St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church

Sermon by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

October 7, 2007 Pentecost 19 Amos 6:1-7

Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come! Go to Calneh and look at it; go from there to great Hamath, and then go down to Gath in Philistia. Are they better off than your two kingdoms? Is their land larger than yours? You put off the evil day and bring near a reign of terror. You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves. You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your fasting and lounging will end.

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

Whatever… You hear people say that—all the time. Whatever… It’s a really quick way to say—I really don’t care—one way or another! I read an article on the Internet the other day—about things that increase your cancer risk. Everybody knows—almost every one of us from painful family experience—how horrible cancer is. If we haven’t had cancer our self—someone we know and love has—or even died from it. So—I thought—13 things that increase your risk! Car exhaust! That’s bad. But what are you supposed to do—when you are stuck in traffic—three o’clock trying to drive across Watertown—and there are cars and trucks all around you—such bad mufflers—there is a huge blue cloud of exhaust all around you? Tobacco smoke is bad for you. And yet—almost every time I pay for gasoline—the people in front of me—are buying cigarettes—or smoking cigarettes while pumping gas. Try to walk into a hospital—without going through a cloud of smoke—from people who are stressed—because somebody they love is in the hospital! Industrial combustion—huge smokestacks from factories are bad. Alcohol is bad—martinis, old fashioneds, beer, dark beer, wine and wine coolers—so you aren’t supposed to drink. Foods are bad—with pesticides sprayed on them so the bugs don’t eat them. Food is bad if it’s cooked on the grill—and gets really charred! They announced the other day that 21 million pounds of ground beef were contaminated. That they knew it a week ago—but just now decided to let regular people know! So—all this stuff is bad for you? Whatever… Most people figure—I will just keep on doing all the things I have been doing—and if I get sick—that’s the way it goes! Sometimes people think that way about sin and their immortal souls. Whatever… I have enough troubles and problems in this life—in this world—without worrying about what’s going to happen when I die! That attitude that says—I will worry about my immortal soul—when I’m about 83 years old—in the hospital—diagnosed as terminal and in great pain—is to gamble with eternity. For many many people that day doesn’t come. For many people death comes suddenly—unexpectedly—without any warning. To begin thinking about eternity a moment after you die—will be too late! Today God’s Word is a word of warning and encouragement:

Wake up!

1. Look around and learn

2. Look inside and see your sins

3. Look up and see Jesus your Savior!

The part of God’s Word we are concentrating on—is part of the scroll of the prophet Amos. The People’s Bible Commentary on Hosea, Joel and Amos was written by Prof. Eickmann. Amos was a shepherd and a sycamore fig tree farmer—when the LORD called him to preach God’s Word to God’s people. You can understand the times in which Amos preached by the practical concerns his preaching of law and gospel addressed. Amos preached God’s Word to people who—in every worldly sense were doing pretty well! Sometimes that’s when we are in the greatest spiritual danger—when we think everything is going just fine! The stock market closed Friday over 14,000! Our lawn is as green as can be—without a single dandelion! I heard a guy on the radio say—he had mowed for the very last time this year! That might be a little optimistic—but it sounds good! The Cubs are playing for the pennant—the Packers are 4 and 0 and playing the Bears Sunday night. You have a couple of bucks in your wallet and some groceries in your refrigerator—and so much stuff in your garage—your cars don’t fit. My neighbors are waxing their cars for the winter and trees are changing color and the sun is shining. It’s going pretty well isn’t it? It’s not perfect—but good enough—don’t you think? We are in danger if we start to have the spiritual Mr. Rogers attitude—I like you just the way you are! I need to do much much better! I need to grow in faith—grow in fruits of faith—grow in serving my Savior, my family and my country much much better! I need to grow in faith—if I am going to preach God’s Word for at least 10 more years—I need to do much much better!

