Sermon Preview: "A Basket of Summer Fruit"

A Basket of Summer Fruit

 Amos 8:2-3  ...“Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass them by.  The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” says the Lord God; “the dead bodies shall be many, cast out in every place. Be silent!”

Once again, what seems at first to be a scene of prosperity and plenty, a sign of progress and the conclusion of a successful harvest, is overshadowed by the oppression of the poor and economic injustice.  With Amos's southern drawl the Hebrew word for "a basket of ripe fruit" (probably
figs) and "the end" or a "cutting off" sound the same.  You may think all is well, Amos warns, because the economic engine is still spinning, but the grim reaper's scythe is there in the harvest photo.  This week's oracles come as a warning to those who cannot slow down, who are obsessed with work and with the almighty dollar, those who will stop at nothing to get the very last penny without realizing the damage they are causing to others.  Join us for this next-to-last sermon on Amos.