Amos 5:18-24 / The Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
At the risk of sounding extremely Texan: when I was sixteen, I went through a bit of a cowgirl phase—as teenagers tend to do in West Texas, even if they have zero connection to the hard work real cowboys actually do. I faithfully wore my leather boots and bootcut jeans to school every single day, and I listened exclusively to country music.
Like each of the books of the Bible, 1 John was written for a certain age and addresses a specific community of faith. But apparently these ancient Christians were asking the same deep, human questions that we do: Who am I? What is the purpose of my life? And perhaps most of all on days like today, What’s to become of me when I die?