The religious leaders of Jesus’ day did not really appreciate his straight talk about the hypocrisy of their words and their actions in contrast to their heart attitudes and lack of concern for justice. He wasn’t the first though to upset the religious authorities with such straight talk. The Old Testament prophets did their fair share and one of those was Amos. He was not a judge or a priest but “one of the shepherds of Tekoa” and a prophet speaking about “what he saw concerning Israel” (Amos 1:1) and what he heard from the Lord as follows: 16 Therefore, this is what the Lord, the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, says: (Amos 5:16 NLT)
21 “I hate all your show and pretense—
the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.
22 I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings.
I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings.
23 Away with your noisy hymns of praise!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice,
an endless river of righteous living. (Amos 5:21-24 NLT)
It seems that what eventuates when the people of God are involved in worship and service that is empty of true heartfelt spirituality is a decline in righteous living and this followed by a lack of acts of true justice, something very high on God’s agenda!
Proverbs has lots to say about justice and injustice. We will begin in chapter 16 and then check out more later. For example:
8 Better a little with righteousness
than much gain with injustice.
Sadly, as we consider our world and particularly in the area of international business, there is a lot of exploitation of the poor creating more wealth for the already wealthy. An example of this being in the manufacturing industry, where cheap labor with poor conditions is very much alive and well. On the Baptist World Aid website, it says: “Millions of workers in the global fashion industry face injustice, abuse, low wages, and modern slavery. The way we produce clothes and shoes—and the endless demand for more—is having a detrimental impact on local communities, their lands and waterways, and even the air they breathe.” ( Get The Latest Ethical Fashion Guide – Baptist World Aid )
10 The lips of a king speak as an oracle,
and his mouth does not betray justice.
How we need leaders in our day whose words and actions would not betray justice!
11 Honest scales and balances belong to the Lord;
all the weights in the bag are of his making.
The Lord through Amos had something more to say about this injustice:
Listen to this, you who rob the poor
and trample down the needy!
5 You can’t wait for the Sabbath day to be over
and the religious festivals to end
so you can get back to cheating the helpless.
You measure out grain with dishonest measures
and cheat the buyer with dishonest scales. (Amos 8:4-5)
Our God is a God of justice and the times when the anger of God is seen clearly in the Scriptures is when people who should know better rob the poor and trample down the needy! He calls them, those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground. (Amos 5:7) and He is not impressed!
The Bible, including Proverbs has a lot more to say on this subject, but let me finish today with a very important word to us from God through the prophet Micah:
6 With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:6,8)
On a scale of 1-10 how is your acting justly and you loving mercy and your walking humbly with your God going? And is it resulting in a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living? Because this is what the Lord require[s] of you and me!
Worship and Wisdom - Psalms and Proverbs 