I Will Establish Justice Where I Am: A Sermon on Amos 5:10-15
Preached at Blue Ocean Faith Columbus on Sunday, September 21, 2025
Reminder: I never stick completely to my written sermon. This isn’t a transcript, but the written sermon I was using when I preached.
As the current administration continues its assault on the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press, I’ve been thinking a lot about public spaces lately; about the other places that the First Amendment protects: the public square and our public worship. I’ve been thinking about the places where our communities come together to make decisions that affect everyone’s lives. City halls, courthouses, town squares, churches and other places of worship, our local coffee shops, bars, and restaurants where neighbors gather to do life together. These are the modern versions of what Amos is writing about in our text today: the ancient gates where justice was supposed to happen, where the whole community gathered to decide who belonged and who got left out.
Listen for a word from God in today’s scripture: Amos 5:10-15.
“They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth. Therefore, because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins—you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate. Therefore, the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time. Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so, the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”
This is the word of God for the people of God.
Now, I want you to picture an ancient gate. Bear in mind that Amos is likely referring to a gate to the Temple or to another religious or civil structure inside a walled city (not the city’s gate). It wasn’t just a doorway, it was the place where everything important happened. Imagine the town square, city hall, courthouse, and community center all rolled into one bustling, crowded, sometimes chaotic space. This is where merchants made deals, where elders settled disputes, where judges heard cases, and where the community decided who belonged and who didn’t.
The gate was where justice was supposed to live. Repeat after me: “Justice lives at the gate!”
But Amos has quite a bit to say about what’s actually happening at these gates. He’s watching wealthy landowners kick families off their ancestral property. He’s seeing judges take bribes while the poor get trampled underfoot. He’s witnessing a system that’s supposed to protect the vulnerable being turned into a machine that crushes them instead. Sound familiar?
We’ve got gates today too. We’ve got city council chambers where zoning decisions get made that determine whether affordable housing gets built or luxury condos go up instead. We’ve got state legislatures where voting district lines get drawn, sometimes in ways that make a Picasso look like hyper realism. We’ve got courtrooms where immigration cases are heard for small children who have no legal representation.
These are our modern gates, and the question God is asking us is simple: Repeat after me: “What kind of justice lives at our gates?”
In the original Hebrew, when Amos talks about “the gate,” he’s using a word that implies not just a physical space, but a space of tremendous spiritual significance. The gate was a liminal space inasmuch as it bridged the civil, religious, communal, and private dynamics of a person’s life. But the gate was also a thin space. The gate was where heaven touched earth; where God’s justice was supposed to break through into human community.
That’s why what’s happening there matters so much to God. That’s why Amos can’t keep his mouth shut about it, even when it gets him in trouble. Repeat after me: “God cares about what happens at the gate!”
God is not offering polite suggestions here. God is not sending a friendly reminder about being nice to poor people. This is the God of the universe saying, “I’m watching what you do with power, and I am not pleased!”
Liberation theology reminds us that God doesn’t just notice injustice, God takes sides. The God we serve has a clear preference for those being crushed at the gates of power. If that makes you uncomfortable because Christian nationalists also claim that God takes sides, we’ll talk more about that next week.
Garrison Keillor said that the Gospel should comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable and, for now, church, we’re going to focus on how this passage makes the comfortable, uncomfortable. Here’s where Amos starts stepping on toes. We’re not excluded. Because while we’re quick to point out injustice “over there,” Amos wants to know what’s happening at the gates where we have influence.
Let me ask you something, church. When was the last time you showed up at a city council meeting? When did you last contact your representatives about immigration policy? When did you last volunteer as a poll worker or register voters? Because those are our gates too. Repeat after me: “These are our gates too!”
Now, I’m not saying we all need to become politicians. In fact, there’s something to be said for no one being a politician. But I’m saying that Amos’s vision of justice can’t be contained within the four walls of this church. God’s justice isn’t a private devotional practice; it’s a public demonstration of divine love breaking into the world.
Think about our immigrant neighbors for a minute. Right now, all across this country, families are sitting in detention centers, modern gates of power, waiting for judges to decide their fate. Children are separated from parents. People who’ve built lives, started businesses, raised families in our communities are being told they don’t belong at the gate.
What would Amos say about that? What would the God who “executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing” say about that?
Repeat after me: “God loves the stranger!”
And let’s talk about voting rights, because if there’s a modern equivalent to the ancient gate where community decisions get made, it’s our polling places. But what’s happening? We’ve got states making it harder and harder for people to vote. Closing polling places in communities of color. Purging voter rolls right before elections. Enacting laws requiring certain IDs and information to vote which marginalize people facing houselessness and housing insecurity. And the federal government is trying to pass a law which would disenfranchise many women, Trans people, and anyone else who’s ever changed their name.
Amos would take one look at these voter suppression tactics and say, “They push aside the needy in the gate!”
But here’s what I want you to understand, church. Amos isn’t just testifying about what’s wrong. He’s painting a picture of what could be right. Listen to verse 15 again: “Hate evil and love good; and establish justice in the gate.”
Repeat after me: “Establish justice in the gate!”
This is active language. This is constructive language. Amos is saying justice doesn’t just happen by accident, it has to be built, established, maintained. It requires our hands, our voices, and our presence.
And when we do this work, when we show up at the gates where decisions are made, something important happens: we become part of God’s answer to injustice. We become the ones who reprove in the gate, who speak truth to power, who stand with those being pushed aside.
