Lent 3, March 24, 2019 (full size gallery)
An eventful with the Hymnody class on March 18, Village Harvest March 20, Estudio Biblico on March 22 and finally Cooking and cleanup on March 23
Sunday the 24th was beautiful sunny day with a fresh spring feel. The Campbell Magnolia is close to full bloom. Thanks to Charles McGuire for the Japanese cherry and quince for the altar flowers. We had 37 people enjoy it.
The Corinthians class looked at the conflict in values between several groups of people – slaves, merchants, shippers, those involved in the bronze trade in the first three chapters of the Book.
The sermon blended our new composter into the sermon on the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree from Luke 13. Catherine gave out compostable paper for people to write “something that you want Jesus to compost for you. ”
The takeaway – “Jesus serves as our gardener. But being the good gardener that he is, Jesus wants to take the time to compost the manure in our lives into the manure can become the fertilizer we that we need to bear good fruit.
“I propose then, that instead of wallowing in the manure of our lives, or just blowing off the wrongs we’ve done, or trying to hide them from ourselves and others, and even from God, that we turn the manure in our lives over to Jesus for composting. Jesus will take your manure, and being the good gardener that he is, will compost it, and put it around your roots, so that you can bear good fruit.
“Offer up this manure up to Jesus for transformation.”
Today’s readings call us to faithful obedience. In the first reading, God’s promise to rescue the faithful summons us to a new relationship. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul looks at the experiences of God’s people in the past to show his readers how to live in obedience now. In the gospel, Jesus advises us to respond to calamities with a spirit of personal repentance.
The Old Testament passage from Exodus 3:1-15 passage records Moses’ life-changing encounter with God as he leads his flock “beyond the wilderness.” Here God’s name and character are revealed as Moses is commissioned as God’s agent. The fiery bush signifies God’s presence and activity. In response to God’s presence, Moses hides his face, for in Hebrew thought it was fatal to see the Lord directly. God is revealed as the transcendent Other who chooses to be in a relationship of commitment and even intimacy with God’s people. God is One who sees, hears, knows and has come down to deliver. God’s transcendent holiness does not preclude divine immanence and compassion.
God sums up the mysterious, divine character by revealing it in a personal name, YHWH. As a form of “to be” it can be understood as present (“I am”), future (“I will be [with you]”) or the causative (“I cause[things] to be”). When speaking, God says simply “I am.” When speaking of God, we use this verb form as God’s proper name. This suggests a dynamic and outgoing concept of God, reflecting God’s activity in history rather than simply describing God’s eternal being as self-contained and changeless.
In the Epistle from 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, by reviewing the exodus and interpreting it as an example of God’s ways, Paul warns the Corinthians against idolatry and overconfidence in their own strength. The exodus is a foretaste of the salvation completed in Christ—baptism in the sea and eucharist in the manna and water.
The story of water from the rock gave rise to the rabbinic legend of a Rock that traveled with the Israelites. That Rock was identified with God’s wisdom and also a description for Yahweh. Paul identifies the Rock as the preexistent Christ.
In Gospel, Luke 13:1-9, we are walking with Jesus and listening as observations are made about life, not only from Jesus but also from those walking with him as well.
Luke 13:1-9 tells of a massacre by Pilate against some Galileans and then switches parable of the Fig Tree. What is the connection ? Certainly inclusion or exclusion from the Kingdom. This story is unique to Luke’s Gospel.
This passage addresses inclusion in or exclusion from the kingdom. Jesus rejects the then common idea that accidental death indicates the sinfulness of the victim. He turns the attention of his hearers from the moral state of others to their own.
The focus is not about worrying about other’s punishment or need for repentance, but our own. We are the ones in need of turning back to God. We know that we are judged by God. If I judge others, I am using the opportunity to evade culpability for my own wrongdoings.
Jesus s not interested in politics or speculation about disasters. Rather, Jesus wants to and uses these questions to ponder repentance. A parable of a fig tree is the result
Jesus uses the story of the fig tree to remind us that we all have been given the opportunity to turn back to God, and that through Jesus we are reminded of that possibility, but only we can produce good fruit. We can’t go pointing out the wrongdoings of others when we are still at fault ourselves. We are the ones who need to repent and turn back to God.
Both the vineyard and the fig tree are probably figures for Israel, and the cutting down of a tree with bad or no fruit suggests judgment. Through the figure of the gardener, Jesus’ ministry is presented as a time that postpones judgment to allow for repentance.