WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.919 You know, these words are known all across the world. 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:14.640 Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:23.960 That sort of became known worldwide, obviously because of the great civil rights leader Martin Luther King, 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:32.859 a man who gave his life to seeing this fulfilled in the world, in our society. 00:00:33.799 --> 00:00:42.179 And although many people around the world know these words, a lot of people think they actually came from Martin Luther King 00:00:42.179 --> 00:00:48.179 when in fact he was quoting one of the Old Testament prophets, a prophet by the name of Amos. 00:00:49.179 --> 00:00:54.000 And Amos was a shepherd and he was a fig farmer. 00:00:54.740 --> 00:00:59.500 And he lived right on the border between the northern and southern kingdoms. 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:01.799 Israel at this time in history was divided. 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:09.200 And God called Amos, this shepherd and farmer, to go into the northern kingdom as a prophet, 00:01:09.599 --> 00:01:16.260 to call God's people back to him and to call them to the ministry of justice and righteousness. 00:01:16.260 --> 00:01:23.020 And so this morning we're going to be looking at Amos chapter 5, where this famous verse comes from, 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:30.020 and we're going to see why justice matters so much to people like Martin Luther King Jr., 00:01:30.020 --> 00:01:34.880 why he was willing to lay down his life in the pursuit of it. 00:01:35.620 --> 00:01:39.140 And what we will see is this, is that justice matters to God. 00:01:39.140 --> 00:01:42.700 God is a God of justice. 00:01:43.420 --> 00:01:49.980 So we can't understand God apart from justice, and we can't understand justice apart from God. 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:54.200 The passage breaks down into three parts. 00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:56.319 We will see first an urgent question. 00:01:57.019 --> 00:01:59.500 Then we will see a dire problem. 00:02:00.240 --> 00:02:03.599 And then finally we'll see an unexpected hope. 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:05.200 Let's pray. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:15.240 Lord, we thank you for your word, and as we open it, may we not simply rely on the wisdom or insight of human beings, 00:02:15.379 --> 00:02:19.719 but Lord, we're here because we desire and we need for you to speak to us. 00:02:20.620 --> 00:02:23.640 You have spoken to your people all throughout history. 00:02:24.180 --> 00:02:26.939 You continue to speak to your people through your word. 00:02:26.939 --> 00:02:32.960 And we pray that we would not only hear your word, but have soft hearts that are able to receive your word, 00:02:33.379 --> 00:02:36.079 that you would do your work in us, Lord, for your glory. 00:02:36.219 --> 00:02:37.560 We pray this in Jesus' name. 00:02:37.780 --> 00:02:38.079 Amen. 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:41.919 So first of all, an urgent question. 00:02:42.060 --> 00:02:44.020 If you have a Bible, we're in Amos chapter 5. 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:46.599 First of all, looking at verses 18 through 20. 00:02:47.300 --> 00:02:53.340 All of the lectionary readings this week talk about something or point to something called in the Bible, 00:02:53.340 --> 00:02:57.700 the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord. 00:02:57.780 --> 00:03:01.020 This is a phrase that shows up in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. 00:03:01.939 --> 00:03:06.879 There's a promise that runs through Scripture that one day at the end of history, 00:03:07.300 --> 00:03:10.840 at the culmination of everything, God is going to come. 00:03:11.620 --> 00:03:16.599 And it's going to be a time of both judgment and salvation. 00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:23.479 And this promise is that one day God is going to come and make everything right in the world. 00:03:23.900 --> 00:03:25.939 So all wars will cease. 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:30.519 All suffering and injustice and oppression will cease. 00:03:30.659 --> 00:03:35.439 And everything sad, as Tolkien writes, everything sad will come untrue. 00:03:36.180 --> 00:03:38.539 Every tear will be wiped away. 00:03:38.539 --> 00:03:44.780 And so at this point in Israel's history, they looked forward to the day of the Lord 00:03:44.780 --> 00:03:50.780 because they…and they had great anticipation because they assumed it would be the day of their vindication. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:56.399 God would side with Israel against her enemies. 00:03:56.620 --> 00:04:01.419 God would bring judgment and condemnation to the other nations. 00:04:01.419 --> 00:04:10.239 And Israel would be raised up to her rightful place as God's chosen people, given dominion over all. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:13.060 And so they looked forward to the day of the Lord. 00:04:14.359 --> 00:04:16.899 So imagine their whiplash. 00:04:18.419 --> 00:04:23.560 Upon hearing the words of the prophet Amos in verse 18, he says, 00:04:24.099 --> 00:04:24.979 Woe to you. 00:04:26.439 --> 00:04:29.919 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord. 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:32.720 In other words, why are you looking forward to it? 00:04:34.879 --> 00:04:37.500 For you, it's not going to be a day of light. 