"Thirsty for Judgment" - November 12, 2017 at First Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn

Art: Niagara Falls, Louisa Davis Minot, 1818

Amos 1:1-2; 5:14-15, 21-24

John: 7:37-38

Before starting seminary, I taught middle school and high school science here in Brooklyn. It was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done. Nothing sends you on a quest to find God, like spending your days with a room full of teenagers. No offense to any teenagers here!

Because teaching was also one of the most joyful and rewarding things I’ve ever done. Because you get to see, over the course of a year, how much a young person can learn and grow! And as a teacher, you have the privilege to be a part of that growth.

And in teaching, you also learn so much.

One of the most valuable things I learned from my students? The best indicator of how much a student will learn, is how willing they are to receive honest feedback about the things they could be doing better?

I remember one 7th grade biology student who began the year getting mostly C’s, on her quizzes and lab reports. But every time she got a grade she wasn’t happy with, she would find me after school, and want to sit down, and talk about the topic she didn’t understand, or what she could be doing differently.

And by the end of the year she had one of the highest grades in the class. And I will never forget her persistence and courage in wanting to learn.

The prophet Amos today, is like a high school teacher who has some really hard feedback to give to his students. And he’s pretty upset about it.

Our reading from Amos culminates in a beautiful message from our God, an encouragement, a command, to: “let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.” A message was beloved by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and he reminded us of it in his speech, I have a dream.

And these words are not only an imperative for us to follow, but they are a promise from God, who is guiding us on to justice and righteousness.

But this promise comes only after some really hard feedback.

Amos takes us through a painful journey on the way.

His words reveal a God who is bitter, angry, even hateful, towards his people.

“I hate, I despise your festivals. And I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. I will not look upon your offerings. I will not listen to the noise of your songs.”

I’m not used to thinking of God as a God who hates.

I’m much more comfortable imagining God as all kindness and gentleness, all the time.

Maybe I’m ok with the thought of God getting angry at those other people, and hating their offerings. Those bad people over there.

But not me! Why would God turn away from my offering, and hate my worship? I’m on the good team!

But from my experience as a teacher I should know, that just because God is giving hard feedback, or even painful feedback, doesn’t mean God doesn’t love me.

It means God wants me to grow.

But am I ready to listen?

Amos spoke out during the reign of Jeroboam the second, who was king of Israel in the 8th century BC. Jeroboam was a strong ruler, who had been victorious in battle over Israel’s neighbors. He extended the boundaries of the kingdom, led the nation into peace and the greatest prosperity that Israel had ever seen. Wealth was pouring in, from the trade in olive oil and wine.

But although this economic growth was wonderful for the upper classes in Israel, much of this wealth came at the expense of the poor.

And we can hear in Amos’s words that the people had forgotten the difference between good and evil. Amos brings the message from God, to hate evil and love good. And who needs to hear such a message, except those who no longer see the difference between evil and good?

Amos tells the people to “establish justice in the gate.”

In Ancient Israel, the gate was one of the few public areas in the city, where people could gather. It was a location for ceremonies, for markets, and it also served as the courtroom of the city. If you had suffered abuse, or unfair treatment, or theft, you could come to the city gate and seek justice.

But in the time of Amos, it became increasingly hard to find justice at the gate.

The increase in wealth had led to an increase in bribes, corruption, and false witness.

The wealthy were able to tip the scale in their own favor. While the poor, who could not afford to purchase justice, were unable to find it.

And Amos spoke not only to the wealthy who actively brought corruption into the courts, but he also spoke to those who sat by complacently, thinking they were excused from responsibility, all the while witnessing the miscarriage of justice and the abuse of those in need.

Meanwhile the religious worship continued. Perhaps with the growth of a wealthy class, it was more impressive than ever: the solemn ceremonies and the burnt offerings, carried on while the poor were being oppressed.

The people gathered for worship. They wanted to be forgiven.

But they didn’t want to change from their comfortable habits and their indifference to the poor.

They were like students who want to get better grade, who show up in class. But when their teacher gives them feedback or suggestions, they aren’t interested in changing.

