Am 7:7-17

15 July 2001

 

"The Man Who Saw Too Much"

 

Well, after hearing that reading a few minutes ago, it sounds like I'm in for some trouble.  I'm not quite sure what to make of it, but…oh, excuse me!  I suppose I should introduce myself.  My name is Amaziah, the priest of the royal sanctuary at Bethel.  And yes, I am the same Amaziah of whom it's been said got into quite a bitter argument with Amos of Tekoa, the shepherd slash prophet slash seer slash sycamore fig grower.

But I had no desire to anger Amos.  I actually have nothing against the man.  I actually respect him, sort of.  He points out some things that we should take seriously.  It's true, things have been less than perfect during the reign of our King Jeroboam II.  Now don't get me wrong; I'll be the first to applaud the prosperity that the king in his wisdom has helped Israel to achieve.  He's not only helped the economy, but he's been a staunch promoter of the arts and of public renovation.  Architecture has reached a level of excellence never before seen in this land.  And no, I'm not sorry that our military has taken control of Damascus and Hamath from the Syrians.

Still, with all these glorious achievements, everything, as I said, hasn't been perfect.  It's true, I have to admit, that this newly found national affluence has come at a price.  There is, with the wealth, also a great deal of poverty.  Our court system does have, at times, a little bit more....how do I put this?....corruption....than I would like.  And there does seem to be, more often than before, the priest who's more interested in satisfying his bodily appetites than in satisfying the tenets of the torah.

But Amos has gone completely overboard with his ranting and raving!  We do have problems, yes.  I should know!  I am, after all, priest of the royal sanctuary.  I am privy to certain briefings.  I do get invitations to diplomatic soirees.  So I think I know a little bit about what's going on.  And a little bit about how to get things done.

And let me tell you—the wild talk of Amos is not the way things get done.  He's a decent enough person, one on one, but he's not the kind of guy you invite to a party, if you know what I mean.  Not the world's best conversationalist!  I mean, his idea of an icebreaker is to walk up to a guest and go, "Oh by the way, your house will be burned, your children will be sold into slavery, and a band of unwashed, uncircumcised pagans will ravish your wife."  I'm sorry!  Call me a stuffed shirt or whatever, but I prefer more traditional dinner conversation.

Well, leaving aside the question of his lack of etiquette, I have a concern about Amos that's much more significant.  I wonder about his sense of social responsibility.  Does he know where his inflammatory language can lead?  Does he care?

The words of a charismatic seer or prophet—though apparently he prefers not to identify himself as a prophet.  Anyway, as I was saying, the words of a charismatic seer carry a lot of weight with a lot of people.  Let's not forget the lessons of a century ago, when Jehu, acting on Elisha's proclamation of his anointing as king, masterminded an overthrow of the government and wiped out the entire house of Ahab.

Understand, I'm not saying that Ahab did or didn't deserve what happened to him.  That's not the point.  The point is that when a persuasive man like Amos, who claims that he's speaking for God, says that the holy places will be destroyed, that the king himself will be butchered, and that the people will be forced into exile, it doesn't take a genius to guess what will happen.  There are more than a few extremist elements already at work in our country.  All they need is encouragement from somebody like this—somebody with a voice of semi-respectability—and you can imagine the horrors that could take place.  And if they can use the excuse that they're acting in the name of Yahweh, then you have a real recipe for disaster!

But I'm not content to just look at the lunatic fringe and whatever weird spin they might put on Amos' words.  Look at what he actually says himself.  He speaks of the places where Isaac's descendants worship, the high places of Isaac, as candidates for destruction.  The holy places!  And more than once, Bethel has been on his list (3:14, 4:4, 5:5-6).  Bethel!  If Amos really speaks for the Lord, then he should remember that Bethel is where Father Abraham first built an altar to Yahweh (Gn 12:8, 13:3-4).  It's where Jacob's name was changed to Israel (Gn 35:9-15).  Amos should remember that the Lord told Jacob, "I am the God of Bethel" (Gn 31:13).

When he attacks Bethel, Amos attacks the very heart of our faith.  That Judahite is attacking the very people, the very land, of Israel!  And not content with that, he says that the land itself can no longer contain its people.  They will be driven into exile.  Now there's fuel for anyone thinking of collaborating with our enemies.  The land can no longer contain its people?  I say:  the land can no longer contain him!

He has exceeded all boundaries.  When he says that Israel will disappear from the land, he denies the very foundation of our society.  I'm aware that there are those who say that I exaggerate.  Amos isn't the destroyer of civilization that I make him out to be.  It's said by some that I'm just defending my turf by banishing him from Bethel, by telling him to go back to Judah where he belongs.  They forget that I'm not without influence.  As I suggested earlier, I know people in high places.  I could suggest that an execution is in order.  But like I said before, I do have a kind of respect for him.

I guess my respect for Amos is mingled with fear, both of him and for him.  Who can listen to his dreadful words—as insane as they are!—and yet, not have a certain fear that he may be right?  I've tried to be faithful to Yahweh and to the covenant with us, but I can't claim to be blameless.  Could it be that my crimes are greater than I imagine?

I fear that Amos may be right, but I also fear for his own safety.  Anyone who stirs up passions the way he does is likely to meet an unhappy end.  And if some of the horrifying things he has said of others should happen to him:  well, maybe that's only fitting!

It's just that, I can't help feeling that he shows a reckless disregard for society's expectation.  He's so sure that he's heard from God that he's willing to show disrespect for our traditions, for the office of priest, for....well, I will say it....for me!  I wonder if he's not letting personal feelings cloud his judgment.  Amos says that he's seen many things that Yahweh has shown him.  He says that God has measured Israel with a plumb line and found it warped and in need of destruction.

My concern is that when all is said and done, Amos will be regarded, not as the man who saw too little to be believed, but as the man who saw too much.  He saw what the Lord showed him, and then some.  He took a genuine desire for justice and added to it a flamboyance that may yet get us all killed.  Amos is the man who saw too much and said too much.

Well, I'm glad we were able to spend some time with our guest speaker, Amaziah.  Walking in his shoes for a bit may help us to understand our own situation a little better.

We often feel the conflicting impulses of the desire for order, for the status quo, and the desire for change, even revolutionary change.  Sometimes we want to leave the place perfectly preserved, and sometimes we want to watch the whole thing burn to the ground!

It's not as simple as saying, as some might, that Amaziah represents one tendency and Amos the other.  Within each of us, this battle goes on.  We can also sense this conflict within us as a group.  We can sense it as a church.  On one hand we say, "Everything in society is crumbling; it's unsure.  People need something that is firm and can be relied upon.  Something that provides stability.  The church must be that place."

On the other hand, we say, "It's true that, in our culture, people tend to be drifting, but it's not enough to do something…simply because we've always done it.  Do we know why we do it?  Is there a better way?  And are we neglecting greater needs that may require that we change?"

We live in a society filled with people promoting their agendas, often angrily promoting their agendas.  In such an environment, it can become easy to retreat into hardened positions that can't hear anyone else's side of the story.  May we be spared the tendency to demonize either Amaziah or Amos.  We need both (minus whatever faults they may have!)