November 9, 2025 10am Sunday Worship Service

Amos 1:1–2 & 5:7–15, 21–24 Holy Noise and Honest Living A few years ago, a friend of mine served at a church with the most beautiful music you can imagine. The choir sang with power, the organ soared, the sanctuary shimmered with light. One Sunday, during coffee hour, she overheard two parishioners arguing about who “deserved” help from the local food pantry. One said, “Some of those people should just work harder.” My friend told me she stood there, coffee in hand, and thought of the prophet Amos. Amos lived during a golden age in Israel, when the economy was booming and the elite were thriving. But that prosperity came at a cost. The wealthy built “houses of ivory,” while the poor were pushed aside. Worship services were full, the songs were loud, the offerings generous, yet injustice lingered at every gate. Amos spoke hard words: “I hate, I despise your festivals… Take away from me the noise of your songs; but let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:21, 24) I don't imagine he was trying to say that God hated worship; it’s that worship without justice isn’t worship at all. We still struggle with that balance. We love beautiful sanctuaries, strong choirs, and the comfort of familiar prayers. But if our praise doesn’t move us toward compassion, toward feeding, freeing, and forgiving, then it’s just noise. Amos’s words invite us to connect what happens on Sunday morning with what happens on Monday morning. To let the hymns we sing shape the choices we make. To pursue good and avoid evil. To see that justice isn’t an optional extra for people of faith, it’s the melody God keeps humming underneath everything. When my friend told me that story, she said the next week she preached on Amos. The choir sang even louder, she said, and this time, it sounded like love in motion.