Tuesday of Holy Week Isaiah 49:1-7 Psalm 71:1-14 (UMH 794) 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 John 12:20-36

Isaiah 49:1-7 How is your evangelism project doing? How has the world changed for the better because you are living your life according to principles that you have learned from God's Word?

Isaiah had been a prophet long enough to have learned disappointment. God did not let him give up. Instead, God expanded his job description: "You've been trying to do too little to too few."

Use Psalm 71 to help you pray in times of disappointment.

Where is Jesus? Reflection on John 12:20-26
Where we are in the story: Lazarus died and then was raised. In response, many believed. Frightened by this belief, some reported Jesus to religious authorities. After all, their religious practices were being allowed by a government that did not tolerate actions that were considered disrespectful or disruptive. These Jesus-people could stir up the crowds thus precipitating retaliation by the Romans.

In the week before Passover, Jesus enter triumphantly into Jerusalem.

We wish to see Jesus: Among those coming to worship were some Greeks, a term that usually meant Gentiles. Yet, since they have come to Passover, we may assume that they are, although Greek, also Jews--like Paul, for example. They approach Andrew and Philip, two of the disciples with Greek names.

As we modern Christians struggle with who should be allowed to be part of us, we can remember that our group has been a diverse one from very early days.

The meaning of his death: Jesus responds to them by a series of teaching about his soon-to-happen death. Yet, as he often is, he is cryptic. He talks about wheat. He uses a paradox about love and hate and loss and gain. Then, he speaks more clearly: "Whoever serves me must follow me. Where I am, there will my servant be also."

Read Jesus' pronouncement again, "Where I am, there will my servant be also." Does that mean that if Jesus' servant is not somewhere then Jesus is not? Or, does it mean if we are not carrying out our mission to do the work that Jesus showed us that no matter what we call ourselves, we are not really his servants?

I remember when Bishop Carder would visit Mississippi churches during his service in Mississippi. Before he went to the church building, he would wander about its neighborhood. He would ask passers-by about the church, if they knew anything about it, what impact it was having. Some of the respondents would not even know that such and such a Methodist church was their neighbor. Others would have seen the building, but knew nothing else other than there was that physical structure on the block. And some knew a lot about the impact of the congregation's ministry.

Try it in your neighborhood.

"Where I am, there will my servant be also."

Monday of Holy Week, Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 36:5-11; Hebrews 9:11-15; John 12:1-11

A Light to Nations, Reflection on Isaiah 42:1-9
As we move through this week that began with the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, we remember Isaiah's words to a people who needed saving, as do all people who need saving.

He described their savior and reminded them what God is like.

God created heaven and earth
and gave life to the people who walked on it.

And Isaiah reminded them that this salvation was not restricted to a small group of persons; rather, these who were to be saved would be a message for the whole world.

We need to continue to remember that God is our source, our provider, and our rescuer. Use as a prayer today this excerpt from Psalms:

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.

For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright of heart!

Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me, or the hand of the wicked drive me away. (36:5-11)

Extensive Love, a Reflection on Psalm 36:5-10
The reading from Isaiah reminds of the Lord's love for Jerusalem--which we go on to translate as being love for all the rest of us, too. The love is even broader in Psalm 36--the Lord saves not only us humans but animals as well.

Now, I had read Psalm 36 many, many times and had not picked up on the inclusion of animals. Then I read John H. Hayes' contribution to Preaching Through the Christian Year C.

He says:
What may initially strike us as odd in such a comparison or classification might not appear so if we give it some thought. The beast receives its blessings, its food, its livelihood witout setting out to please God or anybody; it makes no effort to measure up to any standard; it simply drinks in the benefits that come its way from the created order controlled by God. The writer is suggesting something similar is the case with humans.

Reflection on Hebrews 9:11-14
An offering was made by a high priest as a means for the sinner to be redeemed. Christ is for us sinners both the high priest and the offering that is sacrificed.

We Christians can read this as reassuring.

We should be grateful but not triumphalistic.

Further, we should be careful not to misinterpret the phrase, "dead works."

According to Allen & Williamson's Preaching the Letters without Dismissing the Law

The "dead works" should not be confused with the mitzvoth of torah. "Dead works" are not "deeds of loving kindness"; they are sins that pollute the conscience.

