Third Sunday in Lent

Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Revised Common Lectionary Year C Isaiah 55:1-9 Psalm 63 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 Luke 13:1-9

Today’s Reflection: The Lenten season coincides with the start of gardening season - at least in my part of Texas. In recent months fruit trees have been pruned and garden beds readied for planting. Part of that preparation requires clearing out last year’s dead plants and fertilizing the ones that remain from previous years. The garden simply does not function well without this care. The passages today consider preparation we have to do in order to be faithful followers of Christ. One of the most familiar passages in Isaiah, 55:1-9, has always comforted me in times of trouble and troubled me in times of comfort. Verses eight and nine provide a pathway to peace when we are overwhelmed by the nature of a circumstance and desperately seek answers. Any other time I read the passage I wonder if it is not just God’s trump card keeping us submissive pawns as he plays with his creation. His ways and thoughts are so much higher we will never understand. Many other passages that attempt to explain God’s actions offer us a chance to understand at some point in the future: these verses withhold such hope. Fortunately these verses in Isaiah are not the only ones in the Bible that address the rationale for God’s actions. The passage in 1 Corinthians cites numerous instances when people (mis)behaved and God smote. We are encouraged to pay close attention to God’s actions in our lives because in even the most troubling time for us, God offers salvation from the trial. Much like the passage in Isaiah, we commonly turn to verse thirteen when we face overwhelming situations, and fortunately, it gives us the sustaining comfort we need. The closer we draw to him in his actions, the better chance we have. Jesus was often surrounded by seekers - people with theological questions attempting to get the answers. In the passage in Luke they asked about the sins of some who had been executed by Pilate. Contemporary teaching informed that those who suffered suffered in response to the sin and their degree of suffering reflected the degree of sin. Jesus refutes this with several other examples and a parable. In an era of sustenance farming, the farmer [famer = God] could not afford to have a fruitless tree [tree = sinful humanity] in his orchard and ordered such a tree be cut down, but the gardener (gardener = Jesus) intervened and asked for a chance to work the soil [work the soil = Christ’s ministry] and fertilize [fertilizer = knowledge] to see if it would turn fruitful. We do not know the outcome for the tree. The outcome for us remains undetermined as well. As we have been loved by Christ and learned about his ways and expectations, our fruitfulness still varies. Some have born plentiful fruit and others have remained barren. Many passages in the Bible offer comfort and create concern as they lead us to reflect on our relationship with God. The passages today, appropriate for the Lenten season, insist that we examine our relationship with God and determine what we need to do to make it the relationship God desires.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org

October 14 - Ordinary Time

Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Book of Common Prayer Psalm 146, 147, 111,112,113 Micah 6:1-8 1 Corinthians 4:9-16 Matthew 15:21-28

Today’s Question: How do we understand the breadth of God’s love in troubling situations?

Today’s Reflection: Despite trying to be an open, outgoing, upbeat, and positive person, on some days I am downright crabby. Projects are not going right. Interruptions mar my train of thought. I am just not myself. People who know me well understand that something is really wrong when I am having one of those days. The Bible, though, even gives examples of people struggling with being the person God wants them to be. It does not excuse me for snapping at a co-worker or friend when they do not deserve it, but it does offer hope that I can overcome that bad day because, hopefully, my character is judged by my life, not one ill conceived response.   The Biblical passage that most troubles me is the passage in Matthew we read today. Jesus is outright crabby with the woman and insults all Gentiles. Over the years, I have heard numerous sermons and essays written on the passage, but none have made me comfortable with Jesus’s response to the woman – though he eventually grants her request when she calls him on his insult. He even contradicts his own ministry by saying he only came for the Jews. I usually just skip the passage or read on to the next in which the “Jesus I like” returns.   The devil on my shoulder sometimes prompts me to enjoy Jesus’s sharp remarks: he was snappy too! But why was this comment directed at a woman who believed in him and recognized his Lordship? The Sadducees and Pharisees deserved this kind of response, and while Jesus regularly called their hypocrisy and lack of understanding, he never dealt them direct insults. Yet here his response to the woman sounded like something they would say. This is not the Jesus I like.   The key to this passage comes in the crumbs. Even the crumbs, the remnants, of God’s love are sufficient for us, for with even that, the woman’s daughter was healed. Passages in the Psalms and the prophets proclaim the breadth of God’s presence in all creation. This passage transfers that breadth to God’s love for all people. Even the crumbs are enough to meet even overwhelming needs. I am still troubled by the process by which Jesus makes the point, but I do take comfort from knowing that even the crumbs of God’s love covers us all.

Today’s Prayer: Let us be satisfied by the power of the crumbs.