Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously quoted: “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” ~Amos 5:24 (NRSV).
The day of the Lord will be a dark day for those who call the Lord their God but virulently worship idols; their rituals and “solemn assemblies” (Amos 5:21) are detestable when justice and righteousness are left unconsidered and rendered sterile. In contemporary terms, where we sit comfortable and idle and the
This is enough to make any Christian quake in fear, and take action in the spirit of love.
Notwithstanding the truth of grace—that it saves us by faith, beyond any works—we have an obligation to operate compliant with justice and righteousness. Indeed, these will prove our faith.
Justice And Righteousness are Freedom
The picture of a waterfall is so apt. As the waters, little and large, trickle and roar they obey the rules of physical science—the forces of hydraulic pressure and gravity at play. Those waters will keep rolling.
Likewise, justice and righteousness are to trickle and roar with the inevitability of a waterfall. What flows down is freedom; for the very ones who rely on the powerful.
God has a task in mind for anyone with control over the slightest wealth—most Westerners fill this bill. This is both material and spiritual wealth. That task is about redirecting the vestiges of blessing toward areas of need. If we enjoy this wealth—not just money, but time, compassion and knowledge etc., also—we’re positioned to act like a waterfall.
Let freedom roll from us where we are so positioned.
© 2011 S. J. Wickham.
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