Amos 5:21-24 - Social Justice!

This is a response to a question that a friend asked about Amos 5:21-24

I can't stand your religious meetings. I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions. I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals. I'm sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making. I've had all I can take of your noisy ego-music. When was the last time you sang to me? Do you know what I want? I want justice—oceans of it. I want fairness—rivers of it. That's what I want. That's all I want. Amos 5:21-24

Well first you have to take a look at historical context and context of people.
Amos was one of the Minor Prophets. His father was not a prophet and neither was his grandfather, in fact nobody in his family had the gift of prophecy. He was not a priest or a Levite, in fact he was only a shepherd, which means that God chose him a regular man to speak to his people (praise God for that). Amos was from Judah but he was called to prophesy to Israel. As you probably know Israel was a blessed nation, chosen by God and knowledgeable in his laws and statutes. Because they were given the law and knew it by heart its sin was greater. One of their sins was of neglect and indifference towards the poor. The rich people of the nation longed to see the poor oppressed. They would sin in this way (as well as other ways) and then figure they would continue with their sacrifices, with their customs and with their conventions thinking that they could avoid some laws, keep others and still have the favor of God. In this passage we see God condemning Israel for those sins but we also see him offering the way out. He tells them what it is that he wants from them – justice!

We as his chosen people and belonging to the royal priesthood of Jesus Christ (1peter2:9) are similar to the Israelites. We were chosen by God, we were led out of our captivity (sin), we grumble and complain, he shows us grace, we repent and bless his name, and then we fall and sin again. And the cycle repeats itself. Another way that we are similar to Israel, we know the word! We know it and we teach it to our children as well as to all that want it/need it. We quote scripture, we read scripture, we study scripture. We can find every single verse on God’s blessing, we can find every single commandment and ordinance but we often neglect verses the have to do with the poor and the oppressed. We are a rich nation and I say this knowing well that we work hard to make ends meet and we are not rich but we have enough and then some. There are those that have not and those that are struggling just to get the next meal, and those that were born with a disease in their blood that kills mother and child, and those that are born into captivity, etc, etc. And those we figure God will take care of or some non-profit will take care of. But in reality God has called us to love them and care for them. THEY are our neighbor (luke 10:25-37)

When you look at the life of Christ what do you see? You see example after example of God having what they call “compassion” over humanity. (matt 9:36, matt 4:15 mark 1:41). You clearly see God’s heart in these verses; his heart was for the poor, the disenfranchised, and the oppressed. He loved those that nobody would love! (we gotta praise god for that!) And this is not only under the covenant of Grace, you see it throughout the Old Testament Law (exodus 23:6, Leviticus 19:10, deut 15:7, 1 sam 2:8 prov 22:22, micah 6:8). What this is saying is, don’t forget about where my heart is: people.

To have compassion is to be moved from your comfort zone, to align your heart with the heart of God, and to show love to those that nobody shows love to. You don’t show love to those in need because they love God, you show them love because YOU love God and the poor and needy are on God’s heart! Now notice, I’m not talking about preaching to them. We can’t have a hidden agenda or ulterior motive when it comes to the love of Christ. The love of Christ is his love towards a suffering people. His salvation is his love and deliverance combined. So the plan goes as follows: we show Christs love to the people, through the Holy Spirit they become enamored with his love, and then they come to His deliverance!
Sometimes we become so caught up with our own needs that We are preaching love but not showing Christs love. If you notice, Christ didn’t spend most of his time with the rich, or even in the temple, he spent his time with the poor with the needy and with the spiritual thirsty. That says a lot about where his heart really was. Matthew 25:31 talks about God separating the good from the bad and he compares them to sheeps and goats, casting one group into hell. That entire parable is based on what one does for the poor and needy. You see, taking care of the poor and needy isn’t a choice, it’s a commandment. That is something most Christians don’t understand. In fact Christ even puts himself in their shoes and says if you did it for them you did it to me and if you didn’t then rejected me and turned me away.

There is nothing wrong with going to conferences and conventions (lol) what this is saying is that these things are not priority! It’s saying to not be selfish. Its saying don’t sit there and say “God use me” while God is saying “I want you to help those in need and show them my love (or even to be God’s love to them).” Sometimes we think this is about US and how much holy spirit WE can fill up on to be better, when in reality God wants to partner up with us to heal much of the hurt in this world. Sometimes that is spiritual hurt but sometimes that is “my stomach is in pain because I haven’t eaten in 3 days” kind of hurt. God loves our worship, he loves it. But worship and justice go hand in hand. (matt 22:37). You can’t sit there and worship God and ask to have his heart if you are not doing what he says. We know his heart!

Did you know that over 2000 verses in the bible speak on justice? What does that mean? It means that if we read the word we can see exactly where God’s heart is and what he wants us to do. I know that often our churches don’t preach on this subject but it is a reality and a commandment! It is something God has entrusted us with. And now that we know we can do one of two things: 1. Find a way to help the poor, the needy, or those that are victims to injustice 2. We can forget or overlook 2000+ verses and neglect and be indifferent towards victims of injustice.

Seminary professor/author Steve Brown puts it best when he says, “When a Christian sees someone who is physically hungry, a Christian feeds the hungry person. Why? Because hungry people can’t understand the plan of salvation? No. Simply because that person is hungry. That’s what Christians do. And if a person is spiritually hungry, a Christian becomes “one beggar telling another beggar where he or she found bread.” Why? Because that’s what Christians do.

So to bring it home, We need to take care of the poor. We have to fight against injustice. We have to be love, because He is love. We have to help the poor. We have to help the needy. AND we have to do so simply because we love them. It’s not an agenda to get people to accept Christ, it is a mission to show people that God loves them and that we love them. Dr. Cornell West says, “justice is what love looks like in public.” That is what God wants: justice!