23rd Sunday After Pentecost

Year 3: November 12, 2017

Preaching Text: Amos1:1-2; 5:14-15, 21-24

March: Book One by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin

(Written for ages 10+)

Comment: In these verses from Amos, God’s desire for justice is clearly expressed. God proclaims to hate, despise, and take no delight in the people’s religious activities. What God desires is not empty ritual, but faith and worship expressed through the actions of justice and righteousness. In the first book of the graphic novel trilogy March, John Lewis tells his story of being a teenager during the Supreme Court decision of Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka. Lewis was excited to see change in the country and incredibly frustrated that the ministers in his church never mentioned injustices in their sermons. Lewis longed for faithfulness as it is expressed by God in in today’s reading from Amos. This longing led him to become a Civil Rights activist who live out his faith in the work for justice and righteousness. Through this text and story, we are challenged to consider what it might mean for us to leave the comfort of our sanctuaries and put our faith into action.

Thanks to Union Presbyterian Seminary alumna and regular contributor Noell Rathbun for writing the Year 4 Narrative Lectionary Links.

Lectionary Links (NL): November 12, 2017 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.