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July 15, 2019

Feeding the Christ Within

Sharon Seyfarth Garner   |   Read Amos 8:1-12

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Lectionary Week
July 15–21, 2019
Scripture Overview

This reading from Amos provides more indication of the reasons for God’s coming judgment. Too many in Israel have been oppressing the poor. They cannot wait for religious festivals to end so that they can make more money through corrupt trade, including what we now call human trafficking. If we understand the psalmist to be David, the warning he issues in this passage concern Saul. Because Saul has turned to evil, God will not allow him to remain in power. While God is love, God also sometimes brings judgment. The author of Colossians extols the elevated status of Christ, who has reconciled us to himself through his death. In Luke, Mary prioritizes spending time with Jesus, while Martha focuses on working for Jesus. It is Mary who receives Jesus’ praise.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

Read Amos 8:1-12. Who in your community has been left behind in the famine from hearing the words of the Lord? How can you care for them?
Read Psalm 52. How do you remain rooted in God’s steadfast love when you cry out against injustice?
Read Colossians 1:15-28. What do you need to let fall away to reveal the mystery of Christ in you?
Read Luke 10:38-42. How do you focus on Christ even as you attend to the necessary tasks of daily life?

Respond by posting a prayer .

Amos 8:1-12

1 This is what the LORD God showed me: a basket of summer fruit. 2 He said, “Amos, what do you see?” I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the LORD said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again forgive them. 3 On that day, the people will wail the temple songs,” says the LORD God; “there will be many corpses, thrown about everywhere. Silence.” 4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy and destroy the poor of the land, 5 saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath so that we may offer wheat for sale, make the ephah smaller, enlarge the shekel, and deceive with false balances, 6 in order to buy the needy for silver and the helpless for sandals, and sell garbage as grain?” 7 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget what they have done. 8 Will not the land tremble on this account, and all who live in it mourn, as it rises and overflows like the Nile, and then falls again, like the River of Egypt? 9 On that day, says the LORD God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight. 10 I will turn your feasts into sad affairs and all your singing into a funeral song; I will make people wear mourning clothes and shave their heads; I will make it like the loss of an only child, and the end of it like a bitter day. 11 The days are surely coming, says the LORD God, when I will send hunger and thirst on the land; neither a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the LORD ’s words. 12 They will wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they will roam all around, seeking the LORD’s word, but they won’t find it.

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible. Used by permission.

Every week during the summer, I pick up a delicious basket full of summer fruits and vegetables from UpCycle Farm—tomatoes, zucchini, watermelon, strawberries, and more. My family eats, stores, or shares the food right away because if we neglect our food in the basket, it will rot quickly in the...

Lord, nourish us by your word so that we may offer food and nourishment to a world in need. Amen.


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