November 9, 2025

Indianola Presbyterian Church, Columbus

“Move the Needle"

Sermon by Rev. Trip Porch

November 9, 2025                                                                                                     Based on Amos 1:1-2 ; 5:14 15, 21-24

Last month, in worship, our theme was listening. We practiced slowing down. Seeking quiet. Listening for God’s small, still voice, the whisper of the Spirit. It was gentle, reflective, spacious.

And then today, Amos kicks open the door. No still small voice No whispering voice of God in quiet of a cave. No warm light. No soothing tone. “God roars from Zion, shouts from Jerusalem!” We go from whisper to roar. And that harsh motion is on purpose. Because the whisper of God may invite us closer, But sometimes the whisper is not enough to wake the world up Sometimes God raises the volume because something needs to change ...now.

So who is this roaring prophet Amos? Amos is not a priest. Not a religious professional. Not a policy maker.
He says of himself: “I’m just a shepherd. I take care of sycamore trees.” A ranch hand from the hill country. A dirt-under-the-nails, sunburn-on-the-neck worker. And God sends this man to speak to a nation that is thriving — on the surface.

The economy is strong. The temple is active. People are singing hymns and offering sacrifices. Everything looks prosperous. But prosperity has been built on the backs of the poor. The public square — the city gates where justice is supposed to be upheld — has become a marketplace where justice is bought and the poor are ignored.

It is into that world Amos speaks:

“Seek good and not evil, and live! Hate evil and love good. Then work it out in the public square.” This is not a word about private spirituality. This is a word about public life. This is about how society is arranged. This is about how God desires Justice, A reordering society where the last and the least are the first ones we consider, and the first ones are the last ones we consider.

Amos is Roaring because he is outraged by unequal treatment in the kingdom of Judah, where the first ones make all the decisions and they are the only ones benefiting, and the last and least are left with nothing.

But this is a word for 3,000 years ago, it couldn’t possibly have any parallels to today could it? I mean we don’t have a society structured so that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? I mean it’s not like the seat of power in our country is being gilded with gold while healthcare is being removed from people who need it and SNAP benefits are being cut leaving children hungry. 

It’s no wonder Amos roars, because this level of injustice is not the time for passive soft voices. This is not the time for minimal acts of charity, this is a time for Justice to roll down like waterfalls, for the world to be turned upside down and shaken to be rightly reordered. 

Now don’t get me wrong. Charity is good. Charity is necessary. Charity is part of Christian faith,  but the issue is that charity is treating symptoms, not curing the disease. Charity is the perpetual work of trying to help one person at a time... Justice is going upstream and trying to address the root causes. 

Let’s talk in real local terms, right here in our neighborhood:

• Charity is us stocking the food pantry, something critically important
Justice asks: Why are so many hungry to begin with?

• Charity is us donating winter coats preparing for winter
Justice asks: Why are our neighbors sleeping outside?

• Charity is helping to pay off someone’s medical bill.
Justice asks: Why does our medical care bankrupt people in the first place?

Charity is immediate mercy. Justice is long-term transformation.

Both Charity and Justice matter, but Amos is the voice saying:
This is a time where trickles of charity from goodhearted people will not be enough The only thing that will solve the inequality of this time is for the river of God’s justice to flow. Which is why The Message translation makes it uncomfortably clear:

“I can’t stand your religious meetings. I’m sick of your conferences and conventions. I want justice — oceans of it.
I want fairness — rivers of it. That’s what I want. That’s all I want.” That is not subtle. That is the roar.

So, reading Amos today… Is He Cheering Us On or Challenging Us? Yes. Both.

On one hand — we believe in justice as a core part of Christian life. We care deeply about our neighbors. We feed people, shelter people, advocate for people. In that sense, Amos is affirming us. But Amos also stands in front of us like a mirror and asks:

• Where have we grown comfortable?
• Where have we stopped pushing?
• Where have we stayed silent in the public square?
• Where do we prefer charity because justice is too costly?

If this feels bold, sharp, confrontational... that is exactly what prophets are for. Prophets are not hired to soothe us.
Prophets provoke us. They shake us awake. They call us back to God’s dream for the world. Prophets have their role, and it’s important for us, and especially anyone in power to listen to…
But… It’s also complicated. Prophets can speak or even shout the truth, but they aren't the ones to make decisions to resolve that truth. Amos didn’t have to govern. They don’t have to build budgets. They don’t have to negotiate complicated political realities. We do. Which means the prophetic call is not: Fix everything now. The prophetic call is: Move the needle.

Year’s ago I took a group of youth to Washington D.C. to visit the PC(USA) Office of Public Witness, they trained us to meet with our representatives and advocate for social justice issues the church is pushing for.
They told us something I will never forget: “You are not here to change someone’s mind in one conversation.
No one can do that. You can never in one conversation move someone’s “No” into a “yes” Your job is simply to move the needle one degree closer toward God’s vision of justice.”

