Intro
When we imagine the prophets of old, we often see a fire-and-brimstone preacher
breathing out God’s judgment and wrath. And that’s what Amos did in our
Old-Testament reading for today. He warned the people of Israel about the “Day
of the Lord,” realized in its fullness when God would judge the entire world.
Main Body
Other Old-Covenant prophets also spoke of God’s judgment as a “day.” Hosea used
“the day of Jezreel” (Hosea 1:11) and Isaiah, “the Day of Midian” (Isaiah 9:4).
Ezekiel used “the day of Egypt” (Ezekiel 30:9). Those days all pointed to
military conflict and battle. So, could “the day of the Lord” also be “the
battle of the Lord”?
That was how the Israelites thought. That was when God would come and defeat
His enemies. And because Israel was God’s chosen people, that meant that God
would also defeat Israel’s enemies. And so the Israelites saw the Day of the
Lord as their triumph, their deliverance. That’s why they longed for the Day of
the Lord.
But that’s not what Amos preached. Amos said that Israel was going to incur
God’s wrath. But how could that be? Israel was God’s chosen people. He
delivered them from their slavery in Egypt with a mighty arm and fearsome signs
and wonders. The Lord fed them with manna, bread from heaven, while they
traveled in the wilderness to inherit the Promised Land. How could God thunder
in judgment against them?
Through Amos, God cried out: “I hate, I despise your feasts! I can’t stand the
stench of your solemn assemblies. Although you bring me burnt offerings and
grain offerings, I will not accept them. I will have no regard for your peace
offerings of fattened cattle.”
But isn’t that strange? God spoke with contempt on what He had commanded the
Israelites to do? God commanded them to worship that way. They were doing what
He had commanded. God even said that those sacrifices were to go on throughout
all generations, lasting into eternity, forever.
So, did God change His mind? No; those sacrifices were how God came to His
people in the Old Covenant to bring them forgiveness. It makes sense when we
think about God’s commandment, “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy”
(Exodus 20:8)?
And what was the idea behind the Sabbath day? It was rest. Those Old-Covenant
sacrifices were how God wanted His people to rest. It was how He brought them
into His spiritual rest for them, spiritually refreshing them. Worship wasn’t
their work, something that they did for God; if it were, then it wouldn’t be a
Sabbath rest.
So, in the Old Covenant, to worship God in the right way was to receive His
forgiveness through the blood of those sacrifices. And those sacrifices pointed
forward to THE Sacrifice, the Lamb of God, Jesus, who would earn forgiveness
for all sins.
So, what went wrong? The people of Israel had turned those sacrifices into
their work for God. Sabbath was no longer about receiving God’s forgiveness, of
being brought into His rest and refreshment for them. Instead, they had turned
it into their work for God. Sabbath rest had become a work, something they did
to find favor with God.
The Israelites had become unfaithful in what they believed, which changed how
they approached their worship of God. No wonder God despised their feasts and
couldn’t stand the stench of their solemn assemblies! No wonder God didn’t
accept what they were doing in worship! The Israelites had turned it all
around.
But it wasn’t only in worship where they had gone astray. It was also in how
they lived their lives as God’s people. Although Israel was prospering, they
were neglecting the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the stranger among them
(Exodus 22:21-24). Those were the specific people whom God had told them to
care for, to help when this fallen world had beaten them down. Those whom God
had blessed neglected to do what He had given them to do with their wealth: to
help care for their neighbor in need.
In their twisting of the faith, in their lack of living out the faith, and in
their refusal to repent, the Israelites had removed themselves from the fold of
God. And yet, they brashly went about believing that God was on their side,
waiting only for the final judgment of their enemies on that final and
frightful Day.
So, Amos told them: “Why do you long for the day of the LORD? It’s a day of
darkness to you, not light.” The Day of the Lord for the unfaithful would be
judgment. In descriptive imagery, the “Day of the Lord” for unfaithful Israel
would be like “a man who runs from a lion, only to be attacked by a bear.” And
when he finally did make it home, he would “lean his hand against the wall,
only for a poisonous snake to bite him!”
And our salvation story isn’t that different from that of Old-Testament Israel.
