Whose Standard?

Psalm 119:9-16                Amos 7:7-17                  Luke 10:25-37

Whose Standard?

We all like to think that we have a right to pick and choose the rules that suit our desired lifestyle. People all over the world riot or picket or demonstrate or protest for or against regulating decisions made by their governments. Lines are drawn and sides are taken, dung is flung as each camp sincerely believes that they are right, and the others are wrong. 

Of course, this should not come as a surprise to those who have read Genesis chapters 2 and 3. There a standard was set (God said) and challenged (did God really say?). Lines were drawn, and a choice had to be made as to whose standard to follow. A choice was made and today we continue to live with the consequences of that choice. 

Thankfully, many years later, another choice was made in a different Garden…one just outside the walls of Jerusalem…a tough choice…an excruciatingly painful choice…but the right choice.

Choices will always be part of life this side of eternity, and choices will always have consequences. One choice can change your life forever. So, making the right choice is a wise thing to do. But how? How do you know that the choice you make is the right one?

At the risk of sounding oversimplistic, I wish to propose that the only way to ensure you are making the right choices is by applying the right standard. The Psalmist asked the question: “How can a person keep their way pure?” We could state the question a little differently. “How can anyone be sure they are making the right choices?” The answer is simple. By living according to God’s Word…or by applying God’s standard to our decisions. Seeking after God, sticking to his commandments, internalising his Word, reading, marking, learning, and obeying his Word…that is the only way to guarantee that an individual will make an informed and correct choice.

The story of the prophet Amos is an interesting one. In many ways, Amos was everything I am not. Amos was tough and blunt and fearless. He was not afraid of confrontation, and he said and did things no one wishes to hear today any more than they did during his lifetime. His style and the content of his messages is enough to make even the boldest of us choose an alternative text for our sermons.

In one sense, we could consider Amos a missionary as he was from the southern kingdom of Judah, ministering in the northern kingdom of Israel. You might recall that following Rehoboam’s disastrous choice to follow the advice of his contemporaries rather than his elders, Jeroboam set up a rival kingdom in the north, leaving Rehoboam to govern a smaller kingdom from Jerusalem. But Jeroboam was afraid that after the euphoria of freedom from Rehoboam’s harsh governance had died down, his subjects would begin to miss worship at the Temple in Jerusalem. So, to prevent this from happening, Jeroboam set up, not just one rival place of worship, but two…one in Dan in the north and one in Bethel in the south. Amos’ ministry was centred around Bethel.

Now, the curious thing about the worship at these two sites in Dan and Bethel is that it was somewhat like the worship in Jerusalem with just a few subtle twists. Besides the golden calves, Jeroboam chose his own priests, his own feasts and festivals, as well as his own liturgical style. Similar enough to satisfy the masses and thus keep them away from Jerusalem, but different enough to be dangerously misleading. It didn’t take long before the people were worshipping whatever they chose wherever they chose. You see, shifting God’s standard, even if ever so slightly, is never a good idea. It opens all sorts of doors better left closed. 

The history of the northern kingdom bears witness to the fact that this seemingly insignificant modification ushered the nation right into the arms of the foreign gods of their neighbours. And their subsequent stubborn refusal to turn back to God’s standard eventually led to their defeat and their destruction. One generation after the ministry of Amos, the Assyrian empire invaded the Northern Kingdom and carried the people into exile. 

According to the author of the book of Kings, all this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God…they had forsaken all the commands of the Lord their God and had not only made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, but also an Asherah pole. They deified the stars and planets, and they worshipped Baal. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sorcery and did evil in the sight of the Lord. 

One bad choice led to many others and changed the trajectory of a nation forever. Choices have consequences. The one good thing about bad choice, of course, is that they often result in great stories!

Amos was called to preach during the relatively peaceful reigns of two kings, King Uzziah of Judah, and King Jeroboam II of Israel. This was also a time of great prosperity, at least for a few at the expense of the many. At this point in time, the nation had forgotten about the laws of God concerning the division and distribution of land and the care and concern for every individual. A rising upper class began to oppress an emerging and increasingly impoverished peasant class. This was, in many ways, a return to their enslavement in Egypt. It is ironic to think that the reason for the initial break from Rehoboam’s kingdom was because the people did not want to be treated harshly…but then later, they lived under some of the harshest leaders imaginable.

