Monday of the Twenty-First Week After Pentecost

October 14, 2024 Today's Reading: Amos 5:6-7, 10-15Daily Lectionary: Deuteronomy 12:13-32; Matthew 12:38-50They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks the truth. (Amos 5:10)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Amos was a shepherd who tended sycamore trees. More important than that, though, was the truth that God, according to His good pleasure, made Amos a prophet to Israel. God made Amos a prophet… and wonderfully, it pleased God to send a sinner as a prophet to preach to sinners both to repent of their wickedness and to receive the forgiveness of God. But they hated Him Who spoke at the gate. Sure, they hated Amos… it was easier for them to do that… the truth, though, was not that they hated Amos… they hated God… because they hated the word of God that Amos was sent to speak. The Israelites took advantage of the poor, they cheated in business, they lied and shouted down those who told the truth, they neglected the beggars, and they remained silent when they should have spoken against the sin around them. They worshiped golden idols… every sin against God and men could be found among the people Amos preached to.Amos and all the Prophets were sent because God loved His people… and yet, all many of God’s people could see were pesky men who came to lay out every sin before them. That usually had the result of making the people feel bad, and it made them angry. So it’s important to know that Amos and the prophets weren’t sent to make them feel bad… Amos was sent so that the people of God could see what was killing them… and in this, Israel was to see God’s love and care for them: their dire need and lack, and God’s abundant forgiveness and peace. How would the people know that God loved them? He’d sent them a prophet… God’s mouthpiece to turn them to repentance… God’s prophet to give them the forgiveness of God. Amos was booted out of Israel… Jesus was tortured and killed… St. Paul was ultimately killed in Rome… and a man is sent to preach and rightly divide law and gospel to you. In great love, our Gracious Lord loves us and sends a pastor to assure us that Jesus has removed our sin, shame, and guilt. He puts His words into our mouths, and He fights the powers of darkness. Jesus restores our voice to speak in faith toward Him and in fervent love toward one another. What a wonderful blessing and promise that even in the sinful and fallen world, we don’t fight alone! In fact, we don’t do the fighting at all; Christ does all that is needed for you. “It is finished,” He said… finished for you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Almighty God, You have commanded us to pray that You would send forth laborers into Your harvest. Of Your infinite mercy, give us true teachers and ministers of Your word who will fulfill Your command and preach nothing contrary to Your Holy Word. Grant also that we, being instructed, warned, nurtured, and comforted by Your Word, may do those things which are pleasing to You and profitable for our Salvation. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.-Rev. Adam DeGroot, pastor of Calvary Lutheran Church in Rio Rancho, NM.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.In Embracing Your Lutheran Identity, Author Gene Edward Veith Jr. will guide readers through that heritage, starting with the Early Church and moving through the Reformation to Lutheranism today. Readers will learn about key people in the history of Lutheranism, from two teenagers who were the first martyrs of the Reformation, through the Saxon immigrants who left everything behind so they could practice Lutheranism freely, to the Lutherans who have stood strong for the faith in our own day.