Contrasts, a Reflection on John 12:1-11
Judas and Mary. He is male, a close associate who has been entrusted with the money, yet not loyal. She is a woman, as far as we know has not been traveling with then but has been staying there in Bethany, but does recognize the importance of Jesus.

She takes a large quantity of an expensive perfume and uses it to anoint his feet. She realizes that a great sacrifice on her part is appropriate because of his greatness. Later, Jesus will command his disciples to wash each other's feet.

Judas pronounces her actions as wasteful, "That money could be spent on the poor." But, he is not thinking of the poor. He's planning to use the money for himself. And Jesus knows this.

His rebuke to Judas should not in any way give us permission to ignore the needs of the poor. Rather, since they are always with us, we should always be thinking of ways to continue to show Christ's love through our own actions.

Now. let's bring the gifts to Jesus story up a couple of centuries:
How Methodists are spending their money
Thinking about the conflict between Mary and Lazarus on how funds entrusted to them should be spent, I checked the United Methodist Church website to see how we are making that decision in current times.

According to Mission, Ministry, and Money an article in New World Outlook written by Scott Brewer:
In looking at the ways congregations have spent their money over the last decade, a few patterns emerge. Churches spend most of their money in support of the local congregation and the clergy in the United Methodist connection. These categories of expense--pastoral and lay staff salaries and benefits, and operations--accounted for about 85 percent of all church spending in 2008, except for building projects and debt service. That figure was up about 0.5 percent compared to 1998, though it was up about 5 percentage points compared to 1978. While local church statistics can tell us only part of our story, the data do indicate that churches continue to show a consistent willingness to send money outside their walls.

What is changing, however, is where our churches are sending that money. This remaining 15 percent of church spending is used for mission and ministries outside the local congregation and for denominational administration (which helps to pay for things like holding annual conference and general conference) and for the supervision of clergy through support of bishops and district superintendents.

Note: These stats are several years old, but I couldn't find newer ones easily enough to update this entry.

The Source of Help, Reflection on Isaiah 50:4-9

Isaiah tells Israel about the one chosen by God to teach, to sustain. This chosen one has listened to God and has accepted punishment by the enemy.

The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced.

                   and

The one who vindicates me is near.

Christians read back into this and the other suffering servant songs as we contemplate the crucifixion and the resurrection. The servants' people did not accept him, but God sustained him through it all.

Read Psalm 31:9-16 in response to the words from Isaiah:

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also.

For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away.

I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbors, an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.

I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.

For I hear the whispering of many— terror all around!— as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.

But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.”

My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.

Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.

If he's the Messiah, Reflection on Mark 15:24-47

The first reaction to the crucifixion of Jesus was mockery. Mockery by passers-by and by the chief priests and the scribes. "If he's the Messiah, why doesn't he do some Messiah-like thing?" Even the two bandits being crucified next to him taunted him.

Mark is making an important point. What does Messiah-behavior look like? What do we expect of a savior, of an anointed one chosen as our leader? What does it mean for us that our Christ has suffered and died? What does it mean for us that our Christ was rejected by religious experts and deserted by his closest followers?

And what does it mean for us that a centurion, an officer of the occupying Roman army, recognized that this man was God's Son?

What does it mean for us to remember that Jesus had women disciples? ones who were not hiding away at this frightening time but were witnesses to the crucifixion?

Motives, Reflection on Mark 15:1-23

In Mark's gospel, the Jewish council violated several of their own laws. Luke's gospel deletes many of these violations. John's gospel leaves out the trial before the council. We're left to ponder the decisions each of the gospel writers made.

In the passage we're looking at today, Mark continues to show the Jewish leaders trying to silence Jesus. They press the crowd to call for Pilate to release a murderer rather than Jesus.

Mark tells us their motive was envy.

Pilate's motive was to satisfy the crowd.

As we move toward Palm/Passion Sunday, we might well reflect on the motives that underlie our own decisions. What effect does envy have on what we do? Whom are we most ready to satisfy? Whose approval means the most to us?

Rejection of Jesus, Reflection on Mark 14:51-72

As you read about Jesus on trial, consider the responses of two different persons:

     The high priest.