Now, I know sometimes we want our Christian path to be as simple as loving Jesus and going home happy, our ears filled with some good music. And sometimes the problems feel so big, and our individual voices feel so small.
But here’s what Amos knows that we sometimes forget: Repeat after me: “God is already at work in the gates!”
God doesn’t need us to fix everything. God needs us to join what the divine is already doing. And, friends, let me tell you, God is moving in our gates! God is stirring up people who refuse to accept that voter suppression is normal. God is raising up lawyers who work for free to help immigrant families stay together. God is inspiring ordinary folks to run for office because they’re tired of waiting for someone else to care about justice. Remember, if we’re waiting for people to save us, then we need to get to work, because we’re the ones we’ve been waiting for!
Repeat after me: “We’re the ones we’ve been waiting for!”
But here’s the thing—and this is where the energy needs to build, church, because this is the heart of Amos’s message—God’s work of justice doesn’t wait for our permission. Verse 12 says God knows “how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins.” The Divine is keeping track of what happens at the gates, whether we participate or not.
Repeat after me: “God is keeping track!”
But God isn’t just counting our sins in some cosmic ledger. God is waiting for us to show up, to act up, and to be their hands, feet, and voice in the world.
Repeat after me: “God is waiting on us.”
We have a choice. We can be part of the problem, silent in the face of injustice, absent from the gates where decisions are made. Or we can be part of the solution, seeking good and not evil, establishing justice where we have influence.
And when we choose justice, something amazing happens. Look at the promise in verse 14: “Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you.”
Did you catch that? Repeat after me: “God will be with us!”
Not just watching us from a distance, but WITH us. In the city council chambers. In the voting booths. In the courtrooms. In the detention centers. Wherever justice needs to be established, God promises to be right there with us.
This is liberation theology at its finest, friends. This is the good news that God doesn't just care about our souls in the sweet by and by, God cares about our bodies, our lives, and our communities right here and right now.
Repeat after me: “God cares about us now.”
Now, let me tell you what this looks like practically, because Amos is nothing if not practical. When he says, “establish justice in the gate,” he’s not talking about warm fuzzy feelings. He’s talking about changing systems, policies, and structures that crush people.
For immigration justice, it means showing up at deportation hearings to support families. It means calling representatives when cruel policies are being debated. It means volunteering with organizations that help immigrants navigate legal processes. It means using our privilege to amplify voices that are being silenced.
Repeat after me: “We will amplify silenced voices!”
For voting rights, it means registering voters in communities where access has been limited. It means volunteering as poll workers. It means supporting candidates who believe democracy should be accessible to everyone, not just those who can afford to take time off work or navigate bureaucratic obstacles.
Repeat after me: “Democracy belongs to everyone!”
And here’s why this work is so important, friends: when we establish justice in the gate, we’re not just helping other people, we’re becoming more fully who God created us to be. We’re living into the image of God that demands justice, loves mercy, and walks humbly with the Divine.
Repeat after me: “We’re living into the image of God.”
This work is hard. There will be times when you show up at the gate and feel like your voice doesn’t matter. There will be setbacks and disappointments. There will be people who dislike you and even hate you for speaking truth, just like they hated Amos. Just like they hated Jesus.
In those moments, I want you to remember verse 15: “It may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.” “It may be.” Amos doesn't promise easy victory. He doesn’t guarantee that justice work will always succeed in the short term. But he does promise that God’s grace will sustain those who choose to stand with the oppressed.
Repeat after me: “God’s grace will sustain us!”
And let me remind you something that Amos knew and we need to remember: we are not alone in this work. We are part of a remnant, a community of people throughout history who have refused to let injustice have the last word.
Repeat after me: “We stand with each other.”
We stand with Harriet Tubman, who established justice by leading people to freedom. We stand with César Chávez, who established justice for farmworkers. We stand with Fannie Lou Hamer, who was sick and tired of being sick and tired of voter suppression. We stand with Dorothy Day, who established justice by serving the poorest of the poor. We stand with Marsha P. Johnson and Harvey Milk, tirelessly working for the rights and dignity of LGBTQIA+ people. We stand with Bishop William Barber and so many others in calling the current empires of our world to repentance and reconciliation.
Repeat after me: “We are not alone!”
And we stand with Jesus who read from Isaiah in that synagogue and declared that the Spirit of the Lord had anointed him to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, to let the oppressed go free.
Repeat after me: “We stand with Jesus!”
Now, as we bring this word to a close, I want you to think about the gates in your life. Where do you have influence? Where do you have a voice? Where can you establish justice?
Maybe it’s your workplace, where you can advocate for fair hiring practices. Maybe it’s your neighborhood, where you can build relationships across lines of difference. Maybe it’s your family dinner table, where you can challenge prejudice with love.
Repeat after me: “I will establish justice where I am!”
Because here’s what Amos wants us to know: God doesn’t call us to be successful. God calls us to be faithful. God doesn’t call us to fix everything. God calls us to do something.
And when we do that something—when we seek good and not evil, when we hate what is wrong and love what is right, when we establish justice in our gates—we become part of great narrative of salvation and liberation. We become part of God’s dream for a world where everyone has enough, where everyone belongs, where everyone’s voice matters.
Repeat after me: “We are part of God’s dream!”
Church, the gates are calling. The God of justice is waiting. The work of liberation is ready for our hands. Will you answer the call? Will you seek good and not evil? Will you establish justice in the gate?
Now let’s go out there and do the work. Let’s go establish some justice. Let’s go show the world what it looks like when God’s people refuse to be silent in the face of injustice.
Amen.