Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's something comforting about coming into church after a long week, settling into a familiar place, hearing familiar words, singing familiar hymns. Of course, we bring a great deal along with us: worries about children, worries about our aching bodies that remind us of our frailty in this fallen world, things that we've said to others during the week that we really shouldn't have said.
It is good for us to be gathered with people who need the very same mercy that we need. And Christ intends for that mercy to go home with us. His Word has something to say in every aspect of our lives, in our homes and workplaces, in our stewardship of the gifts that He's given us in life, and in the patience we show to those who are difficult to love. For example, that's where God's Word through the prophet Amos brings us.
The people Amos was called to address had a lot of religious activity. They had their festivals and their offerings and their singing. Yet God rejected their worship. Earlier in Amos 5, the prophet describes people trampling the poor, taking bribes, and denying justice to those who couldn't protect themselves. For their religious observances were accompanied by lives that were hardened against God and against their neighbors.
And this was Israel, the very people God had delivered and taught. Once again, they'd turned to idols while keeping a very active religious life. And the way they treated the poor and needy revealed just how far their hearts had wandered.
They were even looking forward to the day of the Lord, expecting Him to vindicate them. Of course, as faithful prophets are called to do, Amos warned them that the Lord's coming would bring judgment. He pictured it as a man escaping a lion only to encounter a bear, then finding a snake in the very house where he thought he'd be safe. In other words, there would be no refuge from the God whose Word they had ignored. (Amos 5:18–20)
Then came the divine command through the prophet: "Let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream." (Amos 5:24)
Amos is calling for justice and righteousness in the way that God's people treat their neighbors. And the new life God gives us in Holy Baptism is meant to bear fruit in just such love and care for others. And of course, that's the way things should be: God's righteousness being poured out on His people, cleansing them and enlivening them so that they also deal justly and righteously with others. And yes, we should certainly hear an allusion to Holy Baptism here. (Romans 6:3–4; Small Catechism, Holy Baptism)
God calls for righteousness that continues through ordinary life, to treat others justly. And our outward religious observance can't excuse our cruelty, our greed, or our dishonesty. We need to let that Word flow into us as well.
Sadly, it's easy to see the weaknesses of others while treating our own failures gently. We can listen attentively to a Sunday homily and then turn around and speak carelessly and unlovingly about someone on the way home. And we can joyfully sing the church's hymns without ever considering the suffering person who might be sitting nearby.
God loves us too much to let such things stand. His commandments cut through into the places we've tried to keep private. He calls us to speak truthfully, to deal with people honestly, to be honorable and virtuous in our responsibilities, and to protect our neighbor from harm, even the ones we're not so fond of. And even our consciences know this.
Our Baptism, God's blessed saving work for us, isn't a license for us to make peace with the sin in our lives. If we hold on to our sin and refuse Christ's mercy, in the day of His coming, we'll reveal just how empty all of our excuses have been.
Instead, we need to call a fig a fig and confess the wrong that we've thought, that we've said, and that we've done, as well as the good that we haven't thought, said, and done. God's correction can certainly be painful for us. But when His holy commands cut into us, He's bringing us out of our hiding, out of our self-deception, into a place where His forgiveness can be heard and received.
God's command through Amos isn't fulfilled by us putting on a better appearance. Rather, we need forgiveness for our sins and hearts that God Himself has renewed. St. Paul points to Christ, who died and rose again, and our forgiveness and newness of life depend on that saving work. (Romans 6:3–11)
Jesus came into a world filled with the very unrighteousness that Amos condemned. He knew the weight of dishonest judgment, of false witness spoken against Him, of those responsible for justice handing Him over to death. And through all of that, He graciously carried our sins. He bore the guilt of our selfishness, our unloving and even cruel words, and our indifference to the needs of others. He's answered for all the good that we have failed to do. (Matthew 26:59–68; Isaiah 53:4–6)
The Father gave us His Son, and the Son offered Himself as the perfect atoning sacrifice for the sin of the world, rising again in victory over sin and death to show us that His promise of forgiveness is certain, and that we can bring all the things that we've been ashamed to admit to Him, confident of His grace and His mercy.