     The disciple.

The Sanhedrin consisted of 71 members who were charged with the responsibility of keeping their religious community safe--and sometimes safe meant accommodating the needs of the ruling authorities, the occupying force, the Romans. And, sometimes, safe meant protecting from internal heresy.

They have rules but don't follow them. Instead, they offer false testimony, and can't even agree on which falsities to swear to.

Frustrated, the High Priest addresses Jesus directly, "Are you the Messiah?"

Jesus responds, "I am."

The Council condemns Jesus to death.

Peter has been one of the disciples closest to Jesus. And he has failed him before. While he was supposed to be keeping watch at Gethsemane, he fell asleep three times.

Now, while Jesus is being condemned to death, Peter is nearby. One of the high priest's servants sees him and recognizes him, "You're with that guy that's on trial." Peter denies it. She tells some bystanders, and he denies it. Some of the bystanders say the same thing, and he once more denies it. Three times.

Peter broke down and wept.

The High Priest would not recognize that this man brought before him was the Anointed One of Israel. Did Peter? Do we?

Deserters, Reflection on Mark 14:26-50

In Mark's Gospel, the last words that Jesus speaks to his disciples are, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand" (14:41-42).

When I was an accounting professor, I would warn my students that the persons likely to embezzle would be trusted employees--after all, they would be the ones most likely to have access.

This phenomenon is not new. Read Zechariah 13:1-7.

The men that Jesus chose as guards were three of his closest associates. They went to the sleep on the job. The one who sold him out to the Romans was also one of the twelve.

The work of the resurrected Christ continues. Who's sleeping on the job? Who is betraying the message?

Anointment, Betrayal, Communion, Reflection on Mark 14:1-25

Jesus is living under threat. As he is sitting at supper, a woman approaches him with a jar filled with an expensive ointment. She breaks the jar and anoints his head with the ointment. When Israel had kings, they had been anointed by prophets (See 1 Samuel 16; 1 Kings 19:16). The word we translate as "Messiah" means anointed.

The other dinner guests do not do this scriptural exegesis. They don't think, "She must be a prophet. Ergo, he must be a king." Rather, they focus on what seems to them to be the foolish waste. And the contents of the jar were expensive--almost a year's pay.

Jesus reminds them of what they surely already knew--they are going to have many opportunities to use resources in what seems to be the right way--taking care of the poor. After all, the poor are not going away. Circumstances will continue to foster poverty.

Jesus points out to them that what this woman has done in this place on this day is is to prepare his body for burial. Yes, kings were anointed, but also are those persons who are to be buried.

The irony in Mark's version is that Jesus then says that wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done will be told in remembrance of her. Yet, Mark doesn't tell us her name.

Later, in a Passover meal with his closest disciples, Jesus tells them that one of them is going to betray him.

Then he takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them, saying "This is my body." He takes a cup, gives thanks, and gives it to them, saying, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many." We continue to remember this supper as disciples continue to gather.

The incident of the anointment of Jesus by a woman is told in all four gospels--and, with variations among them. In Mark's version, she is not named, nor are the objectors. Try not to worry about harmonizing the details. Rather, use them to help understand what particular message that particular gospel writer is trying to get across to us.

Looking backward to see forward, Reflection on Mark 11:1-11

Note: The lectionary offers alternative readings for the sixth Sunday of Lent. If you are celebrating Palm Sunday, the gospel reading is Mark 11:1-11 with a responding psalm, 118:1-2, 19-29.

Imagine living in a land that once had been yours but now is under the control of a powerful overseer; imagine that your own political and religious leaders answer to this other force. This was life for the Jews in the time of Jesus.

They looked backwards to help them see forwards.

When Mark told of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, he quoted from Psalms and from the prophets who had spoken to the people as they envisioned return from exile.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9)

Mark's readers have known what came next: He will defeat the enemy and the prisoners will be set free (Read Zechariah 9:10-17).

We still are reading the Gospel of Mark. And we still are being held captive. For some Christians, the captors are actual human overseers. For others, they are powerful forces. As individuals, we may be worried about loss of health or loss of a specific loved one. Or, as a community, we have shared concerns--like the devastating floods in North Dakota this past weekend.

