The Pitch-Dark Day of the Lord (Amos 5:20)

 


Monday, July 22, 2024


Psalm 51

Amos 5:18-6:7

Romans 1:26-32


Observance: Mary Magdalene


The Pitch-Dark Day of the Lord (Amos 5:20)


So we have our trowel in hand, building the cathedral of kingdom of heaven on earth. God is giving us directions on how to do this: where the wall should be built, and what it should be made of. But what happens when it is finished? What is the end result of our labours?


There is a Day coming. We read about it all through the Old Testament and the New. For the people to whom Amos was prophesying in the northern kingdom of Israel, that day came pretty suddenly when the Assyrians invaded. Those in Judah to the south saw it happen to themselves later with the Babylonians. But Biblical prophesy always seems to speak about more than one event, and so we can also read into this about the final Day, when Christ “will come again to judge the quick and the dead”.


So there is a Day coming, and Amos challenges those who are looking forward to it. He talks about how it will instead be a day of darkness, not light. A day where things just go from bad to worse.


This coming Day will be like that to those who ignore what is going on around them. Who ignore their neighbours, while they lie on their expensive beds eating expensive food. Instead, says God, “let justice roll like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” To those who love God, who let the water of righteousness flow out in their lives and the lives of those around them, the Day of the Lord will instead be truly wonderful.


Jesus describes himself as the water of life. And in him we find the righteousness of God. When we Christians speak of justice, we don’t need to put any words in front of it. Anything we do that brings us closer to Jesus, and shows the face of Jesus to those around us, is the type of justice that pleases God. And when he returns on that glorious Day, will he see us having done our job in building his kingdom?


Lord of heaven and earth, lift our eyes and our hearts towards you, so that our hands may be busy in the work you have set for us.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Lord Was Moved (2 Chronicles 33:13)

Image
  Wednesday, August 28, 2024 Psalms 143; 146 2 Chronicles 33:1-20 Romans 15:14-21 Observance: Augustine of Hippo, bishop and teacher (d. 430) The Lord Was Moved (2 Chronicles 33:13) In our passage from St Paul’s letter to the Romans, the apostle is making a small break in his preaching to tell his audience that he is not telling them anything they do not already know. This is perfectly understandable if we recognise that this letter is a sort of fundraising appeal for his missionary work: the apostle wants to get on and start planting the gospel in places where Christ is not known, and so he gives the church in Rome a run-down on what his theology is, so that they will feel comfortable in supporting him financially. The fact that we have this fundraising appeal as part of inspired scripture can teach us something important: God wants us to keep being reminded of certain eternal truths. Reading through the story of King Manasseh can feel a bit same...
Read more

I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God.

  Friday, September 8, 2023 Psalms 20; 21 1 Kings 5 Acts 25:13-27 Observance: Birth of Mary, Mother of the Lord I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God. How big do you dream? Try this experiment on yourself: next time you are walking down the street, observe where your eye level sits. Do you watch your feet move around the cracks in the footpath? Do you do that trick where you stare blankly into the middle distance, so as to avoid making eye contact with passers-by? How do you think that relates to your spiritual aims, and the requests you make of God? Solomon dreamt big. He knew perfectly well that the God of his nation was also the God of the entire universe. No house would be entirely suitable, nor appropriate. But by golly he was going to give it a red-hot go. And just look at how much work he put into it: an entire nation of people were hired to provide the best timber on the planet. His own nation too was put to work, either a...
Read more

Marvellous? (Zechariah 8:6)

Image
  Wednesday, October 16, 2024 Psalm 105:1-22 Zechariah 7:1-8:8 1 Peter 1:18-2:3 Observance: Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, bishops and martyrs (d. 1555) Marvellous? (Zechariah 8:6) There are several phrases that, when we see them in the Bible, should make us sit up and pay attention. Anything to do with the “Day of the Lord” is one of them; another is when God speaks about when “they shall be my people and I shall be their God”. This second phrase, which, because of its frequency, risks becoming bland to our hearts, is so tremendously deep and rich in what it speaks of, is nothing less than the gospel of Jesus Christ. We remember way back in Genesis that God would walk through the Garden of Eden in the cool of the afternoon and speak with Adam and Eve about their day. One can imagine the scene: an enchanted place, a place with no evil, our first parents probably bouncing along, joyfully telling their loving Maker about all the wonderful things the...
Read more