Outside The Walls

Amos 5:21-24

I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!

 

This verse has been nagging at me lately. Challenging me as a worship leader and pastor. The context of this verse is that the prophet Amos is talking to Israel. They had forsaken God’s call on their lives and were living for themselves. Yes, they were doing the religious duties outwardly that should be expected. They went to “church” (the temple) each week. They heard good theologically grounded teaching. They sang their worship songs. They did what they were supposed to as good Jews. BUT look at God’s response is to them in these 4 verses. 

Why does he respond this way? Because even though they might have been doing the right duties in “church”, they were not living the call BEING the church outside of their services

This is such an important call to us today. If you read this entire chapter (which I encourage you to do) you see God is calling them out for ignoring the poor and the oppressed; for not caring for those in need; for not protecting the innocent and fighting for justice; for caring about themselves over their neighbors; and for ignoring the call of God for how to live outside of their worship services.

And what is God’s response to this? He says that he has rejected their worship because they did not follow God’s calling outside of the walls of the “church”. If we as a church, and as a people of God, are not living out the calling God has on us outside of the walls of our church, outside of our Bible studies, outside of our Christian circles; then we are missing the reason for our faith to begin with!

Pastor Corey said this well a few weeks ago in his Mathew 28 message and this verse affirms that very calling he had for us as a church. Let us not become a people where God says our songs are just noise to him. When we come to worship, it must be flowing out of a life that is truly living the calling God has on us outside of our Christian circles. 

We can do this Church! We must do this!