Cowboy Prophets

Scripture: Amos 7:7-17

  For the most part the elite athletes who win Olympic medals do so because they have spent most of the time in their lives dedicated to their sport.  They trained constantly to be the best in the world, and they achieved that goal when their hard work paid off and they made the Olympic podium.  While that is usually the way it works there are some notable exceptions such as Emil Zatopek.  Emil was not a runner.  In his home country of what was then Czechoslovakia he worked in a shoe factory at the age of 16.   There was a local athletics competition, and the factory was to enter some participants, so a manager picked him and a couple of other boys at more or less random.  Emil initially protested saying he was not athletic and not a good runner, but he was not given much choice.   Out of one hundred runners he placed second.  This made him interested in running, and he pursued it without any real training or direction.  He found success in running, especially at distance running.   He competed in the 1948 Olympics and did well.  In the 1952 Olympics he made the last second decision to compete in the marathon.  He had never ran a marathon and did not know the rules of the race.  For instance, he did not take any water from the water stations, because he thought they would have to pay money at the end of the race for the water he took.  In a feat that would be unheard of today, Emil Zatopek won the first marathon he ever ran, and he did so setting a world record for the fastest marathon time. 

While Emil Zatopek’s record time did not last very long, to this day he is the only athlete to ever win a gold medal in three different long-distance running events at the same Olympic games.  Cleary, he had some natural ability and even though his training regiment was considered highly unorthodox he did put in the work.   However, he only ever got into running in the first place because he was picked at random to run an inconsequential race. For an Olympic gold medalist, it is an amazing origins story.  This morning’s scripture contains a different origins story of sorts.   We learn that the prophet Amos was not meant to be a prophet.  Unlike the custom of the day, he was not following in his father’s footsteps. Just like Emil Zatopek was picked by a manager to run a race, Amos was picked by God to proclaim the word of the LORD.  Just like Emil Zatopek went from factory worker to Olympic gold medalist, Amos went from tending animals to confronting kings.  When we consider this morning’s scripture and how God called Amos, then we can see that God still calls unlikely people to be prophetic voices today. 

This morning’s scripture from Amos comes from the part of the bible classified as the minor prophets.  It is probably fair to say that for a lot of people, this is the part of the bible that gets skipped over the most.  Like this morning’s scripture it has a lot of hard to pronounce names and reference to places we are not familiar with.  So, to best understand scriptures like this morning’s we need a little context.

 During the time of Amos, the Israelites had split the promise land into two kingdoms.   The kingdom of Judah in the South had Jerusalem, but the kingdom of Israel in the North had more territory.  When this split happened after the death of King Solomon, the leader of the northern kingdom was concerned that because God’s temple was in Jerusalem his people would stay connected to the southern kingdom and his power would be threatened.  To address this, he set up two golden idols for the people to worship.  One of those places was in Bethel which is why it is mentioned in this morning’s scripture.  For generations, the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel, led the people into idolatry and as the kings did evil in the sight of God the people got further and further from following God in their daily lives. 

In response, God called and sent prophets like Amos.  The prophets spoke on behalf of God, but often I think we have the wrong idea of prophecy.  Biblical prophecy was not just a foretelling of future events.   It was not cryptic riddles that had to be figured out or force people to watch for certain developments that kind of sort of fit as a portent that the ancient prophecy was about to be fulfilled.   Rather most biblical prophecies are like the ones we find in this morning’s scripture.  The words of the prophets were meant to be a warning, and that is what we see here in Amos. 

For instance, a plumb line was a type of level to test the straightness of a structure.  It measured if a building was in the parameters it was supposed to be in.  God had given the Israelites the law.  It served as the plumb line, the measure of how to live in right relationship with God and with each other.   It also specified clear consequences for not following the law.   Through the vision of the plumb line, God is communicating that if the people do not straighten up, if they do not abandon their idolatrous worship, then their actions will have consequences.  When prophets like Amos spoke pronouncements of judgement such as we see in verse 17 of this morning’s scripture the intention is not just to pronounce doom and gloom.   The point is to convict hearts, change minds, and lead to repentance. 

The Old Testament prophets were not fortune tellers or mysterious figures predicting the future.  They were truth tellers.  They were people called by God to cut through the noise, the spin, the propaganda, and the alternative facts.  They pointed out uncomfortable truths, and they urged people to do something about it.  The prophets sought to capture people’s attention and turn them back towards God. 
 
 While there are not Old Testament style prophets today, there is still a great need for prophetic truth telling.  There is still a great need for attention to be called to what is wrong and against God’s ways.   There is still need for the hearts of many to turn back to God.  There is still a need for prophetic voices today.  Through the empowerment, of the Holy Spirit it is still possible for God to raise up people to be these voices today.  In their book Find Your Place Rob Wegner and Brian Phipps, write about a modern-day prophet might look like.  The wrote, “Prophets question and reform. . .they have a love for what is true and right, and they know what needs to be emphasized when it comes time to challenge and confront.”

