Let Justice Roll

[0:00] God, thank you so much for everyone who's here, for all the regular Church of Maasai people, for all our guests. Most of all, thank you that you're here. God, you are not our guest of honor.

[0:10] You're the reason that we're here. And we come to you and we come to you with great expectancy, knowing that you who've spoken through the ages can speak again to us today. Would you please speak to us?

[0:21] But Lord, help us not just be those who hear your word and go on unchanged. Help us to hear your word, to hear it spoken into our lives. Into the deep places of our hearts, of our minds, of all who we are.

[0:33] And would you help us to change? God, I'm barely more than a child. For this to be the case, for you to speak to us, I need your help. So please speak through the power of your Holy Spirit.

[0:44] In Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated. I remember when I was a boy, I was having a sleepover with one of my best friends, Dan Damien, his little brother Michael, and my big brother Josh were all at my parents' home.

[0:58] So much fun. And my parents, they love us, they gave us a lot of freedom, but they also gave some guidelines because they love us. And so one of those guidelines meant there was, I can't remember what hour it was, but there was a certain hour by which we had to turn the light off and go to sleep.

[1:11] It was later than we normally get to go to bed, but we were so stoked. This was my best friend. We saw each other every single day. And so we were there, and I just remember we were having so much fun.

[1:21] We had no idea what time it was, and we were talking, and my back, I was facing the window in the room, so my back was to the door. And we were all like being pretty loud, as some boys are.

[1:32] And all of a sudden, I remember, I still this day, I remember my brother Josh's face. It just went pale. And his eyes got kind of big, and he was trying to communicate something to me, his little brother. I'm his little brother. I didn't give a rip.

[1:42] I just, I do my thing. And so I was still talking, and finally, I was the only one talking, right? So I was like, hey, I have a lot of siblings. This was my moment. And so I was like, everyone's listening, right? So I'm just like, I don't know what I was doing.

[1:54] I just remember stupid. And then all of a sudden, I heard my father's voice. And my brother had been trying to communicate to me that my dad was at the door. Now, I'm the only one of all the guys at the sleepover that the sleepover ended for me right there.

[2:07] My dad brought me to the living room. It was actually, it was this cool house, where it used to be two different homes that were kind of combined. So when they brought me to the other part, like I was, I was in another house, basically. And same address, like different house.

[2:19] I was so frustrated. I like, why, why does my dad hate fun? Why does my dad hate me? Like, he's always been a great dad. But that moment, it was just like, the world was dark.

[2:30] I remember just, I had to, he put me on the couch. I just like, sleeping on the couch. I wasn't sleeping though. And I was just frustrated. And I just didn't understand why he was such a killjoy. And I just went to sleep in a bad mood.

[2:41] My brother Josh's face, I, that, that, that look of like, of concern, of trying to communicate, is the voice of Amos in this passage. It really is.

[2:52] And if you just look at it, like even my brother's face, I remember like, what, like what's your deal, man? Like why, why are you being a killjoy right now? Like he just went from laughter. As a boy, all I wanted was for, to make people laugh.

[3:03] And he wasn't laughing. And woe to you who desire the day of the Lord. Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness and not light. As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into his house, and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him.

[3:17] Is not the day of the Lord darkness and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? The people of Israel, the people of God, they were going through different things, different times. The time that Amos is writing in is the time of relative affluency.

[3:29] The middle class is doing well. They're very spiritual. And yet there was rumblings around them as the big empires of Assyria, the different ones were growing, and they were eating up these different places.

[3:40] And so there's definitely, on the one hand, a lot of confidence in themselves. At the same time, there's a lot of laughter, a lot of good stuff. At the same time, there's this growing sense of dread some people had in fear.

[3:51] And yet the people of God, they really had this confidence, not just in how affluent they were, but that no matter what happened, the day of the Lord was coming. The day of the Lord, the day of judgment, the day of judgment for all the peoples around them, they thought.

[4:05] They thought because they were God's people, because they were believers, because they were spiritual, when God came, when God came to them as the Messiah, he was going to just crush all those who opposed God, and they would find that they were the big dogs.

