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This is the audio from the July 23, 2023 sermon, “Called By God: No Place To Hide”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Text: Amos 8:3-7

Today I continued a sermon series which is based from the Old Testament book of Amos.  If you’re wondering how applicable the message from this book of the Bible can be today, consider the following description of the world in the days of Amos.  See if this sounds familiar at all to the world we currently live in.

“A spirit of self-sufficiency and smug complacency thrived on material prosperity.  The rich were getting richer and the poor were getting poorer.  Idolatry, hypocrisy, moral corruption, and social injustices were everywhere.  The nation was truly on the brink of disaster.”  (Irving Jensen)

While there are many times people try to completely hide from God, such as Jonah did, perhaps more common is the thought that we can hide certain actions from God and He won’t notice.  The people in the days of Amos would observe the Sabbath and worship times set by God, yet in the midst of those times which should have been sacred they were concerned about getting back to the business of mistreating and cheating people.    When we live as those called by God, as His people, the way we treat others says a lot about our relationship with God.  Even when we struggle with differences within the body of Christ, God wants us to treat one another in a way that promotes honor and respect.  Doing so every day that we live shows that the family of God really is no place to . . .

• Humiliate: (Matthew 18:15)

  • The people in the days of Amos appear to have made it a habit to lift themselves and put down others.  Often times our mistreatment of others begins by making them out to be less of a person than we are.  Even in the midst of conflict, God says His family is no place to humiliate one another.  In fact, He gives us instructions on how to handle situations when we sin against one another.  Rather than point that out to anyone else, our first step is to protect the reputation of others and go to them privately to work out the issue.  As those called by God, we must be very careful that our dealings with others are always done with the utmost care so that the family of God is no place to humiliate anyone.

• Injure: — (Ephesians 4:29)

  • The people in the days of Amos not only had not problem humiliating others, they would extend that into the way they actually treated the people they looked down on.  While the old playground phrase, “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me”, was often repeated, it was far from the truth.  God says that when we don’t guard our words that sin abounds.  What we allow to grow in our heart will eventually come out through our words and then make its way into our actions.  Living as the family of God calls for us to protect others from injury by only speaking what is useful and builds them up according to their need.  As those called by God, there is no place within God’s family to injure anyone.

• Destroy: — (Galatians 5:14-15)

  • The hearts of the people in the days of Amos seem to be set on destruction.  I suspect that it didn’t begin that way, but once we allow the seeds of humiliating and injuring others to slip into our lives the path to destruction becomes the natural flow.  It is by holding fast to God’s command to love our neighbor as our self, we are transformed into seeing people the way God sees them.  God warns us that a life spent “biting and devouring” one another will lead to destruction.  Living as the family of God calls for us to care about others and to love them with the same love that God has shown to us.  As those called by God, there is no place within God’s family to destroy anyone.

• Enslave: — (Colossians 2:8)

  • The ultimate digression of mistreating people is to enslave them in one way or another.  The people in the days of Amos had devalued others to the point that they were simply another commodity in the process of lifting themselves.  While it is unlikely that any Christian reading this would consider enslaving someone else in the traditional sense of the word, our methods of doing so typically revolve around forcing others to live by our standards and preferences rather than letting Christ be the head of the body.  In fact, God warns us about the dangers of being taken captive, or taking others captive, through the tools of human tradition and worldly principles.  Living as the family of God calls for us to be submissive to one another and allow for differences that don’t violate the Word of God.  As those called by God, there is no place within God’s family to enslave anyone.

Today, how will you live in God’s presence so there is no need or desire to HIDE?