Tuesday, July 19, 2022

 

Tuesday, July 19, 2022


Psalm 45

Amos 6:8-7:9

Romans 2:1-11


The Lord relented...


It is my prayer, dear friends, that having just come out of the great ending to Romans 1, the passage which speaks about God's truth surpassing any attempt at autonomous knowledge and morality we could come up with ourselves, that we are now able to read the judgements contained in Amos without squirming too much. The judgements of God have been revealed to us so far as being made manifest in two different ways: one way is that God actively performs the judgement. The Lord will cause strongholds to burn. The second way is that God walks away from evil, allowing evildoers to experience for themselves the natural (and unhappy) consequences of their actions. If we have any sense of justice ourselves (and this is something we all have), then it is irrational to complain when God acts justly.


Since squirming at God behaving like God is unproductive, how do these readings tell us we should feel? What should we do? The first lesson is to act in imitation: that is, copy Amos. Amos was shown the terrible judgement awaiting people who turn from God and hurt others. He, like Moses and Abraham before him, pleaded with God for mercy, and the Lord relented. The second lesson is direct teaching from Paul: to be humble, not to take the place of God as judge, but to acknowledge that we are all in the same sinful boat together, and to trust in the gospel of Jesus as saviour. Rather than act like God as judge, we should act like God as the one who forgives. Kindness, forbearance and patience are the riches of God given to us. When we pray for others, we are to pray blessings. When we are met with evil, we are to respond with love. When we acknowledge our sins towards God and ask for mercy, God will give it to us, since this is the whole point of the gospel of Jesus: to run back to God's love.



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