Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
Are You Plumb With God?
Amos 7:7-15 July 12, 2009
Comparisons in life seem natural. We’ve seen a good example of that over the last few weeks as
people have mourned Michael Jackson. People have compared his effect on the music world to
various giants in the industry. Philosophical debates erupted all over as to his place in history. Frank
Sinatra, Elvis, Madonna and others have been lifted up and his music compared to theirs.
You don’t have to be famous for this to happen. It happens when you have a good piece of pie.
Someone will say, “That’s as good as Aunt Mae’s.” Whether you are watching the children dance
or sitting in the stands of a little league game, comparisons are made every day.
This is especially true for many of us as we look at ourselves. We measure ourselves and what we
do against others. Most of the time, we look for someone we compare favorably with. We tend to
compare ourselves with people who allow us to look more mature, more talented, more gifted and
more intelligent. When we are really feeling bad about ourselves, we try to find someone in terrible
shape so we can say, “At least I’m not as bad off as so and so…” That’s true isn’t it?
The only problem with this is that in comparing ourselves with others, we are really using the
wrong measuring stick. We are like that
A little boy who came up to his mother one day and said to her, “Mother, guess what! I’m eight
feet, four inches tall!” His mother, greatly surprised, inquired into the matter and found he was
using a six-inch ruler to measure a “foot.” The boy was actually only a few inches over four feet.
This is exactly what we do. We measure ourselves by one another, a less than perfect standard,
rather than by the example put forth in God’s word.
This morning I want to talk about God’s call to perfection and holiness. Right off the bat I have to
say that holiness is an ideal that is virtually impossible. But that’s not a reason to strive for it. For
God calls us to be like Him. That alone is enough reason for us to try.
This summer we are looking at the Old Testament Prophets and this week we turn to Amos. Amos
prophesied to the Jewish people in the eighth century BC. He wasn’t a court prophet, employed by
the king. He was a true prophet. He was one of those men that God raised up for a purpose. From
his own testimony we learn that Amos was shepherd and farmer. He grew sycamore trees.
To set the stage, you have to know the history. After the reign of Solomon as King of Israel, the
nation split into two entities. This happened about 930 BC. So in the eighth century you had the
northern kingdom, still called Israel. The capital city was Samaria. After years of fighting with the
Syrains, they were entering into a time of respite and peace.
The southern kingdom, named Judah, had great freedom but they were effectively reduced to a
puppet kingdom under the rule of the Assyrians. Its capital city was Jerusalem.
Both nations had a common problem. Over the last century and a half they had virtually abandoned
the worship of God altogether.
So enter Amos, called by God from the fields, to prophesy to the king of Israel in north. He doesn’t
pull any punches. He tells King Amaziah that his pride is going to destroy the nation. God has seen
their rejection of his law and they will reap what they have sown.
At this point we come to our passage. Amos shares a series of visions he has had. In the third
vision he sees God holds up a plum line against the wall of the city. Amos tells the king that just as
this wall was plumb and had now gone out of line, so it was with his kingdom.
In other words, time and the elements had corrupted the nation and they were no longer in line with
God. They needed to do something or they would be destroyed.
A plum line shows you how out of line a wall is and suggests what needs to be done to fix the
situation. That brings me back to our discussion of comparisons.
If God put a plumb line to your life, how would it look. The measure would not be against your
neighbor. It would be against the high hopes and calling God has for your life and mine.
What is that calling? It is to be the salt of the earth. It is to be a beacon, a light, that reflects the love
of God in the darkness. Sometimes I wonder if we don’t set the bar too low. We compare
ourselves to the wrong people and standards.
We look at Donald Trump or Derek Jeter or Oprah Winfry and lift them up as examples of the type
of people we want to become. We often choose the rich and famous for our ideals of success. By
the time you get to my age, you know you aren’t ever going to reach that level. Hey, I used to
dream about being President of the United States. Today the President is younger than I am. That’s
depressing.
Look at the kids today and the way many of them dress. Who do they idolize or compare
themselves too? Too many of us, old and young alike, try to compare ourselves to the wrong type
of person. Amos and his plum line remind us that there is only one standard for comparison for us
as God’s people.
We are to look to Jesus, the author and pioneer of our faith. He is the one we should measure
ourselves against. I was quick to jump on the bandwagon when the WWJD bracelets came out. I
know some people have decried the commercialism of them, but I like what they represented.
They reminded us to look at our lives, our decision making, our actions, and to seriously consider
what we did, in light of what Jesus might do in that same situation.
This wasn’t just a theological gesture. It was an attempt to get us to make real decisions in light of
the gospel we had received. If we were to do as Jesus did, then the homeless would have
advocates for supportive housing. The hungry would have places to go to find hot meals and
groceries for their cupboards. The sick would have adequate medical care and we wouldn’t be
debating health care reform. The list goes on…
The truth is that each of us is called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. He is the measure by which
we will be judged. The Israelites had the law. That was their plumb line. Ours is Christ.
The truth is that none of us will measure up completely, but we are called to try. We are called to
do our very best.
The good news is that he went to the cross to take the pressure off of us. We no longer need to be
perfect, but now we have the freedom in Christ to try to be the very best representation of his light
and his life in the world. So what are we waiting for? Let’s go out and glorify him with our lives.
