Third Sunday in Lent: March 11, 2007.Isaiah 55:1-9 Psalm 126 2 Corinthians 10:1-13 Luke 13:1-9 First Reading The inescapable Lenten theme of repentance is woven through the fabric of all the passages appointed for this week. The pervasiveness of this single theme, however, does not mean that the tapestry is monochromatic monochromatic /mono·chro·mat·ic/ (-kro-mat´ik) 1. existing in or having only one color. 2. pertaining to or affected by monochromatic vision. 3. staining with only one dye at a time. . There is a rich, complex interweaving of the many ways that repentance is an essential element of our journey with God. The text from Isaiah comes to us from the time when exile is drawing to a close. Yet, while God knows and the prophet trusts this to be true, the people are unsure. Some are learning how to be Babylonians, and stay that way. Some just live in fear and despair. The opening verse uses the image of a marketplace where everything is free. The imperative voice of the grammar does not necessitate a harsh tone. This is more like the voice of a street vendor persistently urging people to partake of the bounty. For a people who question each day how God could still be at work when everything seems to be gone, the attention of the prophet to the covenant of David (vv. 3-5) provides a strand of unbreakable cord that connects them with their roots and the ongoing story of God's love. The call to repentance in this passage is not about stopping nasty personal habits or losing weight. Instead, it is a call to hope in the face of despair. Despair has driven the people to other marketplaces (v. 2) where the food does not do anything but deepen the despair. The call in the opening verses, and again in verses 6-7, begs the people to turn to a way of life, a way of being, that is awash Awash (ä`wäsh), river, E Ethiopia, rising near Addis Ababa and flowing c.500 mi (800 km) to a swampy lake near the Djibouti border. The Awash Valley is important agriculturally and has hydroelectric plants. in hope. When desperate people hear an offer of such grand possibility, they normally say "It is just too good to be true." The prophet responds by reminding them that God's ways are inscrutable in·scru·ta·ble adj. Difficult to fathom or understand; impenetrable. See Synonyms at mysterious. [Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin (v. 9). Sometimes repentance can happen when we reconnect our lives to the never-ending story of God's love for God's people. The Corinthians have developed a particularly nasty strain of libertarianism in response to the gospel's gift of freedom. Paul is Paul I, 1754–1801, czar of Russia (1796–1801), son and successor of Catherine II. His mother disliked him intensely and sought on several occasions to change the succession to his disadvantage. trying to reframe Re`frame´ v. t. 1. To frame again or anew. their notions about everything and anything being acceptable. Paul parallels baptism and the Lord's Supper with the experience of Exodus and then lifts up the stiff-necked ways that Israel responded in a way that allows the story to refute their behavior. Jesus' call for repentance in the reading from Luke has the impact of a slap in the face if we read it closely. Two examples of suffering and violence are lifted up as means of addressing the relationship between sin and suffering. One incident involves violence perpetrated in Galilee Galilee (găl`ĭlē), region, N Israel, roughly the portion north of the plain of Esdraelon. Galilee was the chief scene of the ministry of Jesus. ; the other, natural disaster in Jerusalem. The effect is to address the universality of the matter. The answer to the link between sin and suffering that we actually hope for is that suffering is the result of sin. That means that I am in control of whether suffering happens or not. Jesus refutes such nonsense in a way that prefigures his innocent death on the cross. In one sense, Jesus seems to be saying "Stuff happens." However, his rather direct call to repent re·pent 1 v. re·pent·ed, re·pent·ing, re·pents v.intr. 1. To feel remorse, contrition, or self-reproach for what one has done or failed to do; be contrite. 2. , or perish TO PERISH. To come to an end; to cease to be; to die. 2. What has never existed cannot be said to have perished. 3. When two or more persons die by the same accident, as a shipwreck, no presumption arises that one perished before the in the same way, does not allow a fatalistic fa·tal·ism n. 1. The doctrine that all events are predetermined by fate and are therefore unalterable. 