Third Sunday In Lent
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VII, Cycle B
Seasonal Theme
Jesus makes his way toward Jerusalem and the cross that we might have undeserved forgiveness for our sins.
Theme For The Day
Jesus teaches us a valuable lesson about our place of worship and the fact that he sacrificed himself for us.
Old Testament Lesson
Exodus 20:1-17
The Ten Commandments
What shall we say about these commandments? These are the very core of Israel's civil and religious rules. They have two parts. The first have to do with the relationship to God and the second six have to do with the relationship with each other in the covenant community. Verse 2 first sets out for the people what God has done for them. They have reached Mount Sinai and now need some guidelines by which to travel and relate to their God and each other. Paul claims in Romans 3:19-20b and 7:7 that these laws serve to show the sinfulness contrasted with the holiness of God. Martin Luther called them "schoolmasters," which taught us our need for God's grace and forgiveness. John D. Hannah in The Bible Knowledge Commentary writes: "The Ten Commandments are an excellent summary of ten divine rules for human conduct. They might be called rules of 1) religion, 2) worship, 3) reverence, 4) time, 5) authority, 6) life, 7) priority, 8) property, 9) tongue, and 10) contentment."
New Testament Lesson
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Christ The Power Of God
We must be careful in our interpretation of this passage, lest we give way to a false sense of anti-intellectualism. It seems to me that Paul is warning against a sort of dependence on human wisdom without religious faith in Christ. As he often does, he says here "how much more" worthwhile is our spiritual faith in Christ. The wisdom of God is even more powerful than the wisdom of humans.
The Christian message didn't seem to have much promise of success in the Jewish or Greek setting, Paul claims (v. 25). All the world's wisdom had not found God; but the Christ points God out and provides us a presence which is powerful.
The Gospel
John 2:13-22
Jesus Cleanses The Temple
This incident in Mark, Matthew, and Luke is placed during the week of Jesus' trial and crucifixion. John puts it at the beginning of Jesus' ministry but still at Passover. The Synoptic Gospels give it as a protest against the desecration of the Temple. John's account gives it even more meaning. It is provided as a sign of what will happen because of Jesus' death and resurrection. Notice that he not only drives out the evil money changers but also the animals there to be used for sacrifice: sacrifice no longer called for because of his sacrifice on the cross for all of us and for all time to come. So temple worship is changed -- the end of the old ways of animal sacrifice has come.
Jesus' words recorded in verse 19 were used against him in his trial before the Sanhedrin (Mark 14:57-59). This temple was started in 20 B.C. and completed in A.D. 64. It was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70, which had been predicted by Jesus in Mark 13:2 and Luke 19:43-44.
Does not this event bring into question many of the commercial practices and fund-raising in our church building today? Can we really justify the selling of stuff, new and used, and events merely to raise money for a cause, no matter how good the cause might be? And how wise is it to do such things while trying to teach radical financial stewardship? Several previous churches I have served in, like the ULCA and the LCA, forbade such activities by constitution and yet seemed to survive quite well.
Preaching Possibilities
Each of these readings will stand alone. The Old Testament gives us the opportunity to speak of "Rules for living," developing the theme that these were first for the people to use in traveling through the wilderness. They also can be used by us as we travel through life.
The New Testament Reading will also work by itself as we talk about the power of God in Jesus the Christ. Power can be the focus talking about the power of: our message (v. 18), God (v. 18), Jesus' crucifixion (v. 24), those called (v. 26), and the source of our life (v. 30). If we use all three readings, an outline might look like this:
A. Rules to live by -- Old Testament
B. Power to live on -- New Testament
C. Worship to live with -- Gospel
The first three metaphors listed below are in this order. After exploring the above possibilities, I would like to develop the Gospel reading as a sermon outline.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
A. Give the lead-up to this event according to John's Gospel. Jesus is baptized in the Jordan, is tempted in the wilderness, recruits his disciples, works his first miracles at Cana's wedding feast, and now sets out to observe the Passover Feast in Jerusalem.
B. Describe the existing situation when Jesus got there. Several million Jews were there -- the bare-faced extortion of those pilgrims coming to the obligatory worship; the exorbitant rate charged by the money changers; the social injustice of it all.
C. Tell why Jesus acted this way. He loved God and, thus, God's children. He just could not bear to see those he loved taken advantage of and especially right in God's temple. Some additional reasons:
1. God's house was being desecrated.
2. There was racial and gender-based discrimination as it was the court of the Gentiles where all this took place, making it impossible for them to pray (see v. 11 in Mark 7).
3. Animal sacrifice was no longer needed since his arrival.
D. Now move to what this teaches us today: God doesn't want God's temple desecrated by secular commercialism -- take this as far as you dare. A sacrifice has been offered for all of us and sacrifice is no longer necessary (perhaps this is the best Lenten theme).
E. Add some humor and also creative imagination by describing an emergency meeting of the congregational council that night. The property committee would have to clean up and repair the courtyard. The elders would have to discuss excommunication for this unruly member. The stewardship committee would have to write new guidelines for who uses the temple and for what purpose, etc. This can give relief for what could be a very threatening sermon on "Temple Abuse."
