Third Wednesday in Lent

One of the joys of being your Pastor is the privilege of being around so many children almost every day. They all have the unique personalities, and yet they are all a joy to be around.

But though their personalities are unique, they all share one common characteristic. Self. We see this played out in language like, “I want”, “give me”, “mine”. Self-centeredness and its root, covetousness, is the characteristic, and this we inherited from our first parents Adam and Eve.

Luke chapter 12, Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool. He produced a plentiful crop, and thought to himself, “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” And he said, “I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and goods.”

This is a man is self-centered, curved in on himself. He has only one person to please—with no concern for anyone else—and that is himself.

This self-centeredness is at the heart of our text this evening in Amos chapter 6.

So, what is going on?

The Setting

The grammar suggest that people had gathered for a funeral, and not just any gathering of people. These were the dignitaries from both Judah and Israel. And so, Amos takes to task these “notable men of the first of the nations,” also known as “the distinguished people of the leading nation, to whom the house of Israel comes.” He pronounces another “Woe” to this crème de la crème of society, for their pampered prosperity and boisterous banquets? Why, because they did it all without any regard for the cries of the poor.

Amos’ first item demonstrating that these “movers and shakers” have way more than they need is illustrated by their “ivory beds” (Amos 6:4). These status symbols have been uncovered over the years by archaeologists in an excavation of the city of Samaria. They found truckloads of ivory, which also confirms Amos’s earlier words about “ivory houses” (Amos 3:15).

Next, Amos rebukes them for eating the choicest meat. For the average citizen, meat was probably consumed only three times a year at the major festivals (cf. Deuteronomy 12:17–18). These “notable men” eat it like it is going out of style. They are truly thinking only of themselves.

The privileged classes in Zion and Samaria were living the high life, just like kings. In fact, in Amos 6:5, the prophet points out that these partygoers considered themselves to be as pious and godly as King David. What a farce!

David did create many songs (2 Samuel 23:1), but these were songs to glorify the Lord (1 Samuel 16:16, 23) and were matched by his righteousness and justice for all people (2 Samuel 8:15). Israel’s leaders were living a lie; they were as far away from David’s piety as possible.

In Amos 6:6, the prophet moves from discussing lounging, eating, and musical-merry-making to describing the people’s excessive drinking. A modern analogy might put it this way: these partiers were forgoing cups and drinking straight from the bottle. But these guys were drinking from the sacred bowls that were only used for the Divine Service.

We heard in the Epistle reading a couple weeks ago, Philippians 3:19 “Their end is destruction, their god is their appetite, and their glory is in their shame. They are thinking only about earthly things.”

They did not serve God; they fed their own appetites—their bellies (Romans 16:18).

Those who were part of the choicest of nations (see Amos 6:1) were also anointing themselves with the choicest of oils. Evidence that they are not grieved over what is happening to their people is the fact that they are anointing themselves with oil. 2 Sam 14:2 indicates that the custom of anointing was to be suspended in time of mourning.

In the midst of their “party hardy” atmosphere the leaders remained oblivious to the ruin of their nation. So Amos dropped the bombshell. They were “not grieved over the ruin of Joseph” (Amos 6:6). That’s what the phrase, “not grieved over the ruin of Joseph” refers to. In other words, they didn’t give two hoots and a hollar over what was happening to people.

To be sure, they were “curved in on themselves.”

Incurvatus

The prophet describes Joseph’s ruin in Amos 4:6–11, as well as in the military defeats depicted in Amos 5:3; 6:9–10.

Amos 4:6–11 NKJV

6 “Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities. And lack of bread in all your places; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord. 7 “I also withheld rain from you, When there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, And where it did not rain the part withered. 8 So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, But they were not satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord. 9 “I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased, Your vineyards, Your fig trees, And your olive trees, The locust devoured them; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord. 10 “I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt; Your young men I killed with a sword, Along with your captive horses; I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord. 11 “I overthrew some of you, As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord.

These catastrophes impacted the impoverished people in significant ways. But the people most responsible, the upper-class of people, were apathetic to the entire mess. They acted as though nothing had happened. Their attitude was, “The poor we will always have with us. What’s the big deal?” It was business—in this case party business—as usual. They refused to repent (Amos 4:6–11).

So why does Amos call the down-and-outs “Joseph”?

You remember the story; we talked about him a few weeks ago. Joseph was his father’s favorite, but his brothers despised him. His dad gave him a coat of many colors, but his brothers ripped it off and sold Joseph to some Midianites coming from Gilead on their way to Egypt (Genesis 37:19–28).

