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.' (Amos 7:7-15 NRSV)
May this be a wonderful Wednesday for you dear Friend and yours is my prayer. As we pray I ask prayers for these: Please pray for Connie Kern and family. Her husband Landis passed away on Sunday. Connie is a member of our book club here at church. And for the widow of a clergyman from Rio Texas Conference, Adele Quintanilla who recently suffered a major stroke and has suffered additional minor strokes. Adele is not doing well and is now in hospice at her home after spending time in the hospital. Evelyn Clark has asked that we pray for her lifelong friends Thomas & Erin Rohan. Thomas & Erin were shot by a friend last week and both have serious injuries. Erin is still in the hospital with a bullet lodged near her spinal column. Thank you for your faithfulness and prayers. Pray for one another. Pray for yourselves.
The call of almost all of Israel's prophets was a difficult one. I remind us that the word prophet meas literally "mouthpiece," thus a prophet was the mouthpiece of God and had to speak what was placed there by the Spirit of the Lord. And a prophet always preached truth and it was always a hard truth. The prophet Amos was the prophet during a very prosperous time for the Israelites. Their wealth called them away from God. And the kingdom was leading the charge away from God. The king wanted to maintain the peace after having regained most of the land they had lost to enemies, and wanted to enjoy the trappings that came with victory. And guess what, that still happens?
God speaks to Amos besides a wall built with a plumb line in His hand. God then says just as the plumb line helps in the determining whether a structure is straight, I have used it to see that the nation is not, and judgment is coming. See? God's truth is a hard word to preach. God's own words, "I will never again pass them by; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate (historic and royal places soon to be deserted), and the sanctuaries (holy worship places) shall be laid to waste, and I will rise agains the house of Jeroboam with the sword (King and his court shall be killed). The tweet was seen by a rival priest, chaplain to the King, who forwards it to the King. "Check this out your highness, his lowness is talking smack about you!"
The chaplain priest warns the prophet of God to run away, in other words, to shut up and get out of Dodge. "Why not head South to Judah? I hear they need a good prophet and they pay well, or so I hear. This town is a royal town, home to the king and your having shared such a harsh word would be best served in a non-royal city!" Amos replies with the story of his call; "I am not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet; I'm but a herdsman, and my side hustle was handling sycamore trees; but God saw fit to call me out of that work to preach His word, and here I am. BOOM.
Friends, truth is truth, and God's word is truth. Yet, even today, if one preaches a political thing from a pulpit it will be met with mixed reactions. The prophet Amos preached that following wealth instead of caring for the poor went against what God wanted. To leave the worship of God to worship wealth and riches is a sin. And to lead a nation away from doing good to instead concentrating on getting more land, money, wealth is not what God wanted then or now. I stress, being rich is not a sin. But to let possessions possess you, is. Wealth bring a certain responsibility to care for others, especially if you are a believer. I can't help but point out Bill and Melissa Gates and Warren Buffet. These are three of the wealthiest people in the world, and they have committed to give away their money to address illness, education, among a wide range of other issues that need their kind of money. And I have to point out that Warren Buffet is not necessarily a believer. Rick Warren, author and pastor, who got rich on his book, The Purpose Drive Life, writes that it is not a sin to be rich; but he believes it is a sin to die rich. It begs our question, where do our priorities and loyalties lie? If God is not chief among them, we are on our way to having a prophet come and tell us that we are doomed.
PRAYER: Loving Father, speak to my heart and let me be open to Your truth and love. May I place You first in my life, and all other things behind You. Open my heart to care for others. I also pray for the needs listed above. Bring Your comfort, healing, and peace to those on our prayer lists. In Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be a helper and a bless-er today!
Blessings of love,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
