No God No Justice Amos 5:21-27

The newscast is on the television. I hear the news anchor, but I am not looking at the picture. Then, I look up and on the television screen I see a woman. She has a tee shirt on. It is inscribed with the words “God is Justice.” I think about this because we have been hearing for several months the cry of “No Justice NO Peace from people associated with “Black Lives Matter.” Now, Black Lives Matter is a movement that calls for justice for Black and brown people. The charge is that America has supported racism, discrimination, and injustices to people with black and brown skin. So, people are marching in the streets protesting peaceably to draw attention to their claims. At the same time there is rioting, looting, and burning resulting in destruction of property and destruction of businesses; and often in the same neighborhoods that many of the protesters live. So, let us look at both the cry No Justice No Peace and God Is Justice from a biblical point of view. We will use the book of Amos to guide our discussion.

People are calling for “social justice.” Frankly, from a biblical point of view, I do not understand the reason (s) that justice needs an adjective to describe what is taking place. I know that it is a way to say that from a social perspective there is no justice. Are we looking for some sort of justice, or, are we looking for equality between people groups in regards to how people are treated differently based on skin color and where people live. Are we looking for equality under the law? My mother used to talk about unjust laws. She meant that some laws are written in such a way that people can legally discriminate against some people. They are treated differently because the law gives permission for them to be mistreated. At the same time such laws are educating the privileged that treating people differently for whatever reason is the right thing to do. What is justice and who decides what is just?

When Martin Luther King, Jr. was at his apex leading the civil rights movement he was often heard making statements that were allusions to the scriptures. He spoke of “going to the mountain top and seeing the Promised Land. He might not get there with them, but we as a people will get there.” I cannot count the number of times that I have heard the speech recited. Often, this speech is recited or read by some young person. I always wonder if this person knows what MLK is talking about. Do they have any idea of the reason that he said these words? Dr. King, a theologian with a Ph. D. from Boston College was referring to God telling Moses that he will not be permitted to enter into the land that God promises to give to the Israelites. Deuteronomy 31:2 tells us that Moses will not cross into the Promised Land and Deuteronomy 34:1-5 tell the story of Moses going up on Mount Nebo to view the Promised Land. King often alludes to the scriptures when talking about justice. Notice that King does not use an adjective to describe justice. He simply says “justice.”

One of the scriptures that I remember most that King quoted says, “But let justice (judgment, KJV) roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24, NASB). King calls for justice based on the constitution and the Holy Scriptures. In King’s view, justice is the institution of laws that are grounded in the laws of God. King knows that God is not pleased with religious folk that do not do justice according to the laws of God. Looking at the words of Amos we have one of many times that God calls for justice.

In Amos 5 God says to Israel, “For those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness down to the earth” (Amos 5:7, NASB). Amos says, “Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and thus may the LORD God of hosts be with you, just as you have said! Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the gate” (5:14-15). Justice is not something that is to be done on behalf of certain people. Justice is not for the privileged only. In Deuteronomy 27 God curses people that do evil and practice injustices. “Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother” (v. 16). “Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary mark” (v.17). “Cursed is he who misleads a blind person on the road” (v. 18). “Cursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien (foreigner), an orphan, and widow” (v. 19) “Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to strike down an innocent person” (v. 25). “Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing it” (v. 26). We can see that God determines what is evil and what is good. The tee shirt says, “God Is Justice. Let us examine this slogan.

Amos is a prophet of the Lord. God calls a middle class farmer from the Southern Kingdom, from the town of Tekoa. Amos is a sheepherder called to go the Northern kingdom to give the people God’s assessment of how they are living (1:1). God is warning them to change their ways or He will send them into exile. “Speaking of the privileged ones God says, “Therefore, they will now go into exile at the head of the exiles” (6:7). Who is God talking to?

The Lord calls an Israelite to speak to Israelites. At the beginning of the book of Amos, God charges eight nations guilty of injustices. He calls out all the nations around Israel (Amos 1-2:3). These are pagan nations. They worship other gods. God does not limit His judgment to other people; instead He includes His own people. He calls Judah in the southern kingdom (2:4-5). He call Israel, the northern kingdom (2:6). As we examine God’s judgment on a people, God does so because of the injustices that they do. God does not discriminate and show favoritism for any people. All people are required to practice justice for all people regardless of their status in the world. What do these truths imply and say to all of us, including Black and brown people that are protesting for social justice?

First, God requires that a person (a people) do justice for all people and this is especially true for those that call for justice for themselves. God wants Abraham to be righteous and practice justice in his relationships to all the people that are around him. The Lords says to Abraham, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth be blessed? “For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him. Did you notice that God expects Abraham to be righteous, and Abraham is expected to do justice, starting with his own children and household, before the Lord will bless him?

God determines what is just. God’s laws are not come by arbitrarily. Justice is one of the moral attributes of God; His nature and character. God’s laws tell us who God is and what God is like. Since this is true, it follows that God is justice. No justice no peace. No God no justice.

Growing up I hear my mother say many times: “The white man will not learn to treat the Black man right until he learns to treat the white man right. The Black man will not learn to treat the white man right until he learns to treat the Black man right.” As I think about the words of my mother and the words that the angel says to Abraham, I conclude that there is no such thing as social justice. Justice is just that, justice. Justice is obeying God’s laws that tell us how we are to treat other people beginning with self, children, and household.

White people will never see that the way they treat Black and brown people is unjust because they treat other white people the same way. It’s just that in the eyes of Black people the injustices are more frequent. Black people cannot demand justice from white people or the white man’s system until he demands justice for his people by his people. Both Black and white people are required to do justice for all people. They must be righteous, meaning they must be in right relationship with God being who God calls every man and woman to be, and they do what God commands them to do. No justice no peace is a cry for justice ending all hostilities between all people. God is justice and until we are right with God we will be a people searching and striving for equality. No God No Justice is true because God is justice.