Through baptismal water, God rescued us from our “Egyptian bondage” to sin,
death, and the devil? We are on a journey through the wilderness (that’s this
fallen world) to the Promised Land. But our Promised Land is the new heaven and
earth that God will create when Jesus returns on the Last Day. And like Israel
of old, God also feeds us, not with manna, but with bread from heaven in the
body and blood of His Son, Jesus, given to us for our life and salvation.
So, we are like Israel awaiting its redemption. And just like Amos’ hearers,
God also calls us to repent, not through the mouth of an Old-Covenant prophet
but through the mouth of your pastor.
So, how are we like Israel of old? Do you see coming to church as your work for
God, as something that you do, so God will look on you with favor? Some in the
church have done that. They get baptized to obey God, instead of seeing it as
God’s work for them, His saving them (1 Peter 3:21), His “washing of
regeneration” (Titus 3:5). Some have turned the Lord’s Supper into their work.
It’s what they do to obey Jesus, to remember Him, instead of Jesus giving His
body and blood for the forgiveness of sins, which itself becomes an act of
remembrance (Matthew 26:26-28).
But you’re thinking: “We’re Lutherans, we don’t do that. We haven’t turned
baptism and the Lord’s Supper into our work for God, instead of God’s spiritual
rest and refreshment for us.” But what about worship in general?
Is coming to church something that you do for God? Is it you thanking and
praising Him through which He then becomes pleased with you? That’s what Israel
did. Worship had become what they did for God--and God despised their worship!
Don’t turn God’s spiritual rest and refreshment for you into what you do for
God.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. We do thank and praise God! Without it, worship is
incomplete. But, did you ever notice that, during worship, such praise always
comes after what God first does for you? Look over the liturgy sometime. It’s
shaped that way on purpose. It shows us that our praise of God takes place
because He first enables us to thank and praise through His gifts of
forgiveness, life, and salvation.
And what about living the life of faith? Are you a hearer of the Word but not a
doer? Faith is lived out in what we do. In your daily vocations and life, you
are to love and serve others. That’s what Jesus coming to you in Word and
Sacrament looks like when it’s lived out in your life. Repent! Don’t be like
the Israelites of old.
Because of what Jesus did--His perfect life, His saving death, and His glorious
resurrection--the “Day of the Lord” becomes a day of joy. It’s a day we look
forward to as God’s people, for we will be changed, transformed after the image
and perfection of Christ’s glorified flesh-and-blood body. For those who rely
on Jesus’ saving work for them, the Day of the Lord isn’t one of dread but,
instead, of fulfillment and joy.
That was our Epistle reading. For those who rely on Christ’s work for them, the
“Day of the Lord,” when Jesus returns, is such an astounding event that it even
shapes how we live--and grieve. Did you catch that?
The Apostle Paul said that when someone we love has died in the faith, we
“don’t grieve like others.” Oh, we still grieve, but it’s different. Why? We
have hope! God will fully restore what sin had taken away. When Jesus returns,
He will restore our bodies--then incorruptible, sinless, and perfect--when He
calls them forth from the grave, just like Jesus rose from the grave of death.
Paul then says, “Encourage, comfort, one another with these words,” with what
will take place when Jesus returns. Scripture doesn’t tell us to comfort
someone who has lost a loved one, by saying: “Well, he’s in a better place.
He’s no longer suffering.” Now, that’s all true--but Scripture doesn’t tell us
to comfort others that way. Instead, it tells us to comfort others with the
promise of the resurrection.
Again, why is that? It’s because the promise of the resurrection is the promise
of salvation in all its fullness, made real by Jesus’ resurrection from the
grave. Jesus became incarnate to save you in both body and soul. If Jesus
wanted your eternity to be a bodyless being in heaven for all eternity, then He
wouldn’t have needed to have a human birth so He could die a human death.
But Jesus was born with a body. And Jesus rose from the grave, with a body. And
so Jesus came to save you, all of you, not just your soul, but also your body.
Remember His resurrection. Remember your resurrection to come on the Last Day.
That’s the message of Easter. Encourage and comfort one another with those
words.
Conclusion
That’s why Christ’s return is so comforting, for that’s when Christ will
resurrect your body from this fallen creation, bringing to you the fullness His
salvation. In Christ, the day of His return is not a day of fear. It’s a
glorious day when you’ll be what God originally created you to be. You’ll be
sinless and perfect, in both body and soul. And so, encourage and comfort one
another with those words. Amen.
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