Prophet Amos

We are preaching through a series on the book of Amos. In my preparation for this weekend's message, I am acutely aware that the Bible is full of God’s emotions. We need to understand what makes Him angry, sad, feel sick, and what makes Him happy. Sometime we are so obsessed with our own feelings about God that we missed out altogether God’s feeling about us. It is not just about how we feel, but how God feels. Have you ever thought about that when you go to church each week? What does God think of you each day?

The things Amos prophesized seems so remote yet when we look at how he described the society then, it sounded strangely familiar!

• A society where the rich grow richer at the expense of the poor.
• A society where basic rights are denied to the needy. 
• A society where the rulers live for their own pleasures.

The problems with God's people is that they moved away from what God had intended for them as an example and ambassodar to the nations. Instead of standing out as holy people set aside for His purpose, they became like the pagan nations surrounding them. It sounded like the stories of the lives of many Christians. They are no different! I am reminded through Amos that God's people are doubly accountable. For much is given, much is expected! We need to wrestle through many ethical issues to be in line with Scriptures.

The Bible has also described a familiar cycle of perpetual rebellion in our hearts. It's an irony of sort. Because we are blessed people, part of that would include material comfort and wealth. The very thing that is a blessing can be a snare. The common progression of comfort-complacency-compromise-corruption seems to be the cycle God's people go through. At the end of each cycle would be a loving call of God to return, sometimes with dire consequences because we are stubborn and refuse to repent. David Pawson in his book "Unlocking the Bible" candidly wrote that "The people of God were so used to sin they have forgotten how to blush!" The book of Judges illustrates that very well.

If we look at God's laws set out in the Old Testament, we notice a familiar pattern of compassion to those who are "widows, orphans and aliens." God requires His people to "To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)

An example of such an act of compassion can be found in the following. They are not exhaustive but gives you room to study for yourselves the heart of our Heavenly Father for His people. These are laws for God's people during those time but equally applicable in the spirit of it now.

Portrait of Life in Society (Deuteronomy/Leviticus/Exodus/2 Chron)

God cares for the economically disadvantaged. 

- There should be no poor among you (Deut 15:4)

• Sabbatical years - debts cleared, slaves set free (Deut 15:1-6; 2 Chr 36:15-21)
• Year of Jubilee - All land revert to its original owners. (Lev 25:8-28)
• Annual tithing – 3rd year are all given to aliens, orphans, widows and the landless (Deut 14:22-29)
• Guidelines for loans, interest and collateral were deliberately crafted and interpreted with poor borrowers (widows, orphans, aliens) in view rather than the lenders. (Ex 22:25-27; Lev 25:35-38; Deut 23:19-20; Deut 24:6, 10-13, 17-18)
• Gleaning law – during harvest leave some behind for the poor to pick up. (Deut 24:19-20). That’s how Ruth met Boaz.
• Debt repayment guidelines favoured the poor. (Deut 15:1-11)
• Guidelines for employers favoured employees (Deut 24:14-15)

(All the verses can be found in this document.)

In the Sabbatical years, every 7th year, there is a reset button for personal debts. Every 50th year of JUbilee, there is a reset button for land ownership. No one should ever be in a perpetual poverty cycle. No susbsequent generations should suffer for the sins of the previous one. Compassionate laws are found for loans, interests and even heart of generosity for those who are poor by setting aside what God has blessed us with through the laws of gleaning and tithes.

There are laws too on how aliens are treated. Closer to home, how do we treat our foreign workers and our foreign domestic helpers? I have written a paper on "Ethical Treatment of Foreign Domestic Helpers" and if you are interested you can write to me here and I will email you a copy.

Let me end with this story about the founder of the Methodist Church, Rev John Wesley.

Gain all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.

John’s annual salary was 30 pounds, (RM21,000*) enough for a single man to live well on. He took up a position in Oxford University and his salary increased to 60, 90, 120 and eventually over 1000 pounds (RM700,000). An event in Oxford changed Wesley forever in terms of his giving when he was 28 years old. Evidently, after purchasing some pictures for his room, he noticed one cold winter day that one of the chambermaids had nothing to protect her except a thin linen gown. When he reached into his pocket to give her some money to buy a coat, he found he had too little left. Immediately, the thought struck him that the Lord was not pleased with the way he had spent his money.

From that day, in 1731 (age 28) Wesley determined to maintain his standard of living at the same level and give away everything above that threshold. At that time, with earnings of 30 pounds and living expenses at 28 pounds, he gave away two pounds. When his earnings increased to 60 pounds, he gave away 32. As they increased to 120 pounds, he continued to live on 28 and give away 92 pounds. Much of his income comes from the sales of his writings. 

Wesley became known for his saying, “What should rise is not the Christian’s standard of living, but his standard of giving.”

He continued this practice his entire life until he dies at an age of 87. Even when his income reached 1400 pounds (RM 1 million), he lived on 30 pounds and gave the rest away. Wesley was afraid of laying up treasures on earth, so the money went out in charity as quickly as it came in. He reports that he never had more than 100 pounds at any one time. Wesley “rode 250,000 miles, preached more than 40,000 sermons … and gave away 30,000 pounds,(RM 21 million)” while the published version of his Journal ran to over twenty volumes.

Gain all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.

*The conversion to Ringgit was derived from a website that calculated how much the pound then would be in today's value.

So, what does God think of you?