Amos 8:11-12 — Behold, the days come, saith the Lord [God], that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.

Unexpectedly today I found myself invited to read in Amos, and to consider the application of the prophets words to the America of today.
In the reign of Jeroboam, God warns Israel through Amos of a terrible time ahead. Israel had been used to the Lord providing guidance and direction when it was needed. Now He tells them that He will no longer provide it. Have they consistently despised and ignored His instruction? Very well. He will no longer provide it.
The context is that the society of the Northern kingdom was characterized by three core failings which God calls out through Amos:
First, there is idolatry. Jeroboam has provided a molten calf as an object of worship, and even when people do turn to the Lord they refuse to turn away from “the sin of Samaria” (8:14)
Second, there is empty religiosity. In chapter 4 the prophet has mockingly encouraged the people to come to Bethel and add unrequited sacrifices for the feast which they love so much. Time and again God makes a point to a people that will not listen:

For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. (Psalm 51:16-17)

Lastly, there is a rampant commercialism and oppression by the rich of the poor. In verses 8:4-6, Amos lays out the charge. The rich seek to consume the wealth of the poor. They are eager for the end of the Sabbath or feasts so that they can get back to business. They cheat on their weights and measures. To cap it all, when they have stripped the poor they are making them slaves.
It is all too easy to see the same failings in America today.
Discussions of income inequality might be controversial —
but there is clear evidence that it has been on the increase in America since the late 1970’s. The financial crisis of 2008 was largely created by predatory lending (perhaps the modern equivalent of false measures!). The large-scale stealing of wealth by Bernie Madoff is only one example of theft from those least able to afford it.
It is sadly all too easy to find evidence of religious lip service in America. Many of us have experiences of churches where the worship is proficient but cold, and where there is more judgment than grace. The perception is confirmed by a painful Barna Group survey of 2013 headlined “Most Christians lack Jesus’s love for others.”
How about idolatry? Americans don’t worship golden calves do they? Of course not … but does anybody put anything else — new car, golf game, football — ahead of God.
So there it is. Guilty as charged, and just as in Jeroboam’s Israel, there is a famine of God’s word in the land. But I see one terrible key difference.
In America, I fear there’s a famine but nobody is hungry! I do not see leaders desperately seeking for the word of the Lord. Spiritual death is happening, and the victims don’t even know about it.
We need to tell people the truth about Jesus, and awaken the hunger.