Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)
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Scratching
the Surface of Amos
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Though I'm not a
historian, I've lived long enough to think America is more divided now than
since the Civil War or during our foray into Vietnam.
Two old songs
that came out about the same time come to mind as a metaphor for these days:
Carole King's "It's Too Late" from Tapestry
(1971) and Steppenwolf's "It's Never Too Late" from At Your Birthday Party (1969).
She says it's too late and they say
it's never too late.
She says,
And it's too late, baby, now it's too late
Though we really did try to make it
Something inside has died and I can't hide it
And I just can't fake it
They say,
It's never too late to start all over again
To love the people you caused the pain
And help them learn your name
Oh, no, not too late, it's never too late to
start all over again
Which is it?
It's too late?
It's never too
late?
Biblically, the
answer is yes.
It's too late if we don't turn back to God.
It's never too
late if we turn back to God.
That's the basic
message of every prophet of the Bible.
That's the basic
message of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
It's repeated
over and over and over because we're very thick-skinned, willful, self-reliant,
self-righteous, and diseased from the garden with the instinct that we can
paddle our own canoes.
Only God can save
us from our inclinations to continue dividing and damning ourselves.
Amos continues
that witness.
Essentially, he
was like that contemporary bumper sticker, "God's Coming Back and He's
really..."
The word thrilled is not
appropriate to complete that thought.
Using fresh
symbols and metaphors to reinforce prophets who preceded and will follow him,
Amos rails against the bad guys and then rails against the good guys for acting
like the bad guys and says they're all gonna get it sooner or later and usually
sooner than later and definitely in the end if they don't wise up and turn back
to God: "I will send down fire...I will burn down all the
fortresses..."
He's especially
angry with the good guys for acting like the bad guys: "You told the
prophets, 'Don't you dare prophesy!'"
Parenthetically,
I can think of all of the times in my four decades of undershepherding when I've
been told to tone down and water down and, essentially, lie about the truth for
those who can't or won't deal, handle, and humble themselves before it/Him;
which, of course, is why Jesus later said of people like me who have done that
too much for anybody's good, "You make people twice as fit for hell as you
are yourselves."
Amos, again, like
the rest of the Bible's communicating God's mind and will and expectations and
warnings and graces if we heed His warnings, is very hard on the wealthy who
don't help the poor enough: "You
have climbed to success on the backs of the poor."
God doesn't like
rich people who forget to care for the poor.
It's one of the
most consistent messages of the Bible; and it's a warning. God says it's
hard for rich people to get into heaven because of their control needs, greed,
and sense of entitlement.
He warns rich
people over and over and over again that they can't take it with 'em and it
won't be waiting for 'em in hell if they don't do some heaven good with it
while on earth.
Amos reminds us
of what He has done for us and the gratitude in the form of obedience to His
expressed will in the Bible warrants: "I brought you up from Egypt...I
knew and chose you for a relationship with Me..."
Amos reminds us
of the consequences of not turning back to God in His own words: "I will
punish you for the wrong you have done."
Amos reminds us
that we can avoid the deserving consequences of our previous disobedience:
"Turn back to Me and you will live. There is still time...Search for
good and not for evil so that you may live..."
Amos also
cautions, "If you don't, He will flame up like fire..."
It's our choice.
It's America's
choice.
It's every
country's choice.
It's every
church's choice.
It's every family's choice.
It's every
person's choice.
It's too late if we don't turn back to God.
It's never too
late if we turn back to God.
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...to be continued...
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Blessings and Love!
2 comments:
Good morning "Brother", you really "scratched deep" in Amos.
I'm in tune.
Excellent!
When is/will it be too late? Only the Father knows. Yet there are those instructions to "shake off the dust..." and to "go out from their midst and be separate from them." Yet, does cleaning one's sandals off or creating some distance, mean "too late" has come? Or is it another way to try and get His message through to those who have eyes yet do not see and ears but do not hear?
Though I am six years separated from the PC(USA) He hasn't released me from praying for them/you.
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