On the Way to Wonder

First Reading: Numbers 21:4-9

⁴From Mount Hor [the Israelites] set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. ⁵The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” ⁶Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. ⁷The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” ⁹So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

Psalm: Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22

You deliver your people from their distress. (Ps. 107:19)

 ¹Give thanks to the Lord, for the Lord is good,

  for God’s mercy endures forever.

 ²Let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim

  that God redeemed them from the hand of the foe,

 ³gathering them in from the lands;

  from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

 ¹⁷Some were fools and took rebellious paths;

  through their sins they were afflicted.

 ¹⁸They loathed all manner of food

  and drew near to death’s door.

 ¹⁹Then in their trouble they cried to the Lord

  and you delivered them from their distress. 

 ²⁰You sent forth your word and healed them

  and rescued them from the grave.

 ²¹Let them give thanks to you, Lord, for your steadfast love

  and your wonderful works for all people.

 ²²Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving

  and tell of your deeds with shouts of joy. 

Second Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10

¹You were dead through the trespasses and sins ²in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. ³All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. ⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us ⁵even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—⁹not the result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

Gospel: John 3:14-21

[Jesus said:] ¹⁴“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

 ¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

 ¹⁷“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that’s their deeds may not be exposed. ²¹But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  John Wooden, coach of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team was famous to those of us in the LA basin.  His most famous quote is said to be, “Success is never final; failure is never fatal, it’s courage that counts.”.   

The story I was raised with, though, was that when Wooden was asked what his secret was for training a winning basketball team, he replied, “I teach them to put on their socks.”  You can’t win a basketball game if your socks are giving you blisters.  Start with the basics.  

What word of advice would you give to a student headed to college?  Share with your neighbor.

Let us pray.  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

Todays readings are so full of favorite Bible quotes that it is hard to know where to start.  John 3:16 from our Gospel reading is “For God so loved the world….” We all have heard it. It has been called “the Gospel in a nutshell.”  Our second reading shared Ephesians 2:8,9 “By grace we are saved….” That is foundational to the Reformation and our belief in salvation by grace and not by works.  The familiar and elementary are so comfortable that often we loose the depth and intensity of their meaning. It’s kinda like putting our socks on right so we don’t get blisters. These texts contain some basic pearls of wisdom we can visit today.  Let’s set the context of our passage.

 First, it is Lent.  We are traveling from the Mount of Transfiguration to the cross on Good Friday.  We heard “the Voice” speak from heaven and tell Peter and us, “Listen to my Son.”  During Epiphany we looked at who our God is as revealed in Jesus in the Incarnation but during Lent we are listening to the lessons Jesus is imparting to his followers before the crucifixion.  What do we need to know to face life as Jesus followers?  

Today’s text is not only informing us through the eyes of Lent but it also is being spoken to Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a member of the Jewish ruling council who has come to Jesus by night to ask questions. Perhaps you have come to church today with questions you ask God in the dark of the night when doubt pounds on your door.  Nicodemus acknowledges that Jesus obviously is special, coming from God doing miracles.  Today we might easily agree that Jesus was a great prophet. We might get a bit tongue-tied , though, trying to explain the mystery of the Trinity and just how faith becomes real in our lives.  Jesus is addressing this “leap of faith”, the decision to trust in Jesus, that  we talk about.

The last verse of our text admonishes us, “²¹But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”  Even if we have been a person of faith for years, it is good to review the basics.

“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,”

Jesus starts his response to Nicodemus with a known hero, a known story, and a known dilemma as he speaks into NIcodemus’ confusion.  To give a map on how to get from Point A to Point B, we must first agree on where we are and where we want to go.  Maybe I could tell you how I get to Tampa, FL, but for most that is not very helpful because you are in Indianapolis and you don’t know where I am. Jesus starts with Moses.  Moses was the leader that gave them the Law after talking with God on Mt. Sinai.  The incident with the snakes was a known cultural story occurring later on the journey after Sinai and Nicodemus for sure knew this event.

A quick review.  The people of Israel had left Egypt, received the Ten Commandments, and sent spies into the Promised Land.  The spies returned with scary reports.  The people paniced and saw themselves as grasshoppers in their own eyes. The Promised Land had giants.  The leap of faith was too big.  They murmured. That generation had to wander for 40 years while a generation died off and there was a transition in leadership.  Aaron, their first priest, had died.  Miriam, the song leader, had passed.  

