wife a 407 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,160 massive bouquet of roses. Valentine's is coming up, 408 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:41,040 fellas, and he buys a diamond necklace every anniversary. 409 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:44,440 So a dozen roses and a diamond necklace every anniversary. 410 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:48,360 But the rest of the year, he's cold, he's dismissive, and he's 411 00:22:48,360 --> 00:22:51,360 unfaithful. Now, does she want the diamonds? 412 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:54,720 No, no, she does it. The gift actually becomes an 413 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:57,960 insult because it's used as a substitute for real love. 414 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:00,480 See. But here's the point. 415 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:03,840 God sees Israel's songs and sacrifices like those diamonds, 416 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:05,720 right? They are offensive because they 417 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:09,480 are being used to cover up of actual love and faithfulness in 418 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,680 the relationship. See Amos uses. 419 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,720 Irony and vivid metaphors to expose the contradiction. 420 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,920 He reverses their expectations, though, and showing them that 421 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:21,240 their confidence in worship is misplaced. 422 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,560 Their gatherings were full, but their obedience was empty. 423 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:27,360 Their songs were sincere, but their treatment of others was 424 00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:30,480 corrupt. Amos wants them to see that God 425 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:34,040 desires righteousness and justice, not ritual for ritual's 426 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:36,640 sake. See, one pastor has. 427 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,520 Said that he said that care for the vulnerable is not an 428 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:42,880 optional add on to faith. It's actually the evidence that 429 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:46,080 faith is real. See, Jesus himself taught this, 430 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:49,960 that to embrace the poor and the vulnerable is to embrace him. 431 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:54,800 If our hearts truly love Christ, they cannot remain cold toward 432 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:58,400 those who bear his image. That's what first John teaches, 433 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:00,880 right? For Amos, this is the heart of 434 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:02,200 the matter. Here's here's what he's getting 435 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:04,120 at. He says worship that ignores 436 00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:06,840 injustice is worship God refuses to receive. 437 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:09,560 That's the core message of Amos. All right. 438 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:12,200 Worship is only as authentic as our ethics. 439 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:15,880 Singing wildly on Sunday means nothing if we ignore the cries 440 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:17,960 of the vulnerable from Monday to Saturday. 441 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:20,200 Singing. Singing about a God of 442 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:23,720 compassion when we have none negates the song. 443 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:25,600 See. To God. 444 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:28,040 Justice is not a distraction from worship. 445 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:30,000 It's not a distraction from worship. 446 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:32,880 It is essential expression of it. 447 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:36,920 OK, if our songs rise to God while our lives remain 448 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,200 untouched, Amos invites us to pause and really take inventory. 449 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:44,760 See, what would it look like for justice to roll down through our 450 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:47,440 homes, our workplaces, and our neighborhoods? 451 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:50,680 What would it mean for our worship to shape the way we 452 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:54,440 treat people who are overlooked or pushed to the margins, right? 453 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:57,800 Maybe it starts in very small, very ordinary ways, right? 454 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:01,920 Imagine the Justin Justice rolling down in your home, where 455 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:05,160 conversations become kinder, where the you we teach our 456 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:08,520 children to see every person is made in God's image. 457 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:12,000 Where we open our doors to someone who needs a meal or or 458 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,800 listening ear. Where justice begins to look 459 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:18,720 like less like a program, although we need programs, but 460 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:22,520 more like hospitality, patience and shared life. 461 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,560 Imagine justice rolling into your workplace where we refuse 462 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:30,600 to participate in gossip, where we advocate gently for fairness, 463 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,760 where we treat Co workers essentially, especially those 464 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:35,760 with less authority, with dignity. 465 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:38,520 Right. But Amos also presses us to 466 00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:41,840 think about the integrity behind our work itself. 467 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:44,920 See, in his day, businesses used rigged scales. 468 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,040 They diluted products and took advantage of people who had no 469 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:52,000 power to push back. The forms have changed right in 470 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:53,880 our day, but the temptations have not. 471 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:56,840 See, justice in the workplace can look like doing what is 472 00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:58,640 right even when no one's watching. 