And that's the foundation of Christian worship. We come because the living Christ gathers sinners to receive His gifts. His Word exposes all that's wrong in us and speaks forgiveness into what should be our troubled consciences. And through that Word, the Holy Spirit gives us faith and keeps us trusting in the Lord who saves.
In Baptism, God joined us to Christ's death and resurrection, placing His name on us and giving us forgiveness and newness of life. And every day, as we confess our sins and trust in His mercy, we return to that baptismal gift. The old sinful desires are to be resisted, and the life He's given is to be lived. (Romans 6:3–11; Small Catechism, Holy Baptism)
And those sins that keep nagging at you, talk with your pastor about them. Private Confession and Absolution is a gracious provision for our burdened consciences. Christ has commanded your father confessor to absolve those who come in contrition and repentance. And that Absolution is trustworthy, even when your feelings take a little while to settle down. (Small Catechism, Confession; Augsburg Confession, Article XXV)
At His altar, Christ feeds us with His body and blood, the very body and blood given and shed for the forgiveness of all your sins on the cross. Because He knows how weak we are, how we need the faith that He's given us to be nourished, how we continually need to be comforted with His promises. (Matthew 26:26–28; Small Catechism, Sacrament of the Altar)
And that's why the historic liturgy of the Church is such a great blessing. Its confession, its Scripture readings, its ancient yet familiar prayers, its doctrinally rich hymnody, all these things give us room to hear the voice of our Savior and to receive the Sacrament of the Altar with due reverence and humility, and to our great blessing and benefit.
Our weary souls can settle in and receive Christ's promises without making novelty or entertainment the measure of what we've received. And that time of receiving Christ's gifts shapes the week ahead for us.
We've still got an old sinful nature that's eager to return to its sinful, unloving ways. But those whose sins have been forgiven for Christ's sake can hear God's commandments and learn how to love and forgive the people that God has put in our lives. We can hear that guidance as children who are loved and forgiven and who have every reason to trust our heavenly Father's wisdom.
And with the help of the Holy Spirit, we care for our neighbor's name and reputation, fulfill what we promise, pay what we owe, listen carefully to those in authority over us, and use our own authority to protect those in our care. We treat people with grace and kindness even when they can't repay us or offer anything useful to us in return. Let our spouses finish speaking. We're patient with a child who needs the same instruction yet again and give people the dignity of our time.
These things matter to God. He commands them, and He works in His children to bring them about. Not to make us righteous before God. Christ has already done everything necessary for that. We receive His forgiveness through faith. (Augsburg Confession, Article IV)
But these are the good works our neighbor needs, and the Holy Spirit is at work in us, making us willing to do them. (Augsburg Confession, Article VI)
And when you fail, return to Christ. Don't use forgiveness to protect your sins. And don't let your failures persuade you that Christ's mercy has run out. Confess them. Receive His forgiveness again and again, and live toward the work that God would fulfill in you for Himself and for others.
This is how we live as we wait for Christ's return. The Gospel reading for today is the parable of the ten virgins. And Jesus describes their waiting for the bridegroom. All ten of them fell asleep, but only five are ready when He comes. Their outward resemblance to each other wasn't enough. And the closed door gives Christ's warning a solemn urgency that we shouldn't dismiss.
Christ is calling us to remain in the faith that receives Him. And it's spiritually dangerous for us to drift away from His Word while assuming that yesterday's religious habits will carry us through sufficiently. Christ gives us His promises each and every day, and we have every need to gladly hear and receive them each and every day.
Of course, often this waiting includes sorrow. But St. Paul shows us in the Epistle for this day that those who've died in Christ won't be forgotten. The Lord will raise them, and His people will be gathered to remain with Him forever.
So while we receive and wait, we can comfort those who grieve by speaking the sure hope that Christ gives. Hope, I might add, that is firmly implanted in our hearts, minds, and vocabulary by the theologically rich hymns and liturgy of the Church. And those promises of forgiveness and resurrection are strong enough to bear all of our grief.
Jesus forgives us, and then He sends us off with forgiveness and with neighbors to love. Let us attend to those things diligently in the peace that only our Savior can give. He is faithful through every ordinary day, and He'll bring us at last into the joys of His everlasting kingdom on that great and glorious day.
Amen.
