The Invocation: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Confession: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Let us then confess our sins to God our Father. Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of Your son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name. Amen.
The Absolution: In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for His sake, God forgives us all our sins. To those who believe in Jesus Christ, He gives the power to become the children of God and bestows on them the Holy Spirit. May the Lord, who has begun this good work in us, bring it to completion in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Old Testament Reading is written in the book of Amos, chapter 6, verses 1 to 7.
“Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel
secure on the mountain of Samaria,
the notable men of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes! 2 Pass
over to Calneh, and see, and from there go to Hamath
the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms? Or
is their territory greater than your territory, 3 O
you who put far away the day of disaster and bring near the seat of violence? 4 Woe
to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch
themselves out on their couches, and eat lambs from the
flock and calves from the midst of the stall, 5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the
harp and like
David invent for themselves instruments of music, 6 who
drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the
finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of
Joseph! 7 Therefore they shall
now be the first of those who go into exile, and the
revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.”
The Holy Gospel is according to St. Luke, chapter 16, verses 19 to 31.
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.[f] The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”
Apostles’ Creed: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen
The Sermon: Ruin of Joseph
The first word in our text takes us to an unexpected, and, rather interesting place. “Woe” marks a new warning in the prophet’s book, and is another funeral lament over Israel. A significant figure in Israel or Judah died, prompting a number of dignitaries from both nations to come together. Our text, Amos 6:1–7, describes the funeral wake, calling the crème de la crème to task for their pampered prosperity and boisterous banquets that led them to ignore the cries of the poor. The poor were there, but they did nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Amos’s first item demonstrating that these “movers and shakers” have way more than they need is “ivory beds.” These status symbols have been uncovered by archaeologists in an excavation of the city of Samaria. They found truckloads of ivory, which also confirms Amos’s earlier words about “ivory houses” in chapter 3. Even Solomon, the richest man, didn’t live in such luxury!
Next, the prophet rebukes the rich for eating the choicest meat. For the “rank-and-file” Israelites, meat was probably consumed only three times a year at the major festivals. But these people ate the choicest meat every day. It would be like eating at Manny’s Steakhouse in Minneapolis, one of the country’s most expensive steak houses, on a daily basis, and ordering the bone-in rib eye to boot!
The privileged classes in Zion and Samaria, the capitals of Judah and Jerusalem, were living the high life, just like kings. In fact, in verse five, the prophet points out that these partygoers considered themselves to be as pious and godly as King David himself. Like him, they thought they were people after God’s heart! What a farce! David did create many songs, but these were songs to glorify the Lord and were matched by his righteousness and justice for all people. Israel’s leaders were living a lie; they were as far away from David’s piety as possible.
In Amos 6:6, the prophet moves from discussing lounging, eating, and musical-merry-making to describing the people’s excessive drinking. A modern analogy might put it this way: these partiers were forgoing cups and drinking straight from the bottle. “Their god is their belly” as Paul would say in Philippians. They did not serve God; they fed their own appetites and desires. Those who were part of the choicest of nations were also anointing themselves with the choicest of oils.
In the midst of their “party hardy” atmosphere the leaders remained oblivious to the ruin of their nation. So Amos dropped the bombshell. They were “not grieved over the ruin of Joseph.” What does he mean by that?
The prophet describes Joseph’s ruin back in Amos 4, as well as in the military defeats depicted in Amos 5. These catastrophes impacted the impoverished people in significant ways. But the people most responsible, the aristocrats, were apathetic to the entire mess. They acted as though nothing had happened. Their attitude was, “The poor we will always have with us. What’s the big deal?” It was business—in this case party business—as usual. They refused to repent. So why does Amos call the down-and-outs “Joseph”?
