Virtual Bible Study: Amos 9

Welcome to this week's Virtual Bible Study! Let's get started!

First Step: Read the Text. (This doesn't take too long). This Week’s Reading is Amos 9. You can read it here.

Second Step: Lesson/Focus Text

"In that day, I will restore..." Amos 9:11a

Do We Really Want Justice for All??

One of the highlights of being a father is watching my boys put their hands over their hearts and say the pledge of allegiance. The pledge, taught to them in school and in boy scouts, touches a nerve inside of me. Those words, those timeless words, are indeed things to strive for.

But there is one phrase of the pledge of allegiance that always gets me. The final phrase that we say together.

... With liberty and justice for all.

That phrase has caught my attention of late. Not the liberty part so much as the justice part. Why in the world do we hold up the ideal of justice for all? Why not just say: “With liberty for all.” And leave it at that. Why add the justice part? Do we actually understand what it means to have justice given to all? Do we understand justice period?

Justice is about fairness and giving people their due. Justice says in commerce, for example, that for a certain amount of money, a measure of gasoline will be given to you. Justice makes sure that the deal stands, that the scales are right that determine the amount of gasoline and the bank honors their agreement to pay for that amount of gasoline. Justice says, in criminal court, that after all the accused will be judged by a jury of his or her peers and that, after the verdict is rendered, a certain sentence will be carried out. Justice ensures that each side has his or her arguments before the decision is made.

These are the usual uses of justice that we see. But there are others. Other definitions of this word that might not be so popular because they truly are life-changing! What about a just distribution of wealth in the world? Did you know that less than 10% of the world’s population control nearly 80% of the world’s resources? Is this just? Or that while less than 2% of the world live in two or more homes, some 25% of the world live homeless? Is this just? Or right? Consider in our own country how loans are granted, with the lowest percentage rates given to those who are rich while the poor suffer under higher rated loans. Or consider how we use and abuse food, while billions go hungry every day.

Just last year I met a family who was living in Itch-Ke-Pe, our free camping park by the river, who were trying to find work. Their home had been sold in foreclosure. They had nothing save the camper they were living in. They had moved to Columbus from Michigan to find work. But since they had no permanent residence, they couldn’t even find work at McDonalds. Countless places had “Help Wanted” signs up in their windows, but no one would take a chance on this family and given them work. Their kids were enrolled in school, but they couldn’t stay. No one would hire them, not unless they already had a permanent address in town. And no one in town had even bothered to ask how they could help.

Is this just? Or right? I don’t think so.

So what happens if justice is given to all? What happens when justice enters the scene? Well... what happens is what is described in the last chapter of Amos. Here, finally, we have the Lord passing judgement on unjust Israel. Earlier in Amos he has presented arguments for their guilt. Their attitude and treatment of the poor and oppressed in their midst. Now the Lord passes judgement.

Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake...
No one will get away, none will escape.
Though they dig down to the depths of the grave, from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens, from there I will bring them down.
Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there I will hunt them down and seize them... I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.”

Justice will be done and it will be done by God. The Lord God will make things right and will tip the scales in favor of the poor. And those who have wronged the poor will suffer simply because the scales have tipped. Those who have much will find what they have taken away and given to those who have none. Those who have eaten their fill will feel the pain of hunger that others have felt. Those who have judged others based on their income will find themselves judged in return.

Is this what we want? Justice? Do we really want God to be a God of Justice, treating us as we ought to be treated, righting the scales, tipping the balance? Or do we rather want a God of mercy and compassion? A God who, even after judgement is passed, has a change of heart? At the end of Amos, after his words of judgement and condemnation. After God has said: “I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.” Comes this passage:

The days are coming, declares the Lord, when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills...I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them.

Even in the midst of justice’s wrath, we are not forsaken. For God is a God of mercy and compassion, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love...for everyone! Rich and poor alike! And God has great plans for us. He has prepared a place for us where justice and righteousness flourish. A city unlike any city on earth. A place where the poor and the rich are equal in God’s sight. A place where it doesn’t matter how much you own, how large your bank account is, how rich or wealthy or mighty you were in life. A place whose light is the Son of God. A place of great celebration, where the rich and the poor alike sit down at the same table, with the ultimate loser, Jesus Christ, at its head and drink the new wine that God has made.

We are called. We are invited. We are challenged. To make this city a reality here and now. To live in eager anticipation of this City of God and to live lives of justice for all, sharing what we have with those in need, until Christ comes to bring justice...and mercy...to all! May the God of mercy and compassion, the God who relents in punishment and does not treat us as He ought, be praised forever and ever! Amen.

Third Step: Questions to Ponder...

1) Does Justice extend to All? In America? In the world? Who does judgement usually fall on?

2) If God walked into your home, what would he ask you to change or do differently? What would He commend you on?

3) Does God treat us as He ought to? Does He show mercy most times? Or justice? What do you want most of the time?

Fourth Step: Email(if you like) your responses. You can just reply to this email or email it to craznluv@msn.com.

Fifth Step: Close with prayer...

Merciful God, I have been wasteful with what you have given me and not shared what I have with those in need. Forgive me. Open my hands and my heart in compassion and love toward my neighbor that my life may be one of justice and righteousness, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

Stay Tuned to What is Happening Next week... :)