Lent 3
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook, SERIES II
for use with Common, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic Lectionaries
Comments on the Lessons
There is virtual consensus on the Exodus reading which recounts the call of Moses and God's revelation of his name. The comprehensive version makes for easier reading. The 1 Corinthians reading has virtual consensus and is especially appropriate for Lent, with its focus on resisting temptation, and the foreshadowing of Baptism and the Eucharist in the time of Moses. There is consensus on the Lucan reading, with its theme of repentance - another fitting passage for a Lenten season sermon.
Commentary
Exodus 3:1-15 (C)
Exodus 3:1-8b, 10-15 (L)
Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15 (RC)
This passage is part of a larger section, 2:23--4:17, dealing with the call of Moses to be God's prophet and leader of the people of Israel. This account is made up of two elements: (1) the narrative of the theophany at a certain place in the wilderness where a bush burns, and (2) the story of the sending of Moses. (The E, or Elohim, and J, or Yahweh, versions are interwoven in this passage. Note also that there is a second P, or Priestly, version of Moses' call in 6:2-7:7.)
Moses led his flock to Horeb, generally agreed to be the same mountain as Mount Sinai in Midian. The most likely peak near Kadesh seems to be Jebel Helal, about twenty-five miles west of Kadesh oasis. The fact that Moses took his flocks to the west side of the wilderness fits with this location, which would have given better pasture since it was exposed to the prevailing wind from the Mediterranean Sea.
Moses, like Amos, is taken from being a shepherd to serve as a prophet of God. In verse 2 "angel" means literally "messenger," and while it may refer to a visible personal presence here, the word expresses a vital sense of personal encounter with God and the urgency of the call of God. The "angel of the Lord" was actually the Lord himself.
The Hebrew word for "bush" or "thornbush," which is the literal meaning, probably comes from the same root word as "Sinai." However, M. Noth disagrees with this and contends there is no intention of any sort of mysterious allusion to the name Sinai. Some think the burning was due to a natural phenomenon, such as Saint Elmo's fire. There are many parallel accounts in Syro-Palestinian stories of bushes which burn but are not consumed. In popular religion fire was a sign of God manifesting himself, a theophany. The only other mention of the bush in the Old Testament is in Deuteronomy 33:16. There is today a remnant of the idea of flame representing God's presence in the halo of saints.
The burning bush was on holy ground, as indicated by God's command to Moses to remove his sandals, a custom still observed by Muslims when entering a mosque. A person could only come to holy ground with naked feet, feet still in their natural condition. The Old Testament priests performed their duties barefoot, and Samaritans still remove their sandals at the holy place on Mount Gerizim. This custom may be due to the fact that people once went barefoot normally and that in the cult this conservative practice was still maintained.
While Moses is awed, he is also open to God's encounter, for he is a seeker. God called his name, "Moses, Moses," from the burning bush and Moses replied, "Here am I." As in Isaiah 6:3, when the vision breaks out in speech the presence of God is confirmed. Recall that in Isaiah's call and that of other prophets there occurs at this moment a confession of sin and absolution, elements missing here. There are set literary forms by which biblical writers describe a prophet's call: (1) a vision in which God is portrayed in historical or natural activity, cultic ceremonial or myth, followed by (2) a response of the one called in which both awe and receptiveness are combined, (3) followed by God declaring his purpose, and finally, (4) the prophet is told the ways and means of declaring God's purpose or "word." Notice how Moses' call follows this format rather closely.
God reveals himself as "the God of your father" as God revealed himself to Isaac earlier: "I am the God of Abraham your father; fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your descendants for my servant Abraham's sake." (Genesis 26:24) Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God since the vision of God veiled in fire aroused dread. Divine holiness was experienced as a mysterious power that could cause a person's death. Moses hiding his face is E's parallel to J's account of Moses removing his sandals. It is significant that the God to whom Moses is to introduce his people is no new God, but the same God who had been worshiped by the ancestors of Israel. There are two traditions concerning the origin of Yahwism; one saw it beginning with the call of Abraham, while the other sees the Exodus events as the beginning. The writer of E is making a strong point here that the God Moses has confronted in the foreign land in Midian is none other than the God of the forefathers about whom he undoubtedly had heard while in Egypt. There is no break in the continuity of God's faithfulness to his covenant from past to present, or in the people's experience of God's saving power.
In verses 7-10 we have Moses' commission. In the J account of verses 7-8 there is pictured not only liberation from Egypt but also the entrance into the promised land. The land is the subject of the covenant with the fathers in J. On the other hand, the emphasis of E in verses 9-10 is on Moses' immediate mission, the encounter with Pharaoh and the actual Exodus events.