473 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:02,280 Being honest in how we bill our hours and how we handle money 474 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:05,120 and how we speak about customers or clients. 475 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:08,680 It's not upselling a client in ways that are in for something 476 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,000 they don't need. It looks like refusing to cut 477 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:14,640 corners in ways that would harm others, even if it's how 478 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:18,480 everyone does it, right It It can be offering a word of 479 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,440 encouragement to someone who is routinely overlooked, or 480 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:24,840 choosing to listen carefully before making assumptions. 481 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:27,320 Right? Sometimes justice is simply 482 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:31,560 treating people as people. Not as obstacles, not as tools, 483 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:34,960 not as competitors, but as image bearers of God. 484 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:38,560 In these quiet, unseen decisions, justice begins to 485 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:41,120 flow. And when justice flows, it is 486 00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:42,040 right. Worship. 487 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:45,040 Every bit is honoring to God as a song we sing. 488 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:48,320 Imagine. Justice flowing into your 489 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:51,440 neighborhood. Slowing down enough to. 490 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,280 Notice the person who always walks alone, right? 491 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:57,000 Learning the stories of people who are different from us, 492 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:01,120 choosing to be a steady presence of kindness, even it might, it 493 00:27:01,120 --> 00:27:04,600 might even look like befriending someone who feels out of place, 494 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:07,360 new someone's new to the area or disconnected. 495 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:10,080 When Amos speaks of justice rolling down like water, he's 496 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:13,680 he's not imagining A1 time fire hydrant, a passion. 497 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:15,800 He's not. He's describing a steady, 498 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:20,560 ongoing stream, a way of life in which God's heart shapes ours. 499 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:24,240 OK, These small faithful acts are not disconnected from 500 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:26,280 worship. They are worship. 501 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:28,800 Don't miss that. They are worship. 502 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:32,760 They're the ways our songs begin to take on flesh in the world 503 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:36,040 God loves. And it's no accident. 504 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:39,640 It's no accident that Doctor Martin Luther King junior, many 505 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:43,000 years ago, he reached for these very same words from Amos to 506 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:45,560 say, let justice roll down like waters. 507 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:48,760 When he longed for a world shaped by righteousness and 508 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:52,240 compassion, he wasn't introducing a new idea. 509 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:56,920 He was echoing the ancient call of God's heart right? 510 00:27:57,120 --> 00:28:00,000 See doctor King. He stood in a long line of 511 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:02,120 Christians who did the same thing. 512 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:06,000 Reformers like John Calvin often turn to Amos to emphasize the 513 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:10,200 genuine faith must express itself in in mercy and integrity 514 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:13,920 and equity toward neighbor and long before that medieval 515 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:15,680 theologians. They appealed to Amos when 516 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:19,320 challenging rulers and business practices that oppress the poor 517 00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:22,120 through unjust taxation and dishonest gain. 518 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:25,480 And going even further back, early church fathers such as 519 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:29,600 Basil the Great and Expressory of Nice, he used Amos to call 520 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:33,000 believers to generosity, economic fairness, and care for 521 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,560 the vulnerable. And even further still, all the 522 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:39,400 way back into the the 1st and 2nd centuries, John Christosum, 523 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:41,920 one of the most influential voices of the early church, 524 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:46,080 regularly invoked Amos when confronting the mistreatment of 525 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:49,360 the poor and the misuse of wealth, insisting that worship 526 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:52,560 without justice is worship God refuses to accept. 527 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:57,280 Not to speak of the countless, countless passages of the Old 528 00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:00,320 and New Testament that push us to treat others with dignity, 529 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:02,160 value, and worth just like this one. 530 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:06,160 This isn't some kind of progressive agenda. 531 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:08,600 It's not. It's called Christianity. 532 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:13,200 See these ideas? They didn't come from cultural 533 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:14,880 ideologies. They did not. 534 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:18,720 They came from the Bible. In fact, our culture got these 535 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:21,680 ideas from centuries of Christian influence on culture. 