Category: Amos - Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry

Amos 6:1-7 - Lectionary for Pentecost 16C, Proper 21C

9/23/2019

9/23/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

A quick glance, a sound bite, a preconceived notion, an inflammatory hashtag. That’s how we rock these days. Our reading from Amos 6:1-7 could feed right into that. What does it say? Woe to people who are comfortable and honored (v. 1). Are you better than those other nations that seem to be your enemies (v. 2)? Who says you are actually safe (v. 3)? You are lazy and luxurious, lying around, playing, being drunk and spending all your time putting on skin and hair product (vv. 4-6).

At this point some people are all over this. “Yeah, you Christians who are well fed, who receive honor, who are pleased with your heritage and fix yourselves up, you’re the worst! Believe me, in the Lutheran tradition where we have an emphasis on the dignity of the Divine Service, where pastors wear ornate (and costly) vestments, where you are very likely to find a silver or even a gold chalice used in communion . . . yes, people are critical.

What’s the bottom line of the argument? Amos 6:6C, “but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph” (ESV). In no way does Amos, God’s prophet, condemn the things the people of Israel have. The concern is that they have this luxury but that some of the Israelites, the descendants of Joseph, are scattered, disordered, without help. This very serious state of affairs plagues God’s people generation after generation. We are reminded that when one part of the body hurts, they all hurt.

What do we do about it? We welcome our brothers and sisters to share in the abundance the Lord has given us. We help guard the truth even when some of God’s people are too weak to do so. We nurture the body of Christ, showing the riches of God’s compassion in Christ. We pursue good, not evil, for the eternal good of God’s people.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Amos 8:4-7 - Lectionary for Pentecost 15C, Proper 20C

9/16/2019

9/16/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Some elements of the culture I live in are scathing in their condemnation of Christianity. They associate Christianity with a greedy, grasping philosophy of plunder and oppression. They may engage in virtue signaling, pointing out the value of kindness, fairness, peace, and helping others. For some reason, which I don’t fully understand, many Christians allow these attacks without ever stating the obvious: God in the Bible has always condemned greed, rasping, plundering, and oppression.

This becomes crystal clear when we look at our Old Testament passage this week, from Amos 8:4-7. In the setting, those who wish to sell goods all the time for extortionate prices are waiting impatiently for the Sabbath to end and the marketplaces to open so they can busy themselves at deceiving the poor and needy. They are condemned by God, who knows and cares for the poor.

The Lord of all, the same one who made the earth a fruitful place, expects His people to care for the poor, particularly for those whose poverty is not of their own doinng. At the same time that He tells people to work and labor, he also tells them to rest, trusting in Him. Those who would rob the poor, rather than resting in God on the Sabbath, occupy themselves iwth plans to profit at the expense of others. This is not how God calls us to live. He condemns the profiteers. Christians, for the most part, have always been aware of this and have cared for the poor. It’s time we make that plain to our critics.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Amos 5:6-7, 10-15 - Lectionary for Pentecost 21B

10/9/2018

10/9/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Amos 5:6 issues a serious threat from God. Seek the Lord or he will spread like fire and consume everything. While we find ourselves eager to avoid the picture of God as a consuming fire, we also may doubt that God would actually do something like that. But our passage from Amos 5 goes on to explain it. God uses human means to level penalties in a society. In verses seven and ten we find that those who reject God and His righteousness are the people who bring destruction. They reject righteousness. They show their hatred against those exercising rightous judgment or speaking the truth. In verse eleven we find the result of our faithlessness is loss of what we have worked for.

How can this happen? Why doesn’t good and right prevail? Verses 12-13 make a remarkable statement. Those who are righteous and who would pursue justice become quiet due to the threats they face. Because of the evil oppression, some will not speak up for good. The evil, lacking restraint, flourishes.

How do we deal with the fallout? Verses 14-15 tell God’s people to pursue good, even though it is very difficult. We stand for what is right even in the face of opposition. We have confessed that the Lord is the true God. We live in accord with our confession.

Can we see these patterns in our society? I think they are increasingly clear. If God’s people do not stand for truth, everyone will suffer. May God have mercy.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Amos 7:7-15 - Lectionary for Pentecost 8B

7/10/2018

7/10/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

In Amos chapter seven, the prophet sees God measuring His people. The Lord is no longer going to spare them. He will see who is straight and who is crooked. Those who have not built rightly are going to fal, even though they are a part of God’s chosen people, Israel.

The king and his priest took exception to the prophet’s message. After all, God had placed the king over His chosen people. The king attempted to bar Amos from being a prophet.

Amos had a very simple answer to this. He had not chosen to be a prophet. God chose him. The work of the prophet is to make God’s Word clear. Since God’s Word endures forever but God’s king does not, the work of the prophet bears an authority which no king can claim.

Our world seems easily driven from one crisis to another. We enter into panic mode whenever events turn out differently than our desires. This focus on the temporary is always destructive. Why not rather be guided by God’s Word which endures forever? That’s what Amos would tell us.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Grace Turned to Wrath

6/19/2018

Tuesdays are for the Old Testament
6/19/18

Lessing, R. Reed & Andrew E. Steinmann. Prepare the Way of the Lord: An Introduction to the Old Testament. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2014. Chapter 30, “Amos” pp. 469-480.

