“But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!” - Amos 5:24
2020 is rolling like a river, but it’s not a river of justice or righteousness. The big picture view we get from our small screen devices is injustice, polarization, violence, tragedy.
When we read the verses leading to Amos 5:24, the well known verse gains more potency. Amos describes the day of the Lord as a day of darkness, not light. He surprisingly says, “Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord.” Verse 19 sounds like someone from 2,700 years ago describing the vibe of 2020:
“It will be as though a man fled from a lion
only to meet a bear,
as though he entered his house
and rested his hand on the wall
only to have a snake bite him.”
Around every turn is an unexpected danger. This is how Amos imagines God’s judgment for the religious people acting unjustly toward the poor. Amos is compelling people toward justice. Their religiosity and their “beliefs” aren’t cutting it.
How do we imagine justice? Can we imagine a just world?
Our ability to imagine a just world will determine how we act in the present. For Christians, who believe God is bringing history patiently toward a just fulfillment, the kingdom of God is that just world. Jesus taught us to imagine it. It’s like treasure hidden in a field. It’s like a mustard seed. It’s like yeast mixed into flour. Our imaginations must expand. Jesus’ teaching is consistently pushing beyond the merely legal to what is truly good. His gaze is focused further out beyond the religious laws of his day to a vision of the kingdom of God, where what God wants done gets done. We must be able to imagine a just world and then live according to that vision.
The community art project seen above invited church attenders to do that, to imagine a just world. People were given markers and asked to share their vision of a just world on the cut out letters. We don’t all imagine exactly the same thing. That’s to be expected, but may God grant us growing imaginations, more able to see Christ’s kingdom, and may God grant us courage to act boldly in pursuit of that vision.
Sojourn Midtown recently created a webpage full of resources following the recent sermon series, The Gospel, Race and Justice. Check it out here: https://sojournchurch.com/midtown/justice
Hear Sojourn Music’s 2015 “Let Justice Roll”