June 11, 2001
Is your worship acceptable before the Lord?
EXPLORE THE BIBLE:
___Amos 5:1-27
___By Jeane Law
___First Baptist Church, Lubbock
___I imagine many of you have seen the current movie "Pearl Harbor," a story depicting that fateful day in 1941 when our naval base in Honolulu was bombed, quite unexpectedly, by the Japanese, and President Franklin Roosevelt declared the United States at war shortly thereafter.
___Many people's memories have been stirred by viewing the movie. Our entire country immediately became a team to protect our nation and its freedoms. Food, clothes and gasoline were rationed to conserve them for the war effort. I remember collecting empty tin cans from the homes in my neighborhood and having paper drives at our school to collect scrap paper. As a Girl Scout, I helped sell U.S. Savings Stamps every Saturday on a street corner in my town. They cost 25 cents each! A collection for the Red Cross was taken in our movie theater following each movie. Families sent their loved ones off to fight, and women took their places in the factories and plants to help produce ammunition and weapons and planes. America rose to its feet to help protect itself from the enemy. God blessed our efforts, and we eventually were victorious, but at great cost.
___ I was reminded of this as I read the first few verses of Amos 5, where Israel's condition was described in verse 2, "Fallen is virgin Israel, never to rise again, deserted in her own land, with no one to lift her up." The verses continue describing her unprotected position with the Lord. Those who had obeyed him and kept his covenants had almost disappeared from the land; thousands reduced to 100, and 100 reduced to 10 (v.3). They had no team to help them survive and no one to lift them up. Israel's downfall had come from disobedience within and would be completed when the enemy from outside drove them from the land.
___Chapter 5 begins with Amos for the third time saying to Israel, "Hear this word, O house of Israel ..." (5:1). However, this time, he describes his words as a lament, which is a song of grief. His words were words of mourning for Israel's coming destruction.
___But in verse 4, God says, "Seek me and live." They were not to go to their traditional houses of worship such as Bethel and Gilgal, for they were now occupied by idols and soon would be destroyed. God said: "You just come directly to me. Call out to me. Seek me! I alone can give you life."
___He enumerates again their injustices in the courts and in their lives. They didn't expect the judges to handle cases fairly. When one tried to do justly, he was held in contempt. When a person gave a truthful testimony, he was ridiculed to the point that people often hesitated to do so.
___Magistrates were requiring the poor to pay unfair taxes. They were forced to bring in most of the grain they had grown for their sustenance and give it to the people in power. This caused more poverty. Administrators grew wealthy through extortion. They completely disregarded the words of the Lord in Deuternonomy 15:11: "There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land."
___In verse 14, he again admonishes the people to seek good, not evil. He wanted them to choose the good, love the good, do good. It was their only hope for future generations.
___These were the same people who were going to church on Sunday, singing their songs of praise and worship as though they were God-fearing, law-abiding people. In 5:23, God said, "Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps." In verses 21-27 we can see how little God valued their shows of devotion while they went on in their sins. "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies" (5:21). God was very serious here, and we need to pay attention! God hated their insincere worship.
___Many of us, in corporate worship, sing, "Emmanuel, God is with us ... And he shall reign, he shall reign, he shall reign forever more," and then we walk out of the service and re-take control of our lives with little regard for God's desires for us. Be honest. You know this is true.
___If we are to please him with sincere worship, then we must respect his righteousness by striving to live a holy life. As a child in the intermediate Sunday School department in my home church, our director had us sing "Living For Jesus" every Sunday morning as an opening hymn. After three years, most of us knew the words by memory. They became our young lives' "mission statement"--"Living for Jesus a life that is true, striving to please him in all that I do; yielding allegiance, gladhearted and free, this is the pathway of blessing for me."
___God requires sincere praise and worship, not only in our churches, but also in our lives. "Justice must roll on like a river and righteousness like a never- ending stream" (v. 24). Is your worship acceptable? Israel's was not, and God destroyed them.
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!