536 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:24,840 I praise God for that. That's his common grace, that we 537 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:27,720 would even care as a society about these things. 538 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:30,920 See, across the centuries of Christian history, the church 539 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:34,120 has returned to Amos because his his message is timeless. 540 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:37,840 True worship is inseparable from justice. 541 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:41,880 And that I'm I'm not naive. That might rub you the wrong 542 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:43,600 way. That might rub you the wrong 543 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:45,080 way. All this justice talk may 544 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:47,200 actually make you feel like it puts you into one political 545 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:48,840 party, but I'm here to tell you it doesn't. 546 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:51,480 It doesn't. The Bible is neither completely 547 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:54,040 conservative nor liberal. It's not. 548 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:56,600 Being a Christian doesn't put you on either camp. 549 00:29:56,880 --> 00:29:59,560 It's like HP, Charles says. He says Jesus didn't come to 550 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:01,320 take sides, He came to take over. 551 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:04,960 He did. So as we follow Jesus and his 552 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:08,560 word, we will not fit into one political box entirely, but we 553 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:10,840 will confound both. We will. 554 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:16,240 So .2 is that religious ritual is hollow when it ignores social 555 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:19,080 injustice. God rejects the noise of our 556 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:21,520 songs. When our lives do not echo his 557 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:23,760 heart for the oppressed, He does. 558 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:26,160 But Amos doesn't end with rebuke. 559 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:28,960 He doesn't. After calling God's people to 560 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:31,960 justice and exposing the hollowness of their worship, he 561 00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:35,600 does something surprising. He turns our eyes towards hope. 562 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:40,240 See, the God who confronts his people also restores them. 563 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:44,040 See, judgement is not the final word, graces. 564 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:49,080 So if you look at Amos 9 once more, he says this towards the 565 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:51,080 end. He says, In that day I will 566 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:54,840 raise up the booth of David that has fallen, and prepare its 567 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:57,760 breeches, and raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as the 568 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:01,400 days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom. 569 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:04,400 And all the nations who are called by my name, declares the 570 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:05,920 Lord. Who is, who does this? 571 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:08,480 Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord. 572 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:11,440 Even when the plowmen shall overtake the Reaper in the 573 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:15,200 treader of grapes, on him who sows the seed the mountains 574 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,880 shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. 575 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:22,560 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall 576 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:24,920 rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them. 577 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:27,720 They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall 578 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:29,520 make gardens and eat their fruit. 579 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:34,080 I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be 580 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:37,120 uprooted out of the land that I have given them, says the Lord 581 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:39,560 your God. See, after 8 chapters of 582 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:43,520 blistering indictment, and there's a lot, Amos ends with a 583 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:46,760 breathtaking vision of renewal, of renewal. 584 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:50,200 See, he describes a future in which God raises up what has 585 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:53,760 fallen, repairs what is broken, and restores what has been lost. 586 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:56,600 He says, I'll raise up the fallen booth of David. 587 00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:59,160 This is this is more than a political repair. 588 00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:03,360 See that the booth evokes like this fragile collapse, shelter, 589 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,880 OK, and Israel's glory and unity are just in ruins. 590 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:11,400 Yet God promises to lift it up again, reestablishing his 591 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:14,920 gracious reign among his people. Restoration comes not because 592 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:18,240 the people deserved it though, but because God is faithful. 593 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:22,080 OK, He also, as he kind of summarizes, he says I will 594 00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:25,720 repair what has been shattered. Israel's life will be cracked at 595 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:28,120 every scene. It will be as socially, 596 00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:31,200 economically, spiritually. See, injustice had torn the 597 00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:35,160 community apart, but what sin had fractured God himself would 598 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:39,080 meant he promises to heal these broken relationships, restored 599 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:41,360 fractured community and renew the hearts of the people. 