You remember the story. Joseph was his father’s favorite, but his brothers despised him. His dad gave him a coat of many colors, but his brothers ripped it off and sold Joseph to some Midianites coming from Gilead on their way to Egypt. Joseph went to work for Potiphar, a high-ranking Egyptian official, and ended up in charge of everything. Genesis 39:6 says of him, “Now Joseph was well-built and handsome.” So Potiphar’s wife says, “Come to bed with me.” But Joseph responds, “How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” This spurned woman then goes for Joseph’s jugular. And since there was no one to plead his case, Joseph was condemned, unjustly, I might add. While in prison, he and Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer made arrangements to bust out. The cupbearer was freed but forgot about Joseph for two years. Then Pharaoh had two dreams that no one could interpret until the cupbearer remembered Joseph. Through it all, twenty-three years to be exact, Joseph finally became second in charge over Egypt.
It is fitting, then, that Amos speaks of “Joseph’s ruin” because it was Joseph who cried out in distress when his brothers threw him in the pit. While Joseph wept, his brothers sat down and ate a meal. The cries of their brother didn’t stop them one bit! In like manner, Israel’s leaders were too busy lounging on couches, enjoying their food and drink, and strumming away on their musical instruments to care about “the ruin of Joseph.” They “ate, drank, and were merry” much like Joseph’s brothers when they cast him into the pit.
“Joseph,” therefore, symbolizes the poor and oppressed people throughout the book of Amos who were, together with the elite, in the same family called Israel. The Lord rescued the nation so that, among other things, it could be a community of brothers, a family.
In Luke, Jesus tells a parable about an affluent man, one of the “notables” of His own day, who wore only the best clothing and consumed only the finest food. Outside the door of his home lay a man named Lazarus, who was hungry and poor. The rich man did not persecute Lazarus, nor did he drive him away. He was simply indifferent to him. The leaders of Amos’s day exhibited a similar attitude. They ignored God’s call for justice and righteousness and instead mouthed pious words about religion and did nothing. They could care less. Frank Layden knows what that is like.
Frank Layden, the former coach of the Utah Jazz in the seventies, once had problems with a basketball player. He summoned the talented but troubled man to his office. Looking the player in the eye, the coach finally asked, “Son, I can’t understand it with you. Is it ignorance or apathy?” The player responded, “Coach, I don’t know, and I don’t care!” Far too often ignorance and apathy describe our lives. We see wrecked and ruined people, and we say under our breath, “I don’t know, and I don’t care!” A woman in New York experienced that.
Kitty Genovese was a young woman who was murdered in a New York residential section while at least thirty-eight neighbors watched from their windows. During the course of the 30-minute assault, no one even telephoned the police. Studies have uncovered some surprising facts about these people. Interviews revealed that they were not totally indifferent. The main reason nobody did anything was that each person thought someone else would take the initiative to get help. So, what do we do?
The solution to ignorance and apathy comes in one who was treated just like Joseph. He was also despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering. Jesus our Lord was mocked by the crowd, betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, forsaken by the ten, unjustly accused in a kangaroo court, sentenced to death by a weak-willed Roman governor, crowned with thorns by those who spat upon Him, and scourged by muscle-men just short of death.
Christ’s love is just the opposite of the partygoers described by Amos. Instead of indifference, in Baptism our Savior pours grace upon us. Instead of neglect, in the Eucharist He gives us a foretaste of heaven. Instead of unconcern, through the Gospel we share His victory. Instead of divine apathy, we are redeemed in the blood of the Lamb!
Our Savior’s love empowers us to gain the victory over apathy and unconcern. We not only grieve over Joseph’s ruin, we will attend to the hurting people in our world. Right now, there is a lot of them, isn’t there, with the Coronavirus outbreak? People wrecked with worry and stress. People worried about the future. Elderly people stuck at home. Others in quarantine are locked down and lonely. Indeed there are, but motivated by Christ’s love and that love He has shown for us, we care for those among us who are the least, the lost, and the last! We care for the ruin of Joseph! Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer: Let us pray the prayer Jesus has taught us to pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
The Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious unto you. The Lord look on You with His favor and give you peace. Amen.
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