"Therefore, because you trample on the poor...."

Should you be listening to a prophet, beware of the word "therefore."  It always announces judgment - God's judgment, a judgment that will cut away all that keeps us from following God and living in God's light.  A judgment that is experienced in pain and/or sorrow.

Amos has been sent by God to the power center of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and he has nothing to say that anyone wants to hear. 

A little history here:  the Northern Kingdom functioned separately from the Southern Kingdom and had grown very prosperous in the last decade.  The leadership of the Northern Kingdom, King Jeroboam, was convinced that the peace in the land and the prosperity of the people (some of the people) indicated God's blessing.  They were secure in their position as God's anointed ones.

Amos is there to burst their bubble.  Their prosperity was built on the backs of their own people and the aliens and strangers in their midst.  He points out that the people cannot wait for the Sabbath to be over so they can cheat their neighbors in the marketplace.  He calls the "Housewives of Bashon" cows.  He rejects their sacrifices and rituals because they are nothing but lip service while the wealthy continue to levy taxes upon the poor who cannot pay.

This is what leads to Amos saying, "therefore, because you trample on the poor..." and the judgment is this: you have built fine, fancy houses but you will not live in them.  You have secured land and planted vineyards, but you will never taste their wine.  In other words, this all will be taken away from you.

And so it was.  The Assyrians, who had been busy with other wars, marched through the Northern Kingdom, took possession of the land, and forced EVERYBODY into exile (722-723 BC)  After this invasion, the Northern Kingdom was wiped from the face of the earth.

Amos never said I told you so.  But he could have.

Look for part II on this text.     Amos5.6-7,10-15

Just a warning

Unless you pay particular attention to the rhythm of the scripture that 'the powers that be' have selected for each Sunday's reading (known as the Common Lectionary), you might have missed the tendency for the gospel readings in the Fall to get fairly edgy.

All those feel good healing and miracle and simple teaching stories happened during the summer while folks were vacationing or sleeping in or whatever they do when they take a hiatus from Sunday worship.

But that leaves us with the end of the church year lessons, and those are chronologically close to Jesus' arrest and crucifixion.  Of course we don't actually deal with Jesus' death in these months - that is reserved for our Lenten season - but we run right up to the very edge.  Time is coming to a close for Jesus and he engages in his final teachings about the Kingdom of God and his role as God's son.

These are demanding texts.  They demand our attention, our consideration and then ultimately our commitment to the one who stands at the center.  These texts are about taking up your cross, being obedient in righteousness, weathering the coming apocalypse, and then standing face to face with the cross. 

And if you think that facing the cross is difficult, wait until October 7th: we get the text on divorce.  Ain't nobody going to be singing after that one.  So, just a fair warning....we are getting down to the wire and all that we think we believe will be challenged.  God help us all to listen with an open heart.