http://countrysidechurchofchrist.sermon.net/main/main/21481945
Amos Ch. 6:1-11, “A Warning to the Complacent” Lesson 12
Reggie Webb, Retired Pastor, Bible Teacher of Edenton NC. Please remember to pray for his ongoing health!
Consider the lilies of the field… Matt 6:28
thedailylily.com 
The Title and the very first words from P Reggie’s mouth, “A warning to the Complacent”…And, a look at arrogance!
I’v seen a lot of arrogance recently in church people. When I hear arrogance in nations, groups etc. I’m thinking maybe I don’t think I’m arrogant but I’m part of a nation, or church, or friends that live the life of arrogance.
Pastor Reggie has a perfect way describing a cocktail party.
Pastor Reggie sure described the lifestyle of the rich and famous. Israel was so rich they ate ‘gourmet food’ for every meal and reclined on beds inlaid with ivory. They didn’t have a “care in the world” and didn’t have to work a day in their life. Why? Because Pastor Reggie explained that they had stolen everything the poor had! We were told that their motto was “Eat, drink and be merry and it was practiced to the hilt.”
They thought they were so famous that “no city state in their entire region could now compare in pomp and circumstance”…not even the city states of Syria. They felt they had nothing to fear and no cares in the world for their concern was themselves and maintaining their luxurious lifestyle. Easy to see Israel’s complacency as detailed by Pastor Reggie. But then he shifts gears and turns the pointer to America saying there are people here who think similarly…nothing to fear; all is good; no morality; eat, drink (not by the glass, but by the bowlful!) and be merry.
Then just as the partying can’t seem to get any wilder, we are told that the Prophet throws a damper on all and basically says, “The party is just about over”… the nation will absolutely be destroyed by “wicked and corrupt individuals” (Assyrians and Babylonians) who He uses (even if they don’t know it) to “do His bidding”. Pastor Reggie warns us that “God can use other nations as His agents” whether we believe this or not.
Sadly, we learn that the poor, whom the rich abused, will have to suffer these destructive consequences as well. This reminds me of what Sara wrote above, “When I hear arrogance in nations, groups etc. I’m thinking maybe I don’t think I’m arrogant but I’m part of a nation, or church, or friends that live the life of arrogance.”
The chapter lesson ends with no repentance evident because they ‘believe they have it made and everything is going their way”…lots of money, food, wine, drinking parties. And they sure are “not going to let that Prophet scare them” according to Pastor Reggie. Ironically, we learn that 25-30 years later “all that will be left will be a field of debris.”
This is like a movie searching for an ending. Not a movie but surely an ending is coming.
Yes, I understood Pastor Reggie to say that when God swears by Himself, it is going to happen – absolutely. And He swore in Amos 6:8.
Vocabulary.com says complacent comes from the root is very pleased…….. they are going unconcerned by things that they should concern them, they may neglect their duties. A complacent person, (nation), might be heard saying, “Ehh, don’t worry about it!” When there is really something to worry about.
A prophet was sent and spoke calamity and terror is coming. The rich were richer and caused the poor to be poorer without any concern with what they were doing as so self arrogance. They felt economically and militarily powerful so no worry.
Warnings flashed red but unheeded blood ran red for the wealthy and the poor.
Apart of a nation, a church, a friend as the list mentioned by Sara, the warnings unheeded bring destruction and terror.
This reminded me of Ernest Hemingway novel, For Whom the Bell Toll which is a title from a sermon by John Donne. “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main…any man’s death diminishes me, for I am invoked in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
I read a number of times “From whom the bells Toll”. My understanding as a young girl was very limited in writers’ thoughts. Not much better now. But, it’s writing like this which I have often read that helps my understanding. “The Christian tradition clearly points to this entanglement. In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes that “the life and death of each of us has its influence on others” (14:7, Jerusalem Bible). The Apostles’ Creed affirms our belief in “the communion of saints.” There is apparently a positive inner connectedness that we can draw upon if we wish. It seems to me that quantum entanglement is a foundationally Christian concept, which is now finding voice in modern science.” The Field of Love
A big thanks and great appreciation to Reggie Webb, June, and our cast of writers for developing these interesting lessons from the Book of Amos found in the Bible, OT.
These lessons lend help for daily living as we try and understand how living out our lives really matter in the fungi of Words from Amos, family trees and fungal bridges to our neighbors.
“OUR LIVES GLORIFY God when we live in loving relationship with one another. Our lives glorify God when we offer hospitality to those who need our care and support. Our lives glorify God when we use the unique gifts that God has given to each of us, not to bring attention to ourselves but for healing, edifying, encouraging, and serving others.”—Paul Wesley Chilcote, A Life-Shaping Prayer: 52 Meditations in the Wesleyan Spirit (Upper Room Books, 2008)
We all to often show our arrogance by our complacency to ignore others and satisfy our party spirit found in Galatians 5:19-21.
Thanks for giving your inspiration to ignite my aspiration to learn with action.
“These lessons lend help for daily living as we try and understand how living out our lives really matter in the fungi of Words from Amos, family trees and fungal bridges to our neighbors.”
Sara, your creative words and insights above sure can make us see and think on things from an entirely new perspective. It makes me think how vast and complex God is and how little I can even comprehend of His ever-unfolding eternity and greatness.
When you mentioned ‘fungi’ and ‘trees’ and relationships, I recalled reading something about this relationship in a book gifted to me a while back titled, “The Hidden Life of Trees” by Peter Wohlleben. In his chapter, “United We Stand, Divided We Fall”, he writes about fungi saying “they are the largest known living organisms in the world.” Some are “not tree friendly; they kill them as they prowl the forest in search of edible tissue.” Then he talks about “amicable teamwork between fungi and trees.” “With the help of mycelium (a fungus’s underground cottony web) of an appropriate species for each tree – for instance, the oak milkcap and the oak – a tree can greatly increase its functional root surface so that it can suck up considerably more water and nutrients. You find twice the amount of life-giving nitrogen and phosphorus in plants that cooperate with fungal partners than in plants that tap the soil with their roots alone. To enter into a partnership with one of the many thousands of kinds of fungi, a tree must be very open – literally – because the fungal threads grow into its soft root hairs….from then on the two partners work together…also allows its (fungal) web to roam through the surrounding forest floor. In doing so, it extends the reach of the tree’s own roots as the web grows out towards other trees. Here, it connects with other trees’fungal partners and roots. And so a network is created, and now it’s easy for the trees to exchange vital nutrients (see chapter 3, “Social Security”) and even information – such as an impending insect attack.”