But…“The people became impatient on the way.  The people spoke against God and Moses.”  Their discouragement led to a breakdown of faith. Their wants were bigger than their haves.  The Promised Land had not been reached … yet!  Their eyes shifted from the God who rescued them from Egypt, the God who helped them win battles, and the God who gave them daily manna. Their eyes had shifted from God and thankfulness to self and want.

How easily this can be our story.  The starting point of our faith journey is an honest acknowledgment that we are not living life as we want it to be, not living the life we want and we are frustrated with our world and ourselves. Our feet hurt because our socks are wadded up in our shoes. We are not enough.  We are dying from the snakes that poison our hearts with dissatisfaction, jealousy, envy, hate….sin.  For those of us raised in a Christianized life, that has a facade of “goodness,” it is sometimes hard to look at ourselves and realize we are sinners.  We rationalize that certainly we are not as bad as those other obvious sinners.  We have trouble admitting we are just not able to make life work the way we want and we need help.  

Moses made a bronze snake that was nailed to a cross and the people dying had to turn to that cross to be saved.  Humbling ourselves and admitting our GPS is broken is very hard.  We call it repentance.  The answer is outside ourselves and we start our faith journey by crying, “Help.”

it is possible, even probable, to become impatient on our journey.   When we focus on the dreams of winning the basketball tournament, we loose sight of the basic skills that need to be practiced daily to get there.  We stop focusing on our socks, the basics. When we are impatient, our focus shifts from God’s wants to our wants.  But also our focus shifts from the big picture to the “now.”  Impatience is not thinking long term but is very present focused and has lost sight of the victories of the past and the promises for the future. The people whine, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.”  I suspect the Pharisees and the followers of Jesus are focused on those ever present Romans that complicate their lives and the Jews do not understand the implications of being God’s chosen people.   How easily we forget and become numb to the big picture.  We want to charge forward before we are ready.  I can hear myself saying, “Once this is over, then I”ll….”  fill in the blank. Perhaps you have a way you convince yourself that your wants will happen in the future.

Impatience also leads to tunnel vision.  We are so focused on the now and ourselves that we forget the context we are living in.  Poverty, justice, discrimination become central to our lives, here in the present and we lose track of the progress of history and our global context.  That does not make poverty right, it only means we are not looking in context and forgetting our resources.  I worked on a suicide prevention phone service.  People called all night in despair.  As we listened, talked and became a caring presence – we evaluated really how serious the person was about suicide – and we tried to help the person identify resources available to them.  The people of Israel were tired of free food provided daily, were tired of being led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  They were tired of having clothes and shoes that did not wear out.  They wanted to go shopping.  They were tired and impatient.  When we become tired and impatient with our plight in life, we are probably looking at our wants that have become needs, we are thinking in the present and we have lost sight of our resources.  We have become impatient and self-centered. We are sinners.

Discouragement, impatience and tunnel vision are like snakes attacking our lives and killing us.  The solution was for the people to be brought to the snake nailed to the cross and gaze at it.  Jesus would be lifted up like that snake and the only requirement is to believe, faith.  The journey of faith starts with an acknowledgement of our needs and looking to Jesus.  The Holy Spirit like a gust of wind that we cannot see works the gift of faith.

 ¹⁶“For God so loved the world…”

Jesus now turns Nicodemus to a second problem.  When we see God as an angry judge who kills his son, we have a problem.  It is hard to take a leap of faith into angry arms and believe they will catch us.  Jesus gently turns Nicodemus’ heart from fulfilling the law of an angry God to the welcoming arms of a loving God, ready to catch him when he jumps. John 3:16 is one of those verses we all know but that is so hard to grasp in our lives.  Many of us have had parents who tried their hardest to raise us right and spanked us to make us repent of our wrongs because they loved us.  We wonder if God is going to spank us for our sins.  Perhaps we will spend years in suspended space.  Then we had friends with conditional love on our being in the right crowd and having the right look.  It was hard to believe someone duly tcared about us with all our warts and wrinkles.  Of course there were the boyfriends who promised love and wanted sex.  Broken marriage vows speak to love that grows cold or is one sided.  All the crooners that sang of love that lasts forever feel like star gazers in the face of death of a loved one.  Love is just a hard word to get our hearts around.