The central thrust of the story of Moses' stay in Midian is the divine commission to Moses. This is true both in actual fact and in the history of the tradition. In J Moses is quite simply the messenger of God who receives the news of what Yahweh intends to do, and who must pass this news on to Israel in the form of a proclamation in which the messenger himself represents the one who sent him and speaks for him in the first person. (vv. 16b, 17) But in the E account Moses is given the command to bring forth Israel out of Egypt, while in the J story it is Yahweh who will bring up Israel out of Egypt. Yahweh's speech to Moses is simple, direct, and short, verses 7f, 16ff. The broad land of verse 8 refers to the variety of landscape, and not the size of the promised land.
"Flowing with milk and honey" is the usual way of describing the land in the Penteteuch, and reveals the ideal of the nomad - for whom even poor land was a much better place to live and raise herds than was the desert with its brief spring grazing time. Scholars think "honey" may refer either to wild honey made by bees or to a syrup reduced from grape juice which is still used by Arab nomads.
In verses 11-15 God authenticates himself. In Eastern thought the name of a person was a necessary part of the person's existence. One knew of the reality only if one could pronounce its name. This explains the importance of the naming of the animals by Adam, the giving of the child's name, etc. Moses will only be able to convince the Israelites of the reality of his encounter with God if he is able to tell them the name of the God who revealed himself to him.
The giving of the name occurs in verse 14 and is one of the key texts of all of Scripture. God reveals his name through the mysterious sentence usually translated "I am who I am." And so "I am" becomes a catchword for God as indicated in verse 14b. The Hebrew verb used here does not denote abstract being as "I am who I am" would imply but rather indicates the habitual manifestation in past, present, and future. A better translation would be: "I will be as I will be." There is no agreement on the exact meaning of the name Yahweh, but the conception of God all through the Old Testament rules out a Greek view of God as an abstract metaphysical being. Process Theology has picked up on the definition of a God who is in process rather than a static being, as indicated by the name "I will be as I will be." God reveals himself as the one who is and will be present, not just some time and some where, but in every now and in every here.
The meaning of the name Yahweh is not just a kind of indefiniteness which would sound like "I am someone or other," but rather is a cautious and sensitive indefiniteness in which something quite definite is envisioned but is not meant to be expressed! The indefiniteness here leaves open a wide range of possibilities in the future which might be expressed by "I am whatever I mean to be." The key to understanding this revelation of God's name is that the Hebrew verb is expressing an active being, not a pure being or static concept. This active being makes "its" appearance in the world of human beings and primarily in Israel's history. We should not read more out of this revelation of God than its wording allows. God is known in the dynamic confrontation with human beings and in their active response to this God who reveals himself as "I will be as I will be."
1 Corinthians 10:1-13 (C) (L)
1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12 (RC)
This passage of verses 1-13 is a warning against overconfidence in thinking that one stands firm in the faith because one partakes of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. It shows how these two Christian sacraments were foreshadowed in the Old Testament where the corresponding rites there were not sufficient to guarantee salvation. So the wilderness generation of Israelites stands as a warning.
In verses 1-3 Paul compares the crossing of the Red Sea by the nation Israel with Christian baptism. They were all baptized into Moses (a parallel to being baptized "into Christ"), but there is a problem with this comparison since the Israelites did not even get wet, while the Egyptians pursuing them drowned. But baptism involves getting wet, either by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion! Paul apparently chose the wrong scriptural allusion to make his point. Some scholars, however, think he did not intend to make a reference to baptism here. It is best to think of this analogy as referring to the result of the act, not the act itself. The result of both crossing the Red Sea and of Christian baptism is freedom. In both instances God is the one who provides freedom for his people, either from Pharaoh or from sin.
"Under the cloud" refers to the cloud that led the nation by day, even as the pillar of fire led them by night. The cloud symbolized God's guidance. As the Israelites had been under the cloud even so Christians had gone under water in their baptism.
Next Paul draws an analogy between the Israelites being fed by manna in the wilderness and drinking from the rock that followed them. John also connects the bread from heaven with the Eucharist in John 6:31-34, 49-51. The drink from the rock was water, but this does not indicate that the Eucharist was being celebrated with water in the church at this period. There are two Old Testament references to Moses striking a rock so that water flowed out for the people to drink, one at Horeb, and another in the wilderness at Zin. Jews felt that they had to explain such similar incidents at different places, so they deducted that the rock had followed the Israelites. Paul identifies the rock with Messiah. Even as Christ was the mediator of creation, he was also the mediator of blessings in the Old Testament. Both food and rock are described as supernatural in that they transmitted the Spirit to people. Christ was identified with the Spirit, and the water which flowed from him brought the Spirit to human beings. (John 7:38-39) Paul shows how Israel's failure to respond to God's self-revelation brought down his punishment on Israel. Later, in verse 14, Paul warns that similar punishment will befall those who do not shun the worship of idols.
