Poor Talk
Read Amos 3:1–6:14
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6. Come back to the Lord and live! . . .
14. Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed.
15. Hate evil and love what is good; turn your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy on the remnant of his people.
16. Therefore, this is what the Lord, the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, says: “There will be crying in all the public squares and mourning in every street. Call for the farmers to weep with you, and summon professional mourners to wail.
17. There will be wailing in every vineyard, for I will destroy them all,” says the Lord. Amos 5:6, 14-17
How many times have you heard this scenario: Someone who is falsely accused can’t afford a good lawyer and ends up being convicted. Or someone who is guilty but has money hires a good lawyer and goes free. For the poor, justice never seems to be affordable.
In this reading, you will find Amos accusing God’s people of denying justice to the poor. “Stop cheating the poor and start helping them,” Amos says.
You will also see that this isn’t the only sin on Israel’s record. The rap sheet God has on them is a mile long.
Amos prophesied against the people of Israel for neglecting and abusing powerless people (Amos 5:12). They favored the rich, took bribes, and exploited the poor.
Today we have our own excuses for not helping the poor or speaking out against those who exploit them (“They don’t deserve help”; “I don’t know any poor people”; “I’ve got to look out for myself”; “Any money I give will just be wasted or stolen”; “No one will listen to me—I’m not important”; “The little bit I could give wouldn’t make any difference”). We still have a responsibility, however, to care for the poor just as much as the people of Israel did. To neglect them is sin.
What programs to help the needy does your church sponsor? With what poverty-fighting community groups could you work? In what mercy ministry can you serve? As an individual, you may think that you can’t accomplish much, but with the love of God in your heart you can. And when you join with others who care, the difference you can make will be even more apparent.