And today, we can think of the economic strictures around the globe.

How much have we lost?
How much do we fear?
What will tomorrow bring?

Let us also look backward to help us see forward. Here are some excerpts from Psalm 118:

I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone....
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you.
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

High Priest, Son of God, Reflection on Hebrews 5:5-10

I asked myself why the lectionary chose this particular passage for this particular Sunday. My supposition: the gospel lesson, John 12:20-33, is the main focus. So, I looked for connections and found several: glorify, high priest, Son, and death.

Glorify--the Greek word is doxazo, from which we got our word, doxology; also, means praise and honor. We can read the term in John's gospel to include crucifixion, death, and ascension, all of which would have been known to the hearers of this letter.

high priest--an intercessor, an intermediary between sinful humans and a forgiving God.

Son--Although Christians think of this term, of course, as denoting parentage, after all, we do say Father and Son, the psalm being quoted here, 2:7, refers to appointment. As Boring and Craddock put it in their NT Commentary, "Being 'God's Son' has roots in royal ideology....God grants to the king a place above all other monarchs and princes."

death--Jesus voluntarily submitted to the necessity for his death.

Being God's Son, in any way we consider this term, did not exempt him from suffering.

Having been made perfect [here, this term means "completed" rather than having achieved moral supremacy; see Hebrews 6:1; 7:11].

In stressing Christ's suffering, the writer of Hebrews may be trying to argue against the heresy that Christ was not fully human. He is not saying that followers of Christ should duplicate that suffering. Nor, should we ever cause suffering of our fellow human beings.

Restore Me, Reflection on Psalm 51:8-12

We can pray Psalm 51 when we recognize that we need forgiveness, that we want forgiveness:

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

And we can pray Psalm 51 when we want what forgiven people have--restoration

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.

Note: Look at Ezekiel 36:24-28.

Have Mercy on Me, a Sinner, Reflection on Psalm 51:1-7

Psalm 51 is one of only seven penitential psalms. I'm wondering why only seven. How often do we need words to express our recognition that we need to be forgiven?

Here's the first seven verses:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.

Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.

You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Although most of the psalms are communal prayers, this psalm is expressed as an individual cry, Have mercy on me, blot out my transgressions, wash me, and purify me.

And I can ask this of God because mercy is what God is like, because mercy befits God's faithfulness, because God is abundantly compassionate.

Sometimes, we need reminders that we are sinning. And, sometimes, we are so burdened by our sins that we need reminders that God is compassionate.

Written on your heart, Reflection on Jeremiah 31:33-34

"They broke the covenant I made with their ancestors. I'm going to make a new covenant." 

Try to look past our supercessionist interpretation of the phrase "new covenant" all the way back to how Jeremiah's listeners would have understood it. "This covenant will be written on your hearts."

John H. Hayes In Preaching through the Christian Year B:

The newness is a special gift, the capacity to be faithful and obedient. In the Old Testament, the heart is the seat of the will (see Jeremiah 29:13; 32:39; Ezekiel 1:19; 36:26); consequently, the special gift here is a will with the capacity to be faithful. God thus promises to change the people from the inside out, to give them a center. This covenant will overcome the conflict between knowing or wanting one thing and doing another...

The Lord is promising not new content but new contact--or, renewed contact.

Lectio Divina: Jeremiah 31:33-34

The Covenant Renewed, Reflection on Jeremiah 31:31-32

We're reading this message from Jeremiah as Christians in Lent. Lent, a time of reflection and repentance. A time that begins with Ash Wednesday and its reminder of our death, a time that ends with Easter and its reminder of eternal life.

Jeremiah is writing to people who were really in need of repentance. People whose lives were in ashes.

"You have been unfaithful to me," the Lord told them, "and I'm taking you back."

God made covenant with them. God had given them a home and they moved to Egypt. God brought them back home. They neglected God. They disobeyed God. They misused their gifts. They neglected neighbors in need. They were overrun by powerful enemies and taken into exile in Babylon. God renews the covenant and brings them back.

Lectio Divina: Psalm 51:1-4

Lifted Up, Reflection on John 12:27-33

The crowd doesn't understand what he's talking about, can't grasp the logic of it. even when they hear a voice from heaven, they give differing explanations.

Jesus responds to them rather indirectly. The ruler of the world is going to be ousted. Yet, Jesus adds that he himself is to be lifted up from the earth. They don't see the logic in this, either.

Note that the phrase, lifted up, has a double meaning. Jesus will physically be lifted up onto the cross. And he will be exalted.

Also note that when he is lifted up, Jesus will draw all people to himself. All.

Reading ahead: In verses 35-36, He responds rather cryptically again by talking about light and darkness. In their commentary, John, Gail R. O'Day and Susan E. Hylen remind us of the other times in this gospel that this imagery has been used to characterize Jesus and his ministry and the response of others to it: 1:4-9; 3:9-21; 8:12; 9:4-5; 11:9-10.

In this gospel, Jesus will no longer speak to the crowds but only to his disciples.

Lectio Divina: John 12:31-32

Where is Jesus? Reflection on John 12:20-26

Where we are in the story: Lazarus died and then was raised. In response, many believed. Frightened by this belief, some reported Jesus to religious authorities. After all, their religious practices were being allowed by a government that did not tolerate actions that were considered disrespectful or disruptive. These Jesus-people could stir up the crowds thus precipitating retaliation by the Romans.

In the week before Passover, Jesus enter triumphantly into Jerusalem.

We wish to see Jesus: Among those coming to worship were some Greeks, a term that usually meant Gentiles. Yet, since they have come to Passover, we may assume that they are, although Greek, also Jews--like Paul, for example. They approach Andrew and Philip, two of the disciples with Greek names.

As we modern Christians struggle with who should be allowed to be part of us, we can remember that our group has been a diverse one from very early days.

The meaning of his death: Jesus responds to them by a series of teaching about his soon-to-happen death. Yet, as he often is, he is cryptic. He talks about wheat. He uses a paradox about love and hate and loss and gain. Then, he speaks more clearly: "Whoever serves me must follow me. Where I am, there will my servant be also."

Read Jesus' pronouncement again, "Where I am, there will my servant be also." Does that mean that if Jesus' servant is not somewhere then Jesus is not? Or, does it mean if we are not carrying out our mission to do the work that Jesus showed us that no matter what we call ourselves, we are not really his servants?

I remember when Bishop Carder would visit Mississippi churches during his service in Mississippi. Before he went to the church building, he would wander about its neighborhood. He would ask passers-by about the church, if they knew anything about it, what impact it was having. Some of the respondents would not even know that such and such a Methodist church was their neighbor. Others would have seen the building, but knew nothing else other than there was that physical structure on the block. And some knew a lot about the impact of the congregation's ministry.

Try it in your neighborhood.

"Where I am, there will my servant be also."

Respond to the Gifts of Faith, Reflection on Ephesians 2:8-10

After reminding the Ephesians of what God had already done for them, the writer then tells them what they are to do in response--good works. You weren't saved by your works; you were saved to work.

Does the promise in verse 8 change when you realize that the "you" is, in Greek, plural (as are the other 2nd-person pronouns in this passage)? How hard is it, for us moderns, to read this letter from Paul as being addressed to the church rather than to an individual, that is, the me who is reading it now?

Lectio Divina: Ephesians 2:10

God's Grace, Reflection on Ephesians 2:1-7

Verses 1-3, What you used to be like: sinful, living according to the world's rules, giving in to your fleshly desires

Verses 4-6, What God has done: God, out of mercy and love, saved us by grace.

Verse 7, Why: so God can continue to show us the immeasurable riches of God's grace in Christ Jesus.

And, remember that God refuses to give up on any of us.

Lectio Divina: Ephesians 2:4-5

Saved from Distress, Reflection on Psalm 107:17-22

Psalm 107 gives thanks for deliverance from many troubles: refugees (4-9); prisoners (10-16); people suffering from illness (17-22); sailors and travelers on ships (23-32).

This week's lectionary focuses on the third group, those who are ill. Even those who had brought about their own sickness cried out to the Lord for help. And even them, did the Lord deliver.

We can interpret this passage quite literally and find many present-day illustrations of sick people who didn't deserve being sick and those who, in our judgment, did. (Read the daily news for examples.)

