Sermon at First Presbyterian
Church Lockhart
by James Greene
In today’s sermon we will illustrate
and discus righteous service and
silence of those who put their
trust in God. We see in the texts the dynamics of who we
are and whose we are
in our service and our silence.
In Amos we see again, God’s
irony in a concrete interpretation
by the prophet on the question when God asks Amos “what does he see?”
– “A basket of fruit”. He is truly an Aggie at heart. It is like the old question: “Who is buried in Grant’s Tomb?” Yet God turns it into an allegory upon the nation of
Amos’ prophetic call “on that Day, declares the Sovereign Lord” paints a picture of the suffering of the people, in their actions. They were “doing away with the poor, buying the poor with silver, and selling the sweepings with the wheat. Amos is an illustration of a culture that has lost its moral center and its values.
It reminds me
of Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle, where nothing was
wasted in the
We face the same problems today. Just as in Amos’ day, the Lord doesn’t
forget how the powerful oppress the poor. We know that someday, Justice will be accomplished.
In the prophesy of Amos, Justice will be served up to
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Like being patriotic in
the ‘70’s, it is politically incorrect to mention God,
and God’s standards for our
culture. Praying in public, like a restaurant, places us outside of the modern culture. There is a drying up of the Words of the Lord in our culture,
like that of ancient
In
Psalm 52, the statement before
the psalm: “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.” is referring to when David was fleeing from Saul. He went to the priest Ahimelech and
with misleading intentions asked Ahimelech
for Goliath’s sword, and one of the oracles of Yahweh.
Doeg (one of Saul’s chief
herdsman) reported this helping
David to Saul. Saul then ordered the death of
the priest, but the guards
refused to kill the unarmed men. Saul’s servant Doeg executes 85 defenseless
priests, eliminating the house of Ahimelech. Doeg is serving the wrong power. He forgot
the commandments of God to love
his neighbor. This is illustrated in the Psalm.
Example - Unrighteous Service
We
see the mighty man who boasts
about evil, and plot destruction
with deceptive talk. We see, how they
love evil, falsehood, and harmful words. They have forgotten
the standard of behavior for the
people of God. They have forgotten there is
accountability for who they serve and how they served God’s people.
I
have seen managers that brag
and boast,
how they terminated people and forced
them out of a company. They
would discuss how they set people
up to fail, just so they
could demote them, or get rid of them, just because
they had the power to do it.
They
forgot, there is a standard, and that their power
was not a measure of their success.
They
forgot that their position - required
their responsibility.
They
forgot that they were to serve God’s
people.
They
thought, God’s
people should be served ‘well done’, instead of with a heart
of compassion and tenderness.
All
of this waste
was done because of one person,
(like a Saul), or one organization, (like a Chief
herdsman) that had the power to do it.
But
also
in the Psalm we see faith in God’s justice:
that “surely God will bring you
down” to the man who did not make God his stronghold. The phrase “tear you from your tent” is not only a physical description of bringing them to justice, but also
the illusion
of pulling your soul, out
of your mortal body.
In
Corinthians 5:1 Paul describes the mortal body as a tent, we see how
graphicly, this illustrates how the end of the wicked will come upon them.
The Psalmist trusts in God’s unfailing
love and will praise Him forever. He will
praise God in the presence of his saints. He serves The Lord, in his actions
and faith.
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As
the people of God we are called
to righteous
service. We must reflect the qualities of God’s character, and the Christ we follow. We
are called to speak out and not be silent, for the weak, the needy, and
those being oppressed.
In Colossians, is the description of the supremacy of Christ. It illustrates of how he is the first and the last of all creation. He is the image of the invisible
God, and the first born of all
creation. He is the living example of what is to be in God’s will and to be God’s standard for all people. He has supremacy
over all
kingdoms, powers, rulers,
heaven and earth; of everything
visible and invisible. He is the head of the body – the
Church. He is the first born from the dead. The first to rise, that he may have rule over all creation. Christ has come as the one who reconciles this willful and sinful world to God.
It is through his death,
that He is able to present all of us holy in the sight of God. He is the full expression of what it is to be in God. The expression of this text, is seen as, the outline for the Nicene Creed. It is the outline of our call to righteous service.
Paul reminds us of the awesomeness of God, so that we
remember, who we are –part of the
creation, and whose we are
– (a Child) -
of the God of the universe.
It is also our call to serve in
righteousness, as God’s example and God’s work in the
world. It is in Christ working through us
in service to
those around us in
righteousness:
the church, the stranger, and
the neighbor. We are to be the
example to all (of what it is) to be in, and serve in, God’s Will.
In Luke, Jesus is at
the house of Martha, with Mary in
Martha’s anxiety over
chores causes her to miss the
most important thing: the silence in listening and fellowship with
the Lord. She tries to give Christ orders to make her sister help in her service. Jesus, in his love, demonstrates that both the service and the silence are important for us.
Mary’s tranquil actions of listening,
is part of her worship of the
Lord. She has taken time to be still and be silent, before the Lord, to hear what he is saying.
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She has stopped in her silence to focus and to listen.
Jesus has come teaching
all.
He is open to all. This example of Martha and Mary is about spending our time, both in righteous service of doing, and in the righteous silence of listening. Both actions are important, but hearing Him part is better.
Our righteous service in our work is to reflect the
character of our creator.
Just
as Amos points out that we
are called to righteous service, and there is a standard of behavior that is
required of God’s
people. We are called to live into that standard. We are called to be the shield for the weak, the needy, and
the poor. We are to stand up to defend
them, and not use them
like products. God requires that of us, and our society, as the people of God. In
our service to
and for
each other, we are called to love one another. In our
society today there is a famine and
a drought of The Word of God, and God’s
standard.
Psalm 52 points out that we are called to the righteous standard in our service. We are to make God
our stronghold, and trust in truth , in goodness, and guard our words, because
we serve a righteous
God.
In our work and our faith we are both working for and listening to the Lord. Sometimes before we can serve or do, we must take the
time to listen and hear what God is saying. Silence before God prepares us for the work to serve God, and God’s
people.
It is in our focus upon God
that we do not loose sight of God’s standard
of how we are to love one another. It is in silence that we
may hear what Jesus is
teaching and he calls us into righteous service so that we may fulfill the Will of the creator…
In the Name of … the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. Amen
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