Amos 5:18-24 (NRSV)
Read Amos 5:18-24 on biblegateway.com
Verse 18Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord! Why do you want the day of the Lord? It is darkness, not light; Verse 19as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake. Verse 20Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?
Verse 21I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Verse 22Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Verse 23Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. Verse 24But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.
Devotion
As we approach the final days of the church year, the lessons offer sounds of judgment and warning: Get ready, be prepared, the day of the Lord is coming! God has always been a God of surprises and this lesson is no exception. For all of us who long for the day of the Lord based upon our own shallow religiosity: as was true of Israel in the days of Amos, we, like them, will be surprised. It will not be the day of light and celebration that we had hoped for but rather one of dark and gloom.
But we have ears to hear the rest of the story: the hope and the promise of God’s grace reflected in Amos which is woven through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Surprised and saved by God’s grace, God invites us to let justice roll and righteousness stream forth.
Prayer
Gracious God, the world hungers for your justice and righteousness. If our hearts will not rest until they find their rest in you, then stir our hearts into repentance, and then send us forth as forgiven ones, proclaiming your message in word and deed. Amen.