2. Acceptance of the belief that all events are predetermined and inevitable. shrug. What Jesus really refutes in this passage is the notion that if you are alive and happy, you deserve it; you are not sinful. No: death comes to all. Judgment comes to all. The call to repent is the call to live a life filled with gratitude for each breath and live toward the things that transcend happiness defined as simply existing without suffering. The parable of the fig tree points to the radical grace of God brought in Jesus Christ Jesus Christ: see Jesus. Jesus Christ 40 days after Resurrection, ascended into heaven. [N.T.: Acts 1:1–11] See : Ascension Jesus Christ kind to the poor, forgiving to the sinful. [N.T. , who forestalls the judgment of all at his own expense. Yet, the final moment will come, and the tree is indeed expected to bear fruit. This kind of serious attention may be uncomfortable for both people and preacher, but there it is. Pastoral Reflection Perhaps the question "Why?" is part of what makes us human. We learn to ask it when we are young. We learn to ask it often. We especially ask it when bad things happen. As medical science continues to advance, we are becoming ever more aware that our personal choices often bring horrific consequences to our bodies. "Did you hear that Harry has cancer?" one friend asks. The other says, "Yeah, bad break. You know he smoked for years." Though it may sound cynical, I can't help but wonder whether pointing to Harry's bad habit bad habit Unhealthy habit Clinical medicine A patterned behavior regarded as detrimental to physical or mental health, which is often linked to a lack of self-control. Cf Good habit. is a way to make us feel safe. As long as we don't smoke, smoked less, or stopped sooner, we can think we will not die of cancer. In what may be some of the most relevant sections of the gospel for today's Christian, Jesus takes up the question of the relationship between sin and suffering in the passage from Luke. His response to questions about an incident at Galilee, instead of producing the assuring tones of pastoral presence we might expect from Jesus and offer ourselves, brings a call to repent, lest you "perish just as they did" (vv. 3, 5). His seeming harsh words unmask this human propensity to deny death and escape judgment. The Galileans who perished, those in Jerusalem who suffered, and even ol' Harry are no different from any of us. Jesus does lift up an alternative, however. Through repentance we can somehow face the suffering, the inevitable death, in a way that is different. Through repentance, Jesus implies, our end may somehow not result in perishing per·ish v. per·ished, per·ish·ing, per·ish·es v.intr. 1. To die or be destroyed, especially in a violent or untimely manner: "just as they did." What does this mean? Perhaps, as many commentators suggest, the death of the Galileans was a result of their pursuit of a revolution against Rome, and Jesus is calling for his own vision of messiah that precluded this and pursued peace. The parallel about buildings in Jerusalem falling down, commentators often suggest, is a prophecy about the destruction of the temple and the futility Futility See also Despair, Frustration. American Scene, The portrays Americans as having secured necessities; now looking for amenities. [Am. Lit.: The American Scene] Babio performs the useless and supererogatory. [Fr. in trying to keep it standing. Repentance is a call to a new way of being with God. Aside from these possibilities, we are offered the path to death that Jesus takes himself. Jesus links his suffering not with sin but with fidelity to God's will Noun 1. God's Will - the omnipotence of a divine being omnipotence - the state of being omnipotent; having unlimited power . Jesus does not give in to a despair that is concerned only with his own ending but goes to the cross forgiving all. Perhaps to "perish as they did" is to perish in the fear, anxiety, and despair evidenced by the human need to avoid death and judgment at all cost. The Parable of the Fig Tree offers a word of grace: Through the atoning death of Jesus Christ, the destruction has been put off. There is time. The parable also holds out a word of judgment: The time on the clock is still winding down. Whatever the preacher's solution to this paradox, this text offers up a way of preaching that lays out the complexity and paradox of the good news rather than holding to simplistic sim·plism n. The tendency to oversimplify an issue or a problem by ignoring complexities or complications. [French simplisme, from simple, simple, from Old French; see simple notions that fill the bumper stickers bumper sticker n. A sticker bearing a printed message for display on a vehicle's bumper. bumper sticker n → Aufkleber m of the land. The desperate images of exile also connect with today's landscape of fear, violence, and uncertainty. Drawing on what causes us to live in despair, the preacher has an opportunity to truly enact the gracious call to hope in Isaiah 55. The people live in exile, but release is on the way. We indeed live in Lent, but Easter is coming. We live in the shadow of terrorism and war, with no end in sight, but God is at work. We face death and destruction personally and communally, but new life is promised. TVO TVO tractor vaporizing oil. |
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