Amos 7:7-15 July 12, 2009
Comparisons in life seem natural. We’ve seen a good example of that over the last few weeks as
people have mourned Michael Jackson. People have compared his effect on the music world to
various giants in the industry. Philosophical debates erupted all over as to his place in history. Frank
Sinatra, Elvis, Madonna and others have been lifted up and his music compared to theirs.
You don’t have to be famous for this to happen. It happens when you have a good piece of pie.
Someone will say, “That’s as good as Aunt Mae’s.” Whether you are watching the children dance
or sitting in the stands of a little league game, comparisons are made every day.
This is especially true for many of us as we look at ourselves. We measure ourselves and what we
do against others. Most of the time, we look for someone we compare favorably with. We tend to
compare ourselves with people who allow us to look more mature, more talented, more gifted and
more intelligent. When we are really feeling bad about ourselves, we try to find someone in terrible
shape so we can say, “At least I’m not as bad off as so and so…” That’s true isn’t it?
The only problem with this is that in comparing ourselves with others, we are really using the
wrong measuring stick. We are like that
A little boy who came up to his mother one day and said to her, “Mother, guess what! I’m eight
feet, four inches tall!” His mother, greatly surprised, inquired into the matter and found he was
using a six-inch ruler to measure a “foot.” The boy was actually only a few inches over four feet.
This is exactly what we do. We measure ourselves by one another, a less than perfect standard,
rather than by the example put forth in God’s word.
This morning I want to talk about God’s call to perfection and holiness. Right off the bat I have to
say that holiness is an ideal that is virtually impossible. But that’s not a reason to strive for it. For
God calls us to be like Him. That alone is enough reason for us to try.
This summer we are looking at the Old Testament Prophets and this week we turn to Amos. Amos
prophesied to the Jewish people in the eighth century BC. He wasn’t a court prophet, employed by
the king. He was a true prophet. He was one of those men that God raised up for a purpose. From
his own testimony we learn that Amos was shepherd and farmer. He grew sycamore trees.
To set the stage, you have to know the history. After the reign of Solomon as King of Israel, the
nation split into two entities. This happened about 930 BC. So in the eighth century you had the
northern kingdom, still called Israel. The capital city was Samaria. After years of fighting with the
Syrains, they were entering into a time of respite and peace.
The southern kingdom, named Judah, had great freedom but they were effectively reduced to a
puppet kingdom under the rule of the Assyrians. Its capital city was Jerusalem.
Both nations had a common problem. Over the last century and a half they had virtually abandoned
the worship of God altogether.
So enter Amos, called by God from the fields, to prophesy to the king of Israel in north. He doesn’t
pull any punches. He tells King Amaziah that his pride is going to destroy the nation. God has seen
their rejection of his law and they will reap what they have sown.
At this point we come to our passage. Amos shares a series of visions he has had. In the third
vision he sees God holds up a plum line against the wall of the city. Amos tells the king that just as
this wall was plumb and had now gone out of line, so it was with his kingdom.
In other words, time and the elements had corrupted the nation and they were no longer in line with
God. They needed to do something or they would be destroyed.
A plum line shows you how out of line a wall is and suggests what needs to be done to fix the
situation. That brings me back to our discussion of comparisons.
If God put a plumb line to your life, how would it look. The measure would not be against your
neighbor. It would be against the high hopes and calling God has for your life and mine.
What is that calling? It is to be the salt of the earth. It is to be a beacon, a light, that reflects the love
of God in the darkness. Sometimes I wonder if we don’t set the bar too low. We compare
ourselves to the wrong people and standards.
We look at Donald Trump or Derek Jeter or Oprah Winfry and lift them up as examples of the type
of people we want to become. We often choose the rich and famous for our ideals of success. By
the time you get to my age, you know you aren’t ever going to reach that level. Hey, I used to
dream about being President of the United States. Today the President is younger than I am. That’s
depressing.
Look at the kids today and the way many of them dress. Who do they idolize or compare
themselves too? Too many of us, old and young alike, try to compare ourselves to the wrong type
of person. Amos and his plum line remind us that there is only one standard for comparison for us
as God’s people.
We are to look to Jesus, the author and pioneer of our faith. He is the one we should measure
ourselves against. I was quick to jump on the bandwagon when the WWJD bracelets came out. I
know some people have decried the commercialism of them, but I like what they represented.
They reminded us to look at our lives, our decision making, our actions, and to seriously consider
what we did, in light of what Jesus might do in that same situation.
This wasn’t just a theological gesture. It was an attempt to get us to make real decisions in light of
the gospel we had received. If we were to do as Jesus did, then the homeless would have
advocates for supportive housing. The hungry would have places to go to find hot meals and
groceries for their cupboards. The sick would have adequate medical care and we wouldn’t be
debating health care reform. The list goes on…
The truth is that each of us is called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. He is the measure by which
we will be judged. The Israelites had the law. That was their plumb line. Ours is Christ.
The truth is that none of us will measure up completely, but we are called to try. We are called to
do our very best.
The good news is that he went to the cross to take the pressure off of us. We no longer need to be
perfect, but now we have the freedom in Christ to try to be the very best representation of his light
and his life in the world. So what are we waiting for? Let’s go out and glorify him with our lives.
| Welcome to the First Baptist Church of Norwich 239 West Main Street Norwich, Connecticut Phone: 860-889-0369 |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |