“God is sovereign.” Have you heard that? What difference does God’s sovereignty make in our lives? To say God is sovereign is to recognize that he is both transcendent and immanent. He is above us and with us at the same time. God is in charge. As our children confess: “Jesus is the boss.” One thing is certain: because God is sovereign, we are not.
Amos came preaching, “The Sovereign Lord has spoken.” Why would Amos leave his figs and sheep in Judah to go and preach in Samaria, the capital of Israel? He obeyed the imperious summons of the Sovereign Lord. In Hebrew, Amos says, Yahweh our Adonai, “The Lord our Master.” The Lion has roared. Amos knew who was in charge. He did not tell God, “No.” Do we?
The people of Samaria stored up their wealth in their winter and summer houses adorned with ivory. They thought they were the masters of their own lives. Then Amos showed up and described how God would punish their sin and hold them accountable. But it was not all doom for Israel. Amos envisioned a remnant like part of a sheep rescued from a lion, or like the head of a bed or piece of fabric. Israel would lose much, but God would not lose all of Israel.
Our Sovereign Lord roars today. He does as he pleases. God is not our pet lion. As Lewis puts it in the Chronicles of Narnia, “He is not safe. But he is good.” The Sovereign Lord can redeem our messy lives. He reserves to himself a righteous remnant of people who seek his face. We want to be in that group. Are we?
