Those Other Sinners

Amos 5:18-20

18 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light,

19 as if a man fled from a lion and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him.

20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

One of the claims measured against Christians has always been that we think we are better than everyone else. For most Christians, this is a ridiculous charge, as they know better. But here in our reading for today, even God takes on that attitude. Here we find God’s people arrogantly saying, “Bring Your destruction down upon those people because they deserve it!” They did not see themselves as sinners, worthy of God’s wrath, but the people around them sure were!

This is an easy posture to take as we look out across the cultural landscape before us. The pointing of fingers in the direction of others happens almost automatically as we lay blame at their feet and see them as godless sinners worthy of destruction. But God does not look upon that judgment on our part with pleasure. His warning is that we too are sinners in His sight and for God, sin is sin. All of it separates us from Him. He removes from us the right to look at another and judge their life as worthy of destruction. That power lies with Him alone.

The picture He draws for the reader is of the person who calls down the Day of Judgment but then can find no escape from the calamity for themselves. No matter where you turn, there you will find pain and sorrow, for you too are worthy to be judged by a holy God. We are no better than those who we hold in such derision. This arrogance is also sin and we need to confess it and move away from the practice.

This is, once again, easier said than done. That practice of self-justification comes so naturally to all of us. And of course, who do we compare ourselves to but other sinners. God would have us instead look to His Word and His laws for a standard of comparison, in which case we all come up short every time. The Gospel message tells us to cease the practice of self-justification, which will always end badly and look instead to the One who does have the power to forgive and declare us righteous – Jesus Christ. And that righteousness comes not because we have compared ourselves to another and come out ahead. It comes because Jesus shed His innocent blood to pay for every single one of those sins. Instead of comparisons, we need to make confessions and see the power of the Lord work in our lives.

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