[4:18] You see that same, like when Jesus is coming into Jerusalem on the donkey, and the people are going wild, they really believe that the Messiah is coming to destroy Rome. And even though that's like 400 years, like five, six, about 800 years after this is written, that same kind of confidence that this Messiah was going to just crush all the enemies of God, they had.

[4:40] Now that's a fair confidence they have. God is coming to crush the enemy. What they didn't understand is they actually had found themselves on the side of the enemy, despite all their spirituality. Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord.

[4:52] Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness and not light. As if a man fled from a lion and a bear met him. In a sense, what he's saying right here is that in there, seeing that Assyria is like a lion, he's there to destroy them, and they're going, well, you know what?

[5:06] We're going to escape this lion because we're the people of God. And he's saying, you know what? Yeah, you'll escape the lion, but you'll be met by a hungry bear, and it's going to destroy you. The next image, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall.

[5:20] In your own home, and the aspect of leaning against something, it's one of a casual safety. You're safe in your own home, and the attitude of leaning your hand against the wall, you're chill right there. And he's saying, you're there in this casual safety.

[5:33] This is your safe place, your happy place. But what you think is a wall, a thing that holds a roof above your head, and that is something to lean on, casual safety. It actually is a serpent that will bite you.

[5:45] And who is that serpent here? Is it the devil? No, actually, he's comparing that, which they think is their safety, to something that will actually bring them down. In this passage, the serpent, as far as I can tell, is actually God.

[5:57] He's saying that that, it's just an analogy, he's not saying God's a serpent, but he's saying that this thing you think is your safety is actually going to bite. Is not the day of the Lord darkness and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it.

[6:11] Confusing words to the people hearing it then, maybe confusing to us now. It was confusing to me as I thought we were just having a good time, and my brother's face is trying to communicate, hey, there's something serious going on. He's trying to warn me, Daniel, if you keep doing your thing, you're going to get in trouble.

[6:28] And Amos is trying to communicate that to them. The next words are really intense. I hate, I despise your feasts. It's easy as we read these, these very negative words. For us to miss how good the people are doing.

[6:42] So let's read what's going on. What are the people actually up to? Your feasts, solemn assemblies, verse 22, burnt offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, of your fat animals, your songs, melody of your harps.

[6:58] These people, when it says feasts, these are not like these Canaanite feasts where it's all orgies and crazy stuff. These, as far as we can tell, would be the feasts of God. The feasts of God, the feasts God commanded them to do.

[7:12] Passover, Sukkot, these feasts, these are good feasts. Solemn assemblies. Again, we're not talking about them burning their children in the fire as they had done at certain times.

[7:22] These solemn assemblies would probably, most likely, actually be things like church where the people of God are getting together to sing songs to God and to hear the Bible. Burnt offerings and grain offerings.

[7:34] These are the things God commanded them to do. And not only are they giving burnt offerings and peace offerings, but these are the fat animals. Remember Cain and Abel. One of the issues with, I always get it confused, Cain, Abel.

[7:46] Abel is the one who offered the right sacrifice. He was giving his best to God. And Cain seems to have been giving, Abel was giving the fat, the best sheep. And then Cain was kind of giving just of the other stuff.

[7:59] But here he's saying, you guys are giving, you guys are giving God the fat animal, the best you have of your animals. It's so good. I want to be, I want to be spiritual like that. I want to be faithful like that.

[8:11] And then there are also people who aren't just coming together, just being really solemn in their solemn assemblies, but they're people who are making a noise of songs that melody in their harps, they're singing. And yet, fill in the words we miss.

[8:23] We're just reading your feasts, your solemn assemblies, your burnt offerings. What is God's attitude, what is God's attitude toward these things? I hate, this isn't Amos speaking, he's just recording God's word.

[8:34] I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.

[8:44] And the peace offerings of your fat animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs. To the melody of your harps, I will not listen. These are scary words.

[8:57] Because you can be doing a diagnostic of your life, how am I doing spiritually? And you would look at, you're doing the feasts, you're eating in the context, feasting in the context that God commanded.