Jesus says that “God so loved the world.”  I know our individualistic American worldview suggests that if I were the only person alive then Jesus would still come to live and die for me.  I doubt it.  My friend last night said, her favorite part is that God loved the world so she believes there is enough love for even her distant father who abused her.  God’s love is personal and it is universal.  God’s love is for the good and the ugly.  God’s love is for sunny days and cloudy days.  One of the phrases that the kids remembered their father saying and they repeated at his funeral was that he talked about “the great big love of Jesus.”  God’s love is as big as the universe we know, and then some.

My sister pointed out that God so loved the world that he gave.  We like to think about what we get because God loves us but the verse points out that God’s love is an outward focused, giving, enabling, blessing love.  We don’t understand because the evil one whispers in our ear the big ‘IF.”  The Lie tries to convince us that suffering should not be allowed with love. The Lie says that love is not focused on my selfish wishes and making me happy.  God’s love though is providing the best for all people. 

God emptied himself and went to the cross that I might live.  The cross and resurrection show that nothing can separate us from God’s love.  Not my bad actions that deserve a spanking, not my inadequacies that cripple my life, and not language or sex or anything.  

All God asks is that we believe and take that leap into his arms.  Those who do not believe, we must leave in God’s hands to deal with. That is a chapter in the book of faith we don’t have the right to make judgment about.  Our text says that their stubborn refusal closes them off from God, not their ignorance, not their sin and not their intelligence or education.  It does not say God stops loving them.  They just cannot experience it.  We don’t have all the answers for how God will deal with “the other.”  We do know that he so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whoever believes will not perish, face eternal death, but face eternal life.  Jesus did not come to condemn but to save.  When we believe, we are putting our socks on right so we can play our best possible game of life.

Light

²¹But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Jesus responds to Nicodemus who comes to him at night with his questions and doubts.  It is hard to take that leap of faith and believe in Jesus.  The evil one likes to whisper lies into our ears.  Being born again is like putting on our socks and realizing there is a lump that is irritating our feet and we can’t walk properly.  We must first admit our mistake, take off our socks and start over.  Be born again.  The people in the wilderness with Moses had to admit their need for salvation and turn to the snake nailed to the cross and they found life.  Fear will try to convince us that we are facing an angry God who wants to punish us but Jesus tells Nicodemus that “God so loved….the world….that he gave….his son…that we might believe and have eternal life.”  That is like walking in light and not like stumbling in the dark.  God wants to help us learn how to put our socks on right because he wants our team to win.  He will receive the glory not as John Wooden of the Lakers but as the God of the whole universe.  Whew.  May it be so.

Let the people of God say, “AMEN!” May it be so and help my unbelief.  

We Give Thanks (Psalm 107) • Official Video

Tomorrow’s psalm reading is Psalm 107.  This week we looked at the giving of sight to Bartimaeus who sat by the side of the road listening to people chatter as they left Jericho to go to Jerusalem.  He could not see but he could listen, even as we listen to the truths of Scripture on Sundays.  I’m sure Bartimaeus was praising God after his healing and so this worship song that focuses on our psalm reading seems appropriate.  Please listen and enjoy.

Mark 11:1-3

 ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. ³ If anyone says to you, “Why are you doing this?” just say this, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.”’

The followers of Jesus have gone from Jericho and the blind man of yesterday and we next hear they have reached Bethany, not that far from Jerusalem.  Jesus’ friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus live there and we suspect Bethany will become his headquarters til Passover.  Jesus sends two disciples into the next village to find a colt. Matthew and Luke include the same incident and tell it the same way.  Interestingly, Jesus anticipates that the two men will be questioned for taking the donkey’s colt and tells them to reply, “The Lord needs it.”

I wonder what  two people from church might ask for from me today, saying that “the Lord needs it.”  The most equivalent would be if they came to borrow my new car or my  new unridden motorcycle.  We could let our imagination run a bit and perhaps they might ask us to sing in an Easter program or work in the kitchen for the youth pancake breakfast.  And of course there are always financial needs or need for help around the church.

I find it more interesting to think on the word “need” today.  I don’t particularly think of the Lord as needing anything from me.  He wants my love and service but does he need me? It is usually me standing in the need of prayer … and help.