The main thrust of these verses is simply this: the reception of the sacraments will not save anyone. Even as all the Israelites, who had these benefits, were for the most part overthrown or destroyed in the wilderness, so the Christians in Corinth may also be destroyed if they allow heathen influences to replace true Christian faith.
Note that verse 5 is a transition from the positive to the negative side of Paul's message, which follows.
Then in verses 7-8 Paul recalls in rapid succession the disasters in the wilderness: they desired evil, were idolaters, indulged in immorality (and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day), put the Lord to the test, grumbled, and they were destroyed by serpents and by the Destroyer. Paul says they must not put God to the test, as some Israelites did. While God may put human beings to the test, it is not something humans may do to God. The reason for this is that putting God to the test is a demand for God to authenticate further his claim to be the God of his people, which is idolatry, with the sins that accompanied idolatry.
Recall that in Jewish traditional thinking idolatry and sexual immorality are connected. Sexual immorality often involved temple prostitution, in which the worshiper joined himself to the god through sexual intercourse with the temple prostitute. Idolatry is specifically mentioned in Exodus 32:6 along with food, drink, and dance, all elements in pagan worship.
Note in verse 8 that Paul's figure is 1,000 short of the number given in the Old Testament (anyone who has tried to quote Scripture or other documents from memory can understand how easily this can happen).
These things that happened in the wilderness were a warning to the Israelites, but also serve as a warning for Christians. The real significance of these disasters of the wilderness days is their warning for those who now stand at the end of the age. (v. 11) Christians stand at the end of the former age and on the threshold of the age to come.
Then Paul warns "let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." (v. 12) A "temptation common to man" (v. 13) is one which human beings may successfully meet. It is not clear whether or not Paul is contrasting two sources of temptation: human and demonic. While it is not said that God entices persons to sin, he does permit temptation. This is reflected in the Lord's Prayer, "Lead us not into temptation." Satan often appears as the Tempter.
But God is faithful and will not allow us to be tempted beyond our strength, says Paul. God provides a way of escape with each temptation. No matter how boxed-in we may feel by sin, there is always an escape hatch! If sin is near, God is even nearer with power to enable us to withstand temptation. Flip Wilson made famous the line, "The devil made me do it," but Paul denies this excuse and says that God enables us to escape temptation and to endure it. The humor in the excuse, "The devil made me do it" lies in a person's attempt to wiggle out of responsibility for a sin by claiming that he or she had no free will to choose or not to choose to sin. We laugh because we know that this is not the case for Christians. Christ has won the victory over sin and the power of evil, and by the Spirit we are enabled to escape temptation and to endure it.
We should note that the word for temptation here is often used for the trials that accompanied the messianic woes, and is used in Hebrews 3:8 for "the day of testing in the wilderness."
Luke 13:1-9
The thrust of this passage is repentance, which, of course, is a major theme of the Lenten season. In this passage, which is unique to Luke, Jesus makes an appeal to repentance and adds a parable about a barren fig tree, calling his audience to timely reform. This passage is closely related to the former one, since Jesus speaks of "some" who were present at that very time. Jesus says that, in view of the coming judgment, Israel must repent and turn to God, and so bear fruit. The passage is composed of three components: (1) verses 1-3, (2) verses 4-5, and (3) verses 6-9.
Those present remind Jesus of the tragic murder by Pilate of the Galileans who were offering sacrifices in the temple. Josephus the historian reports such an occasion when the Roman governor massacred some riotous Jews in Jerusalem. But this does not seem to be the same incident reported here. There is no other account of the fall of the tower of Siloam, which was fatal to eighteen people in Jerusalem. Jesus draws the conclusion from both events that those who perished were not worse offenders than those who escaped. In making this statement Jesus refutes the Jewish doctrine of retribution, which asserted that those who receive special punishment must be guilty of some great sin. Rather, Jesus asserts that everyone is guilty before God. All need to repent and re-form their lives.
Luke uses a Semitic expression, a circumlocution for comparison, to express "were worse sinners than all the other Galileans." An Aramaic parallel describing a beautiful woman would be "above all women is she beautiful indeed," meaning that she is more beautiful than all women.
Only repentance can prevent the certain annihilation of the wicked, with which all are threatened unless they reform their lives. Suffering represents God's judgment, and so is a call to repentance, lest spiritual catastrophe overtake his hearers.
In the parable of the fig tree the central thrust is that there is still time to repent. This story of the fig tree may be Luke's substitute for Mark's account of the cursing of the fig tree. The vineyard of verse 6 is a typical Old Testament symbol for the people of God. Although the fig tree has not produced fruit for three years, the vinedresser pleads for another year of cultivating and fertilizing it before cutting it down. The tree has used up the ground without producing figs. So Jesus calls for repentance, and Israel is granted a final chance before judgment. The salutary period of grace before the cutting down of the tree is limited to a year. If it doesn't produce, the tree will die of inactivity and unproductiveness, which in the long run is the greater sin. The guilt which comes from an individual's own procrastination or indecision is greater, says Jesus, than that implied by death through some unexpected calamity such as the fall of the tower of Siloam, or the deaths of those killed by Pilate in the temple.
