Worth Repeating Again and Again...
A reading for Thursday, December 8, 2016: Amos 9:11-15.
The fullness of the gospel comes in four parts: creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. This is the full expression of what God has done, is doing, and promises to do in the future.
We know creation is good. We see the beauty of the earth, or art, or music, and even kindness and compassion in others.
We also know the insecurity and failings of the human condition. There is pain and selfishness and violence and poverty.
This time of the year, as we start into the manger scene, we know the redemption we enjoy. We have been saved from the fall and given a new relationship with God through the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Finally, we look now and in the future to the restoration God will do. There is a trajectory, an arc, to the universe ending in peace and fulfillment. This is the end that the Old Testament prophet Amos is already pointing to in our lesson today. "I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit."
It's worth repeating again again, and again and again. This is the story that gives us purpose and makes life hopeful. If you have heard it before, good. This is really our daily devotion.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
The fullness of the gospel comes in four parts: creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. This is the full expression of what God has done, is doing, and promises to do in the future.
We know creation is good. We see the beauty of the earth, or art, or music, and even kindness and compassion in others.
We also know the insecurity and failings of the human condition. There is pain and selfishness and violence and poverty.
This time of the year, as we start into the manger scene, we know the redemption we enjoy. We have been saved from the fall and given a new relationship with God through the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Finally, we look now and in the future to the restoration God will do. There is a trajectory, an arc, to the universe ending in peace and fulfillment. This is the end that the Old Testament prophet Amos is already pointing to in our lesson today. "I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit."
It's worth repeating again again, and again and again. This is the story that gives us purpose and makes life hopeful. If you have heard it before, good. This is really our daily devotion.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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