600 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:43,400 OK. And if you look further in this 601 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:46,000 in this text, he says I will restore the land essentially and 602 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:48,680 I'll renew my people with blessing and stability. 603 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:52,360 He's he's, you know, drought, famine and scarcity is what's 604 00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:55,360 going to symbolize Israel's spiritual drought and and famine 605 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:57,920 and scarcity, right? See, God promises a reversal of 606 00:32:57,920 --> 00:32:59,360 all these things. He's going to give them 607 00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:01,280 abundance, fruitfulness, and peace. 608 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:05,600 These fields blooming again become like a picture of people 609 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:09,000 being made whole. These are images of Shalom, of 610 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:11,560 God putting things right. That's what he's going to do 611 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:15,120 now, centuries later, a long time after this. 612 00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:18,160 The early church is actually they saw something astonishing 613 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:21,480 in these promises because in in Acts 15, when the apostles 614 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:25,040 discern like how Gentiles can belong to God's family. 615 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:29,960 James quotes this very passage from Amos and he declares that 616 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:34,280 the rebuilding of David's fallen tent is being fulfilled in Jesus 617 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:36,480 right. Not in a rebuilt political 618 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:40,800 Kingdom, but in a restored people, Jews and Gentiles 619 00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:43,680 together under the reign of Christ. 620 00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:47,840 See, the community formed around Jesus becomes the first sign of 621 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:50,840 the renewal, Amos for Saul. Notice that. 622 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:54,600 But here's the thing. We are not ancient Israel, but 623 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:59,760 yet through Christ we have been grafted into God's family, Paul 624 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:02,320 tells us, and made heirs of his promises. 625 00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:06,400 And because of that, the calling Amos lays before God's people to 626 00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:11,080 reflect his justice, mercy, and righteousness is now Our Calling 627 00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:13,719 as well. If this is the heart of God, it 628 00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:15,920 should be our heart as well, right? 629 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:20,320 But we need to pause here because it can seem like that 630 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:24,000 all that's being said is be just love the vulnerable. 631 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:26,040 And that is what's being said, OK? 632 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:29,880 But if we're honest with ourselves, it sounds like a lot 633 00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:34,960 of work and I'm tired, and you might be tired, or I'm just not 634 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:37,880 there, or simply, if we're honest, the safe place. 635 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:40,920 I just don't want to. I just don't want to. 636 00:34:41,159 --> 00:34:43,920 You see, if we're honest, we are just like the people of Israel. 637 00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:46,679 We are. We may not be openly committing 638 00:34:46,679 --> 00:34:49,280 injustice, but we're not necessarily ready to lift a 639 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:52,960 finger to stop it either. What would make? 640 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:56,920 But what would move us? What would make us want to live 641 00:34:56,920 --> 00:35:00,160 into these things? We have to ask. 642 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:04,040 How do we actually become the people Amos describes? 643 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:09,240 How do we stop the 1° drift into apathy and start letting justice 644 00:35:09,240 --> 00:35:11,320 roll down like a river? Right. 645 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:15,000 If we if we try to do this out of pure willpower or some kind 646 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:19,120 of social duty, we'll burn out or we'll become self-righteous. 647 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:22,800 See, The Secret isn't trying harder to be just it's looking 648 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:26,000 closer at the one who is Justice Incarnate. 649 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:30,880 See think about this. Jesus was the ultimate Amos, 650 00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:33,480 right? He was the ruler or he's the 651 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:36,760 rule outsider, you know, a person from nowhere, Nazareth 652 00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:39,760 even, who came into the religious power centers and he 653 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:43,720 spoke truth to power. He saw the widows being cheated 654 00:35:43,720 --> 00:35:46,520 and the poor being ignored and it broke his heart. 655 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:49,200 But Jesus did what Amos could never do. 656 00:35:49,720 --> 00:35:53,600 See, Amos could only point to the the broken booth of David. 657 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:56,760 Jesus is the booth of David rebuilt. 658 00:35:57,320 --> 00:36:00,280 OK, Amos could only call for a stream of justice. 659 00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:04,760 Jesus is actually the river from which justice comes from, right? 660 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:09,400 See on the cross, the day of the Lord, that day of darkness, Amos 661 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:13,480 warned about fell on Jesus so they wouldn't have to fall on 662 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:16,920 you and me. He took the judgement for our 1° 663 00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:20,440 drifts, our hollow worship, and our quiet apathy. 