The central thrust of the parable is that the last period of grace has been granted as times in which to reform such procrastination. "This year also" in verse 8 indicates that judgment is past due, but that God's mercy holds it in abeyance. The absence of God's judgment here and now must not be taken as a sign of one's righteousness. The delay of judgment, rather, is a sign of God's mercy - not his approval.
A brief summary of verses 1-9 is: just because people pass through life unscathed by suffering and tragedy, they should not assume that therefore they please God. On the other hand, tragedy is no sure sign of sinfulness. All are sinners, both those whose lives are tragic and those whose lives are tranquil, and therefore all must re-form their lives and change directions by turning from sin to God before God's certain judgment comes upon them.
Theological Reflections
The Exodus passage deals with the call of Moses to lead the people of God, and with God's revelation of himself as the God who is active and present in historical affairs. God calls Moses and gives him a sign that he will serve God on Mount Horeb when he has brought the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. Paul writes to the Corinthians to warn them against overconfidence in trusting in baptism and the Eucharist to guarantee salvation, since the corresponding acts in the Old Testament did not guarantee salvation to the Hebrews. He also calls them to remember what happened in the wilderness wanderings, and to take that experience as a warning not to think they stand, lest they fall. He assures his readers that God is faithful and will not allow persons to be tempted beyond their strength to resist. God will provide with the temptation the way of escape, that one may endure it. Luke records a teaching, unique to Luke in the Gospels, in which Jesus calls the people to repent and turn to God since all are guilty of sin, whether victims of natural disaster or human violence. He uses a parable of an unproductive fig tree whose caretaker pleads with the owner for another year of grace in which to cultivate and fertilize the tree, giving it one more chance to produce fruit. So, Jesus implies, the present time is one of grace in which all should reform their lives and turn to God, and thus produce fruit for him.
Homiletical Moves
Exodus 3:1-15 (C)
Exodus 3:1-8b, 10-15 (L)
Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15 (RC)
The God Who Is Becoming What He Will Be, Calls Moses
1. God reveals himself to Moses in a burning bush that is not consumed
2. God calls Moses to go to Pharaoh and to lead the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt
3. Moses replies, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh ...
4. God assures Moses that he will be with him, and reveals his name to be the God who is involved in every here and now, the God who is becoming what he will become
5. God sends Moses to tell the people who he is and that he will lead them out of bondage to the promised land
6. Let us trust in the God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, who leads us out of bondage to sin, to the promised land of freedom, love, and joy
1 Corinthians 10:1-13 (C) (L)
1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12 (C)
God Is Faithful and Gives Us Escape from Temptation
1. We should not trust in baptism and the Eucharist to guarantee salvation, but rather trust in God who is faithful
2. Take warning from what happened to the Israelites in the wilderness when they were baptized into Moses, and fed with manna, and given water from the rock
3. Take heed lest you fall into destruction because of your trust in magic or good works
4. Rather, trust in God who is faithful and who will not let you be tempted beyond your strength
- but will provide the way to escape temptation so you may endure
This Preacher's Preference
Luke 13:1-9
This passage is fitting for Lent, with its emphasis on reforming one's life. The preacher may want to spell out ways in which people today trust in their own good living as evidence that they are not in need of repentance, in contrast to those who suffer disasters. The fallacy of trusting in one's own goodness before God has brought judgment should be pointed out. The preacher may want to describe repentance as a two-fold action: turning from sin, and turning to God. The preacher may want to bring in teachings from the 1 Corinthians passage, in which Paul assures us that God will not let us be tempted beyond our strength, but will give us a way of escape so we can endure. The role of the Spirit as the comforter, who strengthens us to resist temptation, should be described and applied to daily living.
Jesus Says, "Reform Your Lives!"
1. All are sinners, both those who are victims of human violence and natural disaster, and those who are being given a period of grace in which to repent
2. Jesus says, "Unless you repent you will perish"
3. God has granted time in which procrastinators can repent and turn to him, even as the vinedresser pled for another year of life for the unproductive fig tree before it would be cut down
Hymn for Lent 3: There's a Wideness in God's Mercy
Prayer
O God, who called Moses to lead the people oflsrael out of bondage, and who revealed yourself
as a God involved in our here-and-now of life, we thank you for delivering us from bondage to sin, and for assuring us of strength to resist temptation. Gracious God, we thank you for the wideness of your mercy which allows us time to reform our lives by the power of your Spirit. Turn us from sin and draw us to you, that we may live productive lives bearing the fruit of righteousness. Amen
There is virtual consensus on the Exodus reading which recounts the call of Moses and God's revelation of his name. The comprehensive version makes for easier reading. The 1 Corinthians reading has virtual consensus and is especially appropriate for Lent, with its focus on resisting temptation, and the foreshadowing of Baptism and the Eucharist in the time of Moses. There is consensus on the Lucan reading, with its theme of repentance - another fitting passage for a Lenten season sermon.
