The Third Week of July
- Hannah Jones-Nelson
- 3 hours ago
- 8 min read
We Read…
In our readings for this week, we find a pretty strong theme of God’s righteousness and judgment. Sometimes when we hear those words, it can make us nervous. Righteousness feels like a big task, judgment is a scary word, but what if we saw these words as full of life and hope?
Amos 7 talks about a plumb line, and if you’re anything like me, you might have no clue what a plumb line is or what you’re supposed to make of this conversation! A plumb line was a tool used to determine if a surface was vertical or in the correct direction. God is checking to see if God’s people are going in the right direction. God wants to know if God’s people are righteous. Again, this can feel overwhelming. How does God judge our righteousness? Is it by checking our church attendance card? Do we lose points anytime we’re mean to our siblings or have an attitude with our parents? How do we know if we’re measuring in the right direction?
I think that the other passages we read this week can offer us some clarification. In Psalm 82, we read about God’s justice and care for the lowly. In Colossians 1, we see that the good fruit of God is growing in the lives of the people. And in Luke 10, we find Jesus’s answer to how God will judge our love for our neighbor. When the man was hurting and dying in this ditch, the religious leaders passed him by. The righteous one? Who is Jesus telling us to model our lives after? It wasn’t the person who had all of the right answers or the loudest prayers; it was the one who had mercy on him.
I don’t think God is trying to trick us when we talk about righteousness and judgment. Jesus tells us to love God and love our neighbors, to care for those who are in need, and to be measured by God’s compassion and love.
Amos 7:7-17
7 This is what the Lord showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 The Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”
“A plumb line,” I said.
Then the Lord said,
“See, I am setting a plumb line
in the middle of my people Israel.
I will never again forgive them.
9 The shrines of Isaac
will be made desolate,
and the holy places of Israel
will be laid waste,
and I will rise against the house of
Jeroboam with the sword.”
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.’ ”
Psalm 82
1 God takes his stand in the divine council;
he gives judgment among the gods:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
by granting favor to the wicked?
3 Give justice to the lowly and the orphan;
maintain the right of the poor
and the destitute!
4 Rescue the lowly and the needy.
Deliver them
from the power of the wicked!”
5 They don’t know; they don’t understand;
they wander around in the dark.
All the earth’s foundations shake.
6 I hereby declare, “You are gods,
children of the Most High—all of you!
7 But you will die like mortals;
you will fall down like any prince.”
8 Rise up, God! Judge the earth
because you hold all nations
in your possession!
Colossians 1:1-14
From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Timothy our brother.
2 To the holy and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
3 We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. 4 We’ve done this since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all God’s people. 5 You have this faith and love because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You previously heard about this hope through the true message, the good news, 6 which has come to you. This message has been bearing fruit and growing among you since the day you heard and truly understood God’s grace, in the same way that it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, who is the fellow slave we love and Christ’s faithful minister for your sake. 8 He informed us of your love in the Spirit.
9 Because of this, since the day we heard about you, we haven’t stopped praying for you and asking for you to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, with all wisdom and spiritual understanding. 10 We’re praying this so that you can live lives that are worthy of the Lord and pleasing to him in every way: by producing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God; 11 by being strengthened through his glorious might so that you endure everything and have patience; 12 and by giving thanks with joy to the Father. He made it so you could take part in the inheritance, in light granted to God’s holy people. 13 He rescued us from the control of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. 14 He set us free through the Son and forgave our sins.
Luke 10:25-37
25 A legal expert stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to gain eternal life?”
26 Jesus replied, “What is written in the Law? How do you interpret it?”
27 He responded, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
28 Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.”
29 But the legal expert wanted to prove that he was right, so he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied, “A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He encountered thieves, who stripped him naked, beat him up, and left him near death. 31 Now it just so happened that a priest was also going down the same road. When he saw the injured man, he crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. 32 Likewise, a Levite came by that spot, saw the injured man, and crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. 33 A Samaritan, who was on a journey, came to where the man was. But when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. 34 The Samaritan went to him and bandaged his wounds, tending them with oil and wine. Then he placed the wounded man on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day, he took two full days’ worth of wages and gave them to the innkeeper. He said, ‘Take care of him, and when I return, I will pay you back for any additional costs.’ 36 What do you think? Which one of these three was a neighbor to the man who encountered thieves?”
37 Then the legal expert said, “The one who demonstrated mercy toward him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
We Think…
What stands out to you in these verses? Does anything confuse you or not make sense? How do these verses compare to your own experience in life or the church?
What are you considering? What questions come to mind?
Why does God care about the people who are usually at the bottom of society?
What do you think about when you hear the words judgment and righteousness?
Why was it important for God to check on the direction of God’s people? Is that still important for us today?
We Feel…
What emotions are you experiencing today? How are you making space for these feelings?
Where have you seen God today or this week? What is pointing you to God (maybe it is something in creation, a friend or adult that cares for you)?
What has God made new in your life? In your heart?
How have you engaged in caring for those who are often forgotten about?
When you hear about the Samaritans (a group of people who were strongly disliked and avoided), who comes to mind for you? How is God calling you to love all people, even your Samaritans?
How can living into God’s righteousness give us hope?
We Believe…
Righteousness can be an overwhelming word to consider when we think it means being better than everyone else or being godlike. But that isn’t what God tells us righteousness is meant to be. When we consider righteousness, it typically means being in alignment with God's heart. Maybe this is still overwhelming for you, but hopefully it’s overwhelming in a way that challenges you to live differently. We aren’t supposed to be God, and God doesn’t expect us to never stumble again. Yet when we are called to righteousness, we are called to align our words and our actions with those of God, those of Jesus. We are called to have a heart for God’s justice, God’s peace, and God’s goodness in the world. It doesn’t mean we’re better than everyone else or on a pedestal, it means we’re constantly seeking after God and how God would want us to treat other people.
We Practice…
Jesus tells us to love God and to love our neighbors. When the man asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus gave him the answer in the form of the parable of the Good Samaritan. We’re called to see all people as our neighbors, and we’re also called to come alongside people who need help. What is one way you can be a good neighbor to someone you know this week? Who in your life needs an encouraging word? Who could use help with a task that you know how to do? Take time to connect with this person. Then consider, who is someone you don’t know that could use help this week? Perhaps you could connect with your church to find someone who could use help with mowing their yard or carrying groceries into their home. Maybe you grab a gift card to a fast-food restaurant and carry it around for someone you see asking for help. Find a way to connect with someone you don’t know and assist them this week. Then reflect on your experience with an adult or a few friends.