Righteousness and the Poor: A Christian Response

Day 197: Amos 5-9

Martin Luther King, Jr.--a preacher, a leader of the civil rights movement--drew from the book of Amos in one of his speeches. On April 3, 1968, King delivered a speech in Memphis, Tennessee, in support of the striking sanitation workers. In the speech, King addresses ministers and preachers, calling them to be like Amos, like Jesus. He uses a verse from Amos 5:24 that says, "But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!"

Here are the words from King's speech: 


It's a marvelous picture. Who is it that is supposed to articulate the longings and aspirations of the people more than the preacher? Somehow the preacher must be an Amos, and say, "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." Somehow, the preacher must say with Jesus, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to deal with the problems of the poor."

King delivered this speech the day before he was assassinated.


Like King, the prophet Amos also had a passion for the poor. Amos prophesies about justice, not the type of justice we typically think of when we think of justice--an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth--but justice in the sense equality. Equality for the poor. No oppression. No lesser-than status. Just equality. Here are some examples from these chapters in Amos:

You levy a straw tax on the poor
       and impose a tax on their grain.
       Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,
       you will not live in them;
       though you have planted lush vineyards,
       you will not drink their wine. 

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes
       and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.

Hate evil, love good;
       maintain justice in the courts.

This is the Amos that Martin Luther King, Jr. draws on to argue that the poor deserve justice, that they don't deserve to be oppressed or persecuted. They don't deserve injustice. Instead, they deserve justice. Equality. They deserve to have rights, in spite of them being poor. They deserve what everyone else has. And we need to help them do it.

Where do we stand on this issue of poverty? Of helping the poor? Of taking from our abundance and giving to those who have less? We look at the poor (and so many other issues) through political eyes rather than through the eyes of Jesus. How did Jesus look at the poor? He's come, and he's done so much. We shouldn't think, "What would Jesus do?" Rather, we should ask, "What did Jesus do?" How did he treat the poor? He already did it. I think MLK had it right when he observed that Jesus cared for the poor. And as Jesus did, so should we. No matter what our political leanings are, if we claim to be Christians, then we should care for the poor. We should do things that help the poor. It's the righteous thing to do. It should be the Christian response.

"Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!"