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November 12, 2017Amos 1:1-2, 5:14-15, 21-24
Seeking an Alternate RealityJohn 7:37-38
By Rev. Dr. Janet Macgregor-Williams
West MilfordPresbyterian Church
Watch the news for five minutes and you know that our world is filled with violence, evil and hatred. 26 people in Texas are killed for simply going to church, tourists are mowed down by a truck, white supremacists spew hatred at their rallies, it is overwhelming. It is to a world not unlike our own that the prophet Amos speaks. As I mentioned last week, Israel has divided into two kingdoms. Amos is a part of the Southern Kingdom, but he cries out to the Northern Kingdom to change their ways and return to God. He is an outsider, a shepherd coming to the big city, and that distance gives him a different perspective. He has not become numb to the injustices. He reminds us that God is like a shepherd, wanting to care for the flock, but the sheep have strayed and so we hear the Lord roar. The first four and a half chapter, half of this short book, recount all of the transgressions of Israel. They tell of God’s disappointment and even anger at the violence, evil and hatred. It is almost like a Katy Perry song, as God cries out and roars for justice. We have reached the breaking point, we can no longer be silent. Can we hear the roar of the Lord as God cries out for justice?
Amos lived in a world where the poor were forced into slavery; the divide between the haves and the have-nots was evident everywhere, oh there was prosperity—but only for a select few. Faced with the injustices and inequalities the Lord cries out for justice. Amos asks, can you hear the Lord roar?
The theme that runs through his writings is:
To seek good and not evil, that you may live.
The people are challenged to set things right. Instead of tearing down life, they are called to do that which is life giving. Chapter 5:15 is a turning point, the prophet says you don’t have to live in this evil world, instead you can seek an alternate reality, you can return to God. You can: Seek good and not evil.
Imagine how different our world would look if everyone sought to do good and not evil. This is not a passive thing; it is not enough just to do no harm. Instead we are called to seek out good, to set things right and do that which is just. We are called to love that which is good and seek justice.
- Think about our own world, how different would it look if instead of talking about “cyber bullying,” social media was filled with “cyber praise.”
- Messages of thanks,
- Posts that encourage,
- Tweets that celebrate the strengths of others, rather than exploiting their weaknesses.
- How different would our news be, if instead of focusing on the perpetrators, we spent most of the time celebrating the everyday heroes and sheroes, those people who risk their lives to protect others, and what about the EMT’s and doctors, who respond and try and set things right? We are called to “Seek good and not evil.”
- What would it look like if our conversations were filled with compassion, rather than judgements about others? Would we find that instead of criticizing, we were looking to help make things better?
Amos tells the people to “Seek good and not evil.” This charge comes with a promise, that when we seek good, then we will live. The secret to the abundant life, is to seek to do good and not evil. Throughout John’s gospel the Jesus we meet is one who comes to give life and give it abundantly—
- From the first miracle in John 2 where Jesus turns water into wine and the jars are filled to the brim with the finest wine.
- To the familiar words of John 3:16 were we are told not that God loved a few, but instead:
‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
- From the promise of abundant life in John 10:10
- To the words we have heard today about rivers of living water.
Amos gives us a promise, if we seek an alternate reality, if we do things different, if we seek good and not evil, then we will know and live this abundant life.
Amos is not looking for the people to just go through the motions, he says that God is not interested in counterfeit religion. God hates the hypocrisy often associated with religious activity, instead God cries out for justice. At the end of chapter 5 Amos gives us a glorious picture as he says:
let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness
like an ever-flowing stream.
For Amos’ hearers, who lived in a world in which drought and the absence of rain was an all-too-regular occurrence, the image of justice being like a torrent of water running down, as well as a constant stream, this was a compelling image to describe the life-giving effects of justice and righteousness. This picture of justice rolling down like water was made famous by Martin Luther King Jr. who cites a version of this text in a number of his speeches, including in his March 1963, “I Have Dream” speech. In his struggle for civil liberties, King proclaims justice to be like a mighty stream that sweeps away everything that stands in its way. I think of the waterfalls we saw this summer in Norway, as the glaciers melted, the water came cascading over the cliffs of the fjords, rushing down. Our guide said that though the fjords were arms of the ocean, the saline content of the water was different, as the waterfalls poured fresh water into them, changing the mix.
Just think of it, when we seek good instead of evil,
when we show compassion
rather than judgement,
when we speak love rather than hate,
then we change the world, we create a new and altered reality. So, I say to you, in the words of the prophet Amos:
Seek good and not evil, that you may live;
and so theLord, the God of hosts, will be with you…
Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate…
let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Gandhi said it well, when he said: Be the change you want to see in the world.