Seek the LORD and Live --- 2019/11/04

Rev. Steve Andrews, pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Lee’s Summit, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 5:4-9. The worship life of Israel comes into focus with this text. The LORD desires His people to seek Him. He alone is the source of life as both Creator and Redeemer. If His people desire life, they will only find it where they find Him. That is why the LORD commands His people not to seek Him in their self-chosen ways. Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba may have an impressive historical pedigree of the LORD’s work in the past, but they no longer carry the LORD’s promise. To seek Him these places now is only idolatry and false worship. Amos’ call to seek the LORD and live is all the more urgent as he once again speaks of the judgment of fire, one that will be unquenchable by any false god. Such judgment comes because Israel has turned justice and righteousness upside down. Because they did not seek the LORD’s gift of righteousness and justice, their actions toward their neighbors became poisonous and filthy. The LORD does the opposite. The Creator of the constellations turns darkness into morning and day into night. Reminding the people of the flood in Noah’s day and the suddenness of lightning, Amos once again calls the people to seek the LORD and live. In the same way, God calls His Christians today to seek Him in the places He has promised to be found, His Word and Sacraments, so that there we will have the forgiveness of sins and live.