Sunday, July 14, 2019 - 9 AM

The Plumbline – Amos 7:7-17 Bascomb UMC / July 14, 2019 / 9AM & 11AM Focus: God’s benevolence in judgement through any person like Amos. Function: Calling each lay person to accept & believe in God’s call on them. 5 Purpose Outcomes of the Church: Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Evangelism, Service Amos 7:7–17 (CEB) - A vision of a plumb line 7 This is what the LORD showed me: The LORD was standing by a wall, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 The LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” “A plumb line,” I said. Then the LORD said, “See, I am setting a plumb line in the middle of my people Israel. I will never again forgive them. 9 The shrines of Isaac will be made desolate, and the holy places of Israel will be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” Exchange between Amaziah, Jeroboam, and Amos 10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, reported to Israel’s King Jeroboam, “Amos has plotted against you within of the house of Israel. The land isn’t able to cope with everything that he is saying. 11 Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will be forced out of its land.’ ” 12 Amaziah said to Amos, “You who see things, go, run away to the land of Judah, eat your bread there, and prophesy there; 13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s holy place and his royal house.” 14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I am not a prophet, nor am I a prophet’s son; but I am a shepherd, and a trimmer of sycamore trees. 15 But the LORD took me from shepherding the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 Now then hear the LORD’s word. You say, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel, and don’t preach against the house of Isaac.’ 17 Therefore, the LORD proclaims: (****** this section rated “R”) ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword, and your land will be measured and divided up; you yourself will die in an unclean land, and Israel will surely be taken away from its land.’ ” (play video clip – Crooked Man) There was a crooked man who walked a crooked mile He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse And they all lived together in a crooked little house. ►What is it with nursery rhymes? Some of the comments I saw on YouTube were: “This rhyme really ticks me off for some reason,” “Why do we expose our kids to these dark themes,” “They use this in a horror movie!” Well, I have a more positive way to cope………There a wonderful little town of Lavenham, in Suffock, England. It’s a delightful medieval town, full of old timber houses dating from the 1300’s. One particular house claims to be the house described in this nursery rhyme. Maybe a visit here would allay my discontent. Except when I read Amos! Then I’m reminded again about that crooked little man and his crooked little house, the crooked little cat and crooked little mouse, and I wish Amos would just leave the plumb line in his pocket so we could all just live our crooked little lives together in peace. We would probably prefer a squiggle to a plumb line (story of Glisson and the straight/crooked limb). I get that! - a measure which allows for our foibles and failings, our personal preferences and preferred politics. We would like a line that is more of a decorative border, which we can stitch to the edges of our lives to give them a touch of religion, - a dabble of deity -, just a bit of the spiritual dignity, but not really demanding anything of us. Instead of a contractor with a plumb line, we would prefer a more flexible Jesus who is okay with the crookedness of our lives; a cuddly, teddy-bear deity who would be comfortable with our cozy, crooked little world. But instead of a teddy bear God, the first sound we hear from Amos is the sound of Yahweh as a lion: The LORD (all caps means substitution) roars from Zion, shouts from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds wither, and the top of Mt. Carmel dries up. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy? Amos 1:2, 3:8 (CEB). There were originally 12 tribes of Hebrews united under King David and his son Solomon. But Solomon’s son was too harsh as king and 10 of the original tribes in the north split off from the largest tribe of Judah to form Israel in the north leaving just Judah (w/Benjamin) in the south but holding onto the capital city of Jerusalem. Israel in the north occupies the region known as Samaria (the gospel text today is: The Parable of the Good Samaritan). Over 700 years before Jesus, Israel fell under the forces of Assyria and ceased to exist except as Samaria! Amos, a southern boy, was sent by God to speak truth to power in the north: “I will never again forgive them” Amos 7:8b (CEB). Do prophets predict the future or try to determine the “end times?” People try to use them that way, but really that’s the job of “fortune tellers” and the Bible is pretty hard on all forms of fortune-telling. The job of the prophet is to read the events of the world around them and see God’s hand in it. They pronounce God’s measurement of the day and in that sense, announce what the result will be: “If you continue to disobey, this is what will happen. Here are the fence posts of God’s boundaries – you risk serious injury if you run into them!” Sort of like these words from the parents of small children: - Only certain Legos can pass through the digestive tract of a 4 year old. - If you hear the toilet flush and the words “uh oh”, it’s already too late. - No matter how much Jell-O you put in the swimming pool, you still can’t walk on it. - If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing