Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for today’s meditation is Amos 7:7

This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. ⁸ And the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them; ⁹ the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword."

Hi, I’m here to inspect the building. I need to be sure that what is standing is as true as it was the day it was built. I will be looking at your walls using my handy dandy plumb bob. The plumb line gives me a line that is true and straight in which I can compare it with your walls. The plumb line is extremely accurate even though it is a very simple piece of equipment. The earth’s gravitational pull on the plumb bob makes sure the line is always perpendicular to the surface of the earth.

Hmmm, it appears this wall is true and straight… this wall is too. It appears that this structure is still as true as the day it was built. It looks like you pass the plumb line test.

I have been all around the city of Scottsboro looking at the outside of structures in town. I went around town holding up my plumb line to steeples and towers. I was amazed by the fact that everyone I looked at passed the plumb line test. They are true and straight. I was trying very hard to find one that was not true and did not pass the plumb line test. I did find a picture of a building on the internet that was not true. I imagine if you saw this building without the plumb bob hanging in view you probably would have a hard time telling if it is true or not. Of course I could not find that picture. It is hard to know if a building or a wall is straight without a reference. It may seem true to the untrained eye but when you put a plumb line next to it as a reference all is revealed or confirmed. At that point you know whether or not it is true and straight.

That is exactly what the Lord did with the people of Israel. In the second half of verse 8, God laid the plumb line, a rule, a measure, the law, against the people of Israel and found then untrue and crooked. They committed numerous crimes against humanity, including war and violence. They broke and rejected God’s law. They lived in luxury while neglecting the poor. They worshiped the statues of bulls while pretending they were worshiping God. During this period of time there was peace and prosperity in Israel. All seemed to be going their way. Everything seemed to be true and straight. But when God’s plumb line, the law, was held up against the building known as the kingdom of Israel it showed it to be crooked and untrue.

How do we measure up when standing next to God’s plumb line? Are we true and straight? Can we pass the plumb line test? NO, we can’t! No matter what we do, we will never measure up to God’s plumb line test. As a result God told Amos He would leave Israel. The verse says He will never pass by them. He will no longer be in their presence. He continues to tell of the destruction of the people of Israel as well as the king himself. The king will die by the sword for not being true and straight in God’s law. How do we measure up when standing next to God’s plumb line? Are we true and straight? Can we pass the plumb line test? NO, we can’t!

No matter what we do, we will never measure up to God’s plumb line test. Man became crooked and untrue when Adam and Eve first sinned in the Garden of Eden. Their sin made everything crooked and untrue. We are born into the crooked and untrue nature of original sin. But does that mean we shouldn’t try to measure up? No, our actions reflect our faith. You have the builder inside of you. He entered into your heart in the form of the Holy Spirit at your baptism. You became a living stone in a building known as the spiritual house at your baptism and God is the builder. Turn to page 1014, 1 Peter 2 verse 5; as it says in 1 Peter 2 verse 5; "⁵ you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood." In this spiritual house God is also the foundation, a firm foundation. Turn to page 863, Luke 6 verse 46, ""Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: ⁴⁸ he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great." When our actions reflect our faith, we are firm on the foundation of Christ in the spiritual house that God is building. We are not part of the plumb wall in this spiritual house of God because of how good we are. We don’t fit just right because of what we do. No, we are in the wall and fit just right because of the fitness of Christ. Everything man builds will be brought down. Amos Verse 9, "the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste."

This is a pretty dismal scenario for the people of Israel. They are destroyed and the king dies by the sword. But, God leaves a remnant in Judah. God shows Amos the wall that is built by the plumb. That wall is built by God himself and is true and straight. God is showing Amos the only person that could measure up to God’s plumb line. He is showing Amos Jesus. Jesus came and fulfilled God’s plumb line, the law. But then He went even further. He is God’s temple built true and straight with the plumb. He gave this temple to be torn down and destroyed. He gave it because He knew you couldn’t measure up. He knew that when you use His law to measure yourself, you would be found untrue and crooked just as the people of Israel were. You do not pass the plumb line test by yourself. God didn’t just let His Son, the temple, be torn down. John 2:19 tells us, "Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The temple is raised up and is true and straight once more. Through Christ’s actions you become part of the spiritual house once again. You become a living stone in a wall that is true and straight. God doesn’t see your crooked and untrue wall, He sees Christ the temple, the spiritual house with living stones in it.

Live your life as a living stone where your actions reflect your faith. Have your plumb line handy to check how you are doing. Your sin may not be evident to you just as the crooked building may not have been noticeable until you used the plumb line. Luther’s small catechism calls this the second use of the law, a mirror; the law accuses us and shows us our sin. Once you realize you do not pass the plumb line test, repent and rely on the temple that was destroyed and rebuilt in three days. Let Christ, and His forgiveness, bring your life back into plumb with Him. Live in the "rightness" of Christ and His love for you.

Amen.