The Sound of Justice: Amos 5 (from last Sunday)
Seek the Lord and live…
I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
I will not look upon.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:6, 21-24
What do we learn for our time and situation as we spend time with Amos 5 and 8th century BC Israel?
The music God loves to hear is the sound of justice. It is the sound of a society where people of all sectors of life can come together and know they are welcome, encouraged, supported, championed, embraced. It is the sound of voices praying together, lifting our voices in song that brings healing and restoration where there is pain and division. It is the sound of shared stories that unite us to our Creator and the Maker of heaven and earth. This is Worship. This is the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
God loves to hear the music of justice that, with the Spirit of the Lord seeks out injustice – ensuring medical bills can be paid, food can be shared, children can have access to wifi for education, relationships can be healed, the environment can be enjoyed by anyone. … What would you add is the music God longs to hear?
Amos 5 and the image of an ever-flowing torrential river, traveling to the lowest crevices to bring the healing waters of life, bring to mind another river in scripture.
Revelation 22 says: “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life … the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No curse will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him;
You would think that God’s plan for humanity would be to restore us to God-self and then bring us back to the GARDEN again…
Instead, God does what is beyond our imagination and brings together all of the people of all nations into… a city. Not a city like Babel or Jerusalem or Rome or New York, or Dubai or Seattle. But a city splashed with color, spacious and populated joyfully with people of all nations, from all the earth. Together.
There is no temple in this City, we are told because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb, Jesus, the ONE sacrificed for our sake, are the temple – the gathering place.
It is a city of wholeness and healing, full of beauty and joy, and in the middle of the city —right down the center — is the ever-flowing RIVER of LIFE. It is a river in which all have access to it with the tree of life on both sides bringing healing. IT is the river of justice of Amos. It is the water of LIFE that Jesus offers.
INVITATION
We, who live on this earth, held in the in-between --in the middle— are invited to live as bearers of hope and as people who remember that God hates that which destroys creation, hears the cries of injustice and invites us to seek the Spirit daily that we might participate in the flowing work of justice NOW in our CITY. In our neighborhood. In our world.
And, Jesus Christ, our Lord, is at the center.
What the people of Israel missed, what Amos came to proclaim and the good news we share is that REAL WORSHIP combines our gratitude and praise to God that Jesus is Lord WITH our acts of justice and righteousness in our every day lives, in our families, our neighborhoods, our city. In our world.
Lets participate in Jesus’ everflowing stream of water that brings healing – a healing for you, for us and for the nations
A prayer for you today
Dear God on High, thank you that you say there is space in your story for me. Forgive me for not trusting your Word that says I matter and for seeking my identity in false images to puff myself up in the world. Help me to trust that your Spirit of Life flows through me to bring your healing to this world. Open my eyes to see the places where my gifts, personality, and story can be a blessing to others on this journey of life.
Thank you that in seeking you, I find whole, real life.
In the name of Jesus. Amen