And we learn from Amos that God rejects this kind of worship.

Because worship has a purpose. Worship calls us to a relationship with God.

And God calls us to be transformed!

God calls us out of selfishness and into love and service for others.

Worship does not happen for the individual. In Amos, God teaches us that worship brings justice to the entire community. Worship that fails to do this, is not worship.

Back in September, Pastor Adriene preached on God’s creation in Genesis. How in the beginning God saw the creation she had made, and it was very good! Because it was a world living in balance, within the laws and boundaries that God had established. Animals took only what they needed. The plants, the beasts, the birds, the human beings, the heavens and the earth, all formed a single community living in harmony.

I’m sure you’re aware, First Church, that when I look around at our world today, I don’t see a world in harmony, where people consider what’s best for the community, before they act. I don’t see a world where people are willing to put their individual desires aside, for the sake of the whole creation.

In fact, I see the opposite! I see a world where selfishness is encouraged, where we are told, You are an individual. Put yourself first, and who cares about your neighbors.

We are encouraged deplete the resources of this earth, taking so much more than we need, without caring how we impact the rest of creation.

But this isn’t God’s plan for us.

Because God loves us, she is trying to teach us, to help us grow, like a teacher who sees a student who could be learning so much, could be doing amazing work, if only they were willing to listen.

God teaches us through God’s judgment.

In Hebrew, the word for justice  “mish-pawt” מִשְׁפָּט can also  be translated, judgment.

Let judgment roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.

And Amos tells us that judgment means deciding between good and evil.

Seek good and not evil.

That is the judgment of God, that our world and our communities so desperately need.

In the wake of another mass shooting, in which 26 people, including 8 children, were murdered, and our politicians are unwilling to confront the problem of gun violence and mass shootings.

When our justice system is plagued by corruption and racism, when our nation has the highest rate of incarceration in the entire world, and systematically targets people of color?

When women are abused and raped by men in power, and we elect as the president of our country a man who boasts about harassing women?

When our economic and political systems encourage constant growth and consumption, judging all things in pursuit of financial wealth for the few, and ignoring the cost to the planet, to other species, and to our own communities?

We are thirsty for the judgment of God!

We long for God to teach what is good, and turn us away from evil.

But first we need to recognize that we are thirsty, that we need the judgment of God to guide us.

We need to be students ready to learn.

Where can we find the water, that will quench our thirst, and the thirst of our suffering world?

In our Gospel reading, Jesus tells us, “let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”

First Church, the water of God’s judgment flows from your hearts!

In a world that suffers under oppression and evil, it is in your hearts that the rivers of justice flow.

What is the water that flows in our hearts?

Tears.

Tears are one of the ways God teaches us, and transforms us.

Tears are the judgment of God, showing us good from evil.

Are we ready to receive this judgment?

Tears for the children murdered in Texas.

Tears for the families destroyed by addiction.

Tears for the refugees who may never see their homes again.

God knows the tears in the heart of every person.

God hears the cries of the earth.

And God cries too.

That is the judgment of God against the evil in this world.

In the tears that Jesus cried for this world, as he walked with the outcasts, the poor, the sick. God’s judgment is in the blood that Jesus shed for this world he loved so much.

Last week my fellow seminarian Steph spoke about the exhaustion and hunger we feel confronting the  despair and isolation we experience in our world. And she encouraged us to remember the gifts that God gives to us on the journey-- hospitality, community meals, and the love we share together. God’s words to Elijah were: “get up and eat, for the journey is long.”

God is calling us to a new world, a new community of hospitality, love, and giving. That is our journey as Christians.

We must take care of our bodies on this journey.

Because God will ask us to work, to act, to speak out for justice and for those in need.

We must also take care of our hearts on this journey.

It is so easy to let our hearts become cold and bitter, to bring our offerings to God, asking God for help and comfort,

While being unwilling to listen to the guidance-- the judgment that God is giving us, to create us anew. Sometimes this guidance comes in the tears of our neighbors.

First Church, I invite you this week to pray,

Lord, help me listen to the people crying.

Lord, help me to cry too.

Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.

Amen.