Distributive Justice

I was musing on a scripture text from the book of Amos (not an overly popular read in the Protestant church). The quote is from Amos 5:24, "Let justice roll down like the waters and righteousness like and ever flowing stream." Most peopel of a certain age will recognize it as it was poplarized by Martin Luther King Jr., in a speech. Minor prophets are often overlooked in Bible studies and Lectionary readings. If you want to spend time with one that calls a spade a spade, then read Amos. Amos doesn't mince words about what is wrong with his world and the powers that be. He call for justice and righteousness (usually interchangeable terms in the Hebrew Bible). What kind of justice is he seeking, however? In our human world, justice is most often encountered as retributive. That is, I break a rule or a law and I receive a consequence or fine or other penalty for my "crime". Many people see G-d as that kind of entity - one that is seeking to penalize us for our poor choices. They point to some of the Hebrew Bible's most famous stories (Noah and the Ark, Adam and Eve, Sodom and Gomorrah) as "proof" that G-d is retributional and it's only a matter of time until the next "big one" falls. When taken on the whole, however, G-d of the Canon is a G-d of distributive justice - seeking justice for all. This is the kind of justice seen in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, most of Jesus' teachings, the G-d of the Exodus, and so on. This was the way of the early Christian churches as well - "The Way" was seen as one of sharing equally and caring equally for all and among all. I find it convicting to see how our world operates now. With 50 million people in the U.S. without adequate healthcare coverage. Millions of people out of work, homeless, incarcerated, mentally ill and wandering. The "Occupy" movements, though not religious in characterization, were seeking just this kind of Biblical justice, however. They were saying to the "1%" that it is far past time for their to be some real profit (prophet) sharing - some meaningful distribution of wealth and access to a better life. Maybe Amos was part of that movement. We are certainly in need of some prophets to help remind us of how far we've strayed from being in right relationship with each other. This week, look to yourself and see what it is that you might do to foster distributive justice and righteousness. The world can use your prophetic voice - it is sorely missing the mark due to that silence. Peace for the journey, Dan