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WE PRAY

Almighty God, grant us grace so that we may cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, now during this mortal life, in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that on the last day, when he will come again in his glorious Majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to eternal life; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

WE READ

Today’s readings are filled with vivid imagery. So often, we approach scripture with an air of detachment, but doing so robs us of the fullness and diversity in the story of God ’s constant love and faithfulness toward creation. Pay special attention to the images evoked in Psalm 18 and the Amos passage. If you get stuck with a particular image, sit with it a bit, opening your heart to hear God’s voice. The parable that Jesus tells in today ’s text from Matthew is likely well-known to you. Read it slowly, asking yourself where you fit within the world of the parable.

Psalm 18

1 He said: I love you, LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my solid rock,
my fortress, my rescuer.
My God is my rock—
I take refuge in him!—
he’s my shield,
my salvation ’s strength,
my place of safety.
3 Because he is praiseworthy,
I cried out to the LORD,
and I was saved from my enemies.
4 Death ’s cords were wrapped around me;
rivers of wickedness terrified me.
5 The cords of the grave surrounded me;
death’s traps held me tight.
6 In my distress I cried out to the LORD;
I called to my God for help.
God heard my voice from his temple;
I called to him for help,
and my call reached his ears.
7 The earth rocked and shook;
the bases of the mountains
trembled and reeled
because of God ’s anger.
8 Smoke went up from God ’s nostrils;
out of his mouth came a devouring fire;
flaming coals blazed out in front of him!
9 God parted the skies and came down;
thick darkness was beneath his feet.
10 God mounted the heavenly creatures
and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.
11 God made darkness cloak him;
his covering was dark water
and dense cloud.
12 God’s clouds went ahead
of the brightness before him;
hail and coals of fire went too.
13 The LORD thundered in heaven;
the Most High made his voice heard
with hail and coals of fire.
14 God shot his arrows, scattering the enemy;
he sent the lightning and threw them
into confusion.
15 The seabeds were exposed;
the earth ’s foundations were laid bare
at your rebuke, LORD,
at the angry blast of air coming
from your nostrils.
16 From on high God reached down
and grabbed me;
he took me out of all that water.
17 God saved me from my powerful enemy,
saved me from my foes,
who were too much for me.
18 They came at me on the very day
of my distress,
but the LORD was my support.
19 He brought me out to wide-open spaces;
he pulled me out safe
because he is pleased with me.
20 The LORD rewarded me
for my righteousness;
he restored me
because my hands are clean,
21 because I have kept the LORD ’s ways.
I haven’t acted wickedly against my God.
22 All his rules are right in front of me;
I haven’t turned away from
any of his laws.
23 I have lived with integrity before him;
I’ve kept myself from wrongdoing.
24 And so the LORD restored me
for my righteousness
because my hands are clean in his eyes.
25 You deal faithfully with the faithful;
you show integrity
toward the one who has integrity.
26 You are pure toward the pure,
but toward the crooked, you are tricky.
27 You are the one who saves
people who suffer
and brings down those with proud eyes.
28 You are the one who lights my lamp—
the LORD my God
illumines my darkness.
29 With you I can charge into battle;
with my God I can leap over a wall.
30 God! His way is perfect;
the LORD’s word is tried and true.
He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him.
31 Now really, who is divine except the LORD?
And who is a rock but our God?
32 Only God! The God
who equips me with strength
and makes my way perfect,
33 who makes my step as sure as the deer ’s,
who lets me stand securely
on the heights,
34 who trains my hands for war
so my arms can bend a bronze bow.
35 You’ve given me the shield
of your salvation;
your strong hand has supported me;
your help has made me great.
36 You’ve let me walk fast and safe,
without even twisting an ankle.
37 I chased my enemies and caught them!
I didn’t come home
until I finished them off.
38 I struck them down;
they couldn’t get up again;
they fell under my feet.
39 You equipped me with strength for war;
you brought my adversaries down
underneath me.
40 You made my enemies turn tail from me;
I destroyed my foes.
41 They cried for help,
but there was no one to save them.
They cried for help to the LORD,
but he wouldn’t answer them.
42 I crushed them
like dust blown away by the wind;
I threw them out
like mud dumped in the streets.
43 You delivered me from struggles
with many people;
you appointed me the leader
of many nations.
Strangers come to serve me.
44 After hearing about me, they obey me;
foreigners grovel before me.
45 Foreigners lose their nerve;
they come trembling
out of their fortresses.
46 The LORD lives! Bless God, my rock!
Let the God of my salvation be lifted high!
47 This is the God who avenges on my behalf,
who subdues people before me,
48 who delivers me from my enemies.
Yes, you lifted me high
above my adversaries;
you delivered me from violent people.
49 That ’s why I thank you, LORD,
in the presence of the nations.
That’s why I sing praises to your name.
50 You are the one who gives great victories
to your king,
who shows faithful love
to your anointed one—
to David and to his descendants forever.