We need prophetic voices today.   We need voices willing to proclaim what is true and right.  Truth needs to be spoken to power.  Evil, injustice, and oppression need to be resisted.  Sometimes even the best of us need to be reminded that we failed to be an obedient church and we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.  Someone needs to speak up, someone need to say the things that need to be said, and someone needs to take a stand.  A stand for what is Godly.  A stand for what is truth.  A stand for what is right.  While many of us probably believe that is exactly what is needed, we also tend to be a little slow to stand.  We tend not to want to raise our voice too loud, and we tend not to want to call much attention to ourselves.  But I think this morning’s scripture and the way that Amos answered the call to be a prophet should challenge us.  If we truly believe someone should stand up and speak out, then this scripture challenges us to ask, “Why not us?  Why not me?”

 It was not anywhere on Amos’ bingo card to be a prophet of God.  He did not travel to Bethel and start prophesying because he was trying to build a following, gain fame, or make money.   In fact, before God called him, it seemed Amos was content with his life.  The English translation says he was a shepherd, but that is not quite right.  The word here translated as shepherd only appears in this one place in all of the Old Testament.  It is a word that seems to be related to the word for cattle.  It is likely that Amos did not tend a flock of sheep but a herd of cattle.  So, he wasn’t a shepherd, he was a cowboy.   We get the impression that he would have been happy minding his own business out on the range, but God had other plans.   Amos was not from or familiar with the ways of the Northern Kingdom, but God used him anyway.   Amos did not have any training or background in being a prophet.  But God used him anyway.   Amos probably would have been content with his fig trees and livestock, but God used him anyway.   What made Amos most qualified to be a prophet, was his willingness to follow God.  He spoke up and he stood up because he was being obedient to the leading of God. 

 In the same way, as followers of Jesus we should not stay seated and we should not stay silent, because we should have a willingness to follow our Lord and Savior.  Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves.   He urged us to care for the least of these, and told us that when we feed the hungry, when we provide for the impoverished, when we show kindness to the marginalized and the oppressed then it is as if we are doing those actions for him.  We can not love the people that Jesus has asked us to love quietly. Our love should be loud.   We can not love the people that Jesus has asked us to love  while blending into the crowd.  Our love should be bold.   Amos was a prophet because he was following God, and we should speak up and stand up because we are following Christ. 

There is a story from Christian history that I think illustrates what it looks like to follow the example of Amos and use our prophetic voice.  Much like how God called Amos out of obscurity to be a prophet, God did something similar for Amy Carmichael in the 19th century.  She was an Irish woman born in 1867.  She felt called by God at the age of 20 to be a missionary.   She initially met resistance due to her gender and some health concerns.  However, Amy felt called by God and she was insistent.   Her persistence paid off and she found herself with a missionary organization stationed in India.   Like all missionaries, Amy’s life calling was to share the good news of Jesus Christ, but she did not take the standard approach of that era.  To better reach the local population she took on their diet, dress, and way of life.  Instead of preaching about how the people of India should change their ways, she instead sought to show them God’s love through her actions. She specifically reached out to the poorest, youngest, and most oppressed population. In India during this time, it was common practice to give unwanted children over to Hindu temples, where they essentially had to serve a lifetime of forced servitude, of slavery.   Amy spoke out against this practice, but she also stood up against it.  She would find these children and bring them safety.  Despite threat of death, she built a home to protect these children that became known as the Dohnavur Fellowship.  Those who benefited from these enslavement practices tried to tear her down.  They tried to give her a tarnished reputation and call her the “white woman who steals children.”   Despite that, Amy stayed faithful to follow Christ.  She would often travel for days just to rescue a single child.   Every day she sought to live with purpose by following God’s will and loving the least of these.   She sought to save and care for children for fifty-five straight years.   She never took a break, she never went home.   Amy’s lifetime resulted in over 1,000 abused, abandoned, and enslaved children being freed, provided for, and loved.

Amy Carmichael used a prophetic voice to call out a practice that was wrong and evil.  She put that into action and stood against oppression.   She did this because she was following Jesus and God’s leading.   There is so much that is wrong in the world today.  Someone needs to stand for what is right.  There are things that need to be said, there is evil that needs to be called out, and there is much need for prophetic voices today.   Friends, perhaps it is your voice that is needed.   Like God called Amos, like God called Amy Carcmichael, perhaps God is calling you.   If we take following Jesus seriously.  If we truly want to love like Jesus, then being silent is not an option.   Speaking up and standing up for others is love in action, and that is what we must do. 

So may you find your voice.   May you speak the truth, even if your voice shakes.  As this morning’s scripture remind us, the most important quality to being used by God, the number attribute needed to be a prophet, is to be wiling to follow God.  So may we be willing to saddle up and use our prophetic voice so that disciples of Jesus Christ are made for the transformation of the world.