     The word “need” speaks to the relationship, the partnership that Christianity believes exists between the creator and the creation.  We do not see faith as a master/slave, top down arrangement.  It is easy to see my relationship as a power play by God but I think of the partnership as more collaborative.  Through prayer we are in constant give and take communication.  God shares with me the master plan through his Word.  Life is not a guessing game.  

     Let’s ponder in prayer today what God might need from you.  He may need you to be his arms hugging someone.  He might need your voice speaking truth to someone.  He may need your feet carrying help.  God not only wants relationship with you, he needs you.  Wow, that is worth praying over.

Mark 10: 46-52

⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’

⁵⁰ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ 

We are traveling to Jerusalem and the cross with Jesus and his followers. Our Lent challenge“ this year is “listening” as the “the Voice” of the Father at the Transfiguration commanded Peter.  As this group leaves Jericho that is north east of Jerusalem and resumes their journey, a blind man hears that Jesus of Nazareth is passing.  This man cannot see and like us, he too can only listen.

Jericho was where Joshua and the children of Israel entered the Promised Land after their journey in the Wilderness.  Jericho was the home of Rahab the Harlot who hid the spies sent to check out the city, and who hid her family in obedience, and who later married and became the mother of Boaz, and who thus became the great grandmother of King David.  Perhaps some of us sit at the edge of our own Jericho, wanting to enter the promised future, but still somehow blind and listening.

The blind man hears that Jesus of Nazareth is passing but he has also been listening to other people who have traveled past him.  Perhaps, like him, we have heard others talk about faith but somehow we still feel like beggars on the road to life.  The blind man puts two and two together and gets five.  He calls out to Jesus not as “Jesus of Nazareth” but as “Jesus, son of David!”  Our man appeals to Jesus as a potential inheritor of the thrown of David.  It might mean he somehow was joining the crowd looking for a Messiah.   We don’t know.  But we do know he upped the title.  He came to Jesus as a power greater than himself.

The blind man cried out for “mercy.”  He did not define his request until Jesus asked him what he wanted.  The blind man threw off his coat, possibly his only possession, possibly that upon which he sat while he begged and listened, and the people who had rebuked him for his disturbance now help him to go to Jesus.  Jesus rewards “his faith.”  His faith in what, Jesus as “Son of David” Messiah, Jesus as healer?  We don’t know.

As we sit today listening for the “voice” to speak into our blindness, let us ponder this man’s request for mercy.  What would God’s mercy look like in your life today?  What is my next step for going from Jericho to Jerusalem, from confession to growth in faith?  Let us continue to listen as we wait by the road of life.

Mark 10:41-44

⁴³ But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.

The disciples think James and John have made a power play by going to Jesus and asking for positions of authority in this new kingdom Jesus is ushering in.  None of them understand “the plan.”  For sure their hero is not going to die.  Not only is there misunderstanding but there is a certain competitiveness among the followers.  It seems to be highlighted frequently that Peter, James, and John seem to be Jesus’ inner council and somehow closer than the rest.  Perhaps that is only realized in retrospect but knowing human nature, “favorites” is always an issues among siblings, among friends, and in politics.  Jealousy is always tapping on our hearts.

Jesus steps in and teaches.  True leadership is humble.  We have coined the phrase today, “servant leadership.”  For those of us who have “slavery” as an ugly reality in our family heritage, Jesus’ teaching that leaders are servants and slaves is very loaded language.  Cultural sins of slavery are to be confessed and forgiveness sought.  Slavery is a horrible part of our heritage and yet Jesus uses that image to challenge his followers.

So when you think of slavery, what do you think about?  Perhaps you remember the servants helping the hero in “The Robe.”  Others see images from “Amistad” of chains and death and cruelty as part of our past and realities of slavery.   Oh my.  Lord forgive us our cruelty, our prejudices, and our ignorance. It is Lent.  Let us not jump over the ugliness of these words to patting ourselves about our humility.  Let us spend time asking the Holy Spirit to shine his flash light on my soul to reveal any ways that I act more like a slave owner than a slave.  Lord, forgive me any arrogance or pride I secretly harbor and help me serve others.  

³⁵ James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ ³⁶ And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ 

Mark 10: 35-36

Jesus has just told the followers for the third time that they are headed to Jerusalem where he will be condemned to death, mocked, spit on and killed but will rise on the third day.  His words seem to go in one ear and out the other.  The followers don’t understand.  We know that feeling when the whole world seems against us and we are just not sure which way to turn.  Isolation, abandonment, and betrayal are terrible feelings and Jesus must have been discouraged.  To add insult to injury, James and John, two of the disciples Jesus was closest to, along with Peter, come to him and ask him to grant them their wish.

“We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”  My kids all tried this line on me.  Sometimes it meant they had asked their father and gotten a “no.”  Other times they know the answer is “no” but just to hedge their beg they preceded the request by trying to draw a promise from me.  Sighhhhhhh.  Jesus responds, “What is it you want me to do for you?”

There is our reflection for today.  How do I come to God in my prayers?  Perhaps I share a verse with God that makes my request seem doable.  I remind him that he has told me I can ask anything.  I admit my faith is as small as a mustard seed but I do believe…kinda.  I might even profess it with a phrase that the request is not for me but for my friend who is struggling. Talking with the God of the universe is intimidating and at its best, humbling.

Jesus asks James and John what they want.  Jesus asks us today what we want.  As I chatted with my friends, they turned the question to me – what would I ask for?  I thought of my children and the ones who are struggling or job hunting.  Then I thought of Solomon at the Temple praying for wisdom to govern God’s people.  Perhaps I would ask for a quality to handle life in a godly way.  I have often prayed for a quiet and gentle spirit that is precious in the eyes of the Lord. God is open to hearing all those requests.  

James and John ask for seats of honor and power.  Jesus  points out the necessary qualifications but says, ultimately that is not his to grant.  Not all prayers get a yes but Jesus invited the followers to voice their wants.  So what would you ask Jesus for today as he stands before you?  Blessings and humility to receive his answer.

As an older person, I am aware that my salt and pepper hair tells the truth about my age and indicates an aging person.  Have you ever had the experience of someone telling you something and as you sit there processing the news, the other thinks you couldn’t hear and so they say their piece again only louder and slower?  You heard, but the news did not make sense.  Jesus is walking with disciples and followers to Jerusalem.  He knows he is headed to the cross but they think he is headed to usher in the new kingdom.  He is going to be king with “power” and he can heal, multiply fish and loaves, and walk on water.  They are ready to cheer but they are not understanding.  Jesus tells them a third time that he is headed to the cross only this time he adds details.

Mark 10: 32-34

³² They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, ³³ saying, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; ³⁴ they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.’

What is different and what does he want me to hear?  He uses his title, “Son of Man,” and does not self-identify as “Son of God.”  He is talking about his identification with humanity and suffering.  He adds details about the event — mocking, spitting, flogging.  He closes with a specific promise specifying his resurrection will occur after three days.  We know this is how the days will unroll but the followers do not.

As I ponder this scenario in the context of Lent, reflecting on the implications for my life, I wonder how many things God tells us about how life might unfold but it doesn’t seem real.  Returning love for hate just is counter intuitive.  Generosity when I have not reached the end of the month and suspect I will be short, makes no sense.  For sure the death of a loved one is always too soon, too ugly and unwelcome even as a diagnosis with disease is.  Like the followers we are amazed and or scared.

Jesus does not sugar coat his predictions like our candidates who make promises we doubt will come true.  He is not seeking our votes.  He is not raising funds for his campaign.  He is telling us the truth.  Today he spoke as “Son of Man,” but we can read in John 3:16 as Jesus speaks with Nicodemus about inheriting the kingdom of God, “God so loved the world that he gave his Son so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”  That’s next Sunday’s text but maybe I need to hear it more than three times.  God loves you as you face your challenges today.

First Reading: Exodus 20:1-17

1God spoke all these words:

 2I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3you shall have no other gods before me.

 4You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

 7You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

 8Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

 12Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

 13You shall not murder.

 14You shall not commit adultery.

 15You shall not steal.

 16You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

 17You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Psalm: Psalm 19

The commandment of the Lord gives light to the eyes. (Ps. 19:8)

 1The heavens declare the glory of God,

  and the sky proclaims its maker’s handiwork.

 2One day tells its tale to another,

  and one night imparts knowledge to another.

 3Although they have no words or language,

  and their voices are not heard,

 4their sound has gone out into all lands, and their message to the ends of the world,

  where God has pitched a tent for the sun.

 5It comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber;

  it rejoices like a champion to run its course.

 6It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens and runs about to the end of it again;

  nothing is hidden from its burning heat. 

 7The teaching of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul;

  the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the simple.

 8The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart;

  the commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to the eyes.

 9The fear of the Lord is clean and endures forever;

  the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

 10More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold,

  sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb. 

 11By them also is your servant enlightened,

  and in keeping them there is great reward.

 12Who can detect one’s own offenses?

  Cleanse me from my secret faults.

 13Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion over me;

  then shall I be whole and sound, and innocent of a great offense.

 14Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,

  O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. 

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

18The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written,

 “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

  and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. 22For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Gospel: John 2:13-22

13The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  The Tortoise and the Ducks

Aesop shared a fable about a tortoise. Jupiter doomed the tortoise to carry its house on its back as punishment for not coming to Jupiter’s wedding and for being so lazy.  The tortoise bemoaned its plight in life.  Crawling around on short stubby legs with a house on its back was a cruel punishment.  Two ducks came by and offered a solution.  If the tortoise would hold on tightly to a stick, they would fly with him and show him the world.  The tortoise believed and bit the stick.  The ducks picked up the stick and carried the tortoise high into the sky.  A passing crow exclaimed, “This must be the king of tortoises!”  The tortoise was so pleased, it answered, “Why certainly…” but as it spoke, it let go of the stick and fell to its death.

Let us pray:  Lord may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, my Rock and my Redeemer!

SERMON

Have you noticed that this Lent our Old Testament readings are reminding us of different “covenants” or promises God has made with his creation?  These signs help us remember who we are and to whom we belong.  Today we read about the Ten Commandments that are known as the Mosaic Covenant.  If we follow these rules or guidelines, we will be blessed.  Three weeks ago our text told us that God  placed the rainbow in the sky for Noah and promised never to destroy his creation again by water. Remember God is committed to life.  Last week we read God’s promise to Abraham that God’s intention was to bless all the nations through Abraham’s offspring.  God loves all people.  This week we stand in the shadow of the Ten Commandments.  God offers us sticks to hold on to so we can fly. The Temple was like one of the sticks God offered.  The Temple was a central place of worship people could come to and hear the Scriptures read but they could also come and bring sacrifices to make themselves right with God.  Blessings flow when they can live the Ten Commandments.  The Temple system, though, had become corrupted by sin. Jesus speaks to that today.  Are we listening as Jesus speaks to us also?  Perhaps there are ways our worship has been compromised.

Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 

How does the Temple or our church become like a marketplace?  Our first reading today is the giving of the Mosaic Covenant, the Ten Commandments.  We call it “the Law.”  The Ten Commandments are God’s guidelines given to Moses and us to explain how life works best.  These parameters protect our relationship with God and with our neighbor – the same way a speed limit in a school zone protects the children.  Through the ages, though, the leaders had expanded the original commandments into a whole system of “laws” that governed people’s lives and demanded sacrifices.  Indeed when we live life with murder, stealing, jealousy and slander we get ourselves tied in knots.  Something has to give. 

Repentance is the answer, not hate.  People came from all over the world to the Temple to offer their sacrifices and make peace with God.   The problem was that not only did the religious leaders create laws from the original Ten Commandments but a whole system of sacrificial exchanges had developed.  Foreigners had to exchange their money to buy the sacrifices of repentance that they could not transport from their homes.  Those money changers charged extra so they got their cut.  People then had to buy their sacrifices and those sellers got their cut.  A whole system of marketplace selling had evolved and people seeking to find forgiveness were taken advantage of.  We would say, what a rip off!  Jesus is not happy that faith relationships have become a marketplace of transactions that creates profit for some and harms others.  God did not intend that the original Tabernacle be a burden but designed it to be a place to meet with him.

 Our Gospel is taking us on a journey from the Temple, a building that had become a marketplace, to the human heart, a mobile faith temple.  We do not want to become like that tortoise in our fable,  bemoaning our worship space, the shell designed to protect us, must not become a burden.  The tortoise wanted to fly high with the ducks and see the world. God too wants our relationship with him to be a blessing and not a burden we carry on our back.  

