The Lion’s Roar
Amos 1:1-2, 5:14-15, 21-24
Focus: God is angered by injustice. God calls disciples to do justice and love kindness. It is a blessing to
I. God’s ROAR through Amos
Did you catch what God is doing in today’s reading? Amos, had a vision of God ROARING like a lion!
That’s not usually my image of God? A roaring lion? Maybe you’ve seen videos of lions in Kenya or Tanzania or even in a zoo anybody ever seen a real live lion? I remember, a few years ago, I was in a forest in northern India, when I saw a huge paw-print in the mud. It was fresh! It was probably from a Bengal Tiger, not a lion. But my friends nervously said, “let’s get back in the car. If we would have heard a ROAR…that would not have been comforting. That roar is meant to scare prey, to make them panic, and fumble, before the lion attacks.
Why is God roaring like a lion? If we look at Scripture, from beginning to end – we see God’s love, but we also hear God’s anger sometimes. This is one of those times. Perhaps nothing angers God more than injustice, and people dehumanizing other people.
In today’s lesson, we’re hearing through Amos. He wasn’t a biblical scholar or a professional holy man…he loved God. He’s a shepherd who received a message. That message was a vision of God ROARING, because people were being oppressed.
Most of this short book details the horrible sins of injustice that were done by nations neighboring Israel and also by Israel itself… committing injustice while saying “we are God’s people.”
One key example was inequity of wealth: a small elite in Israel controlling enormous wealth while masses suffered in poverty. Hear the words of Amos:
Amos 6:4-7:
“You lie on beds adorned 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.
Joseph, means your weaker brother who is poor. This kind of inequity made God furious…it made God ROAR.
Throughout this book we hear how Israel and neighboring countries were dehumanizing people. Amos lists: slavery and how people were being used and traded as slaves. He writes about legal corruption, designed to make the rich richer and cheat the poor.
None of this is OK with God. God has a different vision for humanity…a different vocation for human beings.
II. Love of Neighbor – God’s Design
In the very beginning – in Genesis 1-2, God gave humans a vocation. One of my favorite biblical scholars, N.T. Wright, explains it by comparing humans to a small mirror held at an angle. Our vocation is to reflect God’s love and wisdom downward into the whole world, and – at the same time – reflect all of creation’s grateful worship upward to God. That’s our vocation – to reflect God’s love and creation’s gratitude.
This was messed up when the first humans decided to disobey God. So, the first thing to notice is that sin is not just doing bad things, it’s actually a failure of vocation. Instead of reflecting God’s love into the world we turn into ourselves. And we think, my vocation is to take care of #1 (me).
In the Bible, we see that God chose Abraham and his many descendants as a way of restoring this vocation through Abraham’s family who would reveal God’s love to all nations.
From Abraham, to Moses, and through all the prophets, God is leading humanity back to this vocation – to reflect God’s love. Love includes equity…and that originates with God. God loves everybody and shares God’s abundance with everyone. But when people start grabbing and thinking selfishly – the vocation goes off track. When God’s people act unjustly, God ROARS!
That’s where we are as we hear Amos.
III. God’s ROAR today
What about today? Do you think God still ROARs today…? Are there ways we see injustice happening?
I believe there are many different perspectives listening today. Perhaps you don’t think there is any injustice to speak of, perhaps you are deeply aware of being treated with prejudice or unfairly yourself, or perhaps you see injustice and are committed to confronting it. Whoever you are today, Amos’ words are for you. God ROARS to wake us up still today, God’s ROAR is a ROAR of solidarity and change for all who are treated unfairly, and that ROAR is a call to all who follow Jesus – to rally us to pursue justice at all levels.
One of my relatives, the husband of my niece, is from Nicaragua and they live here in the United States. Mack, is his name. I love this guy. And over the past six months, twice he’s been harassed because, well, he looks like an immigrant. Once was at a gas station, when someone yelled at him to go home. Another time he was driving home from work and another driver, a white person, noticed him. They tried to run him off road. He hit the brakes and swerved onto the shoulder to avoid it.
Depending on who you are, you might resonate and say, I’ve had something like that happen to me. Some of you, are ready to cry out against this kind of prejudice or racism. And there may be some of us who really haven’t noticed this kind of thing before.