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:40.740 It's going to be a day of inescapable darkness. 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:44.580 And he uses this grim parable to illustrate it. 00:04:44.620 --> 00:04:50.879 He says, it's as if you're walking along assuming that everything is fine on a normal sunny afternoon 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:52.960 and a lion jumps out of the bushes. 00:04:53.400 --> 00:04:58.960 And then you run away from the lion and just as you escape the lion, a bear jumps out of the bushes. 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:04.339 And then you run from the bear and you find a house and you scramble inside and you slam the door shut. 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:09.959 And just as you're leaning your hand against the doorpost trying to catch your breath, a snake strikes your hand. 00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:12.019 And all goes dark. 00:05:13.979 --> 00:05:15.779 Why are you looking forward to that? 00:05:15.779 --> 00:05:22.459 Jesus also used parables to describe the coming of the day of the Lord. 00:05:22.519 --> 00:05:24.500 Our gospel reading is one such example. 00:05:24.659 --> 00:05:31.319 He tells a parable of ten bridesmaids who are waiting for the bridegroom to come to the home of the bride 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:34.379 so that they can all process to the wedding feast. 00:05:34.819 --> 00:05:40.039 Five are prepared with extra lamp oil in case it takes longer than they think. 00:05:40.199 --> 00:05:41.919 Five are unprepared. 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:45.300 They only bring enough oil for the lamp that they have burning. 00:05:45.699 --> 00:05:51.420 So, the end of the parable, we have the five who are prepared for the coming of the bridegroom. 00:05:51.540 --> 00:05:53.199 They are able to go into the wedding feast. 00:05:53.540 --> 00:05:58.800 But the five who were unprepared end up shut out in the cold. 00:05:59.740 --> 00:06:05.680 And both of these parables convey the same idea that for those who are unprepared, 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:08.460 the day of the Lord is going to be the day of God's judgment. 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:11.620 It's going to be a day of darkness. 00:06:12.739 --> 00:06:18.019 It's going to be a day of being shut out, away from God's presence. 00:06:19.079 --> 00:06:26.279 Now, most people in the late modern West absolutely abhor the idea of God's judgment. 00:06:27.500 --> 00:06:28.959 It's very outdated. 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:31.120 You don't hear it talked about as much. 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:36.199 It's very offensive to our modern ears. 00:06:36.199 --> 00:06:42.819 A lot of people you talk to say, well, I would never believe in a God like that. 00:06:43.500 --> 00:06:48.719 And most Westerners that you talk to prefer the idea, if they believe in God, 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:55.980 they prefer the idea of a God not of judgment, but a God essentially of tolerance, 00:06:56.219 --> 00:07:01.879 a God who says, because I love you, I let you do as you please. 00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:04.279 It's not offensive. 00:07:06.100 --> 00:07:07.500 It preaches well. 00:07:07.579 --> 00:07:09.120 It's a very attractive idea. 00:07:10.180 --> 00:07:12.240 A God of tolerance essentially. 00:07:13.420 --> 00:07:14.399 So let me say this. 00:07:14.500 --> 00:07:19.139 If you're somebody who you hear this and that describes you, you're like, I don't really like 00:07:19.139 --> 00:07:22.620 the idea of a God of judgment, but I do like the idea of a God of tolerance. 00:07:22.740 --> 00:07:24.339 That's the kind of God I want to believe in. 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:25.839 I want to ask you this. 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:28.019 Why do you think that is? 00:07:28.899 --> 00:07:33.959 Or another way to put it is, why are you offended by a God of judgment, 00:07:34.919 --> 00:07:38.039 and yet you're not offended by a God of tolerance? 00:07:39.060 --> 00:07:41.579 Why do you think one is attractive and one is offensive? 00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:45.799 You know, I recently heard the story of a man named Emma, 00:07:46.139 --> 00:07:51.799 and he was in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after the president was forced out in 1997, 00:07:51.800 --> 00:07:57.819 and the country, as some of you may know, just collapsed into conflict and chaos. 00:07:58.300 --> 00:08:07.520 And so Emma witnessed unspeakable atrocities committed against his friends, committed against his family. 00:08:08.960 --> 00:08:15.080 They barely escaped as refugees with absolutely nothing, walking on foot to Uganda. 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:21.300 And do you know what he said as he told his story and as he began to break down and to weep? 00:08:21.800 --> 00:08:23.300 He said this, 00:08:24.199 --> 00:08:29.259 I could never believe the gospel if it were not for the judgment of God. 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:34.220 I could never believe the gospel if it were not for the judgment of God. 00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:35.580 And here's the reason. 00:08:36.379 --> 00:08:39.139 He says, because I will never get justice in this world. 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:46.860 And the only way I can cope with all of this is knowing that one day there will be justice. 