a batman uniform. OK, so prophets are more like parents, they announce outcomes. They #1 proclaim God’s judgment of sin and evil, #2 name the consequences of disobedience, and #3 hold out the hope of God’s deliverance. The prophets speak God’s truth, even if it hurts, and call for justice and righteousness, even when it goes unheeded. It’s like dropping a plumb line into the middle of life. Amos provides a number of powerful audio-visual effects and images in the book of Amos (we’ll examine another one next week), but his greatest symbol – his “logo” - is the plumb line. A simple, cheap, easily constructed tool you can make one out of a length of twine and a weight, a bit of rope and a bolt. It is crucial to construction if you want the place to be “plumb” — in line, on balance. It is brutally honest in its measure of things. This God is a God who drops the plumb line of truth against the crooked places in our lives and in our culture. The plumb line is righteousness and justice in two areas where we live #1 - the public life of a nation as well as #2 the private lives of the people. That’s two big toes God’s gonna’ step on for the sake of the least and the last and the lost; in compassion for the poor and the oppressed. You see, those who believe that faith and social policies don’t mix have never read Amos, or the rest of the prophets, or Jesus, for that matter. The line of justice runs through the Biblical text into the midst of our public and private lives on behalf of all of God’s people. The plumb line drops and hits the church right in the head! Amos’s word of judgment builds until he comes to that incredible climax when God says to Israel: “I hate, I reject your festivals; I don’t enjoy your joyous assemblies. If you bring me your entirely burned offerings and gifts of food — I won’t be pleased; I won’t even look at your offerings of well-fed animals. Take away the noise of your songs; I won’t listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos 5:21-24 (CEB). Justice and Righteousness are expected from us and the consequences fall when we abuse each other and act selfish. And time runs out for the north, for Israel – they fall and fade away into history. You can’t turn back then! You can’t repent if you’re dead. Grace and mercy DO have expiration dates – especially for the individual. God preserves a remnant after the hammer falls, but you may not be part of that! When is enough, enough? Third time’s the charm? Or maybe 3 strikes and you’re out! If you know me, you know I don’t emphasize fear in our faith – it just doesn’t motivate. But I believe God demands respect! Judgment will come and where will we be standing? Some of you are far from strike three. But let me illustrate what it might look like: In your job – strike three when they finally call you in ask you to resign or they will let you go. In your family – when the threat of divorce is thrown in the air one too many times and your husband or wife looks at you and you see the awful truth in their eyes that they finally agree. In your faith – when God has been forced into such a small compartment of your life – say one hour a week – and you’ve lived your life by your own rules for so long that one day it makes sense to you – I don’t need God – I don’t need the church! Remember the unforgivable sin – reject the call of the Spirit (greave the Holy Spirit) in your life and one day… you won’t even be able to hear it! I don’t know where you are – but I bet you do! Are you just coming up to bat? Or are you facing you third strike? I consider Amos unique among the prophets because of the way he views God’s call on him – what do I mean? Amos was a lay person, a “shepherd, and a trimmer of sycamore trees” Amos 7:14b (CEB). The action of God was delivered by one of YOU – not the clergy (like Rabbi & Levit in the Parable), but the church member (the samaritian), hearing from God and acting in righteousness and justice for this community. You Can’t Mean Me! You can’t mean me, God? Can you? I’m not anybody special, or particularly different? You can’t mean me. Chosen last for every team! Left at the back of the queue, a wallflower in the dance of life, Edged out by brighter blooms. You can’t mean me! So Moses grumbled – ‘I cannot speak’ You can’t mean me! So Gideon exclaimed – ‘from the least of the tribes’ You can’t mean me! So Isaiah lamented – ‘Unclean lips’ You can’t mean me! So Jeremiah argued – ‘only a youth’ You can’t mean me! So Amos explained – ‘a trimmer of sycamore trees’ You can’t mean me! So Mary said – ‘how can this be?’ You can’t mean me! But you do, don’t you? You do mean me. All my gifts and graces outweighed at times with all my faults and failings. You want them all, to be woven together and shaped for your use. You do mean me. You mean US – like bread to be taken, blessed and broken, to be named, ‘this is my body’, and given to a hungry world. Oh, God…drop the plumb line alongside of our lives. Measure us by the measure of your justice and mercy. Meet us in your incredible grace. Mold us in your radical love. The plumb line is a line of passionate, radical love, calling us and moving us toward God’s vision of His kingdom. In mercy God calls us to be all he intends us to be, calls us toward the life “in plumb,” a life in balance, a life of wholeness. God’s justice is evidence of... - God’s radical grace...unearned, unmerited, unlimited, and unbounded - God’s radical care...for the oppressed and the poor - God’s radical mercy...while time remains, for the nation which neglects its mission and the people who forget their God. - God’s radical love for the world. Let us pray……………………….