[9:07] You're gathering together with the believers. The Bible says, don't forsake the gathering of the believers. They're not, they're doing it, they're solemn assemblies. And they're giving them some of their best stuff. And God says, I will not listen to your songs.

[9:22] That's a scary place to be. What else are you supposed to do? What else can you give God but your best? God won't have it. So what's going on? Verse 24, but let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

[9:35] Did you bring, did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the 40 years in the wilderness, O host of Israel? You shall take up Sukkot, your king, and Kion, your star god, your images that you made for yourselves. And through these words, God is saying to them, you know what, yes, you're doing all the spiritual activity and maybe those around you and even yourself are impressed with yourself.

[9:57] But look what they're doing. These people have made for themselves these little idols. From reading commentaries this week, my understanding is that Sukkot, that these were these idols that they're like pocket idols that you can put in your pocket and take with you to work and you can have with you.

[10:10] And so these people were doing all the spiritual stuff, but they'd done what we call synchronism where they were doing both the stuff of God but also the stuff of the people around them. And God, because of that, says, I will not hear your singing.

[10:23] I despise your feasts and all your spiritual activity. Why is God so mad? Well, it's kind of like if you're married and say the husband says to his wife, like, say the wife saying to her husband, like, hey, like, you know what, I hate, I hate your vacuuming of the house.

[10:41] I despise your working hard to help pay rent. I despise your budgeting. I will not even look upon your playing with the kids before bedtime.

[10:55] And the husband's like, do you know that all the other wives wish that their husband did the things you just mentioned that I do? Like, I'm the husband that all the ladies wish their husband were.

[11:06] You know what I'm saying? And she's like, you do all these things, but you don't love me. And you don't even love the children. You're just doing it because it's a checklist of things.

[11:17] It makes you feel good about yourself, but you're selfish. And the husband's like, no, no, no, no, no. I, I, not only do, do I do these things, but you know what? Remember our vows? And he reads the vows. They're so beautiful vows.

[11:28] Just like they'd be, they'd be, and the psalm assemblies, they would be reading the words of the hero Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one. They'd be saying these things. And he's saying, you know, I'm, he reads his vows to her, expecting that she's going to tear up because they're so beautiful.

[11:41] He wrote his vows himself, you know, the creative people who do that at their weddings. And so he's like, you listen to this. And you know what, honey? I mean, I keep this on Sundays, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

[11:54] What more do you want? And she's like, exactly. Like, what about, I'm not going to math. What about those Mondays and like Thursdays where you're going on sleeping with other women? And he's like, you don't understand.

[12:06] I'm so with you and I'm with you. And when I'm with you, you're the only one in my mind. And she's like, what about Mondays and Thursdays and you're going and sleeping around? He's like, come on.

[12:16] I am paying rent. That's kind of the conversation going on right now where God is saying, you are so proud of your spiritual activity. You're doing, in our language, you're doing church.

[12:27] And you're the one, you're not giving 10%. You're giving 11% just because you can. And you understand that you're not just giving up your money but like you're also volunteering in Sunday school and you're doing all this great stuff and God's saying, it's not only do I not care about it but it stinks because somehow you think you're buying me off with those things when what I want is your love.

[12:52] What I want is your love, God is saying. But let justice roll down like waters. I can't read these words without hearing the much more epic Martin Luther King Jr. saying those words.

[13:03] But let justice roll down like waters. I'm not going to try to imitate him. But let justice roll down like waters. The image here is a cascading white water rapids into a waterfall.

[13:14] There's overwhelming, overflowing justice. Justice. What is justice? It's an all-encompassing right way of living.

[13:26] It is all these things that Amos has been speaking about chapter after chapter of saying, guys, you are trampling on the poor. Justice is caring for the poor. You guys are being sexually immoral.

[13:38] Justice includes sexual integrity. It includes all areas of life. It's a completely all-consumed devotion to what is right. Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

[13:52] God is saying to them, what I want isn't just all the spiritual activity. That's actually all really good things. But what I want is all of who you are. What I want is all of you. He doesn't want our synchronism.

