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 all its fullness when God would judge the entire world.
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. And 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).
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, forgiving and 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 Israelites had changed those sacrifices into their work for God. Sabbath was no longer about receiving God’s forgiveness, of being brought into His spiritual 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. Listen to how Amos described it: They trampled the heads of the poor into the dust of the earth, and blocked the path of those in need (Amos 2:7).
The book of Exodus tells us that those were the same people whom God had commanded them to care for, to help when this fallen world had beaten them down (Exodus 22:21-24). God’s own people had 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 people of Israel had removed themselves from the fold of God. They had turned what God had designed to be their spiritual rest from Him into their work for Him. And then in the good works that God had given them to do, they weren’t doing them!
So, what was wrong? The Israelites were working where they were supposed to be resting, and resting where they were supposed to be working. 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 like He rescued the Israelites through the Red Sea. Like them, 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. So, how are we like Israel of old?
Is coming to church something that you do for God? Do you see worship as you thanking and praising God 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, in receiving His Word and Sacraments, 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 Him 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 those whom God brings into your life. That’s what Jesus coming to you in Word and Sacrament looks like when it’s lived out in your life. We love others because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). We serve others because God first served us. 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. That’s when 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, 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.
Why is that? It’s because the resurrection of the body is the promise of salvation in all its fullness. Why did Jesus bodily rise from the dead? It was so we also would rise bodily from the dead. That’s the point of Easter morning!
Jesus became incarnate, a person with a body and soul, to save you in body and soul. If Jesus wanted your salvation to be a bodyless being in heaven for all eternity, then He wouldn’t have needed to become incarnate. But Jesus was born with a body. And Jesus rose from the grave, with a body. And so Jesus will save you, all of you, not just your soul, but also your body.
Remember His resurrection. Remember your resurrection to come when Jesus returns. Encourage and comfort one another with those words. For when Christ returns, He will resurrect your body from this fallen creation, bringing to you the fullness His salvation. He will restore what sin had taken away.
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.
