Amos 5:21-24
“I hate, I despise your feasts, and I have no delight in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer me burnt offerings and meal offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat animals. Take away from me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like rivers, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
The prophet Amos, active in the 8th century BCE, delivered stern messages to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. This passage comes amidst his pronouncements of judgment, where he calls out the people for their religious observance that coexisted with deep social injustice and oppression of the poor.
How does prioritising external acts of worship over genuine care for others shape our understanding of faith and community?