Have you ever gotten into argument over who would win in a fight? Kids often debate over which super hero would win in a duel—Superman or the Incredible Hulk—Bat Man or Spiderman—Iron Man or Thor—or the proverbial “My dad can beat up your dad!”
Sports fans often get into the same types of arguments. Who would win in a bout between two boxers in their prime—Mike Tyson or Mohammed Ali? Who would win in a one-on-one basketball game—Michael Jordan or Lebron James? Who would win in a NASCAR race—Richard Petty or Jeff Gordon? Who would win in a wrestling match—Hulk Hogan or “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair? Whooo!
Other people like to debate food brands! For instance, who would win the battle of the burgers—the Burger King Whopper or the McDonald’s Big Mac? Or how about the clash of colas—Pepsi or Coca Cola Classic? How about a match between cake mixes: Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines?
I once owned a tee shirt with the Pillsbury Dough Boy and the Green Giant standing beside each other. The caption said, “Best friends.” But I always wondered, if they became worst enemies. which one would win in a fight! Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know who would win any these match ups, but they sure are fun to debate.
I wonder if any of you have ever gotten into a religious debate. Who loves Jesus more? Lutherans or Baptists? Presbyterians or Pentecostals? Have you ever argued with any of your Roman Catholic friends about who’s a better preacher—Their priest or your pastor? I sure hope you would all go to the mat for me on this one!
In all seriousness, most of us don’t really engage in religious debates like this—or at least, I hope you don’t! But in this morning’s biblical text, we have a theological showdown between two heavyweight clergy contenders. Right here in Amos 7:10-17, we have a religious rumble between opposing representatives of God. So, lets step into the ring and let me introduce them to you!
The Hollow Priest
First, preaching out of the red corner is Amaziah, the hollow priest of Bethel. He is the mouthpiece of King Jeroboam, the puppet priest of the northern kingdom of Israel. Although he was born into a priestly family and bore the responsibility of leading the people in the worship of the one true God, he sold his soul to political power and became chief protector of the status quo. Rather than promoting the eternal glory of God, his motivation was self-preservation. As long as he was taking payment from the king, he went through the meaningless motions of religious rituals and sacrilegious sacrifices. He abandoned the authority of God’s Word and embraced the ethic of cultural accommodation. He preached watered down sermons to placate the politicians rather than speaking truth to power. He was a weak, cowardly, yellow-bellied, gutless, spineless, and spiritless man. In short, Amaziah was hollow at the core! He was a pitiful and pathetic excuse for a high priest!
The Holy Prophet
And now, preaching out of the blue corner is Amos, the holy prophet from Tekoa. He is the mouthpiece of the King of Kings, the herdsman turned herald from the southern kingdom of Judah. Although he was not born into a prophetic family and had not received any formal prophetic training, God called him out of the obscurity of a rural village and a blue-collar job to go to the urban centers in the northern kingdom preach against the social, economic, and spiritual abuses of King Jeroboam and his allies. Although he didn’t have any prophetic credentials, he spoke with divine authority because he was committed to hearing and proclaiming the Word of God. He had no interest in placating politicians or preserving power structures. His primary concern was promoting the glory of the one true God and devotion to his eternal kingdom. Amos was a bold and brave, audacious and courageous, fearless and faithful man. In short, Amos was the holy prophet of God!
A Religious Rumble
Now that you have met our clergy contenders, let me set the stage for this religious royal rumble. The bout is only scheduled for two rounds. In round one, verses 10-13, the puppet priest Amaziah will take his best shot at silencing Amos and knocking him out of the northern kingdom once and for all. But in round two, verses 14-17, the holy prophet Amos will have his chance to counterpunch Amaziah and deliver a TKO all the way from Tekoa! Therefore, as ring announcer Michael Buffer says, “Take you Bible’s and let’s get ready to rummmble!”
Round One: Amaziah’s Accusation(10-13)
Round one begins in verse 10 with Amaziah sending word to King Jeroboam that Amos was conspiring against him and his government. Amaziah is surely looking back to Amos’ prophecy back in verse 9 when he predicts that God will rise against unjust Jeroboam and his corrupt cronies and bring them down with the sword. But notice how Amaziah twists Amos’ words. Amos had no intention of conspiring against the king or raising up a rebellion against him. Amos simply spoke the Word of God and hoped that the people would repent from their sins. But Amaziah felt threatened by Amos’ divine authority, so he lodges false accusations against him. He wants Amos to appear like a political threat—a dangerous dissident who might stir up support from the poor people and the political rivals of the king. His exaggeration is a fear tactic to quiet any opposition to the king or himself. (Smith 369)
Also, notice how Amaziah undercuts (or should I say “uppercuts”) Amos by omitting anything about what “God” is going to do to Israel or that these are God’s own words. By this, shows that he rejects Amos, but more importantly, he rejects God’s Word. Amaziah’s actions are symptomatic of the whole nation of Israel; they didn’t want to hear God’s Word; they just wanted to be left alone to do whatever they desired.