Now, it is important to note that in his stern denunciation of this social injustice and the repression of the poor, Amos did not introduce new moral laws. No, rather he held up the ancient Word of God as a plumbline against Israel, bluntly stating that the only way to ensure they would make the right choices in the future would be if they applied the right standard to their lives. Amos’ prophetic words judged all the people…including their leaders…by God’s ancient standard, holding them accountable for their transgressions…warning them that if they persisted in their waywardness, they would be destroyed as a nation. It is no wonder that Amaziah, the priest at Bethel reported the prophet to the king! 

God’s judgment was not and is not ever limited to those in power! Everyone in the nation was and is held accountable for their own choices. Now, if Amos could stand up and challenge both great and small, so can we…as he said, he was no one special…just an ordinary man. But God can do extraordinary things through ordinary people.

The Samaritan who stopped to help a victim of violent theft and thuggery was also a rather extraordinary ordinary person! Actually, this Samaritan is extraordinary on quite few levels. Besides the fact that he, as an ordinary (yet marginalized) citizen, made the right choice while those of the religious establishment brought shame on their vocation through their selfish and heartless choices, you must remember that the Samaritans as a people group were the result of Israel’s sin and subsequent exile. 

Again, the book of Kings tells us that when Shalmanezer V took many of the people of Israel to Assyria in 722 BC, he also brought people from Babylon, Cutha, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the land and they intermarried with the remaining Israelites. This mixed nation was then served by one of the irregular priests of Israel who continued to lead them in the mixed religion started by Jeroboam. To the pure-blood, ancestry-conscious first century Jews, the Samaritans were an abomination. Unclean by blood and unclean by faith. 

But this is the person Jesus held up as exemplary! The one who made the right choice with regard to the weak and needy. You don’t have to possess a doctorate in biblical studies in order to live a life worthy of our Lord! All you really need is to know God and his Word – that will give you a heart filled with love for God and his heart in you filled with love for people! 

Jesus too was, in many ways, an ordinary person. He was a simple labourer from a small, insignificant town in Galilee of the Gentiles. While Jesus was not considered defiled as was the Samaritan, his place of origin was a subject for ridicule. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathaniel once asked, no doubt echoing a proverb voiced by many. A statement made later by some unidentified hecklers may indicate that the strange circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth was also questioned. “We are not illegitimate children,” they shouted.

Jesus certainly was not counted among the social elite or of the intelligentsia of the time, and yet the choices made by Jesus throughout his life leading up to his untimely death on the cross started a movement that turned the known world upside down within the space of a single generation. Choices have consequences. 

So, tell me. What choices have you made in the past? What choices are you making now, in the present? Whose plumbline or whose standard are you using to determine the correctness of your decisions? Are you struggling with the consequences of some bad decisions made before?

The good news is that it is never too late to change the direction of your life. Our God is merciful and gracious…he is kind and compassionate…he is altogether good and forgiving. If you are willing and serious in your desire to change, regardless of whether that change is simple or complex, God will fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you might live a life worthy of the Lord and so that you may please him in every way. 

Just pick up his standard, bring it alongside your life and allow it to serve as a plumbline…as a guide for removing what ought not to be there and for rebuilding that which is not square. Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest God’s Word. Speak to him about it as you read, asking for his guidance and conviction and strength to apply what you learn along the journey. Don’t rush through the text – savor every word and meditate on every phrase. Resist the urge to pick and choose the rules that suit your desired lifestyle. This is the only way to make the right choices in life. God made this world and he made you. Like a master designer and engineer, he knows exactly how you need to operate if you are to function without injury. 

“How can anyone be sure they are making the right choices?” The answer is simple. By living according to God’s Word…by applying God’s standard to our decisions. Seeking after God, sticking to his commandments, internalising his Word, reading, marking, learning, and obeying his Word…that is the only way to guarantee that an individual will make an informed and correct choice.

Learn from the examples set before you in Scripture…examples of ordinary people who made extraordinary choices…and then go and do likewise. 

Let us pray.

© Johannes W H van der Bijl July 2022