SUNDAY SERMON: Let justice roll down

By Rev. Stephen Baldwin,

I’m a firm believer that most problems are miscommunications, with no ill intent. Folks just misunderstand each other. Because we have feelings and egos and memories and experiences and desires, and all those things cloud our minds, especially when we think we know what someone is trying to say. 

And texting only makes it worse. How many times have you read into the words someone texted you? 

You asked a friend if you’re still on for dinner tonight? They reply, “Whatever works.” That makes you think they could care less. 

You felt bad about something that happened with your boss so you text an apology. They replied, “Ok.” That makes you assume they’re furious with you! The “Ok” text reply is the worst, because you can make it mean whatever the most fragile part of you fears it could mean. 

You get a text from someone you’re very close to saying, “Can we talk?” And you are convinced they hate your guts and never want to talk to you again. 

Miscommunication can happen so easily, can’t it? It’s even true when we’re reading something, trying to make sense of it when it lacks key details. For example, take today’s reading from Amos. It’s six short verses in a row that all sound a lot alike. They all sound pretty angry. Woe to you! I hate your festivals! I will not listen to your harps! 

But there may be a miscommunication happening in this verse between what it says and what we hear. Scholars believe the first three verses were the words of Amos, the prophet, and the next three verses are the words of God, in response. 

Let’s read the verses again with that in mind as Amos speaks first to God’s people, who have turned away. “Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why do you want the day of the LORD? It is darkness, not light, as if someone fled from a lion and was met by a bear or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall and was bitten by a snake. Is not the day of the LORD darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?”

Then God replies, to Amos and to the people, “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 water and righteousness like an everflowing stream.” 

Does knowing who is speaking when change that passage for you? It does for me, and I’ll tell you why. 

Reading the whole thing together leaves me hopeless. It seems like one of those conversations that encapsulates an entire relationship, and this relationship–between God and God’s people–seems doomed. 

But reading it in two parts changes it, at least for me. Yes, Amos blasts the people who want God’s judgment to come crashing down for not realizing how awful that would be. For not realizing the extent of God’s power! And yes, Amos paints a vivid picture of a man who thinks he escapes danger only to rest his hand in the comfort of his house and be bitten by a snake, no doubt a metaphor for God’s people who thought they escaped God’s wrath for their sins only to have it catch up with them. Yes, Amos lets the people have it. He makes it clear that they deserve the worst things. 

Then God responds, sounding a lot like Amos to start. I hate your festivals and your burnt offerings. I don’t want to hear your gongs or harps! 

It would be hard for anyone to be on the receiving end of that. If God texted you that message, how would you reply? “Ok.” 

But then comes the final verse: “Let justice and righteousness roll down like mighty waters.” God ends what has been a bad conversation on a high note. It gives me hope to hear God say that justice and righteousness will prevail, no matter what. 

For as Martin Buber observed many years ago, whenever that phrase “justice and righteousness” are used in the Old Testament it is a clear signal that God is around. God is involved. God is active. That’s good news for the Israelites and for us, because it means God hasn’t given up on them or on us. And never will, for this is an everflowing stream. God’s justice and righteousness are eternal gifts. 

Make no mistake, though: This is a warning. If most problems come about as a result of miscommunication, let us not miscommunicate Amos’s intentions: He warns us all to guard against religious complacency. It’s one thing to go through the motions of worship by coming together and singing hymns and offering prayers of praise on our lips; it’s another thing to live out the motions of worship from a spirit of commitment and relationship. 

The warning is a challenge from God to God’s people, as conveyed by Amos, to deliver justice and righteousness to each other. Be sincere with one another. Be generous with one another. Pray for each other as you support one another. 

This is what the Lord requires of us: To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God, as the prophet Micah teaches. We may be prone to miscommunicate with each other and with God, even, but our calling is clear. God walks among us when justice and righteousness flow like an everlasting stream, when we do justice, when we love kindness, and when we walk humbly with God. Amen.