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'Dying to Life' (Lent, a journey to Easter & beyond)
Lent Three - March 23rd
Exodus 20:1-17
Psalm 19
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
John 2:13-22
Lent provides an opportunity for us to experience some of the tensions and conflicts that accompany the commitment to following the footsteps of Christ. I have a little card box on my work station - one side says `Conversations with God - Reminders'. I choose one at random each day, and as I began to write this morning, today's certainly fits with Lent Three - 'FEELING ~ is the language of the soul'. Like Jesus we try to discern - amid various tempting strategies - what we are called to do and how we are called to act. These readings remind us that this discernment is called for in every aspect of our lives and demands our whole selves including all our passion and our feeling.
Exodus....
It is traditional in Lent for these verses from the Torah [the Way] to be read on this Sunday. They are part of yet another promise or covenant that God makes with the Hebrew people. The focus of the ten commandments is on protecting the health of the community, and while many of the situations we are confronted with are not anticipated by these 'laws', they provide an indispensable starting point for our ongoing ethical task.
What is clear is that God expects two responses - the first four relate to worship, while the other six are about healthy social relationships - right relationships with one another based on love, care and respect. One source I was exploring put it this way - 'instructions for shaping a life of faith active in love'.
Psalm....
The psalm for today is a fitting complement to the Exodus passage as it praises the law for its life-giving qualities, its ability to provide a framework through which one can view the world and one's own life.
Corinthians....
The challenge of Lenten paradoxes is rampant in this passage, we are called to meditate upon the proclamation of Christ crucified - foolishness and defeatism according to the values of the world; but life and salvation for those who believe. How do we know God's power? Through signs and miracles? Through philosophical debate? Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?
John....
John provides more details of this incident than any of the other Gospels and positions it in relation to the early part of Jesus ministry, challenging the true place of worship, challenging the barriers being created to those who want to come and worship and seek God. Lent is not just a time for individual reflection, but a time to look at our corporate sinfulness, about how we create barriers to the people God wants us to welcome. How do we use our buildings, have they become our 'idols'? Does our language and worship style exclude some people?
Questions to consider....
- Think about the relevance of the commandments for your community, and ask - How are we meant to approach the major ethical demands of our day?
- What barriers and stumbling blocks to a close relationship with God have we allowed to creep into our lives?
- How are we living out the two halves of our covenant relationship - our worship response to God, and our love and care for all the human family?
- Do we see broken covenants and distorted attitudes in the life of the church?
- What 'tables' would Jesus overturn if he were to visit your place of worship? What would you want to overturn?
Prayer for today.... [A reflective piece this week]
Cleansing of the Temple
My soul was merchandise
ripped into several pieces
and sold to anyone
who would pay.
My fragmented life was passed
from buyer to buyer
to be used at will
and discarded by resale.
I could never be my own owner.
Then Jesus, at my asking,
stormed into my life and heart
and scourged the evil there
and threw out those wicked powers
who bartered for my soul
and sought to sell me
into eternal, miserable bondage.
He cleansed this fleshly temple
and bought all the pieces of my life with his
and made me whole
one with him
and set his Holy Spirit in me
daily teaching me
how to be his holy temple.
Stephen R. Clark - Alive Now March/April 1980
Music....
- Be thou my vision - WOV 455
- Christ is the world's light - WOV 191
- God of freedom, God of justice - AA 50
- Lord of creation to you be all praise - WOV 557
- May the anger of Christ be mine - FFS 48
- Your way not mine - HTC 555