Justice is Inevitable

Justice is inevitable. Read the words of Amos 5:21-24.

5:21 “I absolutely despise your festivals!
I get no pleasure from your religious assemblies!
5:22 Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings, I will not be satisfied;
I will not look with favor on your peace offerings of fattened calves.
5:23 Take away from me your noisy songs;
I don’t want to hear the music of your stringed instruments.
5:24 Justice must flow like torrents of water,
righteous actions like a stream that never dries up.

I've done some exegesis on this passage recently for some coursework. Verse 24 can also be taken as "justice will roll down" or "let justice roll down," as God speaks to the nation of Israel. And my prof. consistently tells us to look for the conversations that may arise from the text. It's not that the text gives us definitive answers in our context, but it can speak to our issues in a unique way.

So I begin to think and converse back and forth with Amos.

1) Do you hate our religious festivities of Christmas? What do we do that's in vain? Asking these questions makes me think of the Advent Conspiracy.

2) Will justice really roll down and heal our land? What must we do or not do to ensure this happens? I woke up this morning enjoying the snow, but then thought of the hundreds and thousands of homeless that are barely surviving the cold. When will they get justice? Do they deserve justice? Amos has a lot to say about the oppression of the poor.....

3) Righteousness still matters. Real, righteous acts can be performed. It isn't an abstract concept. It looks like something, but what will that look like in my life?

Lots of conversations, and Amos still speaks.