664 00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:24,560 He was treated unjustly so that we could be made right with God. 665 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:27,960 See, one pastor has said, he said it this way, that biblical 666 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:32,080 justice does not grow out of guilt or moral striving, but out 667 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:35,400 of grace. See, those who experience God's 668 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:38,360 mercy become people who extend it. 669 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:42,160 Justice becomes the fruit of a heart reshaped by divine 670 00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:45,000 compassion. That's what Israel should have 671 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:46,360 been. They had. 672 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:49,840 They had everything there. If you remember, they were 673 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:51,680 actually brought up out of the land of Egypt. 674 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:54,560 They have been shown immense compassion, immense salvation, 675 00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:57,320 but yet they turned from it. They needed, they needed 676 00:36:57,320 --> 00:36:59,280 something more. If we were to embody these 677 00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:02,760 things in our city, we must come to terms with the reality that 678 00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:07,880 first we were the vulnerable. This was what Amos was trying to 679 00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:10,600 get Israel to remember by pointing them back to the 680 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:13,240 Exodus. They like us in our sin. 681 00:37:13,240 --> 00:37:15,600 We're not deserving of mercy, but justice. 682 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:19,240 And that meant condemnation for us, just like Israel. 683 00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:22,600 We, like Israel, deserve to be judged and expelled from the 684 00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:26,200 land and the presence of God for that matter, and we deserve it 685 00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:28,400 all. We are the unjust. 686 00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:31,280 But something is different this time. 687 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:35,240 Whereas they didn't have before, something else has happened. 688 00:37:35,240 --> 00:37:38,160 Someone has come because Paul gets to tell us. 689 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:41,680 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with 690 00:37:41,680 --> 00:37:44,960 which he loved us, even while we were dead in our trust us as a 691 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:47,880 sin, made us alive together with Christ. 692 00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:51,840 By grace you have been saved. See, when we realized that we 693 00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:55,040 were those who did not deserve mercy but have received it, when 694 00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:59,600 we realized that we were those undeserving of grace, but we we 695 00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:02,560 have received it anyway, it changes things. 696 00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:05,520 There is a humility that is put in us. 697 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:08,600 We who were once lost are now found. 698 00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:11,160 We who were blind now see. We were them. 699 00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:14,800 We were them. Maybe not educationally, maybe 700 00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:18,160 not physically or monetarily, but in relation to God. 701 00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:22,360 All of us, we were them. We were the vulnerable, every 702 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:25,120 one of us. See, once we were not a people, 703 00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:26,920 but now we have been made God's people. 704 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:30,320 We were far once we're far off, but now have been brought near 705 00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:32,720 by the blood of Christ. He is our peace. 706 00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:36,120 Ephesians tells us we should have died and suffered the 707 00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:39,520 punishment we deserve, but Jesus stepped in and he took our 708 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:41,440 place. He took our place. 709 00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:43,720 Should have been us. When Jesus died on the Roman 710 00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:45,680 cross, He died for you and for me. 711 00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:49,680 He substituted himself for us. He died so that we can live. 712 00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:53,120 He stood in the gap and so we would know. 713 00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:56,400 His victory was certain, though. Three days later he rises from 714 00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:59,560 the dead, defeating Destin in hell, right? 715 00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:04,000 And he'll never die again. Now he, and now he offers us new 716 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:08,840 life to be brought into his family so that we are restored, 717 00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:12,320 so that we are restored. And restored people, they become 718 00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:15,040 agents of restoration. Why? 719 00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:19,080 Well, it's no different from the simple fact that Amos pushes us 720 00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:21,800 to. As God has been to me, so I will 721 00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:24,920 be to you. As God has saved me and brought 722 00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:28,480 me from the land of Egypt, so I will be to you. 723 00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:34,360 There's this tradition in Japanese culture and it's called 724 00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:39,480 King Zungi, where basically they take broken pottery and they 725 00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:41,680 repair it using gold or silver resin. 726 00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:44,720 OK, so instead of hiding the cracks, which I would probably 727 00:39:44,720 --> 00:39:47,880 be more inclined, they actually just put gold or silver in the 728 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:50,760 cracks, OK. And the gold makes the breaks 729 00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:53,400 the the really the most beautiful part of the piece. 730 00:39:54,040 --> 00:39:56,960 But here's the point. We're kind of like the pottery. 