[14:04] He doesn't want us to be trying to combine and merge our spirituality with our other stuff. God wants all that we are. He wants all of us. You know, the temptation for the people of God at this time was to begin combining their walk with God with the religions around them.

[14:20] And the Canaanite religion, I'm not an expert in Canaanite religion. I'm just getting this from others. But from what we can tell from history, the Canaanite religion was all about do's and don'ts, spiritual stuff.

[14:33] So you can do whatever you want to do. They're God's Moloch, whoever it was, Baal. They didn't really have anything, any requirements about your fidelity to your husband or wife.

[14:44] They didn't have anything about your sexual integrity. They didn't define those things. It was simply a religion of this is the type of sacrifice you bring to the God at this time of year. This is the type of feast you celebrate at this time.

[14:55] This is the type of thing you'll do on this day of the week. This is, and so as a result, you can live however you want to live, but you just got to do your spiritual things. And if you do that, then the gods will be favorable to you.

[15:06] And so the people of God see that and then they apply that to their own, to the scriptures. And they see that the scriptures call us to spiritual activity. And so like, okay, you know what, we're not just going to do the minimum.

[15:17] We're just going to max out and all these, the feasts, we'll celebrate them like no one's ever celebrated them. And God is saying, you know, I'm not like, I'm not like the Canaanite religion where if you just give me your lip service and you sing me the songs and you pour out your wine offering, your libations and all that stuff, then I'm pleased with you.

[15:34] No, I don't want your sacrifice. I want you. I don't want your sacrifice. I want you. Now the temptation for these guys, the people of God at this time, to be like the people around them, would be to have little pocket idols, things that you can touch and feel throughout the day if you're feeling a little nervous, little superstition, stuff like that.

[15:52] And God is saying, no, I want you. I don't want that. And what is the temptation for you and me? I don't know if there are people here who maybe you have a Hindu background and so you're tempted to like have some little idol figurines and like bow and whatever, give them food and stuff.

[16:06] There might be some of us here. If that's you, you're welcome here. I think for most of us, the temptation is actually to have a different God, which is ourselves. As some of you know, I'm at Camp Iowa and this past week, every week, we've been singing a song with a big, it's a really fun song.

[16:20] Mostly it's the band that we're playing the songs, but this one we put on like the background soundtrack and we have the actions to it. And it goes, my God is so big and so strong and so mighty.

[16:31] There's nothing my God cannot do. It's a full band. It's just, it's awesome. This past week, I discovered that the boys, it was Boys Week, and the boys made their own lyrics to it. And they were singing, my balls are so big and so strong and so mighty.

[16:44] There's nothing my balls cannot do. Okay? Now you look shocked. I just said that. That's what they were singing. And what I actually appreciate about their song is they put to lyrics what so many of us do with our lives.

[16:58] These boys, I spoke to them at the primetime, the preaching session. I said, you guys think you're so funny. And to be honest, privately, I'm thinking in my head like you guys are actually so funny. But I'm just like, you guys think you're so funny singing about your balls.

[17:11] Just in case if there's any generational gap. They're singing about their testicles. Okay? You guys think you're so funny. Okay? But listen, you guys, you're settling for something so small and so insignificant.

[17:24] You think you've discovered how to, oh, you guys, you guys are the cool kids. You guys, you've invented your own lyrics. But what you've done is as if someone has given you the keys to a magnificent castle. It's amazing.

[17:36] You never, it's not the stuff you dreamed of. It's bigger than the stuff you dreamed of. And you like hockey? There's a skating arena there or ice rink, I guess we call them. Whatever. You know, it's got everything you want. All the toys and so much more.

[17:47] It's so fun. It's such an adventure. You can explore the halls and all the different aspects of the castle forever and ever. And you'll never discover all of it. It's made for sardines, the game.

[17:59] You know, like it's unreal. And yet you guys, I come across you. I'm your buddy. I come and you guys are making sandcastles. You're like, look at our castle. It's so big. It's so awesome. We're so cool. We made this ourselves.