Go to Calneh and look at it; go from there to great Hamath, and then go down to Gath in Philistia. Are they better off than your two kingdoms? Is their land larger than yours? Go to Calneh! Have you ever even heard of Calneh? Oh, once upon a time it must have really been something—maybe like New York or Chicago or San Francisco! Once upon a time it was important—a powerful example to God’s people of how great you could become—and then lose everything! 2,800 years later—it’s buried under a pile of rock and stone—to the point that even experts can’t find it! Once mighty Hamath—did you ever hear of her? She lost her southern lands—her fig trees and vineyards and pastures and flocks and herds to Jeroboam II. Does that mean anything to you? Remember Gath—the Philistine city—home town of…Goliath? King Uzziah punched holes in her walls. Nobody is impressed by Gath any more are they? If there is no other lesson to be learned from history—it is this. Because you are rich and powerful and famous and important in your own eyes—doesn’t mean you will be anything tomorrow! Where are the Assyrians and the Babylonians—the Medes and the Persians—the Greeks and the Romans? These were empires with massive powerful armies—with some of the most intelligent and deepest thinkers—in mathematics—and physics and philosophy and architecture and art that have never been duplicated even today! These were empires with a system of government and laws and justice that are the basis for government and justice today! And yet these empires are in the trash heap of history—not because someone even more clever and powerful came along. They are in the trash heap of history because they collapsed in their own wicked and sinful self indulgence. They failed because marriage and the family failed. They failed because people became so selfish and greedy and self-indulgent that the dry rot of their heart and soul spoiled everything! Our country is in danger. Wake up and smell the spiritual coffee! We need to do better! Where there are believers—we need to show the love and compassion that reflects our Savior. Shame on us—if the unbelieving world—places of business in this world—show more love and concern—more gentleness and thoughtfulness and patience—than believers do! Shame on us—if the unbelieving world—places of business in this world—show more love and honesty—and less gossiping and less sinful pride and less arrogance and self-righteousness than believers do! Shame on us—if the unbelieving world—places of business in this world—treat each other with more compassion than we who are supposed to be salt and light for Jesus’ sake. Shame on us!

You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves. You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions… Amos is talking about an attitude of sinful self-indulgence! The average Israeli—in Amos’ day—didn’t sleep on a four poster bed. They slept on the ground—or maybe an earthen shelf—to get them up a little bit—up from the bugs and mice—on an earthen shelf—with your cloak wrapped around you to try and keep warm when it got really cold at night. But those who were rich and self-important—were now able to buy beds made of hardwood—with ivory inlaid. Those who were rich had couches to lounge on. How nice was that? People who were successful—they were feasting on choice lamb chops and prime rib. They had live music to entertain them—people jamming with flutes and percussion. And what made it all the more fun—bowls full of sweet wine. And while you are at it—how about some nice lotion—oil to moisturize and some sweet spices to make you smell good! Pretty soon—it was sinful self—indulgence—thinking about what’s fun here and now physically pleasurable. Nobody wanted to think about what was painful to contemplate—our sins and their hurtful consequences! Does that sound like us? There are no lack of beds—and some of the finest mattresses in the whole world—made right here in Watertown! Think about the choices—those beds that are so soft and comfortable—beds with soft foam that fits your body—so you don’t have painful pressure points—adjustable—cool in the summer and warm in the winter! But the finest beds with Egyptian cotton flannel sheets and goose down comforters—are no help if your heart aches from worry, doubt, fear, depression and regret and remorse! The most comfortable bed in the world is no comfort—when your mind is racing! Comfort food—chocolate sweets and salty greasy snacks don’t make your troubles go away. All the prime rib in the world doesn’t fix what’s wrong in marriages and families where there is arguing and fighting—shouting and slamming doors. Not all the flat screen high def TVs mounted on walls—can long distract you from your troubles. And wine—far from fixing your sadness—only ultimately makes you more depressed! Only the Gospel can begin to mend and repair what’s wrong in our sin infected lives. That’s why God’s people need to read their Bible. To sit down and open God’s Word and read—read the Gospel of John—and read what Jesus said about sin and grace. Read the Psalms—and see how often the life of a child of God is full of ups and downs. Ups—where we thank and praise God—downs where we remember he will never leave us—never forsake us!

Woe to you who are complacent! I read the Boston Globe Obituaries the other day. A physician named Edmund died. Edmund was so smart he did the pioneer work in how heart cells expand and contract. It was this work that led to the development of ACE inhibitors. He also helped adapt beta blockers to help with weak and failing hearts. He discovered that Jesus made our physical heart so that it knows to pump more blood out—when less blood is flowing in—like when you have severe bleeding—and Jesus made our physical heart to pump less after we get a transfusion! Ed took very tiny pieces of hearts and looked at them under an electron microscope—to see how cells change when the heart is failing! That’s pretty remarkable! You might—I thought—somebody who knows that much about the human heart—would have such a wonderful heart—they would live to be at least a hundred! But, you know what? Ed died when he was only 74 years old! It wasn’t his heart that failed. It was this little part in the back of his throat—his esophagus that got sick! It just goes to show—people are very breakable! We are very breakable on the inside—and in our spiritual hearts. We are very breakable—because of sin. You can try to ignore that fact. You can ignore all kinds of physical problems—just don’t think about them. But if you do—there will be a terrible cost to be paid down the line. And if we try to ignore our spiritual heart—there will be eternal consequences! We need to wake up and smell the spiritual coffee! Look around and you will see terrible trouble. Look deep inside your own heart—and you will see and all hits horrible consequences! Look up and you will see Jesus—in God’s Word. Look to Jesus who has taken all your sins away—so that one day—you will see him face to face by grace alone. Amen!

To God alone all glory!

Rev. Anthony E. Schultz