NOTES: 1]Read the Hebrew Bible in the light
of our understanding of God in Jesus.2]
Amos is one of the 'Twelve
Minor Prophets'. A sheep farmer (1:1) he was called to be a Prophet in
the mid 700s BC. He crusades against corruption, exploitation,
injustice, & insincerity. 3] Read
our passage in the light of vv.1-3, a vision of a basket of fruit,
& a likely reference to
Harvest Festival & the Hebrews being gathered like fruit from among
the nations. 4]
New moon (v.4) apparently put a stop to business as Sabbath did.
5] It's not obvious why the
reading ends at v.7 rather than v.8
WARMING UP: What's our
favourite fruit?
TREASURES OLD & NEW:
Identify God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
4-6 Can we see ready to hand
examples of 'trampling on the needy' & 'bringing to ruin the poor'
in our own society? With globalisation & its monopolies, has it
become harder to pin down this kind of thing? Should we see it more as
crime rather than simply immoral or reprehensible behaviour, or even
progress? How big a role does greed on someone's part play in what we
see happening to the poor & needy? Whatever causes the downfall of
the poor & needy, can we just pass it off as the government's
responsibility, or welfare organisations'? Are we still coming across
versions of the cheating practices Amos describes? Does his stand,
which is reflected in Jesus' life & ministry, give us cause to find
a response to poverty & need that's more than living hand in glove
with those who exploit others? Even if it makes us unpopular to say the
least?
Though we obviously need a strong economy, has our country become an
economy to the detriment of, & by undermining our being a society?
(An accusation often levelled against the Thatcher government of
Britain.) Will the current debate (in Western Australia) about shopping
hours & its eventual inevitable expansion of them, be likely to
benefit anyone other than the Big End of town? Is there any way we can
ensure the most vulnerable are at least cushioned from rising prices of
housing, basic commodities, & the like? Or is that not our
business? If not, whose business is it? If it's God's business, why
doesn't God step in & do something about it? Is there any point in
Amos or any other Prophet waving a big stick if God doesn't act &
act firmly? Or does the Gospel show God normally acts through us?
7-8 How good, how long is God's
memory? Or is He really too
nice to hold bad attitudes & actions against us? Do we ever feel,
or at least sense 'the land trembling' today because of the kind of
behaviour Amos rages against in his day? Or is it even more serious
that it doesn't? Do we ever feel the land 'mourning' because of bad
things happening to people? Or have we become too insensitive to have
such feelings. Even if we have them, what can we do, what do we need to
do about what's causing them? If we no longer believe God causes
natural disasters like those Amos refers to, surely God needs to do
something, anything, to stop the rot?! Might v.8 be understood as a
'long-bow' prophecy of what happens when Jesus dies on the cross for
all the world's sins, including those Amos is on about here, & we
need to be on about now?
