Amos 5:18-24.                   Religious or Righteous??                                               9/11/14

Also Matthew 25:1-13 [Wise and foolish virgins]

 (18)  Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light. {19} It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. {20} Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light-- pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness? {21} "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. {22} Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. {23} Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. {24} But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!

 When you listened to this reading a few moments ago, did anything strike you as being a bit odd? Were you a bit unsure as to what the text was really saying? Or, weren't you listening?  Perhaps in the first part you might have thought, yes I can identify with that; Running from the lion only then to meet a grizzly bear. Just get out from one difficult situation to then face another: having one hassle after another. Often that could express life for many of us.

 But there is a real problem with this reading for us today. At this time of the Church Year we are reminded of the end of time and Judgement Day. Here in this reading there are these harsh words – this judgement was given to people who were being very religious about their life. They were, so to speak, in church every Sunday; singing loudly and confidently; speaking of God's almighty power and how great it is to be a part of his kingdom; sprouting forth how God will come showing his power here on earth, by giving the heathen a hard time; and on the other hand, showing how great they as God's people are. This sounds a little bit familiar, doesn’t it?

 It is to these very religious people that Amos is pronouncing a very hard word from God. Why? That is the question we need to ask ourselves here today or otherwise we too, may well be the ones that are in the firing line along with those that Amos was speaking to. Whether we are regulars, or the not so regulars, in church, the question is there; why is God being so harsh on people who claim to be people of God?

 At first glance it would seem that there is no real problem with what the people were on about. They were giving the offerings that God had prescribed; they were singing their hymns and playing their music with gusto; they were active in their church life. So what is the hassle?

 The problem however seems to be that they were not taking God seriously. Ah yes, God was there for them, but he was there simply to give them what they wanted from life; health, wealth and happiness, without any effort on their part. He was to fit into their way of thinking. But all the while they were not prepared to live the way he wanted: they were not prepared to live each day in a right relationship with God. They were not prepared to trust in him and how he tells them they should behave. They were not prepared to look out for the welfare of others or live as God would have them.

They were quite happy to let people be ripped off and the morality of the nation to slide away: justice was quite OK as long as they were getting a good deal; as long as the rich were getting richer and the poor, poorer; justice was seen merely in terms of my rights - I have a right to this, that and the other, without any thought or concept of the responsibility that goes with those rights: They were not prepared to get on with their neighbours; but use them for their own purposes: and I could go on.

 But you see, justice and righteousness had long since gone from their life. Yes, unfortunately even from many of those within the so called people of God. They held themselves up as fine upstanding citizens and church people, but in reality they were far from what they should have been, or from what they pretended to be. They gave no thought to the fact that there might be anything wrong in the way they were thinking, living or acting. Their focus and attitude was all wrong. They were looking to themselves and not to God.

 Therein we find the reason why God has Amos speak such a harsh message.

 Now that being the case, we then need to also consider these words and where we stand before God and his thinking. Because after all, there are those today who also think and act similarly. There are those who seem to look for grand demonstrations of God's power against evil, for their own benefit. There are those who seem to make a good display of their church attendance, or who similarly, have very little contact with the Church, but think ‘she'll be right’ God will take care of everything; I’m OK Jack.

But when it comes to justice within the church and in the community, there is little evidence of it at all. Then when it comes to right living and a right relationship with the Lord, there is merely an outward pretence. We too are living very much in an age of entitlement and selfish thinking.

 Here this morning God’s Word reminds us that each one of us needs to look to where we stand and whether we are prepared for the day of the Lord. We like the ten maidens in the Gospel reading need to be ready and prepared in season and out of season. We do not presume on God and his forgiveness, such that we give almost total disregard for how he would have us live and act.

  Yes, we look for the day of the Lord – the coming of the bridegroom; and we look for God to come to the aid of his people; and even to display his power when necessary; but all of this is not for or because of our own selfish ambition and comfort.

 Our aim now is for justice and righteousness. Our aim is, as we were reminded recently, to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself." We seek to do that because that is what is required; because that is God's call to you and me. A tall order; yes - but God's demand never-the-less: and God is God - he is the boss: and if that is what he wants that is what we are to do. And that is what he is looking for from each one of us.

 But we can't! We have fallen again and again! We have failed! We all are turned in on ourselves and think life is all about us and what we do. So surely we know that we cannot ‘do’ life by the things that we do and say, even of a religious nature. We need God at the centre of everything we are and do.

 And that again is where we are reminded that Jesus died on the cross so that all those failures and weakness may be forgiven: that they won't be held against us. That is why we constantly are encouraged to always look to Jesus Christ and the cross; so that we never loose sight of the extent and greatness of God and his love for us, or of the forgiveness that is there for us.

 But at the same time we look to him and the help that he gives, to now live again the way he wants us to. Just because we are forgiven doesn't mean that we can now disregard everything that God has set out for us to do. We don’t spiritually go to sleep. We don't presume on the grace of God by being selfish and self-righteous; but motivated by sheer thankfulness for the Lord and all that he has done for us, we now seek his help to live, love and be the people he wants us to be.

 So when we come together in worship we come to be in God’s presence to receive from him, all that he has to give to us. We come together, because he wants us to come together, and because he wants to give to us and remind us of all the many things we need to be mindful of as his people. We come together so that ‘the oil in our lamps’ might be replenished, so that we are always ready and prepared for his coming on the day of the Lord. As we look to him and receive from him all that he has for us, we know that we can go forward, boldly and confidently: because he goes with us; and we go forward to live as he would have us.

 We turn day by day back to God for all that he is and, all that he has, and continues to do for. We cannot on our own do what is good and right. On our own we will turn to and trust in what we do; even when it comes to the religious aspects of life. We need Christ – in our lives in order to be what is good and acceptable.

 So in conclusion, let us be mindful of the need to be prepared for God's presence and coming; and let us encourage one another to look to Jesus Christ; to seek his forgiveness and help; and then let justice and righteousness flow in abundance. The day of the Lord is coming - we know not when - so let us watch out and be prepared; so that we don't run from the lion into the arms of a bear; from difficulties, into a disaster; from this life, into Hell.

 But being constantly in the presence of Jesus, let us go on; let us go forward as his true people, looking to him, trusting him and seeking to live as he would have us; and so worshipping him as is pleasing. Ready and prepared, always.  AMEN.

 Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish