September 30, 2010

"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! 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, 3-7)

Joseph P. Kennedy fathered not only the 35th President of the United States of America, but he also fathered the phrase, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going." When the going gets tough for a Christian however, they don't need to get tough, they just need to get going to the Lord. The Lord told the apostle Paul that "[God's] power is made perfect in weakness," and that "[God's] grace is sufficient for [him]," (2 Corinthians 12:9). It often takes a tough situation to revitalize the spiritual life of a Christian - to get them to remember the words from the song Jesus Loves Me, "[we are] weak but He is strong."

But what about when the going gets easy, then what happens?

Whenever we dig into a warning by one of the Old Testament prophets and attempt to apply it to our lives today, we must remember exactly who the prophet's audience was. Amos's audience here, the nation of Israel, was a nation of the world, but they were also God's chosen nation - his chosen people of the Old Testament. Today, in New Testament times, there is not a single world nation that makes up God's chosen people, rather those from every nation who belong to God are part of the New Testament nation of God's chosen people. "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (I Peter 2:9) We who are a part of the "holy nation" that live here in America in the 21st century also happen to be living in a world nation where the going has gotten easy. The Israelites that Amos was warning here had an easy going existence and yet if we were to look back to the way that people in America lived, say a generation or two before our current generation, we would likely find a lifestyle that was even more easy going than that of the Israelites of Amos's time. Now compare how we as Americans live today with how those from a generation past lived - those who had to walk five miles to school, in a foot of snow, uphill both ways. Lifestyles are only getting more and more cushy and comfy - the going is easy indeed. The warning here from Amos is that when the going gets easy, we who are a "people belonging to God" shouldn't allow the luxuries of the easy-going lifestyle to consume us.

"Woe to you who are complacent in Zion" The definition of complacent is: "contented to a fault; self-satisfied and unconcerned." When the going gets easy, are the comforts of the luxuries in our lives causing us to become content to a fault - content to the point where our luxuries are getting in the way of being concerned with God's commands? "You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches," We as Americans lie on "sleep-number" beds and lounge around on wrap-around sectionals - we even have "easy" chairs. Do we ever find that we are so content lounging around on our couches that we become unconcerned with making the effort to attend a Bible study? "You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves." We as Americans have buffet restaurants where there are not only 6 or 7 ore more different meat choices, but also what seems like hundreds of different side dishes. Do we ever find that it's the third time this week that we are eating out at a restaurant and it has been forever since we have thought about the needs of those around us who are hungry and truly needy in other ways? "You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments." We as Americans have ipods and video games and home entertainment systems. Do we ever find that we have a hard time finding time to get into God's Word and at the same time we have 3 or 4 television programs every night that we are hooked on, that we just can't miss? "You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions." We as Americans have wine racks filled with wine bottles and stores in shopping malls dedicated exclusively to fine lotions. Do we ever find ourselves clouding our minds with alcohol when we could be spending that time either meditating on or sharing God's Word? Do we ever spend more money in a month on "health and beauty aids" and trips to the salon than we set aside for the Lord's work? Jesus tells us to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40) Are we so concerned with pleasing ourselves with the luxuries in our easy-going lifestyle that we are content to a fault - oblivious to the point where our contentedness is at the expense of loving others and loving God?

"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?" Things change, and cities and nations that had it easy one day, suddenly have it easy no more. Some think the day is coming soon - someday people will likely be talking about the "once great nation of America." When the going gets easy, remember that this can change. The obvious example would be Job. Job had it all one day and then God took it all away from him, but whether the going got tough or the going got easy, Job's focus was not on himself, but on the glory of the LORD. Job had it right when he said, "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." (Job 1:21) Paul also experienced both sides of that coin, he writes, "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." (Phillipans 4:12) The secret of being content, especially when the going gets easy, doesn't lie in what we have or don't have, but in who we have and who has us. We have a Savior - Jesus Christ and we are his. This is the Christian's true source of contentment, "But godliness with contentment is great gain." (I Timothy 6:6)

When the going gets easy, it's easy to let the "easy" get the best of us. There's not a whole lot of Gospel in this passage form Amos - he gets to that later in his book, (take time to read through Amos and you will find a few choice Gospel morsels), but we know the rest of the story. The prophet's predictions were right - Israel was exiled, but there was a remnant who returned, and from that remnant came our Savior who left the luxuries of heaven - luxuries that would make our luxuries look third rate - to take care of all the times when we put ourselves and our own selfish desires ahead of loving others and ahead of loving God himself. God loved us enough to create a plan of Salvation and Jesus loved us enough to follow the plan. What more motivation do we need to listen carefully to the warning of Amos and to follow the advice Paul offered his letter to the Corinthians? "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (I Corinthians 10:12)