Micah 6:6-8 (NIV) 6 With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 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.
Amos 5:14-15, 24 (NIV) 14 Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. 15 Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. 24 But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. The “good” was well understood among the Hebrew people. “Good” was the will of God given in the law. Today “good” is up for grabs, and the church has not been helpful in establishing what the “good” is in our society. We are split and divided over what the good is that we are to seek.
Amos affirms that the good can be known, and practiced, especially as the good entails God’s justice and righteousness. Justice is arranging things in a society so that each person’s rights are respected. It is being fair. The root word for righteousness means “making an accurate copy.” Righteousness happens when the laws, rules, values and priorities copy God’s intension.
There is a good, a way of life ordained by God, and we are to seek it, find it, and order our life accordingly. We may sometimes misunderstand what the good is and we may fail to practice the good that we know. Nevertheless, there is always something redemptive and constructive that happens when we seek the good of God.
Seek the good and live, or ignore the good. But, Amos joined with the voices of prophet past, present, and future to affirm that we cannot live in ignorance and in defiance of God’s will for our world without paying a price. And he is called the prophet of doom because he says that when the judgment comes, all will be punished. If that sounds cold and cruel, it may be because we have never had a physician give us a talking to because of life-style habits that are undermining our health. It is a word of care, of compassion, and of truth. And, the implication is that we must seek it together as a people and not as isolated individuals. What is discovered in the community of a nation, of a church, or of a family can be shared with the community and greater world.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope July 14, 1985
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell
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