It’s easier to ignore injustice when it doesn’t seem to hurt you or the people you love
No matter what your political party, I think it may be easy to agree that millions of people going without food this week as SNAP provisions are interrupted, yet the ultra-rich are still lining their pockets…That’s injustice…and God ROARS.
When people are treated like they are “less” because of the color of their skin, or the clothes they choose, or the one they love… God ROARS.
IV. The Lion’s ROAR gives both fear and hope
The ROAR of God speaks God’s anger…but it also speaks hope.
In C.S. Lewis’s books about Narnia, the 2nd book, Prince Caspian, has a chapter called “The Lion Roars.”
With C. S. Lewis, we get a glimpse of what God’s ROAR looks like beyond what Amos saw. C. S. Lewis calls the lion, Aslan. Aslan has been gone a long time in this story, for hundreds of years. But people begin to get glimpses of Aslan as a group of children fight evil and oppressive forces in this strange land called Narnia.
The children are standing up for those who are oppressed. Ohh, but they get tired and scared…and they struggle against despair because evil is so strong…but occasionally they get a glimpse of Aslan …and it builds their courage…their faith that they are not alone.
Then at one decisive moment, Aslan ROARS. When he ROARS, it doesn’t destroy anything. His ROAR is an awakening:
The trees come to life.
The land breaks into song and dance.
Creation starts to laugh again.
There is a celebration like never before,
because Aslan has returned.
This sounds like what we read about in Isaiah 55, “all the trees of the field shall clap their hands”! And what is Isaiah pointing to? Isaiah is pointing to Jesus Christ and the fulfillment of what Amos and everyone had been waiting for…what Jesus called the Kingdom of Heaven.
With Jesus, there is still a mighty ROAR. Jesus did try to WAKE everyone up, he turned over the tables of money changers in the temple… he stood in solidarity with people at the margins – with prostitutes, immigrants, unorthodox followers, and people struggling to survive in poverty.
Jesus didn’t just tell us about justice – he showed us what that looks like. Jesus fulfilled the vocation of reflecting God’s love with equity and abundance to ALL PEOPLE.
And Jesus offered himself – as your greatest resource.
V. Are You Listening to the Roar?
We are in a critical moment. The Lion of Judah is not silent. He is ROARing loudly. Will you listen to that ROAR?
Perhaps, you and I may feel alone or frightened as we see injustice, and feel like we don’t know what to do. I stand here today:
To encourage you if you feel the brunt of injustice. Jesus not only knows your pain, but Jesus is ROARING in solidarity with you.
I stand here today to invite you to ASK WHY – ask about the causes of th e injustice you see and challenge those causes. In fact, you are not alone, child of God! This is your vocation, and when we stand against injustice and strive to bring equity to all, this is indeed God working through you and me. It’s a vital part of what Jesus taught us pray for when we pray, “Let your Will be on earth as it is in heaven.” We are praying for Jesus’ Justice.
RISE: This week, I visited the RISE EARLY Learning Center. In the face of a society that marginalizes many people, this church has been a big part of founding, continuing financial support, and volunteering at RISE. This is an incredibly wholesome day-care with all sorts of care, not only for children, but whole families – social services, community, a place to be respected and loved, no matter what your income or what challenges you are facing.
STEP: I got visit the St. Louis Park Emergency Program (STEP) as well this week. I saw people with great financial need, welcomed with respect and given the opportunity to shop for groceries and clothing for free. You partner to make this possible. At STEP there is even rent assistance, and all kinds of social services available to anyone – without a price. As a community, Vista Lutheran is focused on overcoming injustices of poverty in our neighborhood.
Thank you for what you are doing together as a community.
You’ve embraced what you’ve called, “Jesus’ Justice” as a strategic priority for this congregation. Together our prayers, our offerings, our time volunteering, our outreach to serve and welcome all people…these are critical responses to Amos’ call.
When you hear the roar of God’s anger, don’t ignore injustice or turn away. Know that God is present with you now, and act to let justice flow like an ever-flowing stream.
This is what God wants. Fear not, God will help you, God will help us today, as we seek justice in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Doug Cox