When we got to the opposing team’s school a couple hours before game time it was silence from the time you exited the bus till the time the whole team gathered in the locker room facing the coaches. As we faced the coaches about to go onto the field for the first time the coaches were trying to do one thing and one thing only; they were trying to get us fired up. They would have some sort of prepared motivational talk. At times they would tell us a story about why we should really hate this team. They lied about us, or their coach said something nasty in the newspaper, etc. Each of our 4 or 5 coaches would get their say and then came the 3 captains turn to talk.
When the captains talked you really listened. These guys were the best players on the team. They were the ones you were going to follow on the field. They were the ones representing the rest of the team. And the captains also knew that goal of the pre-game talk was to get us pumped up. And so by the time we left that locker room after hearing both the coaches and the captains talk we were like foaming at the mouth. I mean we were ready to tear the doors off the hinges! And as I look back on those experiences I think, “Man it was football not war, what was wrong with us???”
So what does that have to do with Amos? Well in the first chapter of Amos Amos appears to be using his oratory skills to get his own little pep rally going. He seems to be getting them fired up. You can feel it. Listen to the momentum building speech of Amos 1:3ff:
“This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not relent. Because she threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth…This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Gaza, even for four, I will not relent. Because she took captive whole communities and sold them to Edom…This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Tyre, even for four, I will not relent. Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom, disregarding a treaty of brotherhood…This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Edom, even for four, I will not relent. Because he pursued his brother with a sword and slaughtered the women of the land…This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Ammon, even for four, I will not relent. Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to extend his borders…This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Moab, even for four, I will not relent. Because he burned to ashes the bones of Edom’s king…”
You can feel the momentum building as the Bethel crowd cheers Amos on. They love it. Amos is the prophet who speaks what the people want to hear. 7 nations which Israel has a few things against are getting verbally thrashed by Amos. You can hear the crowd yelling, "Go Amos! Go Amos!"
And then Amos gets a little closer to home...
“This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Judah, even for four, I will not relent. Because they have rejected the law of the LORD and have not kept his decrees…” (Amos 2:4).
You can envision the people quieting a little as they think to themselves, “Woa, he’s getting a little close to home. I guess our brothers haven’t been very good down there.”
Then comes the final words from the captains. This is the point in the pregame pep talk where you are supposed to charge out of the locker room ready to make war. Here it is:
"This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent. They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name. They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines” (Amos 2:6-8).
Nobody is cheering anymore. No one leaves the locker room on this day. There is an enemy within that poses a stronger battle that must be dealt with first. The rest of the book of Amos, the next 7 chapters, deal exclusively with the sins of Israel.
There is something terribly energizing about pointing the finger, is there not? One of the things that hinders our spiritual growth immensely, I have discovered, is pointing the finger at others around us when we ourselves have our own list of un-repented sins.
How many times have you said,
- “If it hadn’t been for my parents things would be different in my life”
- “If my brother had not did what he did I wouldn’t have these problems”
- "If it wasn’t for my boss my job wouldn’t be so horrible”
- “If it wasn’t for the Governor, life in NJ wouldn’t be so bad
- “If my wife was a good wife I wouldn’t struggle with sexual addiction
- “If my husband would actually be the spiritual leader of our family I could really grow spiritually"
- “If my uncle had not abused me as a child I wouldn’t be so messed up today”
- “If it wasn’t for the incompetent lawyer I would not have had to spend any time behind bars”
Off we going pointing the finger at everyone around us.
Don’t get me wrong; I understand that people have hurt you and some have hurt you really bad. I understand that what they did to you was not right. And Amos is not saying that Israel’s neighbors were right either. They all did wrong and would eventually face justice. But Amos’ message to God's people is this: “If you want to grow spiritually, if you really want to be God’s people you need to take a deep look at yourself before you point the finger at anyone else.”
