Amos 7:7–15

⁷This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. ⁸And the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them; ⁹the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword." ¹⁰Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. ¹¹For thus Amos has said, "'Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.'" ¹²And Amaziah said to Amos, "O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, ¹³but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom." ¹⁴Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, "I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. ¹⁵But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'

During the past few weeks in the church calendar the lectionary of Old Testament readings has focused on several of the prophets. Today the spotlight is on another prophet—Amos.

Now Amos was not a professional prophet. Believe it or not, in Israel at that time there were prophet guilds, they lived and worked in groups, had leaders who taught them their craft. Scripture talks of them having buildings where they sat or lived. For a time King Saul joined one such group which we are told played musical instruments. Elijah and Elisha were associated with a group of prophets. One might compare them to monasteries today, living, studying and working together.

Amos, however, was an exception. He did not belong to a group of prophets. He was a shepherd. One day God "took him from the flock and said to him, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'" So a shepherd became a prophet for God to speak God's word. This reminds us of another shepherd who became a prophet: King David. And most of all it echoes the Greatest Shepherd of all, Jesus.

Another thing to remember is that the job of a prophet is not to foretell the future. The office or job of a prophet is to relay God's word to the people. Sometimes predictions are part of the message, but the office of prophet is to proclaim God's word whatever it might be. Sometimes it's telling what is going to happen in the future, sometimes it is to preach the Law and sometimes it is to proclaim the gospel. When the prophet speaks in his office, it is God speaking to the people. Jesus was in the office of prophet when he taught and preached. Jesus passed on the office of prophet to his Apostles and pastors who followed him up to the present day. All who speak, teach, and proclaim God's word are prophets, whether the message is rebuking people for their sins, proclaiming the forgiveness of sins, or telling what God is going to do in the future.

(A side point here, just to help you to understand and appreciate more the liturgy of the Divine Service: when the pastor is facing the congregation and speaking to them, such as pronouncing the absolution, reading scripture, preaching or saying the blessing, he is exercising the office of prophet. It is God speaking to the congregation. When he faces the altar, ...well, ...that's a topic for another sermon.)

Anyway, Amos did not choose the job of prophet for himself. God dragged him out of his chosen career into the office of prophet. And as part of his office, he proclaimed the law. When God measured the wall with a plumb line the wall was crooked. Israel was crooked. They had become corrupted with sin. So God announced punishment. Israel would be laid waste, the people would go into exile, the king would die in a pagan nation, his wife would become a prostitute, and his sons would be killed by the sword. Needless to say, that was no politically correct message, and it got Amos into big trouble with the king.

Nothing new. Let's turn now to our gospel reading for today. In the wisdom of our church fathers who chose to combine this gospel reading to this Old Testament reading, we find that John the Baptist had a similar problem as Amos. John the Baptist had been chosen prophet by God since before he was born. He also had a message for the king. He was sent to tell king Herod that he was breaking God's law by living in adultery, because he was living with a woman he was not married to. Not a politically correct thing to tell the king, and it cost John his life.

There is sort of a theme developing here. It is a dangerous thing for a prophet of God to expose the sins of the king. It is a dangerous thing for those who bear the message of God's word to defy or go against the government or society. Amos and John were not the only ones who ran into this problem. Daniel was cast into the lion's den to be killed because he defied the king's orders. His three friends were cast into a fiery furnace for going against the king's decree. Jeremiah was cast into a well to die for exposing the sins of Judah. St. Paul was beheaded and St. Peter crucified for preaching Christ. Martin Luther was sentenced to death and had a reward put on his head dead or alive by the emperor, and only escaped death because a local prince in Saxony gave him protection. Even today, in Canada a pastor can be arrested and put in prison for saying that homosexual practice is sinful. In China a pastor in the "official Roman Catholic church" can be imprisoned and even put to death for opposing abortion. And in the United States, well, as you leave the church today, take a minute to pick up a copy of an "Open Letter" signed by LCMS president Matthew Harrison and 24 other church leaders in the US regarding the government's abuse of religious freedom.