Commentary
Exodus 3:1-15 (C)
Exodus 3:1-8b, 10-15 (L)
Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15 (RC)
This passage is part of a larger section, 2:23--4:17, dealing with the call of Moses to be God's prophet and leader of the people of Israel. This account is made up of two elements: (1) the narrative of the theophany at a certain place in the wilderness where a bush burns, and (2) the story of the sending of Moses. (The E, or Elohim, and J, or Yahweh, versions are interwoven in this passage. Note also that there is a second P, or Priestly, version of Moses' call in 6:2-7:7.)
Moses led his flock to Horeb, generally agreed to be the same mountain as Mount Sinai in Midian. The most likely peak near Kadesh seems to be Jebel Helal, about twenty-five miles west of Kadesh oasis. The fact that Moses took his flocks to the west side of the wilderness fits with this location, which would have given better pasture since it was exposed to the prevailing wind from the Mediterranean Sea.
Moses, like Amos, is taken from being a shepherd to serve as a prophet of God. In verse 2 "angel" means literally "messenger," and while it may refer to a visible personal presence here, the word expresses a vital sense of personal encounter with God and the urgency of the call of God. The "angel of the Lord" was actually the Lord himself.
The Hebrew word for "bush" or "thornbush," which is the literal meaning, probably comes from the same root word as "Sinai." However, M. Noth disagrees with this and contends there is no intention of any sort of mysterious allusion to the name Sinai. Some think the burning was due to a natural phenomenon, such as Saint Elmo's fire. There are many parallel accounts in Syro-Palestinian stories of bushes which burn but are not consumed. In popular religion fire was a sign of God manifesting himself, a theophany. The only other mention of the bush in the Old Testament is in Deuteronomy 33:16. There is today a remnant of the idea of flame representing God's presence in the halo of saints.
The burning bush was on holy ground, as indicated by God's command to Moses to remove his sandals, a custom still observed by Muslims when entering a mosque. A person could only come to holy ground with naked feet, feet still in their natural condition. The Old Testament priests performed their duties barefoot, and Samaritans still remove their sandals at the holy place on Mount Gerizim. This custom may be due to the fact that people once went barefoot normally and that in the cult this conservative practice was still maintained.
While Moses is awed, he is also open to God's encounter, for he is a seeker. God called his name, "Moses, Moses," from the burning bush and Moses replied, "Here am I." As in Isaiah 6:3, when the vision breaks out in speech the presence of God is confirmed. Recall that in Isaiah's call and that of other prophets there occurs at this moment a confession of sin and absolution, elements missing here. There are set literary forms by which biblical writers describe a prophet's call: (1) a vision in which God is portrayed in historical or natural activity, cultic ceremonial or myth, followed by (2) a response of the one called in which both awe and receptiveness are combined, (3) followed by God declaring his purpose, and finally, (4) the prophet is told the ways and means of declaring God's purpose or "word." Notice how Moses' call follows this format rather closely.
God reveals himself as "the God of your father" as God revealed himself to Isaac earlier: "I am the God of Abraham your father; fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your descendants for my servant Abraham's sake." (Genesis 26:24) Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God since the vision of God veiled in fire aroused dread. Divine holiness was experienced as a mysterious power that could cause a person's death. Moses hiding his face is E's parallel to J's account of Moses removing his sandals. It is significant that the God to whom Moses is to introduce his people is no new God, but the same God who had been worshiped by the ancestors of Israel. There are two traditions concerning the origin of Yahwism; one saw it beginning with the call of Abraham, while the other sees the Exodus events as the beginning. The writer of E is making a strong point here that the God Moses has confronted in the foreign land in Midian is none other than the God of the forefathers about whom he undoubtedly had heard while in Egypt. There is no break in the continuity of God's faithfulness to his covenant from past to present, or in the people's experience of God's saving power.
In verses 7-10 we have Moses' commission. In the J account of verses 7-8 there is pictured not only liberation from Egypt but also the entrance into the promised land. The land is the subject of the covenant with the fathers in J. On the other hand, the emphasis of E in verses 9-10 is on Moses' immediate mission, the encounter with Pharaoh and the actual Exodus events.
