Jackson advocate. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1939-current, 1947-05-17
GOD IN NATIONAL AFFAIRS

LESSON TExT-Amos 5:6.15. MA.
MEMORY SELECTTON-Seek good.
and not evil. that We may hve.-Amos
STA.
Social Justice, though much spo-
ken about in recent times, has been
the concern of right thinking men
ever since sin entered the world and
started name inhumanity toward
man. In the prophet Amos we find
the eloquent and plain-spoken voice
of one crying out against such con-
ditions almost 800 years before
Christ.
This lesson is one which Is OF ut
most importance, because in our
present-day struggle with social in
Justice we hR~e come to assume
that it is primarily political or
economic question.
The book of Amos and all other
scripture rightly gets at 1.-THE focus
of infection" which is sin. Sin in the
heart leads to sinful actions, and
these inevitably involve others, and
thus bring about social problems.
/. God Is Great and Just WV. $50.
From the little village Of Tekoa
and out of the wilderness in which
he had been a herdSman came
Amos, the man of God, to hurl his
prophecy of disaster upon the heads
of the conplacent people of Israel
and to take up a lamentation over
those in Israel living in luxury and
prosperity.
1t was true that the common peo-
pie were being ground under the
heel of cruel oppression, but who
cared about the poor as long as they
could be squeezed for taxes to sup
port the luxurious comforts and
pleasures Of the rich? A prosperity
which does not reach the homes Of
the poor is not real prosperity at
all. When in addition it encourages
the ''haves" to Cypress the "have-
nots"+it becomes a grave danger,
q real cause for lamentation.
Over against the social sin and
sorrow of his day Amos placed the
almighty and righteous God. The
people were urged to seek him and
his righteousness. Would they do it?
The answer came quickly.
III. Men Are Small and Wicked
wv. 1913.
Thank God that it Is not true Of
all men, but those of Amos day
(and many are like them in our
day. turned away in hatred of the
one who dared to rebuke their wick
edness.
Sin is always a horrible thing, but
when men who have fallen into sin
are responsive to correction and
ready to repent and forsake their
sin, there is hope. The thing which
made IsarePs state so serious in the
sight of God and of his prophet was
that they had only hatred for those
who were bold enough to reprove
them or to live among them accord
ing to Gods standards WV. 10, 49,.
''They who viii endure no criti-
cism have slammed the door In the
face Of truth. When we get to the
place where we cannot endure hav-
ing our faults pointed out, we are
on the way to moral collapse"
(Douglass).
III. Men Should Hate Evil wv.
Il, 49,.
God loves the sinner, even when
he is in his sin. God wants to help
him, and so pleads with him to hate
the evil enough to forsake it. and
love the good enough to turn to God
In repentance.
Gods Word condemns sin, but it
also presents remedy. In Christ
we have the perfect, final, and COM
plete answer to the sin question.
Amos, speaking centuries before
Christ, admonished Israel to repent
and to turn away from the evil which
they had cultivated with such ASST
duty, and to be equally jealous
about doing good, In the hope that
lit may be that the Lord God Of
hosts will be gracious" ". 16.
How favored we are to be per-
mitted not only to urge people to
turn from evil to good, but to offer
them the One who is the way, the
truth, and the life.
Israel did not repent, but in folly
depended on their religious cere-
monies to satisfy an offended God.
The prophet therefore declares that
~. God Hates Hypocrisy wv. 81
pa.
God had no pleasure in their re-
igious observances and rites, be-
cause they were presented with I'M
repentant hearts and by hands
which were soiled by the oppression
Of their fellow man.
Mark it well, God has no delight
in the attendance upon church serv-
ices, beautiful though they may be;
he does not listen to the sweet
strains Of sacred music, nor does be
accept the rich offerings" of those
who live In unforsaken sin and who
pay for magnificent church build
ings and beautiful church services
with money gotten by crooked deal
ings and social injustice.
God is righteous, and Gods Word
always cuts right through the by.
pocrisy Of men. Let us heed the plea