00:08:46.860 --> 00:08:59.340 If God's not the kind of God who will bring justice and punish the evildoers and right the wrongs that were committed against Emma and his friends and family, 00:08:59.419 --> 00:09:01.500 that are committed against so many people around the world, 00:09:01.740 --> 00:09:05.080 if God is not that kind of God, he's saying, I wouldn't believe in him. 00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:08.560 Or at least he would not be worth my worship. 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:10.680 Right? 00:09:10.740 --> 00:09:17.400 So I think we in the West, particularly in the affluent West, get offended by a God of justice, 00:09:17.560 --> 00:09:21.139 but a man like Emma would be just as offended by a God of tolerance. 00:09:22.300 --> 00:09:30.440 And the reason, with all due respect, is because I don't think many of us have ever really, truly experienced injustice committed against us. 00:09:30.440 --> 00:09:38.340 But for the many people around the world, for the majority of people around the world and across history, 00:09:38.740 --> 00:09:42.800 who have experienced significant injustice against them personally, 00:09:43.060 --> 00:09:46.320 the promise of God's judgment is good news. 00:09:46.940 --> 00:09:52.840 And the idea of a God who would simply overlook all of that does not sound like a loving God. 00:09:52.880 --> 00:09:54.880 It sounds like a despicable God. 00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:55.179 Right? 00:09:57.299 --> 00:10:01.259 So God's judgment flows out of his love. 00:10:01.559 --> 00:10:08.019 It's because he loves this world and everything in it that he cannot overlook evil and injustice. 00:10:09.159 --> 00:10:09.720 Right? 00:10:09.779 --> 00:10:12.019 But this rages a very urgent question. 00:10:13.159 --> 00:10:14.460 And here's the urgent question. 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:17.659 Are we prepared? 00:10:20.340 --> 00:10:21.759 Are we prepared? 00:10:22.899 --> 00:10:23.080 Right? 00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:25.060 The day of the Lord is coming. 00:10:26.620 --> 00:10:29.139 It could be 5,000 years from now. 00:10:29.220 --> 00:10:30.840 It could be five minutes from now. 00:10:32.780 --> 00:10:34.200 Jesus is very clear. 00:10:34.420 --> 00:10:36.060 No one will know the day or the hour. 00:10:37.500 --> 00:10:39.200 It will come without warning. 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:44.780 And when it comes, we will all stand before God and we will be judged. 00:10:45.040 --> 00:10:48.480 And so the question that Amos is raising here first is, 00:10:48.740 --> 00:10:52.620 are we prepared to stand before God on that day? 00:10:53.080 --> 00:10:55.480 The people of Israel thought they were. 00:10:55.580 --> 00:10:56.980 They assumed they were. 00:10:57.660 --> 00:11:01.620 But Amos is warning them that they are in fact not. 00:11:03.040 --> 00:11:04.860 He's saying, wake up. 00:11:06.740 --> 00:11:08.800 Now we need to ask the question, why not? 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:10.060 Why are they not prepared? 00:11:11.139 --> 00:11:12.220 A dire problem. 00:11:12.220 --> 00:11:13.800 Verses 21 to 23. 00:11:14.600 --> 00:11:17.500 Here God says, I hate. 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:20.259 I despise your feasts. 00:11:20.940 --> 00:11:23.720 He says he will not accept their offerings. 00:11:23.920 --> 00:11:26.680 And he says that their music is just noise. 00:11:28.100 --> 00:11:30.740 Now does this mean that God doesn't like our worship? 00:11:30.940 --> 00:11:32.240 God doesn't like our singing? 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:33.779 It's more complicated than that. 00:11:33.779 --> 00:11:35.600 What's the problem going on here? 00:11:36.220 --> 00:11:39.819 See, this would have been confusing to the Israelites because at this time in history, 00:11:40.220 --> 00:11:42.980 if you asked most people in Israel, they're doing quite well. 00:11:44.079 --> 00:11:46.799 The ruler was a man named Jeroboam II. 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:52.500 And by human standards, he probably looked like a pretty successful king. 00:11:52.599 --> 00:11:54.679 He was a very successful military leader. 00:11:54.939 --> 00:11:56.659 He won lots of battles. 00:11:56.859 --> 00:12:00.099 He amassed a great deal of land and wealth. 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:04.579 And so people saw him as a very successful leader. 00:12:05.599 --> 00:12:10.979 But social injustice was rampant throughout the land. 00:12:11.219 --> 00:12:13.500 Social injustice was rampant. 00:12:13.500 --> 00:12:17.539 And the book of Amos is full of examples of this injustice. 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:20.080 There was a major wealth gap. 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:27.259 And the rich were selling the poor into debt slavery and then giving them no way out. 00:12:27.340 --> 00:12:29.139 That's something that still happens today. 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:29.899 Right? 00:12:29.940 --> 00:12:31.519 The courts were corrupt. 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:35.480 They were full of bribery and preferential treatment. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:43.340 He says in chapter 6, you know, that there was excessive taxation trying to milk the poor, 00:12:43.340 --> 00:12:47.680 trying to sort of drain them for every drop they could extract out of them. 00:12:48.100 --> 00:12:53.440 And it says in chapter 6 that when the rich could no longer extract anything out of the poor, 00:12:53.660 --> 00:12:56.100 they simply ignored them and left them to rot. 00:12:58.759 --> 00:13:01.379 So this is why God hates their worship. 