The central thrust of the story of Moses' stay in Midian is the divine commission to Moses. This is true both in actual fact and in the history of the tradition. In J Moses is quite simply the messenger of God who receives the news of what Yahweh intends to do, and who must pass this news on to Israel in the form of a proclamation in which the messenger himself represents the one who sent him and speaks for him in the first person. (vv. 16b, 17) But in the E account Moses is given the command to bring forth Israel out of Egypt, while in the J story it is Yahweh who will bring up Israel out of Egypt. Yahweh's speech to Moses is simple, direct, and short, verses 7f, 16ff. The broad land of verse 8 refers to the variety of landscape, and not the size of the promised land.
"Flowing with milk and honey" is the usual way of describing the land in the Penteteuch, and reveals the ideal of the nomad - for whom even poor land was a much better place to live and raise herds than was the desert with its brief spring grazing time. Scholars think "honey" may refer either to wild honey made by bees or to a syrup reduced from grape juice which is still used by Arab nomads.
In verses 11-15 God authenticates himself. In Eastern thought the name of a person was a necessary part of the person's existence. One knew of the reality only if one could pronounce its name. This explains the importance of the naming of the animals by Adam, the giving of the child's name, etc. Moses will only be able to convince the Israelites of the reality of his encounter with God if he is able to tell them the name of the God who revealed himself to him.
The giving of the name occurs in verse 14 and is one of the key texts of all of Scripture. God reveals his name through the mysterious sentence usually translated "I am who I am." And so "I am" becomes a catchword for God as indicated in verse 14b. The Hebrew verb used here does not denote abstract being as "I am who I am" would imply but rather indicates the habitual manifestation in past, present, and future. A better translation would be: "I will be as I will be." There is no agreement on the exact meaning of the name Yahweh, but the conception of God all through the Old Testament rules out a Greek view of God as an abstract metaphysical being. Process Theology has picked up on the definition of a God who is in process rather than a static being, as indicated by the name "I will be as I will be." God reveals himself as the one who is and will be present, not just some time and some where, but in every now and in every here.
The meaning of the name Yahweh is not just a kind of indefiniteness which would sound like "I am someone or other," but rather is a cautious and sensitive indefiniteness in which something quite definite is envisioned but is not meant to be expressed! The indefiniteness here leaves open a wide range of possibilities in the future which might be expressed by "I am whatever I mean to be." The key to understanding this revelation of God's name is that the Hebrew verb is expressing an active being, not a pure being or static concept. This active being makes "its" appearance in the world of human beings and primarily in Israel's history. We should not read more out of this revelation of God than its wording allows. God is known in the dynamic confrontation with human beings and in their active response to this God who reveals himself as "I will be as I will be."
1 Corinthians 10:1-13 (C) (L)
1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12 (RC)
This passage of verses 1-13 is a warning against overconfidence in thinking that one stands firm in the faith because one partakes of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. It shows how these two Christian sacraments were foreshadowed in the Old Testament where the corresponding rites there were not sufficient to guarantee salvation. So the wilderness generation of Israelites stands as a warning.
In verses 1-3 Paul compares the crossing of the Red Sea by the nation Israel with Christian baptism. They were all baptized into Moses (a parallel to being baptized "into Christ"), but there is a problem with this comparison since the Israelites did not even get wet, while the Egyptians pursuing them drowned. But baptism involves getting wet, either by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion! Paul apparently chose the wrong scriptural allusion to make his point. Some scholars, however, think he did not intend to make a reference to baptism here. It is best to think of this analogy as referring to the result of the act, not the act itself. The result of both crossing the Red Sea and of Christian baptism is freedom. In both instances God is the one who provides freedom for his people, either from Pharaoh or from sin.
"Under the cloud" refers to the cloud that led the nation by day, even as the pillar of fire led them by night. The cloud symbolized God's guidance. As the Israelites had been under the cloud even so Christians had gone under water in their baptism.
Next Paul draws an analogy between the Israelites being fed by manna in the wilderness and drinking from the rock that followed them. John also connects the bread from heaven with the Eucharist in John 6:31-34, 49-51. The drink from the rock was water, but this does not indicate that the Eucharist was being celebrated with water in the church at this period. There are two Old Testament references to Moses striking a rock so that water flowed out for the people to drink, one at Horeb, and another in the wilderness at Zin. Jews felt that they had to explain such similar incidents at different places, so they deducted that the rock had followed the Israelites. Paul identifies the rock with Messiah. Even as Christ was the mediator of creation, he was also the mediator of blessings in the Old Testament. Both food and rock are described as supernatural in that they transmitted the Spirit to people. Christ was identified with the Spirit, and the water which flowed from him brought the Spirit to human beings. (John 7:38-39) Paul shows how Israel's failure to respond to God's self-revelation brought down his punishment on Israel. Later, in verse 14, Paul warns that similar punishment will befall those who do not shun the worship of idols.
