“Seek good not evil” Amos 5:4-6, 11-15, 24; 6:1; 8:11; 9:11-15 These are some of the key passages in Amos- give us a feel for the book as a whole.  Dr. Sloan

      What does a human being seek?  When my granddaughter was born, three no four things we seek were very obvious.  She sought air- If a baby doesn’t cry- it means something is wrong.  She sought nourishment.  You probably have seen or heard of someone who quits eating because of illness or sickness. You cannot last longer than 40 days without food and two weeks without water  Babies seek dry diapers- ad they like to be swaddled- clothes.  If you don’t have it- the baby will let you know about it.  Humans seek love too.  Psychologists tell us that human touch is important for the thriving but even the health of an infant. All these things are so obvious.  But what isn’t as obvious is that we seek God.  We are made to seek Himas much as an infant is made to seek his or her mother. The prophets are constantly encouraging us to seek God.  Isaiah says, “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call on Him while He is near.”  Jeremiah says, “If you seek me, you will find me when you search for me with all your heart.”  Jesus said “Seek and you will find”; “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.”  So, what are you seeking with all your heart- like you can’t live without it? 

    Twice in our passage God says, “Seek me [the Lord] and live.”  In verse 14 it says a similar thing, “Seek good and not evil.”  In the Bible life and goodness go together.  They are bound up together in the way we were made.  It makes perfect sense that if we live how we were designed to live- that is seeking good not evil- seeking God not selfishness or other gods- then we will be blessed with a better, fuller life. 
     When I was teenager I discovered that when things are run according to the directions, they last longer. My father had a two cycle engine on a small chain saw.  It required a mix of oil and gasoline to run.  I poured oil in, but not gasoline.  I knew I had done it, but I went ahead and tried to run it anyway.  It actually started, but soon all the thicker oil got caught up in the lines, it smoked like crazy and it stopped never to start again.  In my teenage brain I thought I could substitute oil from gas.  They come from the same source, and have a similar molecular makeup.  They smell similar.  But oil has a thicker viscosity and will clog up a gasoline motor every time.
     Many people look for everything but God in life.  They try different substitutes. But you cannot substitute work for God- eventually you will retire.  You cannot substitute partying for God- eventually good time Charlie gets the blues.  You cannot substitute human love or even family love for God- family members may alienate themselves from you or even die.  People on ESPN have openly bragged about some making football or baseball their god- but even the desire to go to sports venues changes with time.  The games we play and watch are gifts to us from God- but the best gifts can be substituted for God- and that is a mess.

Amos’ message raises a question for everyone of us here: “What do you seek in life?”  At the end of your life, what do you want to have been able to say? 

     There are many who seek to get away with evil.  They like to push the borders eliminating all social and spiritual mores- in the name of freedom.  So it was in Amos’ day too.  God forbade the worship of other gods- so they did it.  Perhaps they did it in rebellion against dogma- “my karma just ate your dogma.”  They had no desire to please God or His rules.  They might ask, “If my intention is not to harm another, then why can’t I…(fill in the blank). 

     There are others who really seek evil in life. Amos says seek good not evil. Hate evil- love good.  We may think those who seek evil are far away from us, but they are not so far away as you might think.  We may think those who flew the planes into the towers, or the underwear bomber- or those who sought to kill the Saudi prince- just seek to do evil.  But think about gangs.  There are gangs in Irmo and signs of gangs in Chapin.  In Amos’ day there were thugs.

      There are others who seek to mollify the problems of life with science and technology- kind of doing the best we can.  There is a great Wall Street Journal piece on Steve Jobs.  He purposefully chose the symbol of the eaten apple- a Christian symbol of the fallen world- as the symbol for his company; in part it was to show technology’s triumph over the problems of work and life.  The journal piece said Steve Jobs was an evangelist for putting hope in technology, and he delivered a new miracle with the unveiling of a new product several times a year.  In a time in which our country has had little hope economically, militarily, or politically, Jobs provided some hope through personal technology.   Yet even Jobs could not conquer the fall.  If your hope is simply in human knowledge and progress, you are leaning on a cane that splinters and breaks.

     There are others who seek selfishness.  They want as much for themselves and their family as they can possibly get. 
In fact, some, would question what’s wrong with that?  In Amos’ day that was also true (5:11) and so he labeled his times “evil.”  How do you get rid of evil times?  You get rid of them by pursuing good, and you define the good not by what you want, but by listening to God.  Having mercy on the poor helps our times to be better.  When we are kind to those less fortunate, when we have an eye for those needing a helping hand, when we care that the poor are not being trampled on- then we are blessed by God.  I think both the Tea Party movement and the Occupy Wallstreet groups have this in common- protesting corporate bailouts and the apathy that some of the wealthy have to those in need.  There is always a tendency to think I got what I have and there is no obligation toward anyone else.  There isn’t from a secular viewpoint.  But part of seeking God is loving our neighbor.  Marie Antoinette was very serious I am told when she was told the masses were starving and she said, “Let them eat cake.”  Revolutions happen most often when there is a large gap between the few rich and the many poor aggravated by a poor economy.  That is true of the Russian revolution, the Chinese communist revolution, many of the revolutions in the Muslim world this spring.  The best generosity does not come when the government takes wealth away, but when people give it to the needy out of a generous heart. 
     Pascal said that there is a God-shaped vacuum that can only be found in God.  Augustine said that our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God.  Have you been seeking something some peace- some fulfillment that only God can fill? 
    Seek God- do not be embarrassed to pray to Him; to thank Him for your food; to witness to His love; to stand up for what you believe.
     Amos is not being totally negative here.  Of course, because the people he spoke to were greedy they didn’t hear anything but negativity.  Amos was saying, “This is the way to life.  This is the way to rebuild the fallen tent of David.”

     Amos, you remember was a shepherd and a forester, so he has all these outdoor images- path seeking, tent falling.  Have you ever been lost hiking in the dark?  I have, and it is not fun.  When you are in the dark walking in the woods, you want to know where the path is, and you want to make sure you’re not tripping on a root or a snake or running into a low-hanging limb.  You are seeking that path like it was your life.  That’s the kind of seeking Amos is talking about.  When it is dark and you are lost you desperately want to avoid the false trails that will detour you away.  You desperately want to see some direction pointing you to the true path. 
    God has provided a way- a path- a purpose- a direction.  It is the way of life.  It is the way of goodness.  Seek goodness. Seek God.  Seek life.  Jesus said it like this- I am the way, the truth, the life no one comes to the Father but by me.  Seek His kingdom and His righteousness.  We need to seek God- as much as we need air, food, clothing, love.