00:13:02.180 --> 00:13:06.960 Because it is totally disconnected from how they treat people. 00:13:07.340 --> 00:13:10.840 You know, they're coming to worship and they're singing and they're praying and they're preaching 00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:12.399 and they're saying, you know, we love you, God. 00:13:12.440 --> 00:13:13.139 We love you, God. 00:13:13.180 --> 00:13:13.940 We love you, God. 00:13:14.040 --> 00:13:16.780 And God is saying, you keep using that word. 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:20.320 But I do not think it means what you think it means. 00:13:21.240 --> 00:13:22.879 You keep saying, I love you. 00:13:22.940 --> 00:13:26.060 But I don't think that that means what you think it means. 00:13:28.560 --> 00:13:31.440 True worship is this, God says. 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:38.900 Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. 00:13:39.500 --> 00:13:42.000 And here these words are extremely important. 00:13:42.220 --> 00:13:45.420 Righteousness means being in right relationship. 00:13:46.300 --> 00:13:48.980 You're in right relationship with those around you. 00:13:49.160 --> 00:13:53.800 You're treating people with fairness and equity regardless of your social differences. 00:13:54.900 --> 00:13:58.460 You're ensuring that the people around you have what they need to flourish. 00:13:58.540 --> 00:13:59.260 That's righteousness. 00:13:59.259 --> 00:14:05.519 Justice refers to actively correcting situations where that is not happening. 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:07.819 All right, so another way of thinking about it is this. 00:14:07.899 --> 00:14:11.539 If righteousness was being practiced, there would be no need for justice. 00:14:11.740 --> 00:14:18.100 Justice is meant to correct wherever righteousness is not status quo. 00:14:20.259 --> 00:14:23.779 Here's how Job describes righteousness and justice. 00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:24.720 He says, 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:29.840 I rescued the poor who cried for help and the fatherless who had none to assist them. 00:14:30.259 --> 00:14:32.440 The one who was dying blessed me. 00:14:32.540 --> 00:14:34.500 I made the widow's heart sing. 00:14:35.019 --> 00:14:40.639 I put on righteousness as my clothing, justice as my robe and my turban. 00:14:40.820 --> 00:14:44.320 I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:46.060 I was a father to the needy. 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:48.379 I took up the case of the stranger. 00:14:48.379 --> 00:14:53.259 I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:59.379 That's what it looks like to do the work of justice and righteousness. 00:15:00.600 --> 00:15:05.919 And these qualities were to be the distinguishing mark of God's people. 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:14.559 God's vision for His people is that in a world full of people with no concept of human rights whatsoever. 00:15:15.379 --> 00:15:19.599 At this point in history, there was no foundation for universal human rights. 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:24.959 In a world full of people where it was normative to enslave people, 00:15:25.339 --> 00:15:26.860 every nation had slaves, 00:15:27.099 --> 00:15:30.179 where it was normative for the strong to trample the weak, 00:15:30.179 --> 00:15:37.879 God's vision is that His people would flow like a river of righteousness and justice. 00:15:38.279 --> 00:15:43.500 Everywhere they go, the injustice and corruption is washed away. 00:15:43.620 --> 00:15:44.819 I read the story. 00:15:44.899 --> 00:15:47.099 If you're from Chicago, you probably know the story. 00:15:47.179 --> 00:15:50.679 But I read the story of Chicago at the turn of the 20th century 00:15:50.679 --> 00:15:54.559 and how the water around Chicago, the Chicago River, 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:57.399 was this shallow, bubbling cesspool. 00:15:57.399 --> 00:16:01.360 And it was so polluted that thousands of people were dying every year. 00:16:01.860 --> 00:16:05.199 And when the fires came through, the water was flammable. 00:16:05.379 --> 00:16:06.579 It was that polluted. 00:16:06.860 --> 00:16:08.939 And that's how the fire spread so quickly. 00:16:09.059 --> 00:16:11.959 It literally caught the surface of the water on fire. 00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:14.299 And the only thing that they could do, 00:16:14.379 --> 00:16:16.340 the only way they knew how to clean it up, 00:16:16.779 --> 00:16:21.059 was to accomplish one of the great engineering marvels of the millennium, 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:24.759 which is through a series of canals and locks and gates, 00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:29.000 they actually were able to reverse the flow of the Chicago River. 00:16:30.340 --> 00:16:33.899 And so in January of, I think it was maybe right around 1900, 00:16:34.379 --> 00:16:38.580 they open a sluice gate and all of the water from the Great Lakes 00:16:38.580 --> 00:16:40.500 flows into the Chicago River. 00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:43.519 And it was this massive rush of fresh water 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:45.799 that just washed all that pollution away. 00:16:45.899 --> 00:16:48.860 And there are people who say that Chicago wouldn't even be around today 00:16:48.860 --> 00:16:51.419 if it hadn't been for that. 00:16:51.419 --> 00:16:54.519 And so this is, that's a, it's an imperfect analogy. 