The main thrust of these verses is simply this: the reception of the sacraments will not save anyone. Even as all the Israelites, who had these benefits, were for the most part overthrown or destroyed in the wilderness, so the Christians in Corinth may also be destroyed if they allow heathen influences to replace true Christian faith.
Note that verse 5 is a transition from the positive to the negative side of Paul's message, which follows.
Then in verses 7-8 Paul recalls in rapid succession the disasters in the wilderness: they desired evil, were idolaters, indulged in immorality (and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day), put the Lord to the test, grumbled, and they were destroyed by serpents and by the Destroyer. Paul says they must not put God to the test, as some Israelites did. While God may put human beings to the test, it is not something humans may do to God. The reason for this is that putting God to the test is a demand for God to authenticate further his claim to be the God of his people, which is idolatry, with the sins that accompanied idolatry.
Recall that in Jewish traditional thinking idolatry and sexual immorality are connected. Sexual immorality often involved temple prostitution, in which the worshiper joined himself to the god through sexual intercourse with the temple prostitute. Idolatry is specifically mentioned in Exodus 32:6 along with food, drink, and dance, all elements in pagan worship.
Note in verse 8 that Paul's figure is 1,000 short of the number given in the Old Testament (anyone who has tried to quote Scripture or other documents from memory can understand how easily this can happen).
These things that happened in the wilderness were a warning to the Israelites, but also serve as a warning for Christians. The real significance of these disasters of the wilderness days is their warning for those who now stand at the end of the age. (v. 11) Christians stand at the end of the former age and on the threshold of the age to come.
Then Paul warns "let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." (v. 12) A "temptation common to man" (v. 13) is one which human beings may successfully meet. It is not clear whether or not Paul is contrasting two sources of temptation: human and demonic. While it is not said that God entices persons to sin, he does permit temptation. This is reflected in the Lord's Prayer, "Lead us not into temptation." Satan often appears as the Tempter.
But God is faithful and will not allow us to be tempted beyond our strength, says Paul. God provides a way of escape with each temptation. No matter how boxed-in we may feel by sin, there is always an escape hatch! If sin is near, God is even nearer with power to enable us to withstand temptation. Flip Wilson made famous the line, "The devil made me do it," but Paul denies this excuse and says that God enables us to escape temptation and to endure it. The humor in the excuse, "The devil made me do it" lies in a person's attempt to wiggle out of responsibility for a sin by claiming that he or she had no free will to choose or not to choose to sin. We laugh because we know that this is not the case for Christians. Christ has won the victory over sin and the power of evil, and by the Spirit we are enabled to escape temptation and to endure it.
We should note that the word for temptation here is often used for the trials that accompanied the messianic woes, and is used in Hebrews 3:8 for "the day of testing in the wilderness."
Luke 13:1-9
The thrust of this passage is repentance, which, of course, is a major theme of the Lenten season. In this passage, which is unique to Luke, Jesus makes an appeal to repentance and adds a parable about a barren fig tree, calling his audience to timely reform. This passage is closely related to the former one, since Jesus speaks of "some" who were present at that very time. Jesus says that, in view of the coming judgment, Israel must repent and turn to God, and so bear fruit. The passage is composed of three components: (1) verses 1-3, (2) verses 4-5, and (3) verses 6-9.
Those present remind Jesus of the tragic murder by Pilate of the Galileans who were offering sacrifices in the temple. Josephus the historian reports such an occasion when the Roman governor massacred some riotous Jews in Jerusalem. But this does not seem to be the same incident reported here. There is no other account of the fall of the tower of Siloam, which was fatal to eighteen people in Jerusalem. Jesus draws the conclusion from both events that those who perished were not worse offenders than those who escaped. In making this statement Jesus refutes the Jewish doctrine of retribution, which asserted that those who receive special punishment must be guilty of some great sin. Rather, Jesus asserts that everyone is guilty before God. All need to repent and re-form their lives.
Luke uses a Semitic expression, a circumlocution for comparison, to express "were worse sinners than all the other Galileans." An Aramaic parallel describing a beautiful woman would be "above all women is she beautiful indeed," meaning that she is more beautiful than all women.
Only repentance can prevent the certain annihilation of the wicked, with which all are threatened unless they reform their lives. Suffering represents God's judgment, and so is a call to repentance, lest spiritual catastrophe overtake his hearers.
In the parable of the fig tree the central thrust is that there is still time to repent. This story of the fig tree may be Luke's substitute for Mark's account of the cursing of the fig tree. The vineyard of verse 6 is a typical Old Testament symbol for the people of God. Although the fig tree has not produced fruit for three years, the vinedresser pleads for another year of cultivating and fertilizing it before cutting it down. The tree has used up the ground without producing figs. So Jesus calls for repentance, and Israel is granted a final chance before judgment. The salutary period of grace before the cutting down of the tree is limited to a year. If it doesn't produce, the tree will die of inactivity and unproductiveness, which in the long run is the greater sin. The guilt which comes from an individual's own procrastination or indecision is greater, says Jesus, than that implied by death through some unexpected calamity such as the fall of the tower of Siloam, or the deaths of those killed by Pilate in the temple.
