This is what the LORD says to Israel: “Seek me and live.” – Amos 5:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 28, 2016): Amos 5

The Farnese Atlas is a 2.1-meter high marble statue that features the Titan Atlas holding a sphere. It is a representation of Atlas fulfilling the sentence given to him by Zeus to hold up the sky. The sphere is not a globe, and it features the constellations that could be seen in the heavens from Greece, probably sometime in the 2^nd Century B.C.E. It is likely that the sphere on Atlas’ shoulders was based on a detailed star chart that was available to the unknown sculptor somewhere around that time. While it is not a picture of the earth as a sphere, it is also not a picture of a typical three-tiered universe featuring a flat earth, with a flat heaven above and a flat hell below. It is a round sky that encircles what is likely to be an equally round earth.  

There is a common misconception that somehow Christopher Columbus wanted to prove that the world was round – that maybe his friends chided him that he would fall off the edge of the earth if he persisted in his foolish idea of sailing west. But the truth is that Columbus knew for sure that the world was a globe, along with most of the educated people of the day. What Columbus was searching for was a shorter passage to India, hoping to cut trade times with the eastern portions of the known world. The spherical earth was something that the Greeks had guessed to be true by around the 6^th century B.C.E., 2000 years before Columbus made his historic voyage. The Greeks had proven the earth was round by the 3^rd century B.C.E. There persists today a small group of enthusiasts who prescribe to the flat earth theory, although how they believe this makes no sense to me since people have circumnavigated the earth and we have now even seen pictures of this spherical planet, and other spherical planets, taken from space. But this is true – believing in one precludes believing in any other. You cannot simultaneously believe that the earth is both round and flat.

Amos is making the same point about God. Life is found only in God. You cannot believe that life is available from multiple points of view. We serve a jealous God who is God alone. If you seek after God, you will find life. Not just life in a pie in the sky, someday sort of way, but life here and now. But to seek God also means that you have to stop seeking life in other areas or with other gods. The God of Israel is the only source of life. And life will not be found anywhere else – it only comes from Amos’ God.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Amos 6

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!” – Amos 4:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 27, 2016): Amos 4

Lee Kuan Yew once remarked that “I always tried to be correct, not politically correct.” Yew was the founding father of Singapore and Prime Minister of the nation from 1959 until 1990, and apparently, he fought the same battle with political correctness as some of the rest of us. And most of us can understand his frustration with political correctness. Part of the problem is that politically correct speech often seems to be a moving target. Our language seems to change so fast. As a public speaker, I often struggle with the politically correct way to say things. I know that the politically correct way to phrase something yesterday might not be the way to phase it tomorrow. And every once in a while I get caught saying something that used to be okay to say but is okay no longer. A faction of our population even seems to wear political incorrectness as a badge of honor. So the language wars continue.

Amos would definitely be guilty of politically incorrect speech, even in his own day. At no point in history has characterizing a woman as a “fat cow” been the politically correct thing to do. But we need to remember that Amos was not a politician – or even an educator or a man used to speaking in public. He was a simple herdsman from the backcountry. So he speaks of what he knows. And what he knows is livestock.

The cows in Bashan, an area in the modern-day Golan Heights, were known for being fat and healthy. But it is not the weight of the woman in Bashan that is the problem. While the Modern day image of a beautiful woman might be one that is thin, throughout most of history fatness was a sign of affluence and beauty. Amos is arguing that the problem is that, while these women that Amos is calling “fat cows” are well cared for, the way their husbands became affluent was to crush the poor and the needy. But the reason for their spouse’s behavior was the women with whom that they lived. The women’s insatiable appetite for luxury has driven their husbands to commit greater and greater injustices. And, as a result, they are not innocent of the sins of their husbands.

These women were narcissistic – and, in the eyes of the shepherd Amos, nothing separated them from the fat cows that covered the hillside. In the end, Amos may have been politically incorrect, but he got his message across.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Amos 5

The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Sovereign LORD has spoken—who can but prophesy? – Amos 3:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 26, 2016): Amos 3

Now that President-elect Trump is getting ready to ascend his throne, it amazes me that political correspondents seem to miss the reason for fear which appears to be incapacitating certain groups of the American public - or that they miss why a Trump Presidency has become a cause for concern among the traditional allies of the United States. (I get it, not all correspondents miss the reason for the fear, but a significant number of Republican Party supporters do not seem to get it.) I seem to keep hearing this message – we have to give President Trump a chance to rule. And I agree. Actually, I agree that there is no choice but to allow President Trump a chance to rule. The people have spoken, even if the words were in a somewhat muffled voice.

But the Lion (in this case, President Trump) has roared. The words were spoken clearly. And because of what the Lion has said, there is ample cause for fear, especially among the minorities living in American Society. And “How to get to Canada” messages on Facebook are not helping the situation. I hope that it is a very different President Trump who reigns, but until we see some of that, I do not blame my brothers and sisters of various minorities for their fear. It is a natural result of hearing the Lion roar.

This is Amos point. When the lion roars, there is no other logical reaction other than fear. And when God speaks, there is no other logical action other than to share the words that God has spoken. Amos is telling all those who hear his prophecy – “don’t blame me, I am just the messenger.” Do I have any choice other than to speak the words that God has spoken to me? Can I hide the message God has placed inside of me any more than you can hide your fear when you know that the lion is stalking you? Of course not. Don’t be silly.

So what is God’s message for us today? The most pertinent one might be straight from the words of Jesus - ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’  (Matthew 25:40). This is the message that I believe should be on every Christian’s lips, the message from God that must be spoken. Don’t blame us. The words don’t belong to us. They are a reminder to us from the one that we follow that the essential characteristic of a Christian is hospitality. And we have no choice but to scream that message from the rooftops.

Oh, and one more reminder. Christian’s were never supposed to be the wall builders. We are the ones that tear down the walls and welcome the poor and the hurting into our circles of influence. Everyone is welcome in our presence, no matter their ethnicity, race, language, gender or sexual orientation. At our best, we are the ones who do “for the least of these” brothers and sisters.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Amos 4