[18:10] And look, like it's not just like we made like our own moat and we have water and we even have like little fishes in it. Like look at us. And you're like, okay, that's cool. But you know there's a real moat with real castle walls with a real castle right behind you and you have settled for a sandcastle.

[18:22] And then as I was chatting with them, I was like, you know what? That's a bad analogy. What you actually are doing is you haven't made a sandcastle. I'm sorry, I'm at camp but it's a little more gritty. You haven't made a sandcastle.

[18:33] You've made a poop castle. You actually have taken manure and not just like horse manure. Like you've taken human feces and you're making your own little castle. Like this is so cool. We have a castle. We're so good.

[18:44] And it's like actually you have first a massive castle that's awesome right behind you that's actually bigger than anything you can ever imagine. That'd be such a great adventure. And you've settled for something so insignificant that's actually like poop bad for you and bad for those that you're interacting with.

[19:00] It's infecting them. It's full of germs and stuff. When we're wrapped up with ourselves when we're living a life that's like you're singing my balls are so big when that's your life when all you are is consumed with yourself and don't just picture the boys here.

[19:15] What about our own selfishness? For some of us our laziness our apathy for others of us it's our hard working workaholism where we're neglecting those who God has entrusted to our care because we are so obsessed with our own achievements.

[19:27] Whatever it is when we're obsessed when our life is about ourselves really we might be thinking you know I've cracked the code to life like I've found the key to my happiness my working crazy hard and getting all the toys or whatever it is.

[19:40] You're settling for something that's so much less awesome. And I don't just mean like less good or less justice or less righteous I mean less awesome. It's actually so much less of an adventure.

[19:54] There's less joy in it there's actually less peace in it it's not what you want but you've settled for this and you're like oh I'm so cool and it's like not only is this so much less awesome but it's actually harming yourself and others.

[20:06] Is that what you want? Every time we do synchronism every time we combine God with the other stuff every time we say God I give you my Sundays and my Wednesday nights or some of you also your Friday mornings not just you some of us that's what we're doing and God 800 in 800 BC 2,800 years ago and still today is saying please please give me yourself and it sounds very sobering because it is woe to you who desire the day of the Lord why would you have the day of the Lord it is dark so not light as if man fled from light these words are serious these words are haunting these words are words of fear just like I saw my brother's face there was a look of fear and he was trying to communicate something to me and if I'd embraced that message as difficult as it would have been for me as a boy and even today to shut up

[21:09] I would have just embraced that message just be quiet when he was trying to be like I would have still been in that sleepover well not still to this day but I would have gone to live out the sleepover that's what my parents had wanted for me was to have fun and to live the fullness of that sleepover but I lost out big at least to my little boy mind I lost out big it was a look of fear in my brother's eyes but that fear was because of his love for me and he wanted me to stay part of the party and as God through Amos is speaking these heavy words they're words not just of fear they're words of love they're words of health they're words of restoration there did come a time of judgment but these words were warning and in the warning there's a possibility that things could change in the warning there's a possibility that things could change church regulars guests everyone myself included there are things in our lives that need to change there is areas in our life where it's like we're singing my balls are so big where we're selfish where we're self-focused we're synchronizing our stuff with God for a lot of us me included it might be hard to see so how do we change don't worry about it you can just pray go on you don't actually need to change just kidding we need to change it's going to be tough to change one of the toughest things is to actually see it we want to think that we're all that

[22:44] I want to think that I'm all that but God calls us to change we need to change and so this is the hardest part of the message how do we change I think the toughest thing about changing is that God is saying right here I don't just want your actions I want your hearts and we can give God our actions but how do we give him our heart how do we do that like tell me I think a lot of husbands are here when their wife is like or vice versa a wife can be there when the husband's like hey I want your heart I want your love and the spouse is like look I've given you this I've given you that I've given you that and in a sense it's just like just tell me one more thing three more things give me a list of things I can do for you and we're cool and they're like no you miss it I want your love I want your heart we can adopt more actions how do we change our hearts it begins with realizing we can't I think it was last week I think it was last week that I was sharing with you that when I was about 16 I realized that I knew so much about God I loved so much about God I knew I knew him as a kid

