Sermon Amos 7:7-15 – A Holy Place

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon Amos 7:7-15 – A Holy Place
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
July 12, 2009

Listen to this sermon.

Today we turn to an 8th century BC prophet named Amos. Amos was a shepherd tending sheep in southern Judah. He was also concerned for the poor in his community and he tended a sycamore tree, which yields an inferior type of fig which was part of the diet of the poorest people at that time. But Amos saw something that disturbed him very much. So he went to Israel with a desire to confront the king. Before hearing what Amos had to say let’s begin with prayer.

Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen. (John Calvin)

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

The Lord gave Amos three visions of what could happen to Israel. In the first vision the Lord was sending locusts, just as their later crops began to sprout. This would devastate their food supply starving the people and destroying the nation. But Amos prayed that the people of Israel would be spared, and the Lord relented. In the second vision Amos saw the Lord covering the land with fire that would evaporate the oceans and devour the land. And again Amos prayed for Israel and the Lord relented. But in the third vision Amos saw the Lord judging Israel and sentencing King Jeroboam to death. After this vision of judgment Amos did not pray and the Lord did not relent. Why? To answer this we have to turn our attention to the place where Amos had come, Bethel.

Bethel is a Hebrew word which means “the house of God”. It was a place where God comes close to earth to interact with his people. In other words Bethel was a holy place, a location set aside for God’s use, a sanctuary.

We are told that Bethel was first discovered by the patriarch Jacob. He was fleeing from his brother Esau and one night as the sun was setting he found an ancient shrine and used one of the stones as a pillow. That night he had a remarkable dream that the Lord had come near with a great promise. When Jacob woke up he thought that this place was somehow a gateway to heaven. It was a place where God had come near to his people. So he called it Bethel, the house of God.

Today we are worshiping in a Bethel. This is a sacred place where in worship we come close to God. That makes this spot holy, set aside for God’s purposes, a sanctuary.

Centuries later Amos went to the same spot where Jacob had encountered God, the holy place, the sanctuary, called Bethel. And there he delivered to the priest of Bethel the frightening message of God’s judgment. But rather than praying to God in this sacred space the priest, Amaziah, prayed to his king accusing Amos of treason. And then Amaziah told Amos to leave because prophets were not welcome in the King’s sanctuary. So what had been a sacred house of God had been turned into a possession of the King, and this was the reason God had condemned the King and his kingdom to death and destruction.

The sin of Jeroboam and his priest was the sin of idolatry. Rather than worshiping God in God’s house they were worshiping other gods. Of course the priest, Amaziah would deny this. If we could ask him he would argue that the proper worship of the Lord, the God of Israel, was taking place at Bethel. But Amos knew differently. The nation was worshiping not God but the kingdom’s power and prosperity. The people knew the commandments of God to care for the poor and the needy, but they spent their money on ivory furniture imported from Africa, marble clad homes that glistened in the sunlight, and gourmet beef from the cows of Bashan. They knew that their faith should be in the Lord, but they were more confident in the strength of their armies and the alliances they had made with neighboring countries. They put their trust in money and power rather than in the God who had protected them in times past. And they were doing these things, worshiping other gods, worshiping money and power, right there in Bethel, God’s house.

As a result God sent an unlikely person, a poor shepherd from somewhere down south. He had no qualification as a seer or prophet. But he knew the word of God. And he saw the decay that was happening in his society. He realized that the idolatry of money and power would lead to the nation’s destruction. So Amos traveled north to God’s house, Bethel, with a message of judgment. This holy place, set aside for God’s use, would be given over to the enemies of Israel. Their women would be violated, their children killed, and a remnant would be carried into exile, all because they had stopped worshiping God in God’s house.

This should be a warning for us as we worship here in the corner of Eagle Rock and Addision. This has been a sacred place, a house of God, Bethel, for nearly 100 years. Generations of the faithful have come and gone in this place. And we must be careful to keep this place holy, set aside for God’s purposes.

God’s purpose in Eagle Rock is that we care for the poorest people in our community. This is obvious because God is sending the poor and needy to our doors every Sunday evenings. This holy place, this sanctuary, is where poor people in our community come close to God. We are not providing a homeless dinner as do other churches. Rather we are opening our doors as a gateway to the Lord.

So must always keep this place as a sacred spot, holy to the Lord. As budgets go down we may look for other ways of using the space for money. But if we make decisions about our building and land solely for financial reasons then we risk God’s judgment and this House of God may be taken away from us. Every decision we make about our buildings and our grounds must be made to glorify God, or else we fall into the sin of idolatry and face certain destruction.

Since God is calling us to care for the poor in the community we need to use our facilities for that purpose. I know of a church that uses its fellowship hall as a place where homeless can gather during the week. There are computers available for job and apartment searches, a donated clothing exchange, showers, and counseling. World Vision has a storehouse we could tap to provide necessary items to the homeless in our community. Another example is the Nazarene church here in Eagle Rock. It is about to turn its property into low income housing for the poor in this community. The whole block from Yosemite to Fair Park will be used for this sacred purpose and a new church will be part of the development plans. Do we have a sacred vision for the block between Addison and Lavern? Are we using the buildings we have for God purposes?

Within a generation of Amos prophecy the kingdom of Israel fell, just as he predicted. The people were carried into exile. They lost their imported furniture and gourmet food. Jeroboam’s dynasty came to an end. And his kingdom existed no more. Amos’s prophetic words were placed in the Hebrew Scriptures to remind future generations to protect their Bethels by making them holy, set aside for God’s use. I urge you to protect this corner of Eagle Rock Blvd. by using it solely for God’s purpose. It this is a place is solely a place where people can come into contact with God and used for no other purpose then it will receive God’s protection forever.

Father in Heaven, we approach you this day in worship here in our Bethel, your house. Help us to keep this corner of Eagle Rock holy by using it only for your purposes. Allow us to discern the best way to use the sacred property you have provided for us. And we pray this in the name of your son. Amen.