00:16:54.679 --> 00:16:55.559 You know, I hear that and I think, 00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:57.139 well, where did all that pollution go, right? 00:16:57.179 --> 00:16:58.839 So it's not, it went somewhere, right? 00:16:58.959 --> 00:17:02.419 So it's not a perfect analogy, but as a visual image, 00:17:02.539 --> 00:17:04.619 this is what God's vision is for His people. 00:17:05.099 --> 00:17:08.359 I want you to be like a river of fresh water of justice and righteousness 00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:10.920 washing into this cesspool of injustice. 00:17:11.159 --> 00:17:14.619 And wherever God's people go, there is righteousness and justice. 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:17.420 It is their fingerprints on the world, right? 00:17:17.420 --> 00:17:18.519 That's God's vision. 00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:23.140 The fact that this is not the case, 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:27.460 what that means is that there is something deeply wrong 00:17:27.460 --> 00:17:30.920 in their relationship with God, and they need to repent. 00:17:31.700 --> 00:17:35.200 That's what Amos is saying, right? 00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:37.259 And that's the thing that we need to pay attention to here. 00:17:37.360 --> 00:17:41.759 One of the clearest indicators that we are in right relationship with God 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:46.900 is that we care about justice and righteousness for those around us. 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:55.539 We worship in a metro area where the high rising cost of housing and childcare 00:17:55.539 --> 00:17:58.259 is driving many people out of the city, 00:17:58.339 --> 00:18:01.319 and many of those are black and brown people who have been, you know, 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:03.519 some of whom their families have been here for generations. 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:06.079 It's disproportionately affecting them. 00:18:06.579 --> 00:18:10.359 We live in a city where at least 5,000 people in the metro area, 00:18:10.359 --> 00:18:12.240 and that's the ones that are accounted for, 00:18:12.500 --> 00:18:16.179 are experiencing homelessness as we're heading into another winter. 00:18:16.399 --> 00:18:19.619 You know, we live in an area where more than a third of residents, 00:18:19.799 --> 00:18:20.679 just in the D.C. area, 00:18:20.779 --> 00:18:25.299 more than a third of residents experience food insecurity, right? 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:29.059 There's 1,500 kids currently in the foster care system 00:18:29.059 --> 00:18:31.459 and another 1,500 that are deemed high risk, 00:18:32.199 --> 00:18:35.519 meaning they're very soon likely to be in the foster care system. 00:18:35.679 --> 00:18:39.619 Violent crime is up this year over last year, something like 38%, right? 00:18:39.619 --> 00:18:45.079 We live in a city where these are realities that people are facing. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:48.279 And what Amos is essentially saying is this. 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:52.239 If we're going to the church, going to church in that metro D.C. area, 00:18:52.459 --> 00:18:55.379 and we're worshiping and we're praying and we're preaching and we're singing, 00:18:56.099 --> 00:19:00.079 and yet we're doing all of that without caring about issues like these, 00:19:00.179 --> 00:19:02.179 then this is saying our worship is empty. 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:04.659 It's empty. 00:19:04.660 --> 00:19:07.220 Now, we have great music, 00:19:08.120 --> 00:19:14.660 but our worship is noise in God's ears if that's the case. 00:19:14.700 --> 00:19:15.980 That's what Amos is saying. 00:19:16.759 --> 00:19:21.420 And what's so tragic is that these issues have become politicized such that we say, 00:19:21.540 --> 00:19:23.740 well, certain kinds of Christians or certain kinds of churches 00:19:23.740 --> 00:19:26.259 or certain kinds of people care about social justice. 00:19:26.440 --> 00:19:30.320 What I want us to understand is that Amos shows us this is pre-political. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:32.039 This is upstream from politics. 00:19:32.779 --> 00:19:36.099 We can disagree and debate about the best strategies and policies, 00:19:36.419 --> 00:19:41.899 but justice and righteousness are central to our calling because they are central to God's character. 00:19:41.900 --> 00:19:49.519 So, to summarize where we are, God cares deeply about justice. 00:19:50.740 --> 00:19:58.519 And one day there's this promise that God is going to come and bring ultimate justice to the world, right? 00:19:58.540 --> 00:20:01.500 What we do is like the Chicago River, right? 00:20:01.560 --> 00:20:06.740 We can lessen it, but one day God is going to come and He's going to eradicate it. 00:20:06.740 --> 00:20:09.900 It's going to no longer exist. 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:14.700 And so, that question that we ask first, are we ready for that day? 00:20:14.859 --> 00:20:16.539 Are we prepared for that day? 00:20:17.120 --> 00:20:21.259 For those of us who are like Israel, who assume that we are, 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:23.380 we should do a bit of a gut check. 00:20:23.480 --> 00:20:24.740 Where's the evidence for that? 00:20:25.720 --> 00:20:27.140 Where's the evidence for that? 