Prayer For The Day
Dear Heavenly Parent, our Lenten prayer today is that you would give us open and critical minds to decide what is appropriate to do in our church. Help us to practice a financial stewardship that does not anger you but in which you celebrate. We are thankful that you have made the supreme, once-and-for-all sacrifice for our sins, even though we fall far short from deserving it. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
Stella Min is from Myanmar (formerly Burma) and a member of the Keren tribe, which took over a Thai hospital demanding medical help for their families. Twelve were slaughtered after surrendering and were pictured on the cover of Newsweek. She will return to her country to teach in a new school of theology there. During my class on "teaching the catechism," she became very quiet, almost panicky, and kept watching the window and door. After class I asked what was wrong and she explained that as we were considering the first commandment and Luther's meaning of it she could not teach such a thing back home. Stella said the military had asked the Buddhist monks to go through the Bible and announce why it was all wrong. Since that time, it has been very dangerous to make the claim that only our God is the true God and that we should "have no other gods." If she did so, it might mean her arrest and the closing of the seminary there (which does not use the word seminary).
It was the first time I have witnessed such fear of saying out loud that God is our God (except for the times as a parish pastor I have asked Lutherans to witness to their faith!). She forgot for a time she was not under her home military government and looked as if they would come to get her at any moment. The words whispered in her home country but openly spoken by these students were so scary for her to hear.
I later held a learning group session in which Stella Min was in attendance. I learned more: she revealed that her brother-in-law was taken from their home one evening for speaking against the military and admitting he was a Christian. They didn't know where he was or if he were alive or dead for two years. Then he was found by her sister in a prison where he has been for seven years. No wonder she is afraid when people around here speak about "no God but our God"!
Pastor Joe Allison of Saint Peters, Monrovia, Liberia, tells that after 600 were slaughtered in the sanctuary of his church, the group decided to worship in the Lutheran Church in Liberia guest house area. Just as Pastor Allison was about to pronounce the benediction, armed troops broke through the wall's gate and headed toward their little congregation. Allison said, "Everyone, hold your Bible in front of your head, shout the word 'Jesus,' and follow me." They marched out of there with Bibles and "Jesus." The soldiers parted to let them through, not one raising his gun against them. There is still power in the name of Jesus.
At the Berkeley, California, BART train station, there is no change available at the toll booth. But there is one vendor outside who sells sandwiches and soda. He demands a very large "take" to provide change for you to use in the machines to purchase a ticket. It must have been similar for the pilgrims who came to give their annual required offering in Jerusalem's temple.
Jesus makes his way toward Jerusalem and the cross that we might have undeserved forgiveness for our sins.
Theme For The Day
Jesus teaches us a valuable lesson about our place of worship and the fact that he sacrificed himself for us.
Old Testament Lesson
Exodus 20:1-17
The Ten Commandments
What shall we say about these commandments? These are the very core of Israel's civil and religious rules. They have two parts. The first have to do with the relationship to God and the second six have to do with the relationship with each other in the covenant community. Verse 2 first sets out for the people what God has done for them. They have reached Mount Sinai and now need some guidelines by which to travel and relate to their God and each other. Paul claims in Romans 3:19-20b and 7:7 that these laws serve to show the sinfulness contrasted with the holiness of God. Martin Luther called them "schoolmasters," which taught us our need for God's grace and forgiveness. John D. Hannah in The Bible Knowledge Commentary writes: "The Ten Commandments are an excellent summary of ten divine rules for human conduct. They might be called rules of 1) religion, 2) worship, 3) reverence, 4) time, 5) authority, 6) life, 7) priority, 8) property, 9) tongue, and 10) contentment."
New Testament Lesson
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Christ The Power Of God
We must be careful in our interpretation of this passage, lest we give way to a false sense of anti-intellectualism. It seems to me that Paul is warning against a sort of dependence on human wisdom without religious faith in Christ. As he often does, he says here "how much more" worthwhile is our spiritual faith in Christ. The wisdom of God is even more powerful than the wisdom of humans.
The Christian message didn't seem to have much promise of success in the Jewish or Greek setting, Paul claims (v. 25). All the world's wisdom had not found God; but the Christ points God out and provides us a presence which is powerful.
The Gospel
John 2:13-22
Jesus Cleanses The Temple
This incident in Mark, Matthew, and Luke is placed during the week of Jesus' trial and crucifixion. John puts it at the beginning of Jesus' ministry but still at Passover. The Synoptic Gospels give it as a protest against the desecration of the Temple. John's account gives it even more meaning. It is provided as a sign of what will happen because of Jesus' death and resurrection. Notice that he not only drives out the evil money changers but also the animals there to be used for sacrifice: sacrifice no longer called for because of his sacrifice on the cross for all of us and for all time to come. So temple worship is changed -- the end of the old ways of animal sacrifice has come.
Jesus' words recorded in verse 19 were used against him in his trial before the Sanhedrin (Mark 14:57-59). This temple was started in 20 B.C. and completed in A.D. 64. It was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70, which had been predicted by Jesus in Mark 13:2 and Luke 19:43-44.