[23:45] I just didn't I just didn't know him he didn't have my heart and I tried he just didn't have my heart and so I just got on my knees and I said God I need to know you help me to love you two things I was praying at the time God I want to know you I want to love you I knew that I didn't at least not fully like I was made for I told you I prayed that real earnest God I want to know you God I want to know you I need to know you you're too good to be my parents thing you're too if all that's true about you is true what the pastor's saying and I see the sparkle in his eye that he loves and knows you I need that give that to me I want to know you I get up off my knees because I had others that had to go to school still nothing day after day it took way too long day after day God I need to know you there's probably multiple days where I didn't pray that because I was wrapped up in myself again then I get back on my knees

[24:45] God I need to know you please I need to know you we were talking last week about seek me and live but I didn't understand that whole time as much as I felt like I was the one seeking the love the knowing of God the Bible is so so clear God is the one seeking us he's the one loving us he's the one seeking the image is that of the prodigal son in Jesus' own words when the guy he realizes he's not where he needs to be he realizes he's like these people maybe he's of the people of God but he's living like the pagans really and so he's walking home and he's rehearsing his lines and he's trying to seek God kind of like me like he's saying his stuff and then when the father when all of a sudden he looks up the father has been searching for him the father was the one seeking the son the whole time way before the son was seeking him and the father is the one that runs not the son he runs to the son and he embraces him the son tries to start saying his words his spiritual words and the father interrupts him and he just says he just says like let's throw a party my son is home and he wraps him in the robes and gives him his best and all this stuff in a sense

[25:53] I was seeking God and seeking him the Bible tells us to but what I didn't understand was even in my seeking him that was empowered by the very breath of God so where do we go church to be fully the people he's called us to be I know there's testimonies throughout here so many of you are even more committed to God than me but all of us all of us can grow in the fullness of our commitment to him and listen if you're not actually committed to him at all you are in a dangerous place so how do we change knowing it's God who's seeking us let's begin or continue with that same prayer God God I'm not completely given to you I see their selfishness or maybe I can't see it but I'm sure it's there God would you change my heart change my heart give me refresh my heart renew my heart give me your heart help me to love you not just the stuff of you it begins I believe in prayer pray and pray and pray seek him and live knowing that he's the one seeking us our very crying out is empowered by him and then second what God's saying here and saying let justice rule he's saying this isn't just about your spiritual stuff this is an all of life thing people have said look if you really want to know your priorities don't listen to someone's words look at their pocketbook what are they spending money on look at their day planner if people still do that look at what you're spending your time on and in that respect as we seek to give our life completely to God not just to the spiritual to all of our life to God then let's start looking at how we're spending money and what we're doing with our time and seeing are we actually giving ourselves to God how our friendships our marriages our sexuality are we defining our own terms are we seeking to to let the Bible define what is actually right and good and sometimes people will talk to me because I'm the pastor and they'll say like hey you know can you pray for me that I spend more time in the Bible this week and that's another we begin in prayer but also the Bible spiritual food it's so much of the strength that we need to change it's going to be found as we read these words so they're saying hey I'm not reading my Bible

[28:00] I'm not really praying much can you pray that I do but you know what I'm never going to say no to prayer I'll pray for you but you actually just need to do it you know what I'm saying like you just you don't need you don't need me to pray for you you just need to actually when you go to reach for your phone to check Facebook in the morning just bring back the hand grab the Bible spend like three four or five minutes at least if not longer reading a bit you know what I'm saying sometimes you just got to do it just got to gird up your loins in the words of scripture just do it you know what I'm saying so how do we change part of it is by just crying out for help and crying out for help all the way to the end of our life God help me to change I want to know you more completely I'm not satisfied with where I'm at you have more for me I want to be fully yours and second is that we do what it says that we read the words and we seek we see as we read through the scriptures that it's speaking into our life and showing us where we're actually not devoted to God and seeking to change praying and then applying justice and righteousness and purity and humility and courage and faithfulness rolling like overflowing cascading all that our lives are it's how we change we look to God one of the temptations