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:29.039 Right? 00:20:29.160 --> 00:20:34.180 Evidence that we are right with God is that we care about the things that God cares about. 00:20:34.180 --> 00:20:38.259 Do we care about the things that God cares about, like justice and righteousness? 00:20:39.299 --> 00:20:41.820 So, here's where we are as we move into this final point. 00:20:42.100 --> 00:20:45.560 How do we get right with God so that we are prepared? 00:20:45.900 --> 00:20:50.779 And then how do we get the kind of hearts that care about the things that God cares about? 00:20:51.779 --> 00:20:55.220 And this is where we lead into an unexpected hope. 00:20:55.320 --> 00:20:58.240 The answer, my friends, is not to simply go out and do more justice. 00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:03.820 Caring about justice is not controversial in D.C. 00:21:04.180 --> 00:21:07.880 I don't know anybody who doesn't care about justice in one way or another. 00:21:09.340 --> 00:21:10.440 But why? 00:21:11.620 --> 00:21:12.660 Why do we care? 00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:15.200 What's the source of that motivation? 00:21:15.640 --> 00:21:17.340 And how do we define justice? 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:19.259 What does that actually mean? 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:26.820 The prophet Amos knows that the core problem, the reason why injustice runs rampant is not social, 00:21:27.860 --> 00:21:30.320 it's not political, it's not cultural. 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:33.500 He understands that the core problem is spiritual. 00:21:33.500 --> 00:21:41.700 This is one of the greatest contributions from Amos to our ongoing conversation and understanding about justice. 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:45.940 The core reason why there is injustice is idolatry. 00:21:47.220 --> 00:21:48.240 It's idolatry. 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:53.579 Jeroboam II allowed people, as successful as he was in the eyes of the world, 00:21:53.940 --> 00:21:58.319 he allowed people to worship the false gods, the idols of the Canaanites. 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:05.159 And at that time, they were primarily the gods of sex, weather, or, you know, control, crops, right? 00:22:05.299 --> 00:22:06.700 And then power. 00:22:07.639 --> 00:22:14.939 And Amos knew that as a prophet, he understood that idolatry is what leads to injustice. 00:22:15.139 --> 00:22:16.759 And that makes sense, right? 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:20.859 If people worship power and status and conquest, 00:22:20.859 --> 00:22:27.199 it only makes sense that they would then trample the weak and the poor, right? 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:32.339 If you live in a society that literally worships a god of power and conquest, 00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:36.919 how do you make sense of the people who are poor and weak? 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:39.979 Well, they're clearly cursed. 00:22:40.099 --> 00:22:41.199 They're clearly not blessed. 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:44.779 They're clearly got on the wrong side of our god somehow, 00:22:44.779 --> 00:22:48.440 and so we can do whatever we want to them, right? 00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:50.779 It makes sense how that would be the case. 00:22:50.839 --> 00:22:53.539 And, you know, it's the same today as we look at our society. 00:22:54.059 --> 00:22:56.379 We don't have time to do too many examples, 00:22:56.559 --> 00:23:01.599 but, you know, our society is enthralled by idols such as status and individualism. 00:23:03.779 --> 00:23:04.019 Right? 00:23:04.059 --> 00:23:05.940 With regard to status and wealth, I mean, 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:09.720 the American dream has become a kind of brutal meritocracy 00:23:09.720 --> 00:23:12.799 where the wealthiest families are getting wealthier 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:15.279 and many others are falling further behind. 00:23:17.799 --> 00:23:22.880 People have come to worship success and status. 00:23:23.100 --> 00:23:27.500 People are going into massive debt to try to get a college education. 00:23:27.819 --> 00:23:31.120 Children really, in many cases as they grow up, 00:23:31.140 --> 00:23:34.640 are not even experiencing a childhood because their entire focus, 00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:38.279 the entire focus from their high-status parents 00:23:38.279 --> 00:23:42.200 is to get into Ivy League schools and to be set, right, 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:44.639 to join the upper echelons of society. 00:23:44.899 --> 00:23:48.639 And so there's massive anxiety, rising rates of suicide, 00:23:49.220 --> 00:23:53.019 massive amounts of debt, all related to the pursuit of this dream. 00:23:53.899 --> 00:23:54.139 Right? 00:23:54.279 --> 00:23:56.139 And when it comes to individualism, 00:23:56.319 --> 00:23:59.079 people have come to worship individual self-expression 00:23:59.079 --> 00:24:03.160 so much that the fabric of society has broken down. 00:24:03.160 --> 00:24:09.420 We're becoming increasingly subdivided into special interest groups. 00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:15.680 So if the root problem behind injustice is spiritual, 00:24:15.860 --> 00:24:17.100 which is what Amos is saying, 00:24:17.220 --> 00:24:20.320 what that means is that we need a spiritual solution, 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:22.560 a spiritual solution. 