Does not this event bring into question many of the commercial practices and fund-raising in our church building today? Can we really justify the selling of stuff, new and used, and events merely to raise money for a cause, no matter how good the cause might be? And how wise is it to do such things while trying to teach radical financial stewardship? Several previous churches I have served in, like the ULCA and the LCA, forbade such activities by constitution and yet seemed to survive quite well.
Preaching Possibilities
Each of these readings will stand alone. The Old Testament gives us the opportunity to speak of "Rules for living," developing the theme that these were first for the people to use in traveling through the wilderness. They also can be used by us as we travel through life.
The New Testament Reading will also work by itself as we talk about the power of God in Jesus the Christ. Power can be the focus talking about the power of: our message (v. 18), God (v. 18), Jesus' crucifixion (v. 24), those called (v. 26), and the source of our life (v. 30). If we use all three readings, an outline might look like this:
A. Rules to live by -- Old Testament
B. Power to live on -- New Testament
C. Worship to live with -- Gospel
The first three metaphors listed below are in this order. After exploring the above possibilities, I would like to develop the Gospel reading as a sermon outline.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
A. Give the lead-up to this event according to John's Gospel. Jesus is baptized in the Jordan, is tempted in the wilderness, recruits his disciples, works his first miracles at Cana's wedding feast, and now sets out to observe the Passover Feast in Jerusalem.
B. Describe the existing situation when Jesus got there. Several million Jews were there -- the bare-faced extortion of those pilgrims coming to the obligatory worship; the exorbitant rate charged by the money changers; the social injustice of it all.
C. Tell why Jesus acted this way. He loved God and, thus, God's children. He just could not bear to see those he loved taken advantage of and especially right in God's temple. Some additional reasons:
1. God's house was being desecrated.
2. There was racial and gender-based discrimination as it was the court of the Gentiles where all this took place, making it impossible for them to pray (see v. 11 in Mark 7).
3. Animal sacrifice was no longer needed since his arrival.
D. Now move to what this teaches us today: God doesn't want God's temple desecrated by secular commercialism -- take this as far as you dare. A sacrifice has been offered for all of us and sacrifice is no longer necessary (perhaps this is the best Lenten theme).
E. Add some humor and also creative imagination by describing an emergency meeting of the congregational council that night. The property committee would have to clean up and repair the courtyard. The elders would have to discuss excommunication for this unruly member. The stewardship committee would have to write new guidelines for who uses the temple and for what purpose, etc. This can give relief for what could be a very threatening sermon on "Temple Abuse."
Prayer For The Day
Dear Heavenly Parent, our Lenten prayer today is that you would give us open and critical minds to decide what is appropriate to do in our church. Help us to practice a financial stewardship that does not anger you but in which you celebrate. We are thankful that you have made the supreme, once-and-for-all sacrifice for our sins, even though we fall far short from deserving it. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
Stella Min is from Myanmar (formerly Burma) and a member of the Keren tribe, which took over a Thai hospital demanding medical help for their families. Twelve were slaughtered after surrendering and were pictured on the cover of Newsweek. She will return to her country to teach in a new school of theology there. During my class on "teaching the catechism," she became very quiet, almost panicky, and kept watching the window and door. After class I asked what was wrong and she explained that as we were considering the first commandment and Luther's meaning of it she could not teach such a thing back home. Stella said the military had asked the Buddhist monks to go through the Bible and announce why it was all wrong. Since that time, it has been very dangerous to make the claim that only our God is the true God and that we should "have no other gods." If she did so, it might mean her arrest and the closing of the seminary there (which does not use the word seminary).
It was the first time I have witnessed such fear of saying out loud that God is our God (except for the times as a parish pastor I have asked Lutherans to witness to their faith!). She forgot for a time she was not under her home military government and looked as if they would come to get her at any moment. The words whispered in her home country but openly spoken by these students were so scary for her to hear.
I later held a learning group session in which Stella Min was in attendance. I learned more: she revealed that her brother-in-law was taken from their home one evening for speaking against the military and admitting he was a Christian. They didn't know where he was or if he were alive or dead for two years. Then he was found by her sister in a prison where he has been for seven years. No wonder she is afraid when people around here speak about "no God but our God"!
Pastor Joe Allison of Saint Peters, Monrovia, Liberia, tells that after 600 were slaughtered in the sanctuary of his church, the group decided to worship in the Lutheran Church in Liberia guest house area. Just as Pastor Allison was about to pronounce the benediction, armed troops broke through the wall's gate and headed toward their little congregation. Allison said, "Everyone, hold your Bible in front of your head, shout the word 'Jesus,' and follow me." They marched out of there with Bibles and "Jesus." The soldiers parted to let them through, not one raising his gun against them. There is still power in the name of Jesus.
At the Berkeley, California, BART train station, there is no change available at the toll booth. But there is one vendor outside who sells sandwiches and soda. He demands a very large "take" to provide change for you to use in the machines to purchase a ticket. It must have been similar for the pilgrims who came to give their annual required offering in Jerusalem's temple.