Joseph went to work for Potiphar, a high-ranking Egyptian official, and ended up in charge of everything. Genesis 39:6 says of him, “Now Joseph was well-built and handsome.” So Potiphar’s wife says, “Come to bed with me” (39:7). But Joseph responds, “How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (39:9). This scorned woman then goes for Joseph’s jugular. And since there was no one to plead his case, Joseph was condemned (39:20).

While in prison, he and Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer made arrangements to bust out. The cupbearer was freed but forgot about Joseph for two years (ch 40). Then Pharaoh had two dreams that no one could interpret until the cupbearer remembered Joseph (ch 41). Through it all, twenty-three years to be exact, Joseph finally became second in charge over Egypt.

It is fitting, then, that Amos speaks of “Joseph’s ruin” because it was Joseph who cried out in distress when his brothers threw him in the pit (Genesis 42:21). While Joseph wept, his brothers sat down and ate a meal (37:25). In like manner, Israel’s leaders were too busy lounging on couches, enjoying their food and drink, and strumming away on their musical instruments to care about “the ruin of Joseph.” They “ate, drank, and were merry” much like Joseph’s brothers when they cast him into the pit.

“Joseph,” therefore, symbolizes the poor and oppressed people throughout the book of Amos (e.g., Amos 2:6, 7; 4:1; 5:11; 8:4) who were, together with the elite, in the same family called Israel. The Lord rescued the nation so that, among other things, it could be a community of brothers.

Jesus tells a parable about an affluent man, who wore only the best clothing and consumed only the finest food (Luke 16:19–31). Outside the door of his home lay a man named Lazarus, who was hungry and poor. The rich man did not persecute Lazarus, nor did he drive him away. He was simply indifferent to him. The leaders of Amos’s day exhibited a similar attitude. They ignored God’s call for justice and righteousness and instead mouthed pious words about religion (cf. Amos 4:4–5; James 2:16).

Frank Layden, the former coach of the Utah Jazz in the seventies, once had problems with a basketball player. He summoned the player into his office. Looking him in the eye, the coach finally asked, “Son, I can’t understand it with you. Is it ignorance or apathy?” The player responded, “Coach, I don’t know, and I don’t care!”

Far too often ignorance and apathy describe our lives. We see wrecked and ruined people, and if don’t say in so many words, our actions do: “I don’t know, and I don’t care!”

Recently there was a young woman who was murdered in a New York while over a couple dozen neighbors watched from their windows. During the course of the assault, no one even telephoned the police. Investigators have uncovered some surprising facts. Interviews revealed that they were not totally indifferent. The main reason nobody did anything was that each person thought someone else would take the initiative to get help.

As Brother Matt Markham masterfully wrote in this weeks devotion, we are “curved in on ourselves” — Homo Incürvãtus in se

The serpent told Eve in the Garden of Eden that if she ate she would be like God, knowing good and evil. And she did, and so she is!

And that is exactly what happened. She is now curved in on herself, and has no one to call out to, no one to trust in for she has become like a god and she can only look to herself, worship herself and trust in herself – she is alone. Genesis 3:16 part of the curse she must bear because of being curved in on herself—“Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

homo incürvãtus in se as Luther said, – this is the heart of bondage. We are not forced unwillingly to do something we do not want to do. The fact is, this is who we are from the moment of conception. This we inherited from our first parents. The reality is, we now do what we want! We are our own gods. There are no need for shackles hauling us off into prison, because we make our prison exactly as we want it, we decorate the walls and arrange the furniture believing we are free in our curved in life. The nature of our bondage is simply this, we are bound to do what we want!

Lord, have mercy.

The Cure

Forgiveness through Christ

The solution to ignorance, apathy, homo incürvãtus in se, comes in one who was treated just like Joseph.

He was also despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering (Isaiah 53:3).

Jesus our Lord was mocked by the crowd, betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, forsaken by his disciples, unjustly accused in a kangaroo court, sentenced to death by a weak-willed Roman governor, crowned with thorns by those who spat upon Him, and scourged by muscle-men just short of death.

Christ’s love is the exact opposite of the partygoers described by Amos.

Instead of indifference, in Baptism our Savior pours grace upon us.

Instead of neglect, in His holy Supper He gives us a foretaste of heaven.

Instead of unconcern, through the Gospel we share His victory.

Instead of divine apathy, (shout it out) we are redeemed in the blood of the Lamb!

Empowerment through Christ—Our Savior’s love empowers us to gain the victory over apathy, unconcern and homo incürvãtus in se.

We not only grieve over Joseph’s ruin, we will attend to the hurting people in our world.

Indeed, motivated by Christ’s love, we care for those among us who are the least, the lost, and the last!