00:24:24.040 --> 00:24:27.019 All throughout Amos 5, God calls out to His people, 00:24:28.220 --> 00:24:29.140 and you know what He says? 00:24:29.620 --> 00:24:31.580 He doesn't say, just go and do more justice. 00:24:31.579 --> 00:24:36.519 He says, seek me and live. 00:24:36.939 --> 00:24:38.220 Seek me. 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:40.460 Seek the Lord. 00:24:41.179 --> 00:24:42.299 That's the key. 00:24:43.119 --> 00:24:44.759 And we need to understand what it means. 00:24:44.899 --> 00:24:46.819 In context, God is saying this. 00:24:47.699 --> 00:24:51.179 He says, this isn't going to be solved by just going to church more. 00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:54.879 This isn't going to be solved by signing up to volunteer at a soup kitchen. 00:24:55.619 --> 00:24:57.500 There's more going on here. 00:24:57.500 --> 00:25:00.839 He's saying, you need to know me. 00:25:01.400 --> 00:25:04.059 You need to be in relationship with me. 00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:07.240 Our hearts need to be intertwined, 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:12.299 and then you will be the kind of person who can go out and do this work in the world. 00:25:12.440 --> 00:25:14.640 But what that means is that before you do that, 00:25:14.700 --> 00:25:16.440 you need to leave the idols behind. 00:25:16.960 --> 00:25:20.400 You need to leave behind the things that you're truly worshiping 00:25:20.400 --> 00:25:22.200 and come to me. 00:25:23.820 --> 00:25:27.280 You need a new heart, and you're going to find that if you come to me. 00:25:29.140 --> 00:25:33.180 And coming to the Lord like this means you come with an attitude of dependence. 00:25:34.460 --> 00:25:36.000 You come with humble submission. 00:25:36.800 --> 00:25:38.640 You cry out to God for mercy. 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:42.780 And here's where this is pointing us. 00:25:43.240 --> 00:25:46.700 The greatest injustice ever committed, 00:25:47.540 --> 00:25:50.180 the greatest injustice ever committed, 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:57.120 is whenever human beings reject and ignore God in the world that He made. 00:25:57.560 --> 00:26:02.180 That is the greatest injustice in history. 00:26:02.180 --> 00:26:07.259 And what God is saying is you have to correct that injustice 00:26:07.259 --> 00:26:12.160 before you can be a part of correcting the rest of the injustice in the world. 00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:15.779 That has to be made right. 00:26:17.259 --> 00:26:19.100 And I'll be frank with you. 00:26:19.500 --> 00:26:22.420 There's very little hope of that happening in the book of Amos. 00:26:23.220 --> 00:26:28.240 So praise the Lord that we have a larger body of Scripture 00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:31.740 and we understand more of the story. 00:26:31.740 --> 00:26:34.120 Because even though it seems to be very little hope in Amos, 00:26:34.500 --> 00:26:37.640 there are hints that God has a plan. 00:26:38.140 --> 00:26:41.640 At the very end of chapter 9, there is this promise. 00:26:41.900 --> 00:26:44.299 There's doom and gloom and judgment and hopelessness. 00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:45.640 And then right when you get to the end, 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:50.480 there's this place in chapter 9 where there's this promise 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:53.420 that someone from the line of David is coming. 00:26:54.460 --> 00:26:57.039 And God is going to restore Israel. 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:00.599 But this time, God's going to restore Israel, 00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:03.599 and this time it's going to include people from all of the nations. 00:27:03.919 --> 00:27:05.719 It's no longer going to be an ethnic group. 00:27:05.779 --> 00:27:07.419 There's going to be people from all of the nations, 00:27:07.500 --> 00:27:10.659 and they're all part of this restored people. 00:27:10.819 --> 00:27:12.179 But then we're left to wonder, 00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:14.599 who is this person who's coming? 00:27:14.759 --> 00:27:16.319 And when is this going to happen? 00:27:16.359 --> 00:27:17.679 And what is it going to mean? 00:27:17.680 --> 00:27:22.220 And then one day, centuries after this was written, 00:27:22.340 --> 00:27:26.380 a man named Jesus stood up amidst the crowds, 00:27:26.680 --> 00:27:28.420 and he said this, 00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:33.820 if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 00:27:34.680 --> 00:27:38.440 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:43.060 out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. 00:27:43.059 --> 00:27:46.039 And we need to understand what Jesus is saying here. 00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:50.259 God's desire for a river of justice and righteousness 00:27:50.259 --> 00:27:52.419 that flows out to heal the world, 00:27:52.740 --> 00:27:55.720 Jesus is saying, I am the source of that river. 00:27:56.619 --> 00:27:58.559 I'm the source of that river. 00:27:59.299 --> 00:28:02.079 I am the river that washes away sin. 00:28:02.200 --> 00:28:04.519 I am the river that heals the world. 00:28:04.740 --> 00:28:06.579 If you want to be a part of that work, 00:28:06.879 --> 00:28:07.859 come to me. 00:28:08.339 --> 00:28:10.019 Seek me and live. 00:28:10.019 --> 00:28:14.519 And what we see in the ministry of Jesus Christ 00:28:14.519 --> 00:28:16.879 is that he came to bring God's justice. 