Lessing identifies Amos as an early 8th century prophet sent to the Northern Kingdom from Judah. The book uses ten names for God and refers to God 86 times in just nine chapters. The prophecies speak of God’s fury poured out on Israel (Lessing 2014, 469). Lessing provides a list of passages which are sometimes considered not to originate with Amos. Form and redaction critics, as we might expect, assign a significant role to people in the centuries after Amos (Lessing 2014, 470).

Amos has several distinctive literary features. Lessing notes a number of recurring phrases which Amos seems to use as structural connections (Lessing 2014, 471). Amos uses a number of genres, including oracles, numbered lists, hymns, and narrative. The idea of an earthquake is a strong unifying theme in Amos. The prophet also creates statements of divine judgment from God’s promises. The same God who has redeemed Israel may proclaim judgment upon the people (Lessing 2014, 472).

Lessing gives us some detail of the history of conflict between the Aramaic and Assyrian people and Israel. From the late 9th century into the 8th century some of the international hostilities were temporarily slowed (Lessing 2014, 473). In the time of Amos, Israel went through a time of aggressive expansion.

Amos, as the first of the writing prophets, receives much attention (Lessing 2014, 475). Counter to some of the critical scholars, Lessing sees Amos as emphasizing continuity with the Pentateuch, rather than being a theological innovator (Lessing 2014, 475). His emphases include justice and righteousness. The concept of the “Day of Yahweh” is also prominent in Amos (Lessing 2014, 476). This is a day when God’s grace turns to wrath against his enemies. The concept of God’s creation is also important in Amos (Lessing 2014, 477). God’s creation of earth is in contrast with man’s created political and cultural institutions. The realm of humans has violated God’s natural law, thus meriting judgment. Nations are guilty of acting against their own morality (Lessing 2014, 478).

Lessing sees the earthquakes in Amos as a foreshadowing of Jesus’ death and resurrection (Lessing 2014, 478). He also finds the image of God as a lion to foreshadow the New Testament concept of Jesus as the “Lion of the tribe of Judah” (Rev. 5:5). God exposes the sins of his people, then proclaims redeeming grace (Lessing 2014, 479). The final goal of God in Amos is the redemption of the world.

Amos 5:18-24 - Lectionary for Pentecost 23A

11/7/2017

11/7/17
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Our reading from Amos 5:18-24 gives God’s depiction of the day of his coming. Those who have been faithful, who are practicing justice and righteousness, as in verse 24, will find it a day of restoration. But what about the rest? Many would like to redefine the way God’s requirements work. We may even like to change God’s character to meet our own desires. However, as we trust ourselves, as we look deep within, as we eventually create a god in our own image rather than trusting the God who created and sustains all, we can do nothing but offend the true God.

That will be a bad day indeed. For those who are not trusting the one Lord, his day is like that day when you were chased by a lion only to find a bear, and when you finally arrived home you were bitten by a snake. Nobody needs that kind of a day. It goes from bad to worse. It brings no lasting hope, only an illusion of hope, peace, and safety.

Why do we want to involve so much of ourselves in worship? Why do we try to re-create God in our own images? This should never be. Let the God who invented justice and righteousness bring it to pass in our lives, in our homes, in our world.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Amos 6:1-7 - Lectionary for Pentecost 19 C

9/20/2016

9/20/16

Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

In our Old Testament reading this week, from Amos 6:1-7, God warns his people against finding their confidence in the wrong place. These are people who are probably worthy of respect. They are leaders, in Judah (Zion) as well as in Samaria - the historic northern kingdom. The people have a good heritage. They have reason to be proud of their people and their history.

What is the message of God here? It is not that we should despise our heritage. It is that we should not depend on that for meaning, safety, ,and future hope. When God calls his people to consider the nations around them, what they are to see is a group of nations which also have a significant heritage. Yet the people of God are not to emulate those other nations. They are not to try to bring back their own past, either. They are to seek their security and future in God’s present mercies.

How is God working in this day? In Jesus, is he still engaged in bringing forgiveness? Does he give and sustain life? Does he bring a message of good news which is for every nation? Does he show his mercy and grace on people through the faithful care his people give to others? If we are called by the name “Christian” the message God gave through Amos is for us. Look to God, not to our own history or our past. Know that Jesus will work in and through his people for their good and the good of the rest of the world.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Amos 8:4-7 - Lectionary for Pentecost 18C

9/13/2016

Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Our Old Testament reading this week is from Amos 8:4-7. In this passage, God, through the prophet, expresses his weariness with the people who wish God’s day of rest would be over. The Old Testament prescribed a Sabbath, a day of rest, the last day of every seven day period. This day of rest was good for the people, good for livestock, good for land and business. It reflected the fact that after seven days of creation, God made a day of rest. It’s a time to enjoy the way God provides for his creation. In the New Testament we see that in his work, atoning for the sins of the world, Jesus rested on the Sabbath in the tomb before rising again on the first day of the week to continue the work of spreading the news of new life.

In the time of Amos there is a serious problem. It is a spiritual problem which goes beyond denying our need to rest and recognize God’s provision. On the Sabbath, the people of Israel were eager to get busy with their commerce. That in itself ran counter to God’s Law. How much more did it go counter to His character? The desire was not only to care for business, but to engage in business which crushed and harmed the poor and needy of the land. This is never acceptable to God, Sabbath or not. He always tells his people to treat others with charitable justice. We are never supposed to overburden our neighbor. Yet the people of Israel wished to do it on the Sabbath, a day of rest.

Is there rest for God’s people? In the New Testament we see that Jesus himself become the Sabbath rest for His people. May we have the grace to seek that rest in Christ, not only for ourselves, but for our neighbors as well.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.