Amos 5.10-24 (GNB)
You people hate anyone who challenges injustice and speaks the whole truth in court. You have oppressed the poor and robbed them of their grain. And so you will not live in the fine stone houses you build or drink wine from the beautiful vineyards you plant. I know how terrible your sins are and how many crimes you have committed. You persecute good people, take bribes, and prevent the poor from getting justice in the courts. And so, keeping quiet in such evil times is the smart thing to do! Make it your aim to do what is right, not what is evil, so that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty really will be with you, as you claim he is. Hate what is evil, love what is right, and see that justice prevails in the courts. Perhaps the Lord will be merciful to the people of this nation who are still left alive. And so the Sovereign Lord Almighty says, “There will be wailing and cries of sorrow in the city streets. Even farmers will be called to mourn the dead along with those who are paid to mourn. There will be wailing in all the vineyards. All this will take place because I am coming to punish you.” The Lord has spoken.
How terrible it will be for you who long for the day of the Lord! What good will that day do you? For you it will be a day of darkness and not of light. It will be like someone who runs from a lion and meets a bear! Or like someone who comes home and puts his hand on the wall—only to be bitten by a snake! The day of the Lord will bring darkness and not light; it will be a day of gloom, without any brightness. The Lord says, “I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.”
Reflection
As with yesterday’s reading, the latter part of this passage is a signature text for preachers on justice. And as in Micah’s case, we tend to ignore the context of these verses, which speak both to individuals and to the organs of the state.
As we see in the first part of the passage, the underlying problem which Amos is addressing is a justice system which fails to work for all, and, in particular, greatly favours the rich over the poor. “Keeping quiet is the smart thing to do!” if justice is not possible, and that weakens the fabric of trust in society. In the UK today, we are living through the consequences of such an undermining of trust.
Last year, the former President of the UK Supreme Court, Baroness Brenda Hale of Richmond, published a well-informed account of the legal system in the UK (especially England and Wales) entitled ‘With the Law on our Side’. She is deeply worried at the reductions in legal aid and the consequent exclusion of many people from being able to seek justice, both in personal disputes and in those affecting society as a whole. At the same time, the former postmistress Jo Hamilton published ‘Why are you here, Mrs Hamilton?’, her account of the injustice of the Post Office Horizon scandal, and the small number of lawyers who were willing to work for justice for her and over 900 others at reduced rates. In 2023, Theresa May published ‘The Abuse of Power’, describing a series of injustices in the UK, such as Hillsborough, Grenfell and modern slavery.
To his society, frighteningly similar to our own, Amos is blunt – while justice and righteousness are ignored, their expensive religious festivals lead only to the judgement of God, “a day of darkness and not of light.”
Prayer
God of Judgement,
may we take heed of Amos’s warning.
We seem to find ourselves in a society
based on injustice for the majority
while a small minority gain wealth and power,
and we too fear that the result will be darkness, not light.
Give us the prophetic courage
to call out injustice when we see it,
and to plead for the cause of the poor,
the downtrodden and the refugee.
Amen.