So what's the point of reading about kings and governments who arrest, persecute, and execute God's prophets? There are two points. First we have their example of faith. What we see in the lives of the saints who have gone before us, the patriarchs of the faith, the martyrs, the fathers of the church, is what faith looks like in the lives of God's people. We are their descendants. We are part of the same community of faith; the same family of God. They are our brothers. And by their faithful lives we have an example of what it means to live as God's faithful people.

One thing we notice in all of their lives. Whether it be St. Peter who told the court: "You judge whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God." Or Martin Luther who told the emperor, "Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God." Or George, Margrave of Brandenburg, who knelt before the Emperor and said, "Before I let anyone take from me the Word of God and ask me to deny my God, I will kneel and let them strike off my head." Or Amos, who when told by the king to leave the country defiantly said, "The Lord said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'" Our forefathers did not relent. In the face of death they held firm their convictions, and boldly proclaimed God's word EVEN THOUGH THEY KNEW THEY MIGHT DIE FOR IT. For to them, as to St. Paul, "To live is Christ, but to die is gain." (Phil. 1:21).

Our faithful fathers in the faith are examples of what the First Commandment means, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." In their lives we see what it looks like to "fear, love, and trust in God above all things." By looking at the lives of Amos and John the Baptist, we understand the oath we swore at our Confirmation when we were asked, "Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it?" And you swore, "I do with the help of God."

You have all pledged your complete loyalty to Him in accord with the First Commandment. "For the steadfast love of the Lord is better than life." (Ps 63:3). Yes, Amos and John did what they did, because for them, dwelling in the presence of God was better than life itself. Their desire was for the Lord. They stored up their treasures in heaven, and set their heart on God himself. And they were convinced, as was Paul, that "neither life nor death, nor kings nor angels...could separate them from the Love of God in Christ Jesus." "Whether they lived or died, they were the Lord's." Yes, even in death they were still in communion with God which was their foremost love and desire. It was God whom they held most dear in their lives. More precious to them than life itself. We see in their lives what it really means to "love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind."

They are an example of what every true believer in Christ is. It is all First Commandment stuff: Complete love and devotion to God. But alas, our lives don't look like that. How many of you even remember having promised to suffer all, even death rather than to fall away from God? How many of you can say that there is nothing more precious to you than God and you would give up everything for him? If you think so, then remember Abraham when God asked him to sacrifice his son. Are you ready to do that? Are you ready to go to prison or to go to the electric chair for confessing Christ?

You have not come close to obeying the First Commandment. But there is another man whom we have overlooked so far. One who did love God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. One who did give his life and never gave one inch to the rulers and kings who put him to death: Jesus Christ was his name. From the time of his birth he was pursued by king Herod who tried to kill him. During his life time, another king Herod wanted to kill him, the same one who did kill John the Baptist. And in the end, the Roman governor, at the request of the church council, crucified him on a cross. But he never flinched. He never turned away from the path. He was faithful to God every step of the way. He did not even defend himself when he was placed on trial, because he knew that he had to go to the cross. He was ridiculed, chastised, beaten, whipped, stripped of his clothing, crowned with thorns, and nailed to a cross. But he refused to resist them or deny his Father in heaven. He is the one who did fulfill God's command to "have no other gods before you."

What we could not do. What we have never done; deny all our earthly love and love God above all things, has been done for us. We cannot obey the First Commandment of God, so this one man, Jesus Christ, did it for us. It is done! It is finished! God's law has been fulfilled for us by Jesus. Our sins have been wiped away, and God counts us righteous. When the law of God accuses you of not loving God with all your heart, hold up Jesus. Offer to God his obedience and love. Jesus is the sacrifice for your sins that takes away the sin of the world. He has fulfilled the law as your substitute. As Paul says in our Epistle reading: "In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace."

And so the lives of Amos and John the Baptist teach us one other thing. That we too will face persecution, but when we face hatred, persecution, and even death for the sake of Jesus Christ, Jesus himself will be there for us, to uphold us in our faith. Why did our forefathers stand firm in their faith? Because the Lord himself, our Lord Jesus, gave them the faith. And in the hour of your death he will give you the faith. "In him you have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to his will. So that now, and in the hour of death, you are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of your inheritance until you take possession of it to the praise of his glory." Amen.