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WE PRAY

Father in heaven, who sent your Son to redeem the world and will send him again to be our judge:
Give us grace so to imitate him in the humility and purity of his first coming that when he comes again, we may be ready to greet him with joyful love and firm faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

WE READ

Again, we are confronted with some rather uncomfortable texts that focus more on God ’s judgment than God ’s love. In Psalm 26, the psalmist cries out for God ’s justice to break forth into the world. He ’s certain that he ’s lived life righteously, yet is still afraid that he will get swept up in God ’s judgment of the wicked. Verse three is worth contemplation: “Because your faithful love is right in front of me: I walk in your truth!”
In the Amos passage, Amos speaks an uncomfortable truth to power. It ’s easy to get lost in the darkness in prophetic works like Amos, so it is always best to remember that God’s words through the prophet are rooted in God ’s love for Israel. We, too, are called to speak truth to power when it preys on the weak and powerless, but our speech must always be informed by love. As you read the Amos text, be sure to wrestle a bit with the raw nature of the final verses.
In Revelation 1, we are confronted by the splendor and glory of God ’s presence. We are reminded that the God we serve is far grander than we can imagine. It’s always a good idea to contemplate our small and seemingly insignificant nature compared to the creator and sustainer of the universe. We may be small, but God’s love and faithfulness toward us are not!
Finally, Matthew reminds us what is important in the Christian life: loving God and our neighbors. If we don’t strive to keep love at the center of all we do, we’ll likely end up on the wrong side of passages like Psalm 26 and Amos 7.

Psalm 26

1 Establish justice for me, LORD,
because I have walked with integrity.
I’ve trusted the LORD without wavering.
2 Examine me, LORD; put me to the test!
Purify my mind and my heart.
3 Because your faithful love
is right in front of me—
I walk in your truth!
4 I don’t spend time with people
up to no good;
I don’t keep company with liars.
5 I detest the company of evildoers,
and I don’t sit with wicked people.
6 I wash my hands—they are innocent!
I walk all around your altar, LORD,
7 proclaiming out loud my thanks,
declaring all your wonderful deeds!
8 I love the beauty of your house, LORD;
I love the place where your glory resides.
9 Don’t gather me up with the sinners,
taking my life along with violent people
10 in whose hands are evil schemes,
whose strong hands are full of bribes.
11 But me? I walk with integrity.
Save me! Have mercy on me!
12 My feet now stand on level ground.
I will bless the LORD
in the great congregation.

Amos 7:10–17

10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, reported to Israel’s King Jeroboam, “Amos has plotted against you within of the house of Israel. The land isn’t able to cope with everything that he is saying. 11 Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will be forced out of its land.’ ”
12 Amaziah said to Amos, “You who see things, go, run away to the land of Judah, eat your bread there, and prophesy there; 13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king ’s holy place and his royal house.”
14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I am not a prophet, nor am I a prophet’s son; but I am a shepherd, and a trimmer of sycamore trees. 15 But the LORD took me from shepherding the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel. ’
16 Now then hear the LORD ’s word.
You say, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel,
and don’t preach
against the house of Isaac. ’
17 Therefore, the LORD proclaims:
‘Your wife will become a prostitute
in the city,
and your sons and your daughters
will fall by the sword,
and your land will be measured
and divided up;
you yourself will die in an unclean land,
and Israel will surely be taken away
from its land.’ ”

Revelation 1:9–16

9 I, John, your brother who shares with you in the hardship, kingdom, and endurance that we have in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and my witness about Jesus. 10 I was in a Spirit-inspired trance on the Lord ’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice that sounded like a trumpet. 11 It said, “Write down on a scroll whatever you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12 I turned to see who was speaking to me, and when I turned, I saw seven oil lamps burning on top of seven gold stands. 13 In the middle of the lampstands I saw someone who looked like the Human One. He wore a robe that stretched down to his feet, and he had a gold sash around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white as white wool—like snow—and his eyes were like a fiery flame. 15 His feet were like fine brass that has been purified in a furnace, and his voice sounded like rushing water. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword. His appearance was like the sun shining with all its power.

Matthew 22:34–46

34 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had left the Sadducees speechless, they met together. 35 One of them, a legal expert, tested him. 36 “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
41 Now as the Pharisees were gathering, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”
“David’s son,” they replied.
43 He said, “Then how is it that David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, called him Lord when he said, 44 The Lord said to my lord, ‘Sit at my right side until I turn your enemies into your footstool’? 45 If David calls him Lord, how can he be David ’s son?” 46 Nobody was able to answer him. And from that day forward nobody dared to ask him anything.

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?
  • How might you reconcile the rawness of Amos 7 with Jesus ’words about loving God and others?
  • How are love and justice/judgment related?

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?
  • Have you ever had to speak truth to power? If so, how did that make you feel?
  • Have you ever been afraid to speak truth to power? If so, how did you handle the fear?
  • Jesus ’call to love our neighbors is significant. Who are the “neighbors” you have a hard time loving?

WE BELIEVE

It’s easy to say that we believe that loving God with all we have and loving our neighbor as ourselves is the right approach to life, but it’s not always easy to live it out. I suppose believing is always easier than doing. There are a lot of people who believe God is real and who believe that Jesus is the savior of the world, but who fail to live out that belief. Belief, like talk, is cheap.
For a belief to be genuine, it must always be lived out or embodied in tangible ways. Jesus certainly believed that loving God and neighbor are paramount, and it led him to embody that belief through the cross. Take time to reflect upon your belief in Jesus and his command to love God and others. Have you believed in word only? Or, have you embodied and lived out your belief? What other beliefs might need the same kind of contemplation?

WE PRACTICE

The psalmist exclaims, “Because your faithful love is right in front of me: I walk in your truth!” As you go about your day today, be mindful of how God ’s faithful love goes before you. Ask yourself, “How is God ’s faithful love leading me to walk in truth in this present moment?” Remember, God’s love is always outward-facing. At the end of the day, share how God’s faithful love helped you to walk in truth with a trusted friend. If you journal, write down one moment when you sensed God’s faithful love guiding you today. Offer that moment back to God in gratitude.

PRAYER

Oh God, help us see how your love always guides your response to human sinfulness. Help us keep your faithful love before us so that we might embody and walk in your truth, the truth that seeks to love all of our neighbors in word and deed. Shape our hearts this Advent season so that we may prepare the way for Christ by walking in truth and love. Amen.