Amos 5 (NRSVue)
18
Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light,
19
as 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.
20
Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?
21
I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22
Even 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.
23
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
24
But let justice roll down like water
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Hollow worship frustrates God, but the work of justice brings God relief.
Here are some questions for discussion:
1. What does it mean for you and I that anyone can proclaim themselves to be Christian? How does this proclamation impact us and society at large? How can the idea of Christianities be a good thing? How can it be a bad thing?
2. Frederick Douglas drew a sharp distinction between the Christianity of this land and the Christianity of Christ. Consider his words when he says, “Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity…” What is he really saying here? How did we get here? How do we get back to the teachings?
3. Much has been made lately about the Christian Nationalist movement in our society. What is the difference between being a Christian nation and a nation of Christians? Can we legislate the latter into being?
If you’d like to dig a little deeper, consider the following:
1. The urge to celebrate a win is powerful, but what happens when we celebrate and throw worship parties amidst the injustices of the world?
2. Amos declares, “I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.” Consider the juxtaposition of taking delight and something that is solemn. What does it mean for God to take delight as opposed to Him not taking delight in our actions/assemblies?
3. When all that is required of us is to “find our refuge in Christ, not the performance of Christianity,” why do we still struggle with our urge to perform?
4. Pastor Trey said, “we won’t be judged by our identities as Christians, but we will be judged by our actions.” Do our identities shape our actions? Or do our actions shape our identities?
For further contemplation, consider these prompts:
1. When we think about how Christianity in America has poisonous roots, how can we still have faith and hope in the future of Christianity in America? How is it different to have hope in a better finish than start versus opting for a difficult path today expecting God to use our imperfect politician to do His work?
2. Frederick Douglas drew a sharp distinction between the Christianity of this land and the Christianity of Christ. Reflect on what it might look like in your own life to move away from the performance of Christianity and toward the teachings of Christ. What actions might need to change?