[29:12] I can't say for all pastors one of my temptations is I want to make sure that I'm saying something new and innovative and stuff but then you come across where you're just like you know what I'm just going to be repeating myself every single week and we're going to do that again because that's what the Bible says so there's nothing new or innovative here that's just the Bible this section ends up as he's saying he's calling them to a full wholehearted full throttled life with God his final words of this passage are says the Lord whose name is the God of armies again and again and again the call to become who we're called to be to leave the poo castles and live in a life of obedience and surrender in the fullness of the adventure of life with God how where does our hope come from for that time and time week after week you see Amos is saying the Lord of armies one of the problems we have with changing especially when what we need to change from is self-obsession is that we turn inward to change and that's why so many of those self-help books you see at chapters or the stuff you google is not helpful because it's just trying to turn ourselves inward to find the strength to change but Amos' solution to changing is to say stop you guys you think you're so funny or whatever singing about your own your testicle like look at God what those boys needed this week

[30:38] I think what we were able to speak to them about was guys you think that life obsessed about your own prowess so big and so bad look what you need look at God who's so big and so mighty there's nothing he cannot do I believe that's the message that Amos is trying to say to them as he says God of armies there's power there's might and there's action there our God isn't just a God who's big sitting on a throne looking at us and tsk tsk no he's the father searching out there with his armies looking for us seeking us that we might live like just one final word then we're done we'll have work with strength to fight it's a ministry helping people find freedom from porn and a couple months ago a pastor was meeting with us talking about how he and his church can work with us and he was talking about how he was so passionate about purity and all this stuff and porn is tied to human trafficking so about fighting human trafficking and he was telling us his testimony about being free of porn and so one of my colleagues with strength to fight just had the wisdom to say like hey when was the last time you watched porn and he was like uh two weeks ago and then he's like okay how long was it since before that he's like well about a month like oh yeah like I'm free

[31:50] I only watch porn once a month and we're like and he's like anyway it's still actually a regular consistent part of this man's life and you know what that's true likely for several number of people here or maybe even more true like there's likely people among us who uh who are watching even more regular than that that's one of the ways this passage comes alive for us is to see that like this pastor is basically like hey you know what I'm gonna do all these like his version of the feasts is justice his version of the feasts is like okay I am volunteering with fight for freedom we're helping rescue girls from you know sexual exploitation um god aren't you so happy with me but at the same time he was holding on to sexual impurity in his case pornography holding on to it this is this is okay I'll give up once a week I'll give up multiple times a day I'll give all that up but once a month that's me time that's my life my terms and it's actually awesome that that god is through his that he's worked at it and god that it's down to once a month

[32:56] I'm sure that's actually a big miracle a huge step for him but what god would be saying to him I try to share with him I'm gonna share with myself and all of us today whatever those things are that like god you've done so much in my life but no more now this is me you can have all of me up until this god is saying to the people of Israel in Amos chapter 5 like he's speaking to us I believe today right now and for the rest of our lives give me everything all of it and that's not some burdensome command that is an invitation to life itself would you stand with me as you pray god you see everything so often like Adam and Eve we want to hide ourselves as if that does anything against your gaze you see everything you know you know the selfishness the self obsession the idolatry and the synchronism in every one of us you see where we flatter ourselves and lie to ourselves and don't even see the blind spots and the sin lord you see it in all of us and we ask in your mercy and your love that you would free us from those poop castles that we play with and lead us in the safety and the wholeness and the risky adventure and all that you made us for for life unleashed for your glory we cannot heal ourselves we cannot change ourselves we do not have the strength for we are not strong and mighty and there's many things that we cannot do but god you are so big and so strong and so mighty would you turn the gaze the attention of our heart to you the fullness and the bigness and the majesty and the power and the grandeur and the love and all that you are give us the hope the drive the help the humility that we need to surrender to you so lord would you help all of us give you all that we are not just partial but completely to you for in you there is life life everlasting in jesus name amen amen and you you you you