Hate Evil, Love Good, Establish Justice
Amos 5:14-15, 21-24, “Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said.
Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”
“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.”
January 4, 2015
Amos 5:14-15, 21-24; 7.10-17, Hate Evil, Love Good, Establish Justice
Pastor Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
Audio only[powerpress]
Amos shared God’s message around 760-750 B.C. during the reigns of Kings Uzziah of Judah (southern kingdom) and Jeroboam II of Israel (northern kingdom). He is the earliest of the Old Testament prophets whose words have been handed down in writing. During Jeroboam’s reign, the northern kingdom of Israel reached its peak of territorial expansion, military security, participation in the rituals of religion, and economic prosperity and the people took all this as a sign that Lord was happy with them. Into this scene came the prophet Amos, a native of the Judean village of Tekoa, not far from Bethlehem. Amos had the very difficult job of delivering hard words in good times.
Have you ever been in that position? Have you ever had to give someone bad news that you knew they wouldn’t want to hear and would likely respond to badly? When I was a Head Resident in college, I often found myself in the position of having to deliver hard words that interrupted other people’s “good” times. “Shut the door. Turn the music down. Knock it off. You need to leave.” Fortunately for me, my roommate was one of the strongest and toughest guys on campus, so people knew that behind me there was a force, beyond even the authority of the school that they knew they would have to reckon with at their own peril.
Amos came to denounce Israel and all the neighboring countries, for relying on military might instead of God, for social injustice against the poor, a corrupt judicial system, immorality, and meaningless, empty religion. The similarities between Amos’s time and our own are many. It’s tough enough to have to share the bad news of God’s judgment on the injustice in your own country, but to go to someone else’s country and tell them that their God was about to destroy everything they held dear, that’s truly an intimidating task, perhaps even a life-threatening task. But there was power behind Amos that compelled him to go.
Amos wisely began his message by telling the citizens of Israel about God’s judgment on their neighbors they detested. God says there are more than enough reasons not to revoke the punishment coming to Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and while he is saying this you can almost hear the residents of Israel saying, “Yeah, go get ‘em God, give them what’s coming to them. They deserve it.” Then Amos says, in Amos 2, that the Lord will punish his home land of Judah “because they have rejected the law of the Lord, and have not kept his statutes.” And the people may have said, “Wow, he must truly be a prophet he not only proclaimed God’s judgment on our enemies but even on his own people. Preach it, Amos!” Then their enthusiasm turned to anger when he announced God’s judgment on their injustice and immorality. Amos implores the people to seek the Holy One, and not a so called holy place, Bethel. And Amos hammers on the need for a genuine relationship with God and for justice – justice in relationships, justice in the treatment of the poor, justice in government and the courts, he wants justice to flow like mighty waters. Unfortunately the people and the institutions were impediments to justice rather than instruments of justice. As a result God’s judgment is going to be so severe that even the house of the king will not be spared. That brings us to Amos 7:10-17,
“Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.’ ”And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”
Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’
“Now therefore hear the word of the Lord. You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’ Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be parceled out by line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’”
We’ve seen an international controversy over a movie about assassinating the ruler of North Korea. Amos’s message is not a fictional story but a prophetic word about the death of the king and the destruction or a real nation. Amos’s message is clear and devastating: God will soon bring disaster in the form of military defeat and exile upon Israel. The sins that have led to this judgment include social injustice, such as depriving the poor of their rights, and religious arrogance.
It is a sobering and even scary thought to consider that if God didn’t spare even Israel, the people the Lord brought up out of slavery in Egypt, and led to a promised land and with whom God established a covenant, then there is no guarantee for any country including our own, that God will put up with the same kind of sins in our midst that God would not tolerate in Israel. Proverbs 21:7 says, “The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, because they refuse to do what is just.” I don’t think any of us want to live in country that is known for injustice, depriving the poor of their rights, or religious arrogance. We want to live in a land known for justice, generosity, compassion, and humility.
Author Eric Metaxas shared the following in an article just before Christmas. “All around we see death, anger, and despair. I’m sure you’ll agree there is much about the human condition we wish weren’t true. Yet as we approach Christmas, we’re reminded once again that the darkness gathering around us does not have the final word. John the Apostle opens his Gospel with timeless words of hope regarding the Word of God: “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Last month, in Tarrant, Alabama, the light of hope shined into one woman’s family. Helen Johnson stood in the store aisle in despair. She and her two daughters, a niece and two grandchildren, had not eaten for two days and now she was 50 cents short for the dozen eggs she was hoping to buy. Out of options and hope, Helen stuffed five of the eggs in her pocket and tried to walk out. Fortunately, as it turns out, they broke. “I’m not a good thief at all,” she said.
When confronted by store employees, she admitted her crime and waited for police. Yet, when Officer William Stacy got there, the story didn’t go as she expected. Instead of escorting her to the back of his squad car, Officer Stacy bought the dozen eggs for her and let her know the store was not pressing charges. When asked how she could repay him, Stacy told her not to shoplift again.