And, we can metaphorize.

Sometimes, it is appropriate to look for fault and assess blame, but, it is always appropriate to seek the help of the Lord--directly and also through the work of scientists, economists, and politicians.

And, it is appropriate to give thanks.

Lectio Divina: Psalm 107:21-22

O Give Thanks to the Lord, Reflection on Psalm 107:1-3

In his Models for Interpreting Scripture, William Goldingay writes that some portions of the Bible are intended to reassure us by describing events that have happened, that other portions are intended to instruct or confront by reminding us of what God has said, and that still other portions help us to reflect and to respond by revealing the words that our ancestors have used in addressing God. 

The Book of Psalms is an example of this last category--much of the material in the Psalms are prayers addressed to God.

Psalms often are prayers based on experience, a reflection of what the psalmist has been through, and what God has done--or, in some psalms, what the psalmist wants or expects God to do next (also, of course, based on a reflection of experience--either a personal experience of the psalmist or from the shared story of a group of people).

The opening verses of Psalm 107 illustrate this type of Scripture. They call for giving thanks to the Lord for rescue. Some scholars attribute this passage to a particular point in Israel's history, the return from the exile in Babylon. The lectionary has paired it with a different point in Israel's history, the time in the wilderness. And, we can adapt them readily to our own history, to a time when we have been rescued from trouble.

Note that this particular psalm is written from the viewpoint of the nation rather than from that of an individual.

Lectio Divina: Psalm 107:1-3

Just Look up, Reflection on Numbers 21:4-9

Here are some people who have been rescued from a life of exclusion and degradation. They were slaves building someone else's pyramid, and now they're on their way to the Promised Land.

And they are complaining all the way. Not enough water. Not enough food. And they really miss Egypt.

Let us modern-day people pause for a minute here and review our own complaints on any typical day. How strange is it to desire whatever has become Egypt to us? to accept rule by that Egypt? During Lent, let us look back on what life was like and what life could be like.

Back to the wilderness wanderers: They complain to Moses about God. God punishes them. They repent. Moses intercedes for them with God. God relents and provides relief.

Carol Bechtel Reynolds writes "Life After Grace," in the July 1997 Interpretation:

God forgives the penitent, however, and offers salvation to those who will take advantage of it. At this point one is justified in going to the New Testament passage that is paired with this text in the lectionary. Now we are prepared to hear John 3:14-15 with greater clarity than it it had been read alone. There Jesus says: "And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." It is only against the backdrop of God's justice and mercy that the "folly" of Jesus' words makes sense. When we hear them we realize that, like those poor snake-bitten rebels in the wilderness, we have only to look up and live.

Lectio Divina: Numbers 21:4 

Inclusion or exclusion, Reflection on John 3:18-24

The next time you hear somebody making a distinction between the OT God and the NT God, you might remind them of this quote from John's gospel: those who believe are not condemned, but those who do not believe are condemned already.

We could deconstruct this passage by analyzing what "believe" means, what "condemned" means, particularly if the condemnation has already happened.

Further pondering on John's message could center on the nature of the judgment. Look at verse 19. Is he talking about a personal, individually-experienced punishment, or, is he talking about what happens to the whole community?

Come to think of it, is it even possible for an individual alone to be saved (whatever we might mean by saved)? Read verse 17 once more: God sent the Son in order that the world might be saved.

And read ahead in this Gospel: "I have have other sheep that do not belong to this fold," (10:16), and "In my Father's house there are many dwelling places," (14:2).

We are called by John to understand that God loves us, we who believe in Jesus. Can we further believe that God loves all?

Lectio Divina: John 3:21

Eternal Life, Reflection on John 3:14-17

Jesus has been talking to Nicodemus, but now is speaking to a plural you. 

Jesus says to his hearers, "The Son of Man must be lifted up so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."

We take "lifted up" to mean the crucifixion or the resurrection or the ascension, or all of these. He is in Jerusalem at the beginning of his ministry yet his words will be understandable after his death, resurrection, and ascension.

Or, will they be? Nicodemus had seen signs, as had the other Pharisees, but he was unwilling to come publicly to Jesus. The audience for John's Gospel had seen even more signs; were they able to believe?

