4 Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the
land, 5 saying, “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and
the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?” — skimping the measure, boosting
the price and cheating with dishonest scales, 6 buying the poor with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat.
7 The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they
have done.
- Amos 8:4-7, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Publishing House) 1984.
In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:
When Christians use the term, "stewardship," we normally think of it as a good thing. God calls us to be good stewards of the material and spiritual blessings he gives us. Our congregation even has a Board of Stewardship. This board’s purpose is to teach and encourage members to use all of their gifts to serve the Lord.
But stewardship can also be a negative term. Think of it this way. Everyone has gifts, but not everyone uses those gifts wisely. Everyone is a steward, but not necessarily everyone is a good steward. In the Bible, God gives us examples of both.
On the positive side, Abel was a good steward. God blessed his work in the fields. And in response to God’s generosity, Abel offered up some of the fat portions from the firstborn of his flocks (Genesis 4).
The poor widow in the temple courts was a good steward. As far as dollars and cents go, she gave very little (the equivalent of a couple pennies). Yet Jesus praised her for her generosity because she gave all that she had (Luke 21).
The Good Samaritan was a good steward. Not only did he use his own money to help a man he didn’t even know. He also gave freely of his time by bandaging the man’s wounds, taking him to an inn and caring for him in his time of need (Luke 10).
On the other side, Cain was a poor steward. Like his brother Abel, Cain brought an offering to the Lord. But the offering itself was not enough. The Lord was not pleased with Cain’s sacrifice because it did not come from a heart of faith (Genesis 4).
The Rich Fool was a poor steward. He built huge barns to store his grain so that he could enjoy a long and carefree retirement. The rich man was a good planner, but he forgot one very important thing. His wealth and his health were gifts from God, not things that he could control. And he was able to take none of it with him when he died (Luke 12).
Why do I bring up all of these examples? God doesn’t need our help. God doesn’t need our money. Still, he wants to include us in his soul-saving work. For the Christian, then, stewardship is a privilege. But we can’t ignore the fact that people don’t always see it that way. We are not always good stewards. We can be ungrateful. We can be selfish. We can be greedy.
In the Old Testament lesson for this week and next, the prophet Amos approaches the subject from this angle. Today we begin a two part series in which Amos uses the example of Israel to teach us...
Lessons About Stewardship
I. Attitudes
II. Actions
Amos was a prophet of the Lord who lived about 750 years before the birth of Jesus and about 250 years after the nation of Israel had been divided. For the most part, Amos did his work in the northern kingdom.
Politically speaking, things were good in the north. It was a time of peace and even a time when Israel was expanding its borders. Economically speaking, things were even better. Amos lived in a country that was growing rapidly through trade and commerce. The country was enjoying unprecedented levels of wealth and prosperity.
Spiritually speaking, things couldn’t get much worse. Even though the economy was booming, not everyone was sharing in the good times. Even though some people had been blessed with tremendous wealth, they did not acknowledge the Lord as the source of these blessings.
The words of Amos that serve as our text were not directed at every single person in Israel. He had a specific audience in mind. He was talking to the merchants, the beneficiaries of these good times. Amos didn’t mince words in order to get their attention: "Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land" (4).
These people should have been among the most thankful people in Israel. Above everyone, their attitude should have been one of gratitude. And because they had the financial means, they should have been the first ones to reach out to help their less fortunate countrymen. But they didn’t. In fact, they did the opposite. They trampled on the needy. They used and abused the poor to make themselves rich.
There was no excuse for this kind of treatment of fellow human beings, but their attitude toward God revealed just how corrupt they had become. As part of Israel’s worship, God established the Sabbath, a day of rest dedicated to the Lord. On that day, there was to be no work and no business hours. The Sabbath gave the children of Israel one day a week to worship God and reflect on God’s blessings.
But not everyone saw it that way. Some people thought to themselves: "When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat" (5a)? In their minds, time set aside for worship was not an opportunity to thank God. It was wasted time, precious time when business could not be transacted, time when money was not being made. And it could not be over soon enough. Amos harshly criticized the guilty for this kind of attitude. They showed no regard for other people. They showed no respect for God and his Word.
What does this have to do with us? How do the sins committed by people almost 3,000 years ago apply to us today? The key is to remember that Amos was talking to people, sinful people, real people like you and me.