When I heard about this, I kept thinking about the touching scene in Les Miserables where Bishop Myriel presses the silver candlesticks into the criminal Jean Valjean’s hands. Your life has been spared for God, he told him. Kindness, rather than retribution, and mercy instead of punishment, is what makes these stories great.
But Helen Johnson’s story did not end there. A man filmed the incident at the store and posted it online. The video went viral and offers of help began pouring in. Three days later, police officers were helping Mrs. Johnson sign up for a toy drive and the following day, officers returned with two truckloads of food. For a family with virtually nothing, a stocked pantry was unbelievable. “My heart is wide open right now,” she said.
The small acts of kindness by the store’s management and Officer Stacy sparked a wave of compassion and charity. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” This, as much as any other, is the message that gives us hope at Christmas.
Every year, we take time to wonder at the kindness of a God who would descend from eternal bliss to live in squalor among us. His acts of kindness, and above all the gift of his own life for us, continue to work their way through history, inspiring countless acts of mercy throughout every land and age. The stories of Jean Valjean and Helen Johnson inspire us because they are our story, too. We are all condemned before the Lord, but rather than mete out punishment, He offers forgiveness and new life.
Most of us may never know what it’s like to be 50 cents short of providing a meal for hungry children. But our Lord does: He came to serve the poor among us. God’s ongoing blessing to us, if we choose to receive it, is to share His works of mercy in the world.”
Last Sunday, Pastor David’s third point after salvation and forgiveness was that God gives the gift of the opportunity to do “good works.” One of those good works is to be instruments of mercy and justice, not impediments to justice. That begins in our own individual lives, in the decisions, and choices we make. It also means being willing to confront injustice in the larger systems and institutions. Amaziah told Amos never again to prophesy at Bethel because it was the king’s sanctuary and a temple of the kingdom. What Amaziah didn’t understand or had chosen to accept, was that the problem was precisely that. Bethel wasn’t the sanctuary of God, it was not the temple of the Lord, it was the king’s. The supposed holy place had been corrupted by human power and human ambition and the Lord wasn’t there, except now in the truthful and condemning words of the prophet Amos.
If we’re not careful, it’s easy to become accepting of wrongs rather than working to right them, especially if like the priest Amaziah we benefit. Proverbs 28:5-6 says, “The evil do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it completely. Better to be poor and walk in integrity than to be crooked in one’s ways even though rich.” Don’t sell justice, your integrity or anyone else’s for any price. For 30 pieces of silver Judas didn’t betray Christ, he betrayed and sold himself.
You and I can either be a rock or a dam that prevents justice from flowing, or we can be an instrument in the Lord’s hand to clear the way for justice to roll like a river and righteousness like an ever flowing stream. Imagine what would happen in our community and beyond if all of us began to be as concerned for justice as the Lord, and Amos? Benjamin Disraeli who served as the Prime Minister of Great Britain in the 19th century said, “Justice is truth in action.” Jesus came to proclaim and bring justice. In Matthew 12:17-20 we hear these words from the prophet Isaiah fulfilled in Jesus, “Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope.”
In Matthew 23:23 Jesus tells us to be concerned about “the weightier matters of the law – justice, mercy, and faith.” These are the things Jesus wants to see in our lives. Andy Stanley one of the most respected pastors in the country has stated that “the goal of preaching is to teach people how live a life that reflects the values, principles, and truths of the Bible.” One of the key values, principles and truths of the Bible is that God is enormously concerned about justice. The theme of justice is repeated over and over throughout all the prophets who are calling God’s people to practice justice.
You and I can either be a rock or a dam that prevents justice from flowing, or we can be an instrument in the Lord’s hand to clear the way for justice to roll like a river and righteousness like an ever flowing stream. Whatever we do God’s love and justice are not blindfolded; God sees us and all we do. As Psalm 33:5 reminds us, God “loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.”
Blessing: “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Happy are those who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times.” Proverbs 21:3, Psalm 106:3
Questions for Reflection or Discussion
Amos had to deliver bad news to people who weren’t happy to hear it. Have you ever had to deliver news to someone that you knew they wouldn’t be happy to receive? How did you feel about doing that and what happened?
Amos’s task was made even more difficult because he was an outsider criticizing the nation of Israel. How would you feel if a citizen of another country condemned the United States for the same things for which Amos said God’s judgment was coming upon Israel and all the neighboring countries: for relying on military might instead of God, for social injustice against the poor, a corrupt judicial system, immorality, and meaningless, empty religion?
Do you see any similarity between the sins of the nations during Amos’s time and the sins of our nation and others today? What are the implications of our answer to that question?
Amos exhorts the people that there are three fundamental things they should do: Hate Evil, Love Good, and Establish Justice. What does that look like in our personal lives? What would that look like in our nation? What might have to change if those three things became more of a central focus?
If God didn’t spare even Israel, the people the Lord brought up out of slavery in Egypt, and led to a promised land and with whom God established a covenant, then there is no guarantee for any country including our own, that God will put up with the same kind of sins in our midst that God would not tolerate in Israel. Proverbs 21:7 says, “The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, because they refuse to do what is just.”
What do you think Amos would want you, our church, and our nation to do in 2015?