Many years ago Gordon MacDonald was asked about a public figure who was caught in an immoral mess. MacDonald, who knew something about messes in his own life, reportedly said, “This is the challenge for many Christians: they can sing Amazing Grace all morning and sin all evening.”
When the Northern and Southern Kingdoms divorced, Judah kept the city of Jerusalem and the temple. So Jeroboam set up places of worship in the Israelite capital of Samaria. They also had the ancient worship sites of Gilgal and Bethel (where God had come to Jacob). Even without the temple, the Israelites worshiped every week. They sang vigorously and offered their sacrifices. Then they took advantage of the poor in their business dealings. This was no problem from their point of view, but a big problem from God’s.
Amos, a Shepherd and Sycamore fig farmer in Judah did not volunteer to go and preach in rival Samaria. But when God tapped on his shoulder, he obeyed. Because he lived for an audience of One, Amos was not especially concerned about what the Israelites thought of him. So he told them the truth. “When you go to church, God is not there.” How rude! Amos told them that God did not share their taste in worship. He rejected their sacrifices and their songs because their worship did not change the way they lived.
As an alternative to perfunctory preaching and praying, Amos suggested that they seek the Lord. Instead of worrying about place and performance, he invited them to a transforming encounter with God.
In Israel today there are two types of rivers: wadis, dry riverbeds that have occasional violent flows, and the Jordan which rolled down as a perennial river. A flash flood came down a dry wadi and drowned archaeologists years ago. They are unpredictable and treacherous, like the Israelites’ devotion to God. God was not looking for sporadic righteousness but for true righteousness which resulted in consistent living. We will know that we have loved God with all of our lives in worship, when we love all of our neighbors as ourselves.