The central thrust of the parable is that the last period of grace has been granted as times in which to reform such procrastination. "This year also" in verse 8 indicates that judgment is past due, but that God's mercy holds it in abeyance. The absence of God's judgment here and now must not be taken as a sign of one's righteousness. The delay of judgment, rather, is a sign of God's mercy - not his approval.
A brief summary of verses 1-9 is: just because people pass through life unscathed by suffering and tragedy, they should not assume that therefore they please God. On the other hand, tragedy is no sure sign of sinfulness. All are sinners, both those whose lives are tragic and those whose lives are tranquil, and therefore all must re-form their lives and change directions by turning from sin to God before God's certain judgment comes upon them.
Theological Reflections
The Exodus passage deals with the call of Moses to lead the people of God, and with God's revelation of himself as the God who is active and present in historical affairs. God calls Moses and gives him a sign that he will serve God on Mount Horeb when he has brought the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. Paul writes to the Corinthians to warn them against overconfidence in trusting in baptism and the Eucharist to guarantee salvation, since the corresponding acts in the Old Testament did not guarantee salvation to the Hebrews. He also calls them to remember what happened in the wilderness wanderings, and to take that experience as a warning not to think they stand, lest they fall. He assures his readers that God is faithful and will not allow persons to be tempted beyond their strength to resist. God will provide with the temptation the way of escape, that one may endure it. Luke records a teaching, unique to Luke in the Gospels, in which Jesus calls the people to repent and turn to God since all are guilty of sin, whether victims of natural disaster or human violence. He uses a parable of an unproductive fig tree whose caretaker pleads with the owner for another year of grace in which to cultivate and fertilize the tree, giving it one more chance to produce fruit. So, Jesus implies, the present time is one of grace in which all should reform their lives and turn to God, and thus produce fruit for him.
Homiletical Moves
Exodus 3:1-15 (C)
Exodus 3:1-8b, 10-15 (L)
Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15 (RC)
The God Who Is Becoming What He Will Be, Calls Moses
1. God reveals himself to Moses in a burning bush that is not consumed
2. God calls Moses to go to Pharaoh and to lead the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt
3. Moses replies, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh ...
4. God assures Moses that he will be with him, and reveals his name to be the God who is involved in every here and now, the God who is becoming what he will become
5. God sends Moses to tell the people who he is and that he will lead them out of bondage to the promised land
6. Let us trust in the God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, who leads us out of bondage to sin, to the promised land of freedom, love, and joy
1 Corinthians 10:1-13 (C) (L)
1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12 (C)
God Is Faithful and Gives Us Escape from Temptation
1. We should not trust in baptism and the Eucharist to guarantee salvation, but rather trust in God who is faithful
2. Take warning from what happened to the Israelites in the wilderness when they were baptized into Moses, and fed with manna, and given water from the rock
3. Take heed lest you fall into destruction because of your trust in magic or good works
4. Rather, trust in God who is faithful and who will not let you be tempted beyond your strength
- but will provide the way to escape temptation so you may endure
This Preacher's Preference
Luke 13:1-9
This passage is fitting for Lent, with its emphasis on reforming one's life. The preacher may want to spell out ways in which people today trust in their own good living as evidence that they are not in need of repentance, in contrast to those who suffer disasters. The fallacy of trusting in one's own goodness before God has brought judgment should be pointed out. The preacher may want to describe repentance as a two-fold action: turning from sin, and turning to God. The preacher may want to bring in teachings from the 1 Corinthians passage, in which Paul assures us that God will not let us be tempted beyond our strength, but will give us a way of escape so we can endure. The role of the Spirit as the comforter, who strengthens us to resist temptation, should be described and applied to daily living.
Jesus Says, "Reform Your Lives!"
1. All are sinners, both those who are victims of human violence and natural disaster, and those who are being given a period of grace in which to repent
2. Jesus says, "Unless you repent you will perish"
3. God has granted time in which procrastinators can repent and turn to him, even as the vinedresser pled for another year of life for the unproductive fig tree before it would be cut down
Hymn for Lent 3: There's a Wideness in God's Mercy
Prayer
O God, who called Moses to lead the people oflsrael out of bondage, and who revealed yourself
as a God involved in our here-and-now of life, we thank you for delivering us from bondage to sin, and for assuring us of strength to resist temptation. Gracious God, we thank you for the wideness of your mercy which allows us time to reform our lives by the power of your Spirit. Turn us from sin and draw us to you, that we may live productive lives bearing the fruit of righteousness. Amen
