Amos and the Plumbline

Readings: Psalm 82, Colossians 1:1-14, Luke 10:25-37, Amos 7:7-17
 Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, July 14th 2013

A printable PDF file can be found here

In the late nineteen sixties Bob Dylan looked around at some of the perceived injustices of the day and out of his artistry produced the classic folk protest song, “Blowin’ in the Wind”. Let me remind you of some of the pictures he paints with his words.

'How many years must some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free,
How many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see’

Such phrases form a fitting introduction to the message of the prophet Amos. Amos doesn’t write a song but delivers a series of prophetic indictments relating to injustices that lay at the heart of the nation of Israel. One of those indictments formed our bible passage this morning.

In a vision Amos sees a plumb line being held up against a wall. The wall is straight. He hears the voice of God telling him that a plumb line was also being held up to the life of Israel, and the wall that represented Israel was way out of shape. So out of shape that the best thing to do would be to demolish the wall and start all over again.

His message is “There’s something wrong here. And if it is not put right there will be serious trouble heading your way” Trouble in the form of defeat and exile and fear and death. Horrors almost unthinkable would descend upon Israel.

Now Amos wasn’t a local boy. He was an outsider from Israel’s southern neighbors Judah. Israel already had their own prophets, the top man being Amaziah, the head honcho at King Jereboam’s shrine. Amaziah addressed the court with messages of peace and prosperity.  The people liked what Amaziah had to say. So did the King. Amaziah spoke about blessing. Then along comes Amos with his visions of doom and gloom and judgment and the people don’t want to know.

But isn’t that the way it is? We want to hear that everything is getting better. We want to know that God will prosper and bless our lives. We want to know that, although we’ve made mistakes, there’s still time to put things right. Amos brings a message that says, “Game over. Get it sorted now or face the consequences”. That’s not a message we want to hear.

A particular concern that Amos has is that of the economic injustice that existed in the land of Israel. The rich were becoming richer at the expense of the poor. The poor were experiencing increasing oppression and burdens being placed upon their lives. And nobody was listening to their complaint, people were turning the other way. The people with power weren’t listening, but God was. And God was going to act if the people with power refused to do so. Act in judgment. Righteousness in the land lifted up the nation in Gods eyes. Injustice bred problems.

If you put that picture into a global perspective, it’s not a comforting one, at least not from where we sit as living in the richest country on the face of the globe. It suggests that if we do not hear the voices of those under oppression and suffering from hunger and abject poverty and who are denied basic human rights, then we place ourselves under the shadow of the judgment of God, because God sides not with those who refuse to hear the poor, but on the side of the poor themselves.

Our temptation is the same as that of the wealthy in Israel.  That because we enjoy prosperity, because we enjoy many blessings, because we are free and richly graced with opportunities and possibilities, we make the presumption that God is with us. And if God is with us, then the plight of the poor is not our problem. It must be something that they have caused. They must be reaping the fruits of bad seeds that they themselves have sown. It’s unfortunate, but they are only getting what they deserve. Why should we make it our concern?

Amos suggests that if we are not part of the solution we are part of the problem. That unless we show concern for those less fortunate than ourselves, then the plumb-line is held up against our lives, and no matter how straight we may appear, how materially blessed we may feel, however graced and free we are, in reality it is only a matter of time before what goes around comes around.

One of the failures in the response to the terrorism that occasionally rears its ugly head in our land, is that few want to dig deeper into the causes of why small groups of extremists feel that their actions are necessary and justifiable. The response is often to increase security, to show them who they are messing with, to take them out before they try anything like that again. I’m not saying that such steps are not necessary, simply that they do not dig deep enough into questioning the causes of the problems.

And one of the causes is the tremendous inequality that exists in the world. Whilst we will go home and eat a good meal, countless numbers will today die of starvation. Whilst we will watch nervously to see how the gas prices are fluctuating, others will forage for a bite to eat on garbage dumps they call home.

Because these are not things that are constantly bought to our attention in our daily news, because they go on every day and take place far away, we make the assumption that we have no responsibility, that it is not our problem, that these tragic situations have no immediate consequence or bearing or connection with the lives we lead. Now here’s Amos saying “You are the people of God. Let’s hold up the plumb-line and see how you are living up to your call’.

What is the good, saying what you want to hear, prophet Amaziah’s reaction? He says “Amos, go back to where you came from. We don’t want to hear this. It’s upsetting. It’s disturbing. It doesn’t make us feel good. The kings not going to like it”. Amaziah sends a message to King Jeroboam, in verse 10 “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words”

This is a tough passage for anybody to preach. Because even as you prepare it you are aware that it is getting under your skin. That the plumb-line is being held up against your own life. Worse still you see how the message bought problems upon the messenger. The people didn’t just dislike the message, they turned on the messenger. Who wants to bring a message like that? The best a preacher can say is, “Hey, I’m just the message bringer. I don’t find this message an easy one either.”

“How many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?”

Bob Dylan suggests the answer is blowing in the wind. One of the words that the Old Testament uses for the Holy Spirit is ‘Ruach’ indicating the breath or the wind of God.  John 3:8 tells us “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

Our need is to ask ourselves “What is it that the Spirit of God is telling us through these words from Amos?”  For myself this passage challenges me. Saying “We didn’t know” or “We didn’t hear”, just doesn’t cut it. That as the people of God we have a responsibility to be listening for and looking out for those to whom we can restore hope.

That injustice in the world is our problem. A problem that if we do not become involved with and respond to and deal with will have terrible consequences for our lives further down the road. That protecting ourselves and shielding ourselves from all the bad stuff out there is not enough. That we need to dig deeper. Prevention is a better option to pursue than dealing with the outcome.

It’s our problem, not because we are the fortunate ones, or the rich ones, or the free ones, but because we are the people of God. Being the people of God means involvement in the reconciliation and love and grace of God that is seeking the best for every man, woman and child in creation.

That’s a tall order isn’t it? Rather like all that “If somebody asks for your coat, give him your shirt as well”, “Walk the extra mile”, “Turn the other cheek” “Love your enemies”

 “The answer my friend is blowing in the wind.”

The wind of God’s Holy Spirit. Who challenges us. Who convicts us. The Holy Spirit who empowers us with a resurrection message that conquers death, brings hope and healing and renewal and revival. Our calling is to follow Jesus Christ, who in the words of Philippians 2:  “Though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave...  He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death”

Let us allow God to hold up the plumb-line to our own lives. We might not like what we see.  But hopefully it will move us forward into being the people God wants us to be and attempting the tasks that God wants us to fulfill.

To God’s name be the glory.

Rev. Adrian J. Pratt B.D.