But rather than risking a public confrontation, Amaziah tries to dismiss Amos quietly with some back-door jabs. In verses 12-13, the pouty priest resorts to petty name calling before telling Amos that he isn’t welcome to play in Israel anymore. He addresses Amos with the pejorative term, “O seer” to distinguish him from a true prophet. In the ancient world, seers were like fortune-tellers; they offered prophetic utterances for money. Unlike true prophets, their words did not carry divine authority. After this, Amaziah tells Amos to go back home to Judah and prophecy in his own land. He accentuates his own religious authority by stating that the temple in Bethel is controlled by the king.
Amaziah’s accusations represent a religion that is based on human rather than divine authority. Unfortunately, there are still religious leaders in our world today who ignore, twist, and reject God’s Word. It seems odd that anyone would go into pastoral ministry if they didn’t believe the Bible, but I have met some pastors and priests who actively undermine the authority of God’s Word and promote humanistic philosophies. They strip the Bible of all of its supernatural content and say things like, “Now we know that Jesus didn’t really feed 5000 people with two fish and five loaves; the human author is obviously exaggerating the number for effect,” or “Since we know that it’s scientifically impossible to change water into wine, the human author is trying to portray a Jesus who is really nice and likes to help people who are in need.” I have also heard some preachers accuse the Apostle Paul of justifying slavery and being a misogynist; neither of which are true! Therefore, some clergy, like Amaziah refuse to preach God’s Word because they reject God’s Word.
Even more common than outright rejecting God’s Word, some clergy simply ignore God’s Word. These are the ones, like Amaziah, who don’t want to upset the status quo. They just want to go through the motions of religious ritual and collect their paycheck at the end of the month. There is no real conviction in anything they say or do because they ignore God’s Word.
I’ll never forget the experience I had a few years ago when Jennifer and I attended the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City. Even though it is the largest church building in the United States (the fifth largest in the world), it is the place where I heard the most dismal sermon in my life. After walking through the nave and viewing the majestic art and architecture, Jennifer and I decided to attend the 11a.m. eucharist service. But after the priest read a portion from the Gospel of Luke, he preached his sermon and never even referenced the text. He babbled on for fifteen minutes and didn’t even mention Jesus in his message.He could barely string two coherent sentences together. His sermon was empty and hollow, just like the church building because he ignored the Word of God.
We must be careful to not fall into the trap of rejecting or ignoring the Word of God. True Christianity is never about going through the motions of religious rituals; it’s never about protecting political power; it’s never about the pragmatism of self-preservation. True Christianity is about the God of the universe revealing himself to us through his Word. It is about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins and the salvation of our souls. It is about us showing our gratitude to God by conforming our lives to the will of God which is revealed in the Word of God!
Round Two: Amos’ Response(14-17)
In round one, Amaziah, the high priest of Bethel, landed a few body-blows against Amos, the holy prophet from Tekoa! But now as the bell rings to begin round two, let’s watch how Amos counterpunches with a deadly combination of confirming his own call to ministry and by reiterating God’s judgment on Israel. In verse 14, Amos defends himself against Amaziah’s accusation that he was merely a seer who was prophesying for personal profit. To the contrary, Amos verifies that he was not born into a prophetic family or trained in a prophetic school. He was a herdsman and dresser of sycamore fig trees. But God called him out of his agricultural occupation and commissioned him to preach to his people in the northern kingdom of Israel.
After Amos sets Amaziah by confirming his true call to ministry in verses 14-15, he drops Amaziah and the nation of Israel to the mat with a pummeling prophecy in verses 16-17. He basically says, “Who are you to tell me not to preach against Israel…I take my orders from Almighty God, not the puny priest Amaziah.” Then Amos commands Amaziah to hear the word of the Lord.
Amos’ prophecy contains five brutal body blows: his wife will become a prostitute for a foreign army, his children will be killed, his personal property will be given to others, he will die in a pagan land, and the nation will go into exile. These prophecies were meant for Amaziah and the whole nation of Israel because they refused to listen to God’s Word.
Amos’ life and ministry stands in stark contrast to that of Amaziah. Even though Amos did not have a prophetic background, he believed God’s Word and boldly proclaimed it! He was a fearless and faithful preacher who refused to back down from political pressure or physical threats. He carried out his calling to confront a people who turned their backs on the Lord and his commandments.
Amos is a wonderful model of a life and ministry that is pleasing to the Lord. Like Amos, sometimes God calls us out of the shadows of obscurity and calls to go to places that we don’t necessarily want to go. Sometimes God calls us away from a vocation or job we like and calls us to a different career. Sometimes God calls us to preach an unpopular message to people who don’t want to hear it. Sometimes God calls us to confront other people’s sins and challenge the currents of our culture. If and when God calls you to one of these difficult deeds, what will you say? How will you respond?
So, let me ask you: who do you think would win in a fight: The Hollow Priest or the Holy Prophet? Now we have all seen the end result of this great theological showdown between clergy contenders. Victory always belongs to the one who follows the Word of God! As we continue to live out our faith in the days to come, may we learn from the mistakes of the hollow priest Amaziah and follow the model of the holy prophet Amos.