But we’ve always done it this way!

 Scripture. Amos 5:18-24.   NRSV

5:18 Alas for 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.

5:24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.

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Good morning.  Just in case you are one of the people who is having trouble keeping track of the calendar while staying at home, it is November!  It maybe has only felt like November weather the last few days but it is indeed November.   November plays host to a number of important days - Daylight Savings Day, All Saints Day, Day of the Dead, Election Day, Armistice Day aka Veteran’s Day, and Thanksgiving Day.  And I suppose some people also consider Black Friday and Cyber Monday to be important days.  Ooh, they’re going to be different this year.

Pretty much everything has been done differently this year.   One of the benefits of that is that from this point on we will not be able to say, “But we’ve always done it this way!” because whatever way that was, this year we did it differently.  

The people of Israel - the people of the Northern Kingdom, not Judah - were enjoying a pretty good life in about 750 bce.  They had defeated an enemy and were pretty sure God was on their side.  They were doing what they had always done since they had broken away from Judah, except for the whole worshipping in the Temple in Jerusalem thing.  They built their own Temple, which of course the people of Judah thought was blasphemous.  They were following the Laws of Moses, sacrificing burnt offerings and incense to God, and prospering. Then comes Amos up from Judah to tell them that they needed to make changes.  

He pointed out that the rich and powerful were oppressing the poor and needy of their land, overworking and overtaxing them, ignoring the suffering of the widows and orphans.  He said to them, “12  I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins—you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate.” He gave them an option - they could avoid the punishment the Lord is going to inflict upon them if they embrace good instead of evil, and establish justice in the Lord’s name. But if not, beware.  Because they would call upon God for help, and there would be no help.   They believed that if enemies threatened, they would call for the Day of the Lord to come, the day when they expected God would smite their enemies, as happened over and over throughout the time of the Judges.  and Amos said to them, “18 Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord! Why do you want the day of the Lord? It is darkness, not light;”

The day of the Lord is mentioned in the Bible over twenty times, and refers to a day at some future but unknown time, when the people of the earth will meet God's judgment. For those who are in opposition to God, who deny any need for God’s mercy and grace, that day will be a terrible day of battle (Isaiah 2:12; Isaiah 13:6; Ezekiel 30:3; Revelation 16:14), which they are doomed to lose. The day of the Lord is almost exclusively painted as a day of destruction, darkness, and division, during which even the earth itself will suffer.  Even the people who think of themselves as God’s people will be judged, and they won’t get off lightly.

It was pretty common for God to offer the disobedient the opportunity to repent.  Sometimes they did - Ninevah did.  Sodom and Gomorrah did not.  Given their track record, Amos was pretty sure the tribes of Israel would not hear his words, would not change their ways.  But they were given the chance, because God is always willing to offer another chance . . . 

The people of Israel - the 10 tribes that rejected the rule of Solomon’s son -  were descendants of Abraham, after all, God’s chosen people, followers of the Laws of Moses . . . They were pretty sure they were doing all they were required to do - sacrifices, incense, festivals, burnt offerings, various rituals - the things laid out in the Law.  (Except for the whole worshipping in Jerusalem thing.  And the having other gods thing, but they had Solomon’s example to follow there . . . )   And even though God said through Amos, “I don’t want your sacrifices and burnt offerings and festivals. I don’t want your praise songs!  I want you to do justice! I want you to act right.” they kept doing what they’d always done, because they’d always done it that way.

Amos was not the only one to carry this message to Israel.  But no matter what the prophets said to these leaders, they would not change.  Because they would not believe the prophets, because they would not change, twenty-some years later they were defeated by the King of Assyria.  The rich and powerful were taken from their land, the poor scattered, the land re-settled by other people, who had been taken from their lands in previous Assyrian wars of conquest.  And the Northern Kingdom, Israel, was no more.  Because they insisted on doing what they had always done, the way they had always done it. 

In addition to all the special November events I mentioned earlier, November is known as Gratitude Month.   There is just so much to be grateful for - even in the midst of a pandemic, even in the midst of a very fractious election season. 

We are grateful for the rain . . . because it is raining, and we really need the rain.  The leaves on the trees in my yard were brown - from dust, not because it’s Fall.  Now they are green again.  Between the rain and yesterday’s wind storm the air is clean today.   It is supposed to rain all weekend.  For this we can be very very grateful.

We are grateful for Jordan and the Quarantine Qrew.   I can’t begin to tell you just how much work they all do to make sure worship happens every week.  It’s more than just singing or running a camera.  Jordan does much of the worship design, music selection, and most of the techie stuff.  He has been on a really steep learning curve for months now, they all have, and I would give them an A+ for the quality of the worship experience they bring us every week.  For them, we are grateful.

We are grateful for our Elders, who have stepped forward to do new things.  They knew how to serve at the Table, but not how to get themselves recorded while doing that. They have been writing beautiful invitations to communion, and learning how much time to leave for the folks at home to partake of elements before they pray.  Along with the Board, they’ve become proficient with Zoom and attended webinars on how to deal with the pandemic restrictions.  For the Board members and Elders of our congregation, gracious in the face of change, we are grateful.

These things and many others are things we have never done before.  And when we come back - hopefully on November 29th - worship will look different than it has in the past.  Even different from our virtual worship. Even different from past Advents.  We will be doing things we have never done before, and we will not be doing some of the things we have always done.  We will share the Lord’s Supper, but it will not be distributed to us by deacons.  We will sit in pews, but maybe not the exact one you have been sitting in for decades, and we will be sitting 6 feet apart from anyone we don’t live with.  We will have music, but we will not sing.  The order of service will be different.  There will be no bulletins.  We will have our temperatures taken.  We will wear masks.  We will not hug each other.  We will offer our gifts, but in a box in the narthex instead of the offering plate.  It will be substantially different from the way we have always done it.  But if Amos is right, and I am sure he is, God doesn’t really care that we do these things exactly the way we have always done them.  God cares about justice, and mercy, and right acting - righteousness.

So we continue to do the other things we have always done, the things God cares most about  - helping the people who need our help.  Reaching out into the prisons, the homeless community, and the Selma convalescent hospital.  Feeding the hungry through Selma Cares and our food ministry on Thursdays - and Christian Cafe when that re-opens.  Supporting missionaries, providing help for people who have been impacted by fires and earthquakes and hurricanes.  Providing scholarships through the Christian Women’s Fellowship. Standing firm against racism and all the other forms of hatred that separate God’s people.   We will continue to welcome all persons into our midst - physically distanced and masked, yes, nevertheless all are lovingly welcomed here in heart and spirit - and all means ALL. 

If we continue to serve as God’s hands and feet in the world in these ways and new ways we haven’t thought of yet, carrying the Good News of God’s kingdom on earth, loving one another as God has commanded us to do, forgiving those who have harmed us just as God forgives us . . through our efforts we will see justice rolling down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream, washing away anger and hatred with a river of healing love.