We have seen the compassionate face of God in Jesus but today we see that our God is also a just God. God is love and God is just.  It is shocking to think of Jesus getting angry.  Lest we make the mistake of this scenario only belonging to the past and a different culture, let us stop for a moment.  Are there ways we make our relationship with God like a marketplace and anger him?

”Marketplace” is actually a word that has come into vogue but goes back to antiquity.  It is a place where people come together to buy and sell goods, or animals, or food.  We have farmer’s markets, our affordable health plans are called a Marketplace, and Amazon and Walmart have official marketplaces I discovered.  Marketplaces are places where we trade, bargain, and sell or buy something we need.  I do not think Jesus was objecting to marketplaces as such.  The sacrificial system supported the priesthood and their families.  I would not want to be guilty of accusing God of making a mistake by giving the tortoise its shell.  I think the problem goes deeper.

It is possible to develop a marketplace mentality in my faith journey.  When I begin to think that I have done enough good deeds and so deserve good rewards from God or begin to think I am better than another because of my good deeds, then I am in danger.  When I cruise the Internet looking for the “best” service or the most entertaining pastor or a church that offers miracles, I may be in danger of exchanging relationship with God and his people for the benefits I get from going to church.  When I feel I cannot attend church because of clothes or sins or gossip then I am playing with church as marketplace.  There can be many rabbit holes I can fall into as I think about going to church rather than thinking about my relationship with God.  When Luke relates the scene in chapter 19 of his gospel, he adds the quote, 

“My house shall be a house of prayer”;

    but you have made it a den of robbers.’

A “house of prayer” is a place where people gather and talk.  Perhaps it is just a discussion.  Sometimes it is bringing needs.  Often it might be a matter of clarification, of support, and of guidance.  May our church never be a place where some are ripped off or humiliated or turned away!  So take a moment and reflect on why you came to church today. What would you like to happen in your meeting with God today?

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 

Wait!  Where are the security guards?  If someone came into our space and created chaos as Jesus did, the police would be called immediately.  The person might be hauled off and imprisoned.  Some form of destruction would occur.  But Jesus, here, was questioned by the Jews. They questioned Jesus by what authority he had acted.  Just like our security people, they want to see credentials, something like a passport, a driver’s license, or something like a birth certificate.  A driver races his car down a road disobeying all the speed limits and is pulled over by the police.  The driver pulls out a higher badge or perhaps explains he is taking his wife to the hospital. The car driver suddenly has an escort because his authority or his need is so great.  The Jews do not seem to object to Jesus’ claim that the Temple has become a marketplace but they are concerned about his authority. 

 What is the sign of Jesus’ authority?  What gives Jesus the authority to upset all the marketplaces of our lives?  Noah’s sign was the rainbow.  Abraham’s sign was circumcision.  Moses’ sign was the Ten Commandments.  Jesus now says the words that will be held against him at his trial.  “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”  Jesus signals that the Temple that was the place that was meant to be the place of relationship was shifting from a building to a body, Jesus himself was the authority.  This Christian paradox, we believe and confess. It is the empty cross.

From our historical perspective, we understand that Jesus was talking about his death and resurrection.  The leaders, though, do not have our advantage and think he is talking about the Temple, the outer courts where the marketplace is happening.  But, as usual, Jesus is digging deeper.  He is talking about upturning a marketplace system, a sacrificial system, to the establishment of a new relationship system, relationship with God and neighbor.  Jesus himself is to become the Temple for all nations, not just the Jews. Faith in Jesus who will satisfy the sacrificial system and who has walked with us, will be the next covenant.  We do not need to bring sacrifices because Jesus will take care of that.  We need only believe.

Jesus knows the Temple will be destroyed in 90 AD by the Romans.  The building can be destroyed as it was in the past captivities of the Jews by foreign powers.  But faith survived.  Jesus pointed to the past and to the future and prophesied what was about to unfold.  Ultimately Jesus has authority because he is God who incarnated as True Man, fulfilling the condemnation of death for sin, and as True God, fulfilling the promise of love that cannot be separated from us by death or anything. The empty cross is our sign.