Maybe we don’t "trample" on the poor, but do we always treat other people with Christian care and concern? Do we look for opportunities to help the less fortunate? Or do we leave that up to the government? Or do we think to ourselves that those people are responsible for their lot in life?
Maybe we don’t say out loud that our worship of God and our service to God interfere with the things we really want to do, but have you ever looked at your watch anxiously in church wondering if you be able to beat the brunch rush or if you would make it home in time for kickoff?
The degree of the sin may be different, but the sin is the same. When it comes to the use of the gifts God gives us, our attitude cannot always be held up as a model for others to follow. And sometimes sinful attitudes lead to sinful actions.
One word Amos could have used to accurately describe the business climate in Israel is dishonest. Amos condemns them for "...skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales" (5b).
This is one place where it is helpful to look at the original Hebrew. Literally, Amos was accusing them of "making the ephah smaller, making the shekel larger, and making crooked the scales of deceit." Not only were the merchants measuring out less than the full amount, not only were they charging more than a fair price for their goods, but they were even tipping the scales in their favor.
And if their dishonesty was not enough, their business practices were also ruthless. Amos continues: "buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat" (6). In order to make more for themselves, they were willing to make people their slaves. They refused to forgive even the smallest of debts. And on top of everything else, they were knowingly selling the worthless chaff along with the wheat.
How could people be so ruthless? How could people be so selfish? How could people be so cruel? One explanation might be that Amos lived in a less civilized society than we do. There were no standards of measurement. There was no rule of law. The prevailing philosophy of the day was "Live and let live." Therefore, these abuses shouldn’t surprise us.
But in the 21st century, in a civilized society, we are kinder. We are gentler. We are more compassionate. Our government offers programs to help people in need. And we have laws in place to insure that business is conducted in a fair and honest manner.
But the sins have not gone away. In the wake of the September 11th tragedy, we have seen the best of mankind, amazing stories of bravery and courage. But we have also seen the worst of mankind, even within our own borders. Not long after the attack, it was reported that people were looting the World Trade Center. In a matter of days, scam artists were soliciting donations for bogus charities to take advantage of well-meaning citizens.
But we are God’s children. We are kinder. We are gentler. We are more compassionate. We give to the Lord. We give to others. But the stains of sin remain. If we have ever fudged on our taxes, if we have ever cheated on a test, if we have ever taken advantage of another human being, then Amos is pointing his accusing finger at us.
And what is God’s response to our actions? He swears: "I will never forget anything they have done" (7). Not exactly the most comforting thought, is it? How would you feel if you were standing before God and he brought out a list of everything you had ever done? Every sin? Every failure? Every imperfection?
You might be thinking to yourself: "OK, I get it. I know that I am a sinner. I know that I have not always been a good steward. I know that I deserve God’s punishment. But these words make it sound like God’s decision is final, like there is no hope." But there is hope. Christians can find hope in the very words that might make other people feel hopeless: "I will never forget anything they have done."
God’s law demands complete perfection. Because God is holy and he cannot go back on his word, he cannot ignore his creatures’ sin. But this is not the only thing that God remembers. Where we have failed to honor God, God’s Son has succeeded. Where we have neglected God’s Word, Jesus has remained faithful. Where we seek our own good at our neighbor’s expense, Jesus reaches out graciously to others.
And when God declares: "I will never forget anything they have done," we can be assured that he will never forget the events of Good Friday either. The Father watched as his Son carried the sins of the world to the cross. He heard his Son cry out: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He still remembers his Son’s declaration of victory: "It is finished." And God will never ever forget that Jesus has washed our sins away forever with his blood.
This good news not only allows us to look at stewardship differently. Our salvation through Jesus allows us to look at everything differently. We are no longer weighed down by our sin. We have no reason to be afraid. And God’s love gives us the motivation to serve him in everything we do.
Like those positive examples of stewardship in the Bible mentioned earlier, we will want to serve the Lord with our whole heart. Like Abel, we will bring our first and best to the Lord. Like the poor widow in the temple, our offerings will reflect that God is the most important thing in our lives. Like the Good Samaritan, we will serve the Lord when we serve others.
This is an exciting time in our congregation’s history. Only God knows what the future holds, but he sets before us the challenges and the opportunities. There are so many ways to serve. There are so many ways to give. It is my prayer that through these inspired words of Amos the Holy Spirit will lead us to be faithful stewards and to glorify God through our attitudes and our actions. Amen.