Jesus said that those who believe in him may have eternal life; also see, John 3:36; 4:14; 5:24; 6:27: and 17:14 (with thanks to The New Interpreter's Study Bible).

What is being promised? Not just heaven later after we're dead. The word we translate as eternal carries the meaning of a different quality of life, a new life free of the worldly, temporal concerns of the old life.

[Jesus alludes to Moses' lifting up a serpent in the wilderness, Numbers 21:4-9, a passage that I will discuss Wednesday.]

Surely, all football fans have seen that sign in the stands saying John 3:16. Please don't stop with that verse. God's intention is that this eternal life is for us all.

Lectio Divina: John 3:17

Not necessarily what was expected, Reflection on 1 Corinthians 1;18-25

Paul asks the Corinthians, and through them, us: Whose standards (or what standards) are important to you? Do you measure yourself by what society thinks is important? 

Paul reminds them and us: Chasing after what the world thinks is important is different from seeking what God thinks is important.

God has shown us an amazing contradiction--a crucified savior. Any sensible, analytical person would see that as an oxymoron. Yet, this is the message we are preaching, a message that rather than confirm would seems wise and sensible, is a message that replaces our notions of what is wise and sensible.

God does not work according to our expectations or logic.

Further, what miracles and philosophy can fail to do, God can achieve.

Note: I am helped by Boring and Craddock's The People's New Testament Commentary.

Lectio Divina: 1 Corinthians 1:18-20

God is not a cosmic bellhop, Reflection on Psalm 19

God is not a cosmic bellhop, Michael Shevack & Jack Bemporad tell us in their Stupid ways, Smart ways to think about God.

Just ring the bell, and God becomes your own personal Pavlovian puppy. eagerly He goes to work, gratifying your every desire, indulging your every whim....

And, by making God an extension of your own desires, you have made your own desires God-like. In essence, you have made yourself God. You are the center of the universe and God is at the periphery.

That hardly resembles a healthy faith. Indeed, it is more akin to cult behavior. it turns man into God. It has a very ancient name, idolatry. because the first step in any meaningful religion is to recognize our proper place in the scheme of things....

Lectio Divina: 51:9-12 

Thou Shalt Not, a Reflection on Exodus 20:12-17

Imagine being in that group of people that first heard these commandments. In Egypt, everybody knew what they were supposed to do and not do because the pharaoh and his minions were in charge. Now these former slaves were free of Egypt and were on their way to the land promised to them by the Lord.   

God provides them with a guide to forming a new nation, one in which they can prosper, one in which they care for the other, one in which they recognize that those two things are interdependent.

Verses 12-17 deal specifically with interpersonal behavior, within the family and within the community. Your neighbors are your partners not sources to be exploited.

Reading back through this list of commandments, I'll quote from Preaching the Old Testament, by Allen & Williamson:

Eight of the ten words begin: "you shall not." People often speak of negative commandments as off-putting "do nots" that constrict life....But that misconstrues the negative instructions in the Torah. First, we can keep all of them while taking a nap. ...Second, negative mitzvoth deal with the parameters of behavior. They do not specify what we should do, simply what we should not do. They name the actions that cancel all possibility of living with others a life of well-being (which can only be lived with others.)

More than Piety is Required, a Reflection on Exodus 20:7-11

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God. It seems to me that I was taught not to use certain curse words because they would have been a violation of this command. Later, I was taught that this command deals with more than cussing. We are making a wrongful use of the name of the Lord our God whenever we invoke that name to get our own way. Allen & Williamson, in Preaching the Old Testament, interpret this commandment, "Empty talk, cheap grace, easy religion, self-interest parading as piety: the church should speak against all wrongful use of the name of God."

Remember the Sabbath day,  and keep it holy.  I remember the blue laws, the prohibitions against stores being open on Sunday or, in Mississippi at least, not being able to buy beer or liquor, even in a restaurant. Walter Brueggemann, in Texts for Preaching B, takes a wider view of this command. He reminds us that the original audience for these commands was a group of escaped slaves who had been made quite familiar with forced work. What the emperor wanted was what was important to their overseers. We may not be in slave gangs with an emperor's employee telling us what to do and to keep doing it. But, we still need to consider whose will is directing our actions. As Brueggemann puts it:

In a consumer economy with the vicious cycles of consumption as well as of production. In this "rest," which is ordained into the very fabric of creation, we recover our sense of creatureliness and resist the pressure to be frantic consumers who find our joy and destiny in commodities.

