Second Presbyterian Church Sermons

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He who opens the breach goes up before them;
they break through and pass the gate, going out by it.
Their king passes on before them, the LORD at their head.

(Micah 2:13)

Big Idea:

To submit to a King who is a tender Shepherd should be irresistible. And when we submit to this tender Shepherd King, he liberates us from the selfishness that robs us of true life and joy.     

One sin Micah confronts is that of selfish worship. The people had found a way to make their worship cater to their own desires rather than humbly submitting to God. Through Micah, God shows that he will not allow this. He will go so far as to humiliate his people to turn them back to him. However, he does so as a loving father. God knows the way to true life and joy is in right worship of him, so he (sometimes severely) brings us to repentance. 

Another sin Micah confronts is the people’s lack of concern for the poor. They did not see, or did not care to see, how their actions made themselves richer at the expense of the poor. Because God cares for his children, especially those who are vulnerable, he will not allow this to continue either. Through Micah, he warns that if they do not repent, their cities will be destroyed. 

Though they did not repent and eventually incurred the consequences of which God warned them, God also showed his mercy. One king of the three to whom Micah preached did finally submit himself to the Lord, and the Lord answered by gathering his sheep into Jerusalem and delivering them from certain death. 

Discussion Questions: 

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Then the Lord said,

“Behold, I am setting a plumb line

in the midst of my people Israel;

I will never again pass by them; (Amos 7:8)

Big Idea:

In these five visions, Amos demonstrates that the Israelites had refused to live worshipfully in three areas: their vocations, their avocations, and in church. Why were they unfaithful in all these areas? Because they had neglected to listen to God’s Word in each area. The ultimate judgment for such neglect is when God removes the Word and gives rebels what they want (8:11-12). The only hope is to return to Christ who is the “plumb line” and delighted to do the “work” his Father gave him, who “lived” among us, and who “sings” in our worship.    

Everything outside of our vocation is typically referred to as our avocation. It is life in-between corporate worship and work. That portion of life is threatened in the second vision of fire that devours land and water, that is, everything essential for human beings to flourish. The Israelites were guilty not just of corrupting public worship and business fraud but of neglecting to live gratefully or worshipfully during the in-between times of life. 

Christians in the past help us with an outline for how to pray. In their morning prayers, they gave thanks for safekeeping through the night, for the creation of the world, and for the work that lay ahead of them. In the evening, they would express gratitude for God’s help through the day, for meals, and ask God’s mercies for the night as well as reflect on the day and ask God to keep them faithful until death. 

The final area of judgment has to do with the Israelites perversion of worship. While it is true that they had created a new form of religion that affirmed their indulgent lifestyle, it is also true that they observed the major feasts and all the sacrifices. However, those acts were perfunctory. God is a person and just as any person is offended by a gift or a conversation or an act of service which is done without any feeling just to check something off of a “to do” list, God is equally repulsed by heartless worship. In fact, God reminds his people that he was still with them in the desert when it was impossible for them to provide sacrifices to him. The wilderness wandering was a 40 year object lesson proving that God guides and blesses his people despite their inability to do anything for him.

We are after the same thing in corporate worship. In order to recapture our hearts, God gathers us in structured worship to channel us into gratitude. It is impossible to maintain a heart that is soft for the Lord in daily life without very regular corporate worship. This requires at least three things: 

Discussion Questions: 

Download a PDF of this sermon recap.

Then the Lord said,

“Behold, I am setting a plumb line

in the midst of my people Israel;

I will never again pass by them; (Amos 7:8)

Big Idea:

In these five visions, Amos demonstrates that the Israelites had refused to live worshipfully in three areas: their vocations, their avocations, and in church. Why were they unfaithful in all these areas? Because they had neglected to listen to God’s Word in each area. The ultimate judgment for such neglect is when God removes the Word and gives rebels what they want (8:11-12). The only hope is to return to Christ who is the “plumb line” and delighted to do the “work” his Father gave him, who “lived” among us, and who “sings” in our worship.    

The first vision reminds us of the horrific locust plague that was literally sent on Israel as a result of Joel’s prophecy. Though the locusts are metaphorical in Amos’s vision, the destruction promised is not. Amos plead for mercy on Israel in response to this vision because it would have wiped out God’s people which was the line through which the Messiah would come. If God followed through with his threat, not only would there be no Jews, but more tragically, no Savior. But the question that must arrest our attention for personal application is, "Why did God threaten their crops?" Often the focus of a particular judgment reveals the area of life in which the rebellion occurred. In this case, it was their vocation. In the Israelites’ vocations, they refused to listen to the voice of God. Their selfish extortion of their poor laborers, their crooked business deals and inflationary prices, and their generally indulgent laziness generally demonstrate that they paid no attention to God’s directions for how we work.  

Scripture is full of guidance and instructions for how we should work. Amy Sherman has been a tremendous help to the church with her book Kingdom Calling. In it, she describes four different “pathways” for working in a way that is in keeping with God’s mission and extends mercy to those around us. 

God made us work not as a result of the Fall, but in order to dignify us as image bearers and include us in the joy of his redemptive activity. 

Discussion Questions: 

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“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! (Amos 6:1)

Big Idea:

We must repent of complacency because (v. 8). . .

While it is not the highest motivation for following the Lord, impending judgment is a good reason to repent! Even at the height of God’s anger, he reasons with his people. Since sin (even the sin of complacency) is irrational, God graciously annunciates the logic for returning to him in order to gain a soft heart of compassion for those for whom he is burdened. 

The first reason is that he is God and we are not. That means that if God says we are in danger of judgment if we do not conform our lives to his priorities of generosity toward the poor and disenfranchised, then we must pay attention. Secondly, he tells the complacent that they must understand that their neglect of his burdens for the poor and unjustly treated is ultimately self-destructive. Thirdly, God threatens his church with exile. Remember Israel was a unique combination of church and government, a theocracy. So when he says that he will deport his people, he is saying that he is going to shut their church down as much as he is promising to overthrow their government.  

If anything makes God more angry than complacency, it is pride. The Israelites’ smugness over their supposed accomplishments exacerbated God’s anger and hastened the threat of his judgment. The leaders of Israel considered themselves to be the supreme leaders of the preeminent nation on earth. There are three verbs which vividly describe how incensed God is when he finds ungrateful pride among his people. Generically, he “abhors” their self-confidence. Specifically, he “detests” (cm. 5:15, 21) their trust in fortresses (cf. Dt. 28:52). They supposed that these strong places protected them from military threat and would protect the treasure they had taken by violence and usury from the poor. They represent any man-made plan that deludes someone into thinking he does not need to trust God. The third verb describes what God will do to those who insist that something is more trustworthy than he is, even to the point of using that fortress to shield them from his judgment and free them to take advantage of others. 

Discussion Questions: 

Seek good, and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you,
as you have said.
Hate evil, and love good,
and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. (Amos 5:14–15)

Big Idea:

Sincere worship of God must result in practical deeds of mercy to those in need. 

The minor prophets in particular teach that worship begins in a heart that is subjectively and emotionally moved by remembering the incalculable mercy of God revealed in the gift of Jesus Christ and salvation from judgment. This worship should form our minds, bodies, and vocations so that all our lives are aimed at serving God, which will include working for justice in the places God has called you.

There are at least two major hurdles to responding to worship by working for justice: despair and believing that we are “little people.” 

Discussion Questions: