Lent 3
Devotional
Streams of Living Water
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle B
Object:
Exodus 20:1-17
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
-- Exodus 20:2-3
This is the beginning of the Ten Commandments. It leaves no doubt that the saving grace of God comes first. Before the commandments were given or obeyed, God reached out to save the people. Having acted, God provides a framework in which the people can respond to what they have already been given. We act in obedience to God's commandments not in order to win God's favor but in order to thank God for what has already been done for us. Obeying the commandments is an act of thanksgiving that recognizes the profound gift God has given us.
When Jesus would later suggest that all of the law and the prophets could be summed up in loving God and loving neighbor, he was echoing the framework of the commandments. The first three commandments directly concern our relationship to God. The fourth blends a response to God and to neighbor. The last six frame our relationship with others. It has often been noted that with the exception of the fourth commandment, the others are expressed in the negative. The result is that we are given outer parameters but within that framework we have a great deal of freedom to make our own decisions. God's laws are provided for us in order to protect our freedom.
Psalm 19
The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
-- Psalm 19:1
Psalm 19 could serve as a foundation for Paul's declaration in Romans 1:19-20: "Ever since the creation of the world ... his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made." The psalmist, too, believes that the heavens and the firmament declare the glory of God to the ends of the earth (vv. 1-4). As an example, he gives the strong and steady course of the sun which evokes awe in the observer (vv. 5-6). The experience of awe evoked by nature leads to a desire to respond. The law of the Lord is God's gift that informs us, in a way that nature cannot, of how we can respond to this mysterious power that orders the universe. The law revives the soul, makes the simple wise, rejoices the heart, and other such actions (vv. 7-10). It enables life to have direction and purpose in relation to one's creator. Yet, the law also makes us aware of our inadequacies and makes us even more aware of how dependent we are on God to liberate us from sin (vv. 11-13). This, too, is Paul's message in Romans 1. Only with Christ as our rock and redeemer can the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart be found acceptable to God (v. 14).
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.
-- 1 Corinthians 1:25
Judaism is based on a rehearsal of the involvement of God in the lives of the Jews. Their liturgy is filled with recounting the signs of God's saving presence. God is not an abstract set of concepts that form a philosophy, but rather this mysterious power that keeps interrupting their lives. Greeks, on the other hand, were fond of the abstract. They loved philosophy and mathematical theory. Paul, in bringing the gospel to the Gentiles, tried to blend Jewish and Greek worldviews. He also believed that in Christ he had experienced an alternative to a dependence on signs or theories of wisdom. The core of his faith was the cross that raised significant challenges to both Jew and Greek.
The Jews believed in a saving God who acted on behalf of his people. If Jesus were truly the Messiah, why would God have let him die? The Greeks thought it would be illogical to claim victory in what was clearly a defeat. If the way of life Jesus proclaimed was true, it should have resulted in a successful philosophy and not have ended in his cruel death having been abandoned by his closest followers. Paul countered with the cross as evidence that God had allowed Jesus to face the worst that the world could do to him and in the resurrection had demonstrated God's victory over death. The simplest of individuals could understand how to respond in faith to one who had already proved his faithfulness to them. It was the God of life, not the fear of death, which would shape their lives.
John 2:13-22
Stop making my father's house a marketplace!
-- John 2:16b
What begins as a helpful service can easily begin to dominate. At the Passover, Jews came from all over the world in a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They came from far away, and it was impractical for them to bring the appropriate animals from their own flock for sacrifice. Also, the coins of the realm were Roman coins that had an image of Caesar on them that made such coins inappropriate for worship. A service of exchange and a provision of animals for sale had emerged as a response to this genuine need. Yet over time the service began to be a major commercial enterprise in support of the temple.
Jesus was offended by this commercialization of the house of worship. He responded in anger and drove the merchants from the temple. Was this a human or a divine response or both? In today's church, many people talk of "shopping for a church." They seek out a church that has programs that will meet their needs. Churches want members to support their programs, so they develop programs that will attract the most people. The question arises as to when this pragmatic approach begins to distort the central focus of the church? Worship is that moment when we step aside from the pragmatic issues that dominate our life and focus on God who has made our life possible. We need to continually ask whether Jesus would be pleased with the balance we have struck between the marketing of our faith and the praise of God.
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
-- Exodus 20:2-3
This is the beginning of the Ten Commandments. It leaves no doubt that the saving grace of God comes first. Before the commandments were given or obeyed, God reached out to save the people. Having acted, God provides a framework in which the people can respond to what they have already been given. We act in obedience to God's commandments not in order to win God's favor but in order to thank God for what has already been done for us. Obeying the commandments is an act of thanksgiving that recognizes the profound gift God has given us.
When Jesus would later suggest that all of the law and the prophets could be summed up in loving God and loving neighbor, he was echoing the framework of the commandments. The first three commandments directly concern our relationship to God. The fourth blends a response to God and to neighbor. The last six frame our relationship with others. It has often been noted that with the exception of the fourth commandment, the others are expressed in the negative. The result is that we are given outer parameters but within that framework we have a great deal of freedom to make our own decisions. God's laws are provided for us in order to protect our freedom.
Psalm 19
The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
-- Psalm 19:1
Psalm 19 could serve as a foundation for Paul's declaration in Romans 1:19-20: "Ever since the creation of the world ... his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made." The psalmist, too, believes that the heavens and the firmament declare the glory of God to the ends of the earth (vv. 1-4). As an example, he gives the strong and steady course of the sun which evokes awe in the observer (vv. 5-6). The experience of awe evoked by nature leads to a desire to respond. The law of the Lord is God's gift that informs us, in a way that nature cannot, of how we can respond to this mysterious power that orders the universe. The law revives the soul, makes the simple wise, rejoices the heart, and other such actions (vv. 7-10). It enables life to have direction and purpose in relation to one's creator. Yet, the law also makes us aware of our inadequacies and makes us even more aware of how dependent we are on God to liberate us from sin (vv. 11-13). This, too, is Paul's message in Romans 1. Only with Christ as our rock and redeemer can the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart be found acceptable to God (v. 14).
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.
-- 1 Corinthians 1:25
Judaism is based on a rehearsal of the involvement of God in the lives of the Jews. Their liturgy is filled with recounting the signs of God's saving presence. God is not an abstract set of concepts that form a philosophy, but rather this mysterious power that keeps interrupting their lives. Greeks, on the other hand, were fond of the abstract. They loved philosophy and mathematical theory. Paul, in bringing the gospel to the Gentiles, tried to blend Jewish and Greek worldviews. He also believed that in Christ he had experienced an alternative to a dependence on signs or theories of wisdom. The core of his faith was the cross that raised significant challenges to both Jew and Greek.
The Jews believed in a saving God who acted on behalf of his people. If Jesus were truly the Messiah, why would God have let him die? The Greeks thought it would be illogical to claim victory in what was clearly a defeat. If the way of life Jesus proclaimed was true, it should have resulted in a successful philosophy and not have ended in his cruel death having been abandoned by his closest followers. Paul countered with the cross as evidence that God had allowed Jesus to face the worst that the world could do to him and in the resurrection had demonstrated God's victory over death. The simplest of individuals could understand how to respond in faith to one who had already proved his faithfulness to them. It was the God of life, not the fear of death, which would shape their lives.
John 2:13-22
Stop making my father's house a marketplace!
-- John 2:16b
What begins as a helpful service can easily begin to dominate. At the Passover, Jews came from all over the world in a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They came from far away, and it was impractical for them to bring the appropriate animals from their own flock for sacrifice. Also, the coins of the realm were Roman coins that had an image of Caesar on them that made such coins inappropriate for worship. A service of exchange and a provision of animals for sale had emerged as a response to this genuine need. Yet over time the service began to be a major commercial enterprise in support of the temple.
Jesus was offended by this commercialization of the house of worship. He responded in anger and drove the merchants from the temple. Was this a human or a divine response or both? In today's church, many people talk of "shopping for a church." They seek out a church that has programs that will meet their needs. Churches want members to support their programs, so they develop programs that will attract the most people. The question arises as to when this pragmatic approach begins to distort the central focus of the church? Worship is that moment when we step aside from the pragmatic issues that dominate our life and focus on God who has made our life possible. We need to continually ask whether Jesus would be pleased with the balance we have struck between the marketing of our faith and the praise of God.