731 00:39:57,120 --> 00:40:00,560 God just didn't throw us away when we were broken by sin and 732 00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:02,920 injustice. He actually repaired us with 733 00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:08,360 gold and silver by his grace. So now when people look at us, 734 00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:11,880 they don't see perfect people, but repaired people. 735 00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:15,240 But there's a beauty in that because they see the gold, if 736 00:40:15,240 --> 00:40:18,200 you will, the mending. See God has taken what was 737 00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:21,840 broken and he makes it beautiful, makes it beautiful. 738 00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:24,960 See people healed by grace become people who practice 739 00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:27,200 grace. Those who have received mercy 740 00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:30,040 become a community where mercy and justice flow. 741 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:34,320 Don't you see the power for these things comes from the 742 00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:38,160 transforming grace of God? And see, when God redeems you, 743 00:40:38,160 --> 00:40:40,640 He changes you. The power to live into these 744 00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:42,400 things comes from the truth of the gospel. 745 00:40:42,640 --> 00:40:47,000 See, justice flows from grace. Unlike the nation of Israel, God 746 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:49,560 puts His spirit in those who trust in Jesus. 747 00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:52,080 They did not have the Spirit of God, but those who trust in 748 00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:55,560 Christ do. And therefore, because of the 749 00:40:55,560 --> 00:40:59,560 Spirit in God's grace, I am kind because in Jesus God has been 750 00:40:59,560 --> 00:41:02,440 kind to me. I am, I will advocate for you 751 00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:04,720 because God, Christ has advocated for me. 752 00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:08,800 I will extend grace to you as God has extended grace to me. 753 00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:12,360 And so when Amos speaks of raising up what has fallen and 754 00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:15,560 repairing what is shattered and restoring his people, he's 755 00:41:15,560 --> 00:41:18,560 describing this kind of community that God intends the 756 00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:21,200 church to be. A people under the compassionate 757 00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:24,320 reign of Jesus, A people who mend what is broken instead of 758 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:27,560 ignoring it. A people whose life together 759 00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:31,400 brings healing, stability, and blessing in the world that God 760 00:41:31,400 --> 00:41:33,440 loves. See, this is the hope that 761 00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:36,320 follows judgement. Not only only that God restores 762 00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:39,720 us, but that he makes us participants in his restoring 763 00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:42,640 work. See this closing vision. 764 00:41:43,080 --> 00:41:46,320 Pulls back the curtain on God's heart, even his judgement. 765 00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:50,120 Even his judgement aims to heal. He relents when his people 766 00:41:50,120 --> 00:41:52,480 intercede. And revealing that mercy sits at 767 00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:54,720 the heart of his character. Right. 768 00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:58,080 See, our hope is not in human systems or our ability to fix 769 00:41:58,080 --> 00:42:00,840 the world. Our hope is in the God who 770 00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:04,960 restores what is broken, who raises up what has fallen, who 771 00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:08,800 repairs what sin is shattered, the gospel forms of people who 772 00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:12,200 practice justice because we ourselves have been restored by 773 00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:15,160 grace. This is the invitation Amos 774 00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:18,400 leaves us with to become a community shaped not by guilt or 775 00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:22,800 fear or guilt, but by the renewing love of God, of people 776 00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:25,720 through whom blessing and justice flow into the world. 777 00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:29,120 These aren't hot just high ideals, though, but Kingdom 778 00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:31,840 realities made visible by his grace. 779 00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:36,480 So .3 is this, that our capacity to practice justice flows 780 00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:39,000 directly from the grace we've received in Christ? 781 00:42:39,440 --> 00:42:42,800 Because God restores us when we were vulnerable, we are now in 782 00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:46,400 power to be agents of his restoration in the world through 783 00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:49,960 his word and deed. All right, so the book of Amos, 784 00:42:50,200 --> 00:42:53,120 it's a call to align our lives with God's heartbeat. 785 00:42:53,320 --> 00:42:57,200 We worship a God who refuses to accept a faith that ignores the 786 00:42:57,200 --> 00:43:00,440 suffering of others, but who provides the very grace we need 787 00:43:00,440 --> 00:43:03,520 to become the people of justice and restoration that he's called 788 00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:05,880 us to be. That's what is in his heart, and 789 00:43:05,880 --> 00:43:07,760 His desire is for us. Let's pray. 790 00:43:10,680 --> 00:43:11,800 Father. I ask. 791 00:43:11,800 --> 00:43:15,960 That would you make us into those people that advocate for 792 00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:17,560 the vulnerable and champion what is right. 793 00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:22,000 God left her own devices. We are selfish and myopic and we 794 00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:26,520 just don't see anybody else. God, we are so guilty in all 795 00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:28,720 these things. But God, we lean into your grace 796 00:43:28,720 --> 00:43:30,800 knowing that you, you can change us. 797 00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:33,400 Father, I ask that you would empower us by the Spirit to do 798 00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:35,760 justice in our city. It's for your beautiful name. 799 00:43:36,200 --> 00:43:36,440 Amen.