Seventh Sunday after Pentecost—July 15, 2012

Amos 7:7-15

“Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel...” vs. 8

     Amos is receiving another authorization for the office prophet into which the Lord has placed him.  Like you read in Ezekiel last week, here in Amos you read of another image of justification.  Last week it was the image of standing upright before the Lord.  This week it is the image of a plumb line—a string with a weight at the end.  When the weight hangs on the end of the string, the string marks a straight up-and-down vertical line—an excellent way to measure the “uprightness” of a wall or of a people.   By implication, God’s people Israel would fail to measure up—they would not be “upright” and, like a tilted wall, must be torn down and rebuilt. 

     God’s justification of his people is dramatic and terrifying.  Listen to its description:  “Made desolate…”  “Laid waste…”  “With the sword…”  “Die by the sword…” “Go into exile…”  God justifies by reducing them to nothing and then—from that nothing—raising up a new people… a new person… and a new creation (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17)

     When God first justified you, he did so in the water and word of Holy Baptism.  By being baptized into the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, your old sinful self was drowned and you were raised up a new creation.  While you are still “in the flesh,” your baptism is to be used every day through confession and absolution.  These two will repent you and forgive you your sins.  In this forgiveness of sins you will know that you have been set free from that triumvirate of powers—the devil, the world, and your sinful self.  When you are no longer bent over in their bondage, you are stood up straight; you’ve been “plumbed” and found upright—justified.  This is the daily dying to sin and being raised up to walk in newness of life.  It is the Christian life: baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection.


Table Talk
Timothy J. Swenson

The Institute of Lutheran Theology

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost—July 8, 2012

Ezekiel 2:1-5

“He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet...” vs. 1

     Ezekiel is being placed in the prophetic office.  He has just beheld a mysterious and incomprehensible vision and been so dazzled by the glory of the Lord that he fell to the ground, face in the dirt.  While he is in that position—one that recalls Genesis 3:19 “you are dust and to dust you shall return”—the humbled Ezekiel receives a personal address.  The mysterious vision and dazzling glory had produced a mighty and chaotic sound but now, in a word from his Lord, Ezekiel is given a new standing.  Just like he had no time to consider whether or not to fall on his face, Ezekiel has no time to consider whether or not he will stand because the Spirit entered him and stood him up… up on his feet and upright before the Lord. 

     The movement Ezekiel underwent here in these first two verses is the movement of confession and absolution.  Ezekiel, confronted by the glory of the Lord, is struck down to the dust, humbled and repented.  So, too, are you when you are confronted by the glory of the Lord delivered in the Word (“God who is faithful and just” even in the face of his people’s sinful rebellion).  Ezekiel, from that position of humility and reminded of his mortality, hears the Lord speaking, has the Holy Spirit enter him, and is set on his feet by it.  So, too, are you when you’ve been repented and driven to a confession (an agreement with God) of your sinfulness; God’s word of forgiveness delivers the Holy Spirit and you are righteous, upright, and justified—blameless (cf. Ge. 3:12)—before your Lord.


Table Talk
Timothy J. Swenson

The Institute of Lutheran Theology

www.ilt.org

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost—July 1, 2012

Lamentations 3:22-33

“The Lord is good to those who wait for him…” vs. 25

     We often hear and declare that “the Lord is slow to anger…” (Ex. 34:6 & others), but, to people caught up in lament, it seems that the Lord is just plain slow.  Do you find yourself waiting for the Lord… waiting for the Lord to answer prayer… waiting for the Lord to provide strength and hope… waiting for the Lord to fulfill long-standing promises?  If so, you have a predecessor in the book of Lamentations.

     The author of Lamentations is under siege.   Jerusalem is surrounded by the Babylonian army.  The lack of food and water has driven the population to desperate means to avoid starvation.  Death stalks the streets… death from without as the enemy’s arrows and missiles fly through the city… death from within as starvation and violence march through the city.  The Lord withholds deliverance.  To the eyes of reason, there is no hope, only a bitter end.  Yet the prophet does have hope, hope that does not come from reason but from the promises of God.  “The Lord is my portion… therefore I will hope in him” (vs. 24).  This besieged prophet holds a hope not from his senses or his reason but a hope delivered by the Word of the Lord… a Lord of great faithfulness.  Waiting… hoping in such faithfulness is not waiting at all.

     This Lord is the same one who claimed you at your baptism… the Lord who said, “I am the Lord your God!”  No waiting required!  Your Lord, the who came to you in baptism, does not make you wait.  Instead, your Lord comes quickly… quickly, in a Word which forgives your sins… quickly, in a meal that delivers Jesus Christ to you…  Your Lord is always coming to you, no waiting required… coming to you in the font, from the pulpit, and at the altar.


Table Talk

Timothy J. Swenson

The Institute of Lutheran Theology

www.ilt.org