Thursday, December 1

AM  Psalm 18:1-20      PM  Psalm 18:21-50
Amos 4:6-13
2 Peter 3:11-18
Matthew 21:33-46

I am sitting in the mechanic's waiting room while my snow tires are put on my car.  To get on this guy's schedule you have to book the date weeks ahead of time.  So in late October I planned, and made an appointment for December 1, knowing that it would probably not be long after that when I'd be very glad to already have my snow tires on.  I must confess that some years I forget to get this done ahead of time, and find myself slipping around on treacherous roads, frantically calling around to find a way to get the snow tires on.  But either through forethought, or in the face of pending crisis, I manage to get those tires on each winter.

I wish it were so easy in the rest of life.  The prophet Amos, in today's reading, points out all the calamities that fell on the people, and how they still did not return to the Lord.  Does Amos speak to us today, as well?  I remember the full house at church on September 16, 2001, the first Sunday after the September 11 attacks.  But since then attendance continues to fall away.

I'm the first to admit that attending church is no guarantee of 'returning to the Lord.'  I think God is looking for the fruits of the kingdom, not gold stars on our attendance records.  But I also believe that gathering together in communities of faith allows us to better hear the call, and know that we are not alone as God sends us out with kingdom work to do.  God calls upon us to attend to issues of justice.  I don't think we can wait for some future appointment. Even now we slide around on treacherous ground, and the lack of justice is causing wrecks in the lives of those most vulnerable.