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7 March - Lent 2
Very Rev Lawrie Hampton
The Readings
Genesis 15: 1-12, 17-18 Walter Brueggemann says that “this chapter is pivotal for the Abraham tradition. Theologically, it is probably the most important chapter of this entire collection. It has been judged by many scholars to be the oldest statement of Abrahamic faith, from which the others are derivative. It has been utilised by Paul in a distinctive way for his great teaching on justification by faith. There is no doubt that this chapter offers crucial resources for the themes of faith and covenant.”
Verses 13-16, omitted by the lectionary, are widely agreed to be an interpolation. The original narrative moved directly from Abraham’s sleep to the appearance of God in the smoking fire pot and the flaming torch, and to the covenant God makes with Abraham.
Psalm 27 This is a psalm of two parts. It may originally have been two separate songs, for both the mood and the metre change after verse 6. The first half glows with enthusiasm and confidence – the writer knows no fear, despite the dangers around him. From verses 7 there is earnest searching for God, and the writer pleads that God will not abandon him to his enemies. In the closing lines, faith is overcoming fear.
Philippians 3:17 to 4:1 Philippians is a warmly personal letter, written from prison, in which Paul tells his readers about the coming visit of Timothy, and to assure them of his warm appreciation of their concern for him and their generosity to him. He tries to assure them that his imprisonment has turned out for the furtherance of the Gospel, and urges them to be united and faithful in the face of persecution. The words joy and rejoice occur often.
This passage warns against enemies of the cross of Christ, reminds them of where their deepest loyalty lies, and urges them to be steadfast in the Lord.
Luke 13: 31-35 We don’t know whether the Pharisees who brought the message of Herod’s plans were well-disposed towards Jesus and wanted to save him from the Tetrarch’s wrath, or, on the other hand, were used by Herod to get Jesus out of his territory. Either way, he rejects the warning, calls Herod that fox, and speaks of his determination to finish my work. T W Manson (The Sayings of Jesus) says that the word “fox” typifies low cunning… and is used in contrast to “lion” to describe an insignificant third-rate person. So Jesus’ words are a double insult to the Tetrarch.
The lament over Jerusalem and the deep sense of frustration and disappointment in Jesus that prompted it is similar to the tears that he shed over the city when he entered it on Palm Sunday. Both express a warm compassion for the city and its people, a bitter sorrow that they had rejected God’s purposes, and foretell future destruction. Your house is left to you suggests that the glory of God will depart from the temple and move elsewhere. Compare John 2:19: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” … He was speaking of the temple of his body.
Preaching
Ask the congregation how their faith is. Invite them to think for a moment about their faith and the shape that it’s in. Is it even-keel, unvarying, or does it have its lurches, its ups and downs, days when it vanishes, and days when it’s robust? Some say faith should always be rock-solid. They claim that if you are sometimes disturbed by awkward questions, and are not satisfied with pat answers, the “right” answers, then you faith is weak and inferior.
I’ve sometimes wistfully thought that life would be easier and more comfortable (and my sermons would be more dogmatic!) if there were smooth, definite, straightforward answers to the deep questions about God, life and its meaning, sorrow and tragedy, eternity…. Many years ago I tried to say something about this in a sermon, and an eager young man came rushing up to me after the service, told me that he was dreadfully upset to think that there were uncertainties in my faith, was concerned for the state of my soul, and enthusiastically offered to lead me to a rock-solid certainty. How do you think I responded? What would you have said?
In Genesis 15, in conversation with God, Abraham was told not to be afraid: his reward was great. The only reward Abraham wanted was an heir – and that had been promised three chapters and probably a decade earlier, and he told God so….
The sermon might go on to tell of God taking Abraham out of his tent and showing him the shimmering stars of the night sky. An experience for him of the glory of God, perhaps? Anyway, Abraham, we’re told, trusted God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.
For Abraham, faith was a struggle, as it was for many of the great men of God in the First Testament…. Immediately after that holy moment under the stars, God promises that the land he stands on will be his possession. And Abraham responds, “How can I know (be sure – REB) that I will possess it?” A brittle faith indeed.
Clearly, today’s Psalm (27) reflects a faith that doesn’t come easily.
Today’s Gospel reading, like last Sunday’s account of the testing of Jesus, the agony in Gethsemane, make it clear that faith for Jesus was not smooth, easy, and untroubled.
Nor is faith easy for us in today’s world. Faith needs to be rugged and resilient. So we are reminded that our hope and our peace and our life depend not on our battered and tattered faith, but on the good purposes of a holy, just, and loving God….
Prayers
Call to Worship
God is with us now. There is no place where God is not. Wherever we go, there God is.
Now and always God surrounds us and looks on us with mercy,
and is ready to hear us when we call.
So let us worship God.
We honour God in this act of worship.
We seek to honour God in everything we say and do
today and every day.
Prayer
We honour you, God eternal, Creator and Father.
We honour you, Jesus the Christ, Lord and Saviour.
We honour you, Holy Spirit of God, helper and guide.
Glory be God, Creator, Redeemer, and Spirit of life.
Eternal God, you have set before us in Jesus Christ
the true way of life, full life, eternal life.
Though we may go against what we know is your will for us;
though we may forget you, neglect you, and leave you out of our life;
though we may be too blind to see our own sin,
and too proud to admit it;
and though our attempts to put things right
may be half-hearted and fruitless:
we know that you never forget us,
and that the forgiving, restoring love that you hold out to us in Jesus Christ
never comes to an end.
A silence…
God of gentle strength, close to us in our joys and in our sorrows,
dispel our gloom, take away our despair, kindle our hope,
and give to us and to all your people a song of joy and a shout of praise
as people of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
[In writing these prayers it was intended that the parts in bold type
would be spoken by the congregation.]