And friends: One degree moved from one conversation is holy. If enough prophets are at the city gates roaring, those one degrees can completely  move the needle. Those One degrees can change budgets. those One degrees can change policies. Those one degrees can change lives. Those One degrees change the future.

As a nation: we are moving further away from God’s vision of justice.

• Growing inequality
• Rising hostility
• Less protection for the vulnerable
• Increasing indifference to suffering

Amos saw the same thing in his day. This is not new. And yet : God did not give up then. God is not giving up now.

God still roars. God still calls. God still invites.

We may not be able to create the whole ocean of God's justice as just one church in just one city. But we can help water start to flow. We can shift the riverbed. We can move the needle. We can keep showing up in the public square:
with compassion, courage, clarity, and persistence.And when many people shift one degree the landscape changes.

“I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.”

May we hear the roar.
May we let it unsettle us.
May we move the needle.
Amen.

WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE

PRELUDE                                                                                     “Kingsfold”                                                                             arr. Seth Dansie

INTROIT                      “All That Hath Life and Breath, Praise Ye the Lord”                              Rene Clausen                       

WELCOME                                                                   

One: This is the day that the Lord has made

All: Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

*CALL TO WOTSHIP 

One: Come, you who long for God’s goodness.

Many: We come to seek good and not evil, that we may live.

One: Come, you who hunger for righteousness.

Many: We come to the waters where justice rolls down.

One: Come, you who yearn for a faith that changes the world.

All: We come to worship the Living God,

         whose mercy is mighty and whose call is clear.

*HYMN INSERT                       “Let Streams of Living Justice”                                                                   THAXTED

*PRAYER OF CONFESSION                                                                                                                                           Ann Hitzhusen

God of justice and mercy, we confess that we have loved comfort more than courage, and charity more than change. We have built lives that benefit from systems that wound others, and we have closed our ears to prophets who tell us the truth. Hear our prayers…

Forgive us, O God. Turn our hearts from sentiment to solidarity, from guilt to growth, from pity to partnership. Teach us to seek good and not evil, to stand beside the oppressed, and to let justice roll down through our lives like a mighty river. Amen.

*ASSURANCE OF PARDON

*RESPONSE OF PARDON 695            “Change My Heart, O God”                   CHANGE MY HEART

*PASSING OF THE PEACE                                       

     One:   The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,

     All:      And also with you.

WE LISTEN FOR GOD’S WORD

ANTHEM                                               “Offertory”   John Ness Beck Curtis Nutter,conductor                                                    

CHILDREN’S RECESSIONAL 175      “Seek Ye First” vs. 1

   Children: May God be with you here

     Congregation: May God be with you there                                              

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

SCRIPTURE   Amos 1:1-2 ; 5:14 15, 21-24     MSG

The Message of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa, that he received on behalf of Israel. It came to him in visions during the time that Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam II son of Joash was king of Israel, two years before the big earthquake.

The Message:

God roars from Zion, shouts from Jerusalem! The thunderclap voice withers the pastures tended by shepherds,  shrivels Mount Carmel’s proud peak. Seek good and not evil—and live!

You talk about God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, being your best friend. Well, live like it, and maybe it will happen. Hate evil and love good,  then work it out in the public square.

Maybe God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, will notice your remnant and be gracious. “I can’t stand your religious meetings.  I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions. I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans, and goals. I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making.  I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego music. When was the last time you sang to me?

Do you know what I want?

    I want justice—oceans of it.

I want fairness—rivers of it.

    That’s what I want. That’s all I want.

One: Holy wisdom, Holy Word,
All: Thanks be to God 

SERMON                                                                                                                                                                                  Rev. Trip Porch

WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD

*HYMN INSERT                             “Let Justice Flow Down”                                     Douglas Romanow

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE  

TIME OF OFFERING   online giving is available at  www. indianolapres.org/give

OFFERTORY                               “We Shall Not Be Moved”             setting by Adam Podd  

*OFFERTORY RESPONSE 717       “For the Life That You Have Given”                   PLEADING SAVIOR

*PRAYER OF DEDICATION 

God of abundance and equity, receive our gifts as signs of our gratitude and our hope. May they strengthen those who are weary, lift those who are low, and dismantle whatever systems that are keeping your children bound. Let our giving join the current of your justice, that righteousness might flow through us, and life might flourish for all. Amen.

*HYMN 757                             “Today We All Are Called to Be”                                  KINGSFOLD   

TIME OFCOMMUNITY SHARING

CHARGE & BENEDICTION

CHORAL RESPONSE          “God Be With You Till We Meet Again”                William G. Tomer

POSTLUDE                            “We Shall Not Be Moved”                             arr. Sandy McIntire

 Acknowledgments: Unless otherwise indicated, all texts and music are printed and broadcast under OneLicense.net License #A-702452