21But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 

Jesus has shifted the conversation from marketplace works.  Jesus has pointed to his death and resurrection, the cross, as his authority. The disciples later realize that Jesus was voicing an astounding fact about the temple.  That focus on temple as building is about to change.  “He was speaking of the temple of his body.”   Jesus predicts the shift that is going to happen as faith moves from faith in a place, the Temple, to faith in Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice for sin, is a new kind of temple, “the body of Christ,” the church.  In 1 Corinthians 6:19 Paul asks us “do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?”   We believe that Jesus’ body and ours is the real Temple that can go anywhere, that will be transformed for eternal life, and that testifies to the truth of God’s love that is stronger than religious rules and laws, stronger than death, and always is as close to us as our own heart.

The Noah Covenant was God’s promise to not destroy us by water and is demonstrated in the rainbow.  The Abrahamic Covenant was God’s promise to form a nation of people that will bless all nations.  The Church universal is made up of all nations and blesses all.  The Mosaic Covenant found in the Ten Commandments was a covenant of a universal set of guidelines and principles available to all people and that protects our relationship to God and our neighbor.   Jesus’ life and death, his incarnation, show us what the kingdom of God will look like.  New laws will not be voted in with each leader and each congress.  God’s favor will not depend on the sacrifices we can afford to offer nor the good deeds of our life.  God’s favor will be a gift available to all languages and people. God’s love is available to you, today.  Jesus satisfies death and his temple will be found in his body, the church.  The tortoise can fly!

The tortoise was wrong.  He was not cursed with carrying his house but was blessed that wherever he went he was home.  Even so is the Christian who carries the Holy Spirit in his heart.  The tortoise was wrong to think he might be the king and not to acknowledge that he was carried by holding on tight to the stick, the Ten Commandments. The Law drives us to God and it  carries us to new heights.  The ducks or the “goose” is a symbol of the Holy Spirit who carries us to see the world. Lord, let us hold on tight to that stick and not forget it is your love that carries us.

Let the people of God say, “AMEN!”

“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”

by Isaac Watts

This week we have spent time pondering scenes surrounding a rich man who came to Jesus as a “Good Teacher” seeking to know how to inherit eternal life.  Jesus  directed our thinking this Lent to pondering how our blessings can deceive us into thinking we are wonderful rather than drawing us to God.  When Jesus challenged the man to sell his wealth, he went away sad.  We like our toys and for some the goal is to get more.  Blessings can lead to a feeling of entitlement and superiority.  Yuch.

         Isaac Watts (1674-1748) is one of the great hymn writers of old.  Legend has it that as a youth he complained to his father about the boring church music.  Supposedly his father challenged him, “I’d like to see you write something better!”  Watts went to his room and several hours later had written this hymn.  He actually wrote over 600 hymns and is dubbed by some as “the father of hymnology.”  This hymn is considered his best and is still sung today.  It is  believed to be  based on Galatians 6:14, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

         Tomorrow we will look at the cross as Jesus’s badge of authority that gave him the right to disrupt all the money changers and to disrupt our lives by asking us if our wealth is not distracting us from the cross.  Please enjoy.

²⁶ They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ ²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’   ³¹ But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first. (Mark 10:26-31)

Jesus is having a serious discussion with his followers.  After a man asked what more he must do to inherit heaven, Jesus tells him to divest himself of his wealth and follow Jesus. The man was rich. Jesus has told his followers that it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.  They stand “astonished.”  Many would join these men, mouths on the floor, because we believe just a little bit more wealth will certainly solve our problems.  “Just one more dollar, please.”

Our friend Peter pointing out that if it is not wealth then will the followers be blessed for all their sacrifices, their works.  Sadly, during Lent, we too stand with them and the realization that wealth, good works, nor anything else will get us into heaven.  Eternal life is a gift received by faith.  True eternal happiness or peace or love or anything of value  is a gift we cannot create for ourselves.  It is a gift of God.  Love, friendship, or even peace cannot be demanded.  It is a gift that is available to the rich and the poor.  I have seen great love and generosity in a famine relief camp with people who lived in cardboard covered frames.  We laughed and cried together.  We shared life together.  They taught me much.

So what is our challenge for Lent?  I think the word in vogue right now is “entitlement.”  Lord, show me if there are areas and attitudes in my life that reek of entitlement.  Help me humble myself in your light.  Blessings.