Amos 4:6–13

6 I have sent a famine in all your cities,
and not provided enough bread
in all your places,
yet you didn’t return to me,
says the LORD.
7 I also withheld rain from you
when there were still three months
to the harvest.
I allowed rain to fall on one city,
no rain to fall on another city.
One field was rained on,
and the field dried up
where it didn’t rain.
8 So two or three thirsty towns went to
one city to drink water,
and weren’t satisfied;
yet you didn’t return to me,
says the LORD.
9 I struck you with disease and mildew.
I destroyed your gardens
and your vineyards.
The locust devoured your fig trees
and your olive trees;
yet you didn’t return to me,
says the LORD.
10 I sent a plague against you
like the one in Egypt.
I killed your young men with the sword.
I carried away your horses.
I made the stink of your camp
go up into your nostrils;
yet you didn’t return to me,
says the LORD.
11 I destroyed some of you,
as when God destroyed
Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning coal
plucked out of the fire;
yet you didn’t return to me,
says the LORD.
12 Truly, Israel,
I will act in this way toward you;
therefore, I will do this to you.
Prepare to meet your God, Israel!
13 The one who forms the mountains,
creates the wind,
makes known his thoughts
to humankind,
makes the morning darkness,
and moves over the heights
of the earth—
the LORD, the God of heavenly forces
is his name!

2 Peter 3:11–18

11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be? You must live holy and godly lives, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming day of God. Because of that day, the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.
14 Therefore, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found by him in peace—pure and faultless. 15 Consider the patience of our Lord to be salvation, just as our dear friend and brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him, 16 speaking of these things in all his letters. Some of his remarks are hard to understand, and people who are ignorant and whose faith is weak twist them to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures.
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been warned in advance, be on guard so that you aren’t led off course into the error of sinful people, and lose your own safe position. 18 Instead, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. To him belongs glory now and forever. Amen.

Matthew 21:33–46

33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it to tenant farmers and took a trip. 34 When it was time for harvest, he sent his servants to the tenant farmers to collect his fruit. 35 But the tenant farmers grabbed his servants. They beat some of them, and some of them they killed. Some of them they stoned to death.
36 “Again he sent other servants, more than the first group. They treated them in the same way. 37 Finally he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son, ’he said.
38 “But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come on, let ’s kill him and we’ll have his inheritance. ’39 They grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
40 “When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenant farmers?”
41 They said, “He will totally destroy those wicked farmers and rent the vineyard to other tenant farmers who will give him the fruit when it’s ready.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the scriptures, The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The Lord has done this, and it’s amazing in our eyes? 43 Therefore, I tell you that God’s kingdom will be taken away from you and will be given to a people who produce its fruit. 44 Whoever falls on this stone will be crushed. And the stone will crush the person it falls on.”
45 Now when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard the parable, they knew Jesus was talking about them. 46 They were trying to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, who thought he was a prophet.

WE THINK

  • What stands out to you from today’s reading?
  • Are you confused or stumped by what you’ve read?
  • Is there anything you encountered that makes you think, “I don’t know about that…”?
  • What resonated with you as particularly meaningful?
  • In the 2 Peter reading, Peter encourages us to “make every effort to be found by him in peace, pure and faultless.” Is there a connection between peace and being “pure and faultless?
  • Can we be pure and faultless and not live peacefully with our neighbors?
  • What might Jesus ’parable sound like if he told it today?

WE FEEL

  • In general, what emotions seem to be dominant at this moment?
  • How have those emotions affected the relationships you have with those around you?
  • What are you doing, or have you done, to submit those emotions to the Lordship of Jesus Christ?
  • Where have you seen God at work this week?
  • Have you ever felt similarly to how the Psalmist felt in Psalm 18:1-8? Spend some time reflecting on that experience and the outcome that emerged from it.
  • The end of today’s Amos passage states that “The one who forms the mountains, creates the wind, makes known his thoughts to humankind.” How does this declaration make you feel?
  • How do you feel when you consider that God trusts you to care for the “vineyard” — your life, your relationships, your community?

WE BELIEVE

Shalom, or peace, is a common greeting for God ’s people. Many churches include a “passing of the peace” portion in their worship gatherings. Wishing or praying for someone to experience peace is more than just expressing the hope that a friend ’s life is free from conflict. In the Bible ’s thought world, peace always refers to being whole or complete. It’s a prayer for enough to eat, a place to sleep, and a community where one can live and worship. Peace is a relational term.
In today ’s 2 Peter reading, Peter makes a connection between peace, purity, and faultlessness. Sadly, the church today is struggling to live in peace with those who call it home. For some, there ’s a pull toward “purity and faultlessness” that sacrifices peace at the expense of purity. Purity is elevated to a level that makes it difficult for us to live at peace with one another. Of course, we need purity and faultlessness, too, but if we’re to live holy lives, purity needs to be tempered by grace and peace. If we over-emphasize purity at the expense of peace, we’ll end up just like the Pharisees or the tenants in Jesus ’parable.

WE PRACTICE

Choose one or more of the practices below:

Write a Lament

Reflect on the repetitive refrain from Amos, “yet you didn’t return to me, says the Lord.” Identify areas in your life where you may be resisting God ’s call. Write a lament for the ways we fail to return to God.

Move Toward Reconciliation

Identify a relationship in need of healing. Take a small step toward peace—whether through apology, listening, or prayer.

Spend time outdoors.

Reflect on God’s creative power and name what inspires gratitude and awe in you.

Identify someone in need of peace.

Pray for them, and choose two concrete ways to be an agent of peace in their life.

PRAYER

Oh God, help us to truly become a people of peace. Grant us the strength and the courage to live at peace with those around us, even when we disagree with matters of faith and life.