00:28:17.500 --> 00:28:19.279 He came to bring God's justice. 00:28:19.799 --> 00:28:22.079 But in order to be able to do that, 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:25.940 he first had to endure God's judgment. 00:28:28.139 --> 00:28:31.440 There's this question when we contemplate 00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:32.539 the day of the Lord. 00:28:35.639 --> 00:28:37.039 Are we prepared? 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:40.779 And what Scripture says is that on our own, 00:28:40.859 --> 00:28:43.960 if we stand before God based on our own life, 00:28:44.279 --> 00:28:45.700 we are unprepared. 00:28:47.220 --> 00:28:48.680 No one will stand. 00:28:51.779 --> 00:28:55.779 The gospel says that Jesus Christ came to experience 00:28:55.779 --> 00:28:58.960 and endure that judgment on our behalf. 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:04.019 And we see in Amos chapter 8 verse 9, 00:29:04.140 --> 00:29:07.480 as Amos is in the midst of describing God's judgment, 00:29:07.620 --> 00:29:08.440 he says this, 00:29:08.779 --> 00:29:11.299 I will make the sun go down at noon 00:29:11.299 --> 00:29:14.100 and darken the earth in broad daylight. 00:29:16.299 --> 00:29:19.920 And of course, as Jesus hung there on the cross at midday, 00:29:20.319 --> 00:29:21.980 that Scripture was fulfilled. 00:29:23.059 --> 00:29:24.799 The sky was darkened 00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:29.559 as God's judgment fell on him instead of us. 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:32.639 But what that means, 00:29:33.319 --> 00:29:34.519 because of that, 00:29:35.180 --> 00:29:39.220 Jesus alone can prepare us to stand before God 00:29:39.220 --> 00:29:40.700 on the day of the Lord. 00:29:41.460 --> 00:29:44.019 His grace and mercy cover our sins, 00:29:44.119 --> 00:29:45.819 so we have nothing to fear. 00:29:45.819 --> 00:29:50.679 The Israelites were guilty of the sin of presumption. 00:29:51.659 --> 00:29:53.240 But we have something different. 00:29:53.379 --> 00:29:54.480 We have assurance. 00:29:57.000 --> 00:29:59.319 Assurance because it's not based on what we do, 00:29:59.419 --> 00:30:01.319 it's based on what he has already done. 00:30:01.480 --> 00:30:03.000 It has been accomplished. 00:30:04.379 --> 00:30:07.500 And then what happens is that when we realize that, 00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:09.819 when we begin to see that God's response 00:30:09.819 --> 00:30:13.500 response to the injustice that we committed against Him 00:30:13.500 --> 00:30:17.399 is to give His life for us, 00:30:18.539 --> 00:30:20.480 that begins to change our hearts. 00:30:20.859 --> 00:30:23.439 I perpetrated the greatest injustice possible 00:30:23.439 --> 00:30:25.159 against the Lord, 00:30:25.220 --> 00:30:28.599 and He laid down His life to set me free from that debt. 00:30:29.099 --> 00:30:32.599 And that begins to melt and soften and change your heart. 00:30:32.700 --> 00:30:35.659 It begins to fill you and compel you 00:30:35.660 --> 00:30:40.820 and move you to want to see other relationships put right. 00:30:42.120 --> 00:30:43.460 And Jesus becomes, 00:30:43.560 --> 00:30:46.360 the gospel becomes the source of that river 00:30:46.360 --> 00:30:49.779 that flows out of us and into the world. 00:30:50.300 --> 00:30:53.519 If you try to do justice apart from Jesus Christ, 00:30:53.600 --> 00:30:55.940 you're either going to become burned out 00:30:55.940 --> 00:30:59.160 because you're trying to be a river with no source, 00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:02.380 or you're going to become self-righteous 00:31:02.380 --> 00:31:05.140 because you think that you're the source. 00:31:05.660 --> 00:31:09.120 It is only by continually coming back to Jesus Christ 00:31:09.120 --> 00:31:13.220 and remembering that once we were the perpetrators 00:31:13.220 --> 00:31:14.160 of great injustice, 00:31:14.580 --> 00:31:16.100 and only through His grace, 00:31:16.400 --> 00:31:19.660 are we able to become workers of justice 00:31:19.660 --> 00:31:21.519 and righteousness in the world. 00:31:21.940 --> 00:31:24.240 It compels us to want to give our lives 00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:27.660 to heal the world as Jesus has given His life to heal us. 00:31:29.040 --> 00:31:29.759 Let's pray. 00:31:29.759 --> 00:31:34.779 Lord, we thank You for Your Word, 00:31:34.859 --> 00:31:38.160 and we thank You that the story did not end with Amos, 00:31:38.440 --> 00:31:41.720 and we thank You that the story does not end with us. 00:31:42.339 --> 00:31:45.879 We thank You that we are a part now of this river, 00:31:46.379 --> 00:31:49.160 and that You, in the midst of all of the war 00:31:49.160 --> 00:31:51.279 and the darkness and the chaos, 00:31:51.779 --> 00:31:54.460 that You are at work bringing renewal. 00:31:54.460 --> 00:31:57.940 And we thank You that we know how the story ends, 00:31:58.079 --> 00:32:00.660 that we will one day see the world 00:32:00.660 --> 00:32:02.980 as You intend it to be, 00:32:03.720 --> 00:32:04.900 a world put right. 00:32:05.759 --> 00:32:07.460 Lord, we long for that day, 00:32:07.539 --> 00:32:09.920 and it is in light of that justice 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:13.440 that we commit ourselves to doing the work of justice 00:32:13.440 --> 00:32:14.559 here in this city, Lord. 00:32:14.620 --> 00:32:17.600 We pray this would be done by Your grace 00:32:17.599 --> 00:32:19.219 and in the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:32:20.099 --> 00:32:20.359 Amen.