Daily Advent Meditations from St. Stephen's Episcopal Church
December 5, 2015 | I Advent, Saturday
Ps 20, 21:1-7(8-14), 110:1-5(6-7), 116, 117; Amos 5:18-27; Jude 17-25; Matt. 22:15-22
Amos 5: 18-27

Amos is the earliest of Israel's prophets from whom we have a book of writings. The name Amos means "burden bearer," and it fits, for Amos carries the burden of being the bearer of bad news. Nobody likes to hear about evil and injustice, especially when times are good. Being a prophet of God is often a lonely job.

Amos lived during one of the most prosperous periods of Jewish history. Israel is free from hostile enemies; the economy is sound; society is stable. But Amos can't help but see that within this outward peace there is a creeping rottenness at the core of society that will eventually bring destruction. He sees rampant cheating going on in business; judges being bribed in the courts; gross mistreatment of the poor; religion that has grown shallow and meaningless. He sees a people that have become self-indulgent and soft, and leaders who are increasingly corrupt.
Like all biblical prophets, Amos believes in a God who built into creation a moral law as real as the law of gravity, so that if human beings violate either one, we suffer the consequences. Listen to his words: "Thus says God; I hate, I despise your feasts, I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an overflowing stream."

Today is the last day that the first candle of Advent, known by some as the Prophet's Candle, stands alone like Amos did in Israel. In Advent, prophets figure greatly as we wait in hope for signs of the faithfulness of God's promises. At the heart of our waiting is the prophet Isaiah, who demanded to be heard, who dared to speak of a child to come, an unexpected liberator and savior of the people, the vulnerable incarnation of God's Wisdom:

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness--
on them light has shined.
(Isaiah 9:2)

While we wait and work for God's love and justice to be born in us now, listen for God's voice spoken through prophets within you. The Prophet's Candle burns first and in its light we are not alone in imagining justice for our world that needs oceans of our empathy and love at this hour.
Weston Mathews