Toward Freedom, a Reflection on Exodus 20:1-6

God had said to those people released from slavery but still living in the wilderness, "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol."

Was it easier for them to focus than it is for any of us? How free are we? Do we consider our surroundings more like a promised land or more like the wilderness?

"No other gods. Don't make an idol." That's the first commandment, the starting place, the first step in preparing to live the new life--or to live life in the new way.

What a god is--the most important factor that we base a decision on. Our god can be our physical safety (or merely comfort), or our financial security, or our need to feel superior, or so on. What influences what we do every day? What is important to us? Whatever that is, that is the idol we have made for ourselves.

Let us repent.

Lectio Divina: Exodus 20:1-4

Remembering and Believing, Reflection on John 2:17-22

When they saw him driving out the money changers and heard him castigating them, the disciples remembered the line from the Psalms, "Zeal for your house will consume me." Jesus was willing to challenge those who were using for their own benefit what was to be a place to worship. 

Jesus said, "If you destroy this temple, in three days I will raise it up."

By the time that John's gospel was written, this temple had been destroyed by the Romans in retribution for a Jewish insurrection.

Christians began to understand Jesus' words as telling them that he, his living presence, would be the temple for them.

Lectio Divina: John 2:22

Cleansing the Temple, Reflection on John 2:13-16

"The Passover of the Jews was near," John tells us, "and Jesus went up to Jerusalem." The first passover was celebrated when they were still in Egypt, as they gave thanks for the sparing of their own first sons and for the opportunity finally to escape slavery to the powerful Egypt (Exodus 12:1-20). They were instructed to continue to keep passover as a festival, holy convocation, a time of making offerings to the Lord (Numbers 28:16-25).

In Jesus' time, the Passover offerings were brought to the temple in Jerusalem. How jarring it must have been to have a holy day set aside to be grateful for liberation and to come to an occupied city to express their gratitude. Allen & Williamson, their Preaching the Gospels without Blaming the Jews, write:

Anyone walking to Jerusalem from Bethany or Bethphage, crossing the Mount of Olives and looking at the temple from across the Kidron valley, would have seen the Fortress Antonia, home to the Roman Tenth Legion, standing next to the temple and Roman soldiers posted on the parapets of the fort and on top of the wall surrounding the temple complex. ...The people were in exile in the land of promise.
We still wrestle, or maybe we don't, with the need to recognize our gratitude to God and to give allegiance to the nation that governs our lives.

In the synoptic gospels, Jesus accuses the sellers of turning the house of prayer into a den on robbers, combining references from Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11. In John's gospel, Jesus tells the ones selling the doves to stop making his Father's house a marketplace. This may be an allusion to Zachariah's prophecy of the final victory, a time when "there shall no longer be traders in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day" (Zechariah 14:1-21).

We may be more comfortable with the ban on robbers than the ban on marketplace. Churches need to collect money for Sunday School material, youth trips, and meals. Some congregations interpret this rule that all commercial transactions must be kept out of the sanctuary but are allowed in hallways and vestibules.

Lectio Divina: Psalm 51:9-13

Re-Membering, Reflection on Romans 4:23-25

As I read this passage, I thought about a line from Faulkner that went something like this, "He brought the old man with him every time he came." The old man in Faulkner's tale had been dead a generation or so, but his descendants had not even started to let him go. Well, by the time that Paul was writing to the Romans, Abraham had been dead a long time, but his story still was affecting those who had been told about it.

Paul reminded them, "The words--the pronouncement of acceptance of the trusting--were written not just for Abraham. They were written for all believers.

We read the stories in Scriptures not merely for glimpses into history but also to relive those encounters in our own lives, to glimpse how God continues to work in us humans.

Paul expressed the insight that people who were not Jews could be Christians. Yet, the story of Abraham was also theirs.

Lectio Divina: Psalm 22:26-27