Saturday, October 04, 2008

Religious complacency

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 feasting and lounging will end (Amos 6:1-7).

When these words were written, the kingdom built by God through the hands of King David and King Solomon was falling apart. Where there was once one great nation, now there were two smaller kingdoms, Israel and Judah. Israel was the larger, northern kingdom. Since God’s Temple was in Jerusalem in the southern kingdom of Judah, the northern kingdom of Israel built its own temple on Mount Samaria. Both nations felt secure. God had promised this land to them because they were Abraham’s descendants. The economies of both nations were strong; the leaders were wealthy and most people were well off. The kingdoms were built mostly in mountains and were easy to defend from attack. Because of these blessings from God, the leaders of the Israelites of the north had gotten too comfortable. They lounged around instead of working hard. They tossed away money on fine foods and fancy perfumes. Instead of playing music in worship of God like David did, they composed new songs about themselves and the earthly things that they loved. They escaped their responsibilities by guzzling wine. They didn’t want to think about their sins or the sinful lives that their people were leading; they didn’t feel grief over how far the descendants of Joseph had fallen away from God. They believed that their country was the best in the world, and that nothing bad could happen to it. The leaders of Israel had become complacent.

Does this sound familiar to you? After the 9/11 attack on our country, people began talking about how selfish and lazy America has gotten. Some believe that the United States has been complacent, that we have taken for granted our economy, our national security, our luxury-filled way of life, and our freedoms. Many have suggested that America needed a wake-up call, to reunite and work together to make our country a better place for everybody. It would be easy to listen to today’s lesson and say to ourselves, "yep, this country sure had been lazy and corrupt, but things are better now."

But God’s word isn’t just for Washington or Hollywood, it’s for you and me. Amos was speaking to the leaders of Israel, but he also speaks to us. In Amos’ time, the people of Israel looked for leadership from their kings and priests whose positions were appointed by God. Today, the Temples on Mount Samaria and in Jerusalem are no more; they are no longer needed because Jesus now makes His home in our hearts through the waters of Baptism. Each of us is a walking Temple of God, each of us is a priest who can pray to God on his own behalf. Because of this, we Christians are the leaders of God’s kingdom here on earth. When people look for God’s leadership, they look to we who make up Christ’s Church. We have the same responsibility of moral leadership that the leaders of Israel had in Amos’ time.

So, what does God have to say to us through the mouth of Amos? He warns us of complacency. Let’s do a little mental checklist, like they do in magazines, to see how complacent we are:
+ Do you pray to God to protect people in America, or do you let the Armed Services and the FBI worry about that?
+ When someone you love starts doing things that you know God doesn’t approve of, do you tell them or do you keep your mouth shut because it’s none of your business?
+ When you decide how much money to put in the plate on Sunday, do you ask God each week to help you decide how much to give, or do you put in what you’ve always put in?
+ When church elections come up, do you offer to serve as an Elder or a Trustee, or are you satisfied that other people will take care of things at church?
+ When you have free time, do you use some of it to read the Bible or devotional literature, or do you feel that you get enough religion on Sunday morning?
+ Do you pray for forgiveness every day? Or don’t you need to, because you lead a pretty decent life?

How did you do on this checklist? Do you rely on God for forgiveness and leadership every day, or do you take God for granted some of the time? I think that if we are honest with ourselves, each of us must admit that we are complacent to some degree. Complacency is taking something for granted. When we take something for granted, we don’t think much about it or appreciate it. But we must not be complacent about God. God wants us to think about Him constantly. Through Moses God said, Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up (Deuteronomy 6:5-7). We should also be thankful for the gifts that God has given us; Psalm 107 says Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of His works with songs of joy.

Amos was sent to warn Israel that God was going to end their complacency by taking away the blessings He had given them and allow them to be conquered by the Assyrians. The people of Israel had taken God’s gifts for granted and gotten so comfortable that they had stopped paying attention to God. We face the same temptation. God has given us abundant blessings: an incredible selection of foods to purchase, good farmland, large homes, excellent health care, and an amazing variety of freedoms, including the freedom to worship God publicly. But as these blessings increase, it becomes easy to focus our attention on the gifts and forget about the One who gives them. When God’s gifts become so distracting that we no longer look to God, or when God’s blessings become so routine that we don’t see them as special anymore, God, in His wisdom, begins to take them away. This is because God loves us and wants us to join Him in heaven when we die. We cannot enter heaven if we don’t have a relationship with God; God will not have strangers at His eternal feast of fellowship. Speaking of heaven, Jesus said, Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, `Sir, open the door for us.' But he will answer, `I don't know you or where you come from' (Luke 13:24-25). Because God wants us to have a relationship with Him, He sent His Son Jesus to teach us about God and to forgive us for ignoring God. Only through Jesus can we know God; Jesus said, No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him (Matthew 11:27). Without forgiveness, we cannot be acceptable to God; Paul writes, Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God." Only Jesus can forgive our sins; Paul also writes, For [God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14). Jesus is able to forgive our sins because He has overcome them. God was ready to punish us for ignoring Him, but instead, out of love for us, He sent Jesus to take our punishment in our place. Jesus was willing to take our punishment because He loves us more than anything else. Jesus died under His Father’s punishment, but He returned to life to prove that God’s love for us is greater than the death our sins deserve. When we kneel in prayer with broken hearts and confess to Jesus that we’ve angered God, we can know for sure that Jesus forgives our sins. And when we know for sure that God accepts us back into His loving arms, we can’t help but be grateful for His undeserved mercy. It is when we feel this way that we truly trust in God; we are no longer taking Him for granted.

When we live our lives trusting in God and being thankful for His care, our whole attitude changes. When there is danger, we pray to God that He will protect us, those we love, and Christians everywhere. When another person is doing things that anger God, we go to that person with loving concern and explain why they need to repent. When we give money to support God’s Church, we pray that God would help us to give generously, just as He has given generously to us. When church elections come up, we thank God for this opportunity to serve Him and agree to being put on the ballot for a position. When we have free time, we gratefully take the opportunity to read two or three chapters in the Bible, or read a religious article in a magazine or on the Web. Most importantly, when we live our lives trusting in God, we pray to Him every day, admitting our sins, begging His forgiveness, and thanking Him for all the good gifts He continues to give us. We pray to God to help us make wise decisions about everything: where to work, where to live, where to go to church; who to be friends with, who to date, who to marry, how to spend our time, how to spend our money, how to patch up a damaged relationship. When we live our lives trusting in God’s care for us, we learn to be patient because we know that He will make good on His promises at just the right time, as Solomon said: Wait for the LORD, and He will deliver you (Proverbs 20:22).

If you are concerned that you have been complacent in your faith, take time today to pray for forgiveness. Pray "create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with Your free Spirit." When you are done praying, thank God that He forgives you, and thank Him for all the blessings which you did not deserve but He gave you anyway. Remember that God always loves you, even when you take Him for granted.

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