July 21 “A Basket of Summer Fruit” 8: 1-12

It’s been so hot this past week that it reminded me I haven’t preached a sermon on hellfire and brimstone in awhile, namely the idea of God’s judgment. Well, our Scripture lesson from the Amos for today gives me an opportunity to do just that. Amos preached to the northern Kingdom of in the 8th century before Christ just before that region fell to Assyrian conquest.

Many of us are familiar with Amos’ famous vision of the plumbline given in Chapter 7 to indicate that Israel was so out of sync with God’s purposes that it was doomed to fall. Now in Chapter 8 that vision comes to fulfillment. Chapter 8 begins with a vision of a basket of summer fruit. Here is where our English translations of Scripture often don’t convey the full meaning. You see, in Hebrew the word for a basket of summer fruit is extremely similar to the word for judgment.

Normally in Israel a basket of summer fruit at the end of a long dry harvest would be the moment when God’s people anticipate the coming autumn rains with their promise of renewal. Not so, declares Amos. This is not the end of a season but the end of Israel.

And what did Amos say was bringing about this judgment from God? The balance of the passage tells us that persons were exploiting and cheating others economically with unbalanced scales, selling the sweepings of the wheat and not the pure and healthy grain, and making money for new sandals off the poor who owned none. What God wants from people is justice in their relationships with one another. Sin is not a failure to worship in the right way. It is a failure to do what is ethically and morally right in daily living.

When the talks about the anger or wrath of God it is not talking about an irrational or irresponsible action on the part of God. God’s wrath is the tremendous aversion to sin which is part of God’s character. It is intense anger against the sin and great forebearance unto the sinner.

These aren’t irrational words. They are from a God who loves and cares deeply about all people. And when one of them…just one of them…is abused or exploited, mistreated or ignored, just one…it is so painful that God must, even for a moment, turn away.

Amos could see the day coming when people who had ignored the word of God would no longer be able to find it. People would become hungry and thirsty for the word so that their lips would crack and they would become frail and feeble like a person wandering in the desert looking for an oasis containing water. But Amos said they would not be able to find it. The northern kingdom of Israel did fall to the Assyrians, but not the southern kingdom of Judah. And since the nearly 3000 years when Amos lived we now know that God is never absent. When people stray from divine intentions and purpose God does not abandon them. God allows judgment to occur and work itself out. But God continues to try and bring the word into the world by all who dare to proclaim it.

When God’s grace exposes distortions in our existence it can be seen as God’s judgment. For grace and judgment are like obverse and reverse sides of the same act. Judgment is a king of sifting where the distortions of evil are brought to defeat and dissolution.

We as a church are called to proclaim the Good News of God’s saving grace in Jesus Christ and extend that beyond ourselves to our world. The church must forever be in reformation and renewal if it is truly empowered by the spirit of the living Christ. We must always be passionate about this effort. Remember the letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea from the book of Revelation? “Because you are lukewarm, and are neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” You see, when our memories overpower our dreams and visions, we’ve had it. That’s why our participation in the Fruitful Congregation Journey is so important for revival and renewal here at Dunlap. It is so we can build upon what we do well and take that to another level, recovering our zeal and passion for Christ.

Bruce Hill recently sent me a memo of an article he found recently. I want to share it with you. The article says, “I read a survey recently that found there are about 120 million church members in America today. Now when I see statistics like that, I wonder why so many church members are making so little impact upon the spiritual and moral climate of our nation. We’re told there are thousands of church members, and yet thousands and thousands of churches have pews that are empty. Not only that, but there’s very little activity in churches as well. Members are not giving their time, effort, or money. Most of them simply show up once a week, are spiritually spoon fed, and go about their lives with very little life change.

This is a very real problem in our culture today, one that if not remedied, is going to result in the downfall of the place of the church in American society. People are going to grow tired of just getting up on Sunday for another show. And pastors are going to grow weary of trying to beg and plead their congregation to get with it.

Churches are filled with members who’ve made a decision about Jesus but have never made a commitment to Jesus. It’s time for a change. Start a movement of commitment in your church to serve and proclaim Christ. Lift up Christ and the church will follow. Put Christ first in your local community of faith and your church will grow and come alive like never before.” End of article.

Wow! That’s powerful stuff. Now I’m glad for all the dedication and commitment of our Vacation Bible School helpers, I’m thankful for those here at Dunlap who are contributing financially to the projector, sound, roof, and other needs. And our treasurer wants me to remind you that our Good Samaritan fund is low. This is the fund we use to give $15 gas a maximum of twice a calendar year to those who are in need. We photocopy their driver’s license and record their names. I am deeply appreciative for your support of these ministries. But what we need to learn to do is to discover how better to reach out with Christ unto others not only to invite them to the joy of Christian discipleship but also to broaden our own base of financial and volunteer participation.

For many persons the church is a building or location. More positively, the church is the people of faith. But what if we thought of the church not as a building or a people but as what we do…..churching. In the Bible there really is not such word as our English noun faith….there is only the context of being faithful, implying action and commitment. Perhaps God’s judgment upon us here at Dunlap and upon all churches today is to ask, “Do you believe in Jesus, or are you committed to Jesus, and do you know the difference?”