Sermon: God’s Drum Major For Justice

Sermon: God’s Drum Major for Justice

Scripture Lesson: Amos 5:21-25 “I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! “Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?”

Introduction: God is a just God and He desires His world to be a just world. The Lord vindicates his people, punishes evil, and cares for the marginalized. He opposes the wicked, whether individuals or nations and He will one day set all things right. God’s promises are sure!

Psalms 25:8-10 says, “The LORD is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way. The LORD leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands”

Deuteronomy 32:4 calls God, “A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”

Psalm 89:14 describes God this way, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.”

God is just. It is part of His character, which means He is always just. The message of Amos speaks to our world today with as much force and necessity as when he spoke to the world, the nations and God’s people 2,700 years ago. The key idea in Amos is that God is just and impartial and will judge not only the nations but also his own people for their life of ease and apathy amid human suffering. The prophet Amos lived among a group of shepherds in Tekoa, a small town approximately ten miles south of Jerusalem. Amos made clear in his writings that he did not come from a family of prophets, nor did he even consider himself one. Rather, he was “a grower of sycamore figs” as well as a shepherd (Amos 7:14–15). Amos’s connection to the simple life of the people made its way into the center of his prophecies, as he showed a heart for the oppressed and the voiceless in the world. Amos was God’s drum Major for justice! Privileged people seldom fight for the underprivileged and voiceless. God must raise up a voice.

What does it mean to be a drum major for justice? Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. introduced that idea to his congregation as he thought about his own eulogy, He implored his congregation to remember his attempts to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and comfort prisoners. The drum major for justice is one who serves for the benefit of others. Often, we forget our connections to each other. Amos repeatedly points out the failure of the people to fully embrace God’s idea of justice. They were selling off needy people for goods, taking advantage of the helpless, oppressing the poor, and the men were using women immorally. Those same conditions exist in our world today.

Amos 2:6–8 The Lord says, “The people of Israel have sinned again and again, and I will not forget it. I will not leave them unpunished anymore. For they have perverted justice by accepting bribes and sold into slavery the poor who can’t repay their debts; they trade them for a pair of shoes. They trample the poor in the dust and kick aside the meek. “And a man and his father defile the same temple girl, corrupting my holy name. At their religious feasts they lounge in clothing stolen from their debtors, and in my own Temple they offer sacrifices of wine they purchased with stolen money.” Those same circumstances exist in our world today.

Amos 3:10 “My people have forgotten what it means to do right,” says the Lord. “Their beautiful homes are full of the loot from their thefts and banditry.”

Amos 4:1 “Listen to me, you “fat cows” of Bashan living in Samaria—you women who encourage your husbands to rob the poor and crush the needy—you who never have enough to drink!”

Amos 5:11–12, “You trample the poor and steal their smallest crumb by all your taxes, fines, and usury; therefore, you will never live in the beautiful stone houses you are building, nor drink the wine from the lush vineyards you are planting. For many and great are your sins. I know them all so well. You are the enemies of everything good; you take bribes; you refuse justice to the poor.” Those same exploitations continue in our world today.

Amos 8:4–6, “Listen, you merchants who rob the poor, trampling on the needy; 5 you who long for the Sabbath to end and the religious holidays to be over so you can get out and start cheating again—using your weighted scales and under-sized measures;”