Musings for Lent 5

Sunday, March 25, 2012
Fifth Sunday in Lent

Midweek Musings

Reflection by Ken Klassen

INTRODUCTION
God promises Jeremiah that a "new covenant" will be made in the future: a covenant that will allow all the people to know God by heart. The church sees this promise fulfilled in Christ, who draws all people to himself when he is lifted up on the cross. Our baptismal covenant draws us to God's heart through Christ and draws God's light and truth into our hearts. We see God's heart most clearly in the way Jesus shares human suffering, in an agony both the John and Hebrews readings describe.

Annunciation of Our Lord
Nine months before Christmas we celebrate the annunciation, in which the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would give birth to the Son of God. The ancient church believed that this was also the date of the world's creation and of Jesus' death on the cross.

PRAYER OF THE DAY (ELW)

O God, with steadfast love you draw us to yourself, and in mercy you receive our prayers.
Strengthen us to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, that through life and death we may live in your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

FIRST READING

Jeremiah 31:31–34

The Judeans in Babylon blamed their exile on their ancestors, who had broken the covenant established at Sinai. Here the prophet looks to a day when God will make a new covenant with the people. There will be no need to teach the law, because God will write it on their hearts.

³¹The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ³²It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt — a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. ³³But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

PSALM (ELW)

Psalm 51:1–12

Create in me a clean heart, O God. (Ps. 51:10)

¹Have mercy on me, O God, according to your ^| steadfast love;

in your great compassion blot out ^| my offenses.

²Wash me through and through ^| from my wickedness,

and cleanse me ^| from my sin.

³For I know ^| my offenses,

and my sin is ev- ^| er before me.

⁴Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil ^| in your sight;

so you are justified when you speak

and right ^| in your judgment.

⁵Indeed, I was born ^| steeped in wickedness,

a sinner from my ^| mother's womb.

⁶Indeed, you delight in truth ^| deep within me,

and would have me know wisdom ^| deep within.

⁷Remove my sins with hyssop, and I ^| shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be pur- ^| er than snow.

⁸Let me hear ^| joy and gladness;

that the body you have broken ^| may rejoice.

⁹Hide your face ^| from my sins,

and blot out ^| all my wickedness.

¹⁰Create in me a clean ^| heart, O God,

and renew a right spir- ^| it within me.

¹¹Cast me not away ^| from your presence,

and take not your Holy Spir- ^| it from me.

¹²Restore to me the joy of ^| your salvation

and sustain me with your boun- ^| tiful Spirit.

SECOND READING

Hebrews 5:5–10

Using priestly imagery and references to the Old Testament, the author explains how Christ lived in trusting obedience to God, and so God has made Christ the source of our eternal salvation.

⁵So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,
"You are my Son,
today I have begotten you";
⁶as he says also in another place,
"You are a priest forever,
according to the order of Melchizedek."
⁷In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. ⁸Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; ⁹and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, ¹⁰having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

GOSPEL

John 12:20–33

Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time to celebrate the Passover festival. Here Jesus’ words about seeds planted in the ground turn the disaster of his death into the promise of a harvest in which everyone will be gathered.

²⁰Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. ²¹They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." ²²Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
²⁷Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say — 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. ²⁸Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." ²⁹The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." ³⁰Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. ³¹Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. ³²And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." ³³He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

Reflection

One of my favorite parts of the Lutheran liturgy is a song based on today's Psalm. I have caught myself humming the tune and singing the song to myself long after Sunday morning has passed. The Psalm says,

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.

I've long believed that we are all born with God-shaped void inside of us. When that void is not filled, we ache. Many of us spend a lot of our lives trying to fill this void with personal "stuff". We think if we become busy or famous or if we are admired or if we are well educated that the void will be filled and the ache in our soul be soothed. In our Gospel lesson today Jesus tells us we need to focus on something else besides ourselves. Actually, to follow him we need to be like a kernel of wheat and die. We have to die to self in order to bear much fruit. During Lent, as we take time to pray, read, and reflect, God continues to call us closer. As we move self out of the way, we see that it was blocking our view of God. We need to die to ourselves and be open to God in our lives. When we do, we realize that that God-shaped void is being filled with God.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we pray for wisdom and the patience to understand your scriptures. Help us to listen for your voice and obey. We ask that your protecting hand will be on all of those who serve our country and work for peace. Teach us compassion for the sick, the suffering, and those in need.

Quote

“There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every[one] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”

Blaise Pascal (a 17^th century French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic philosopher)

Musings for Lent 4

Sunday, March 18, 2012
Fourth Sunday in Lent

Midweek Musings

Reflection by Ann Patterson

INTRODUCTION
The fourth of the Old Testament promises providing a baptismal lens this Lent is the promise God makes to Moses: those who look on the bronze serpent will live. In today's gospel Jesus says he will be lifted up on the cross like the serpent, so that those who look to him in faith will live. When we receive the sign of the cross in baptism, that cross becomes the sign we can look to in faith, for healing, for restored relationship to God, for hope when we are dying.

Prayer of the Day (ELW)

O God, rich in mercy, by the humiliation of your Son you lifted up this fallen world
and rescued us from the hopelessness of death. Lead us into your light, that all our deeds may reflect your love, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

First Reading

Numbers 21:4–9

Though God provides food and water for the Israelites in the wilderness, they whine and grumble. They forget about the salvation they experienced in the exodus. God punishes them for their sin, but when they repent God also provides a means of healing: a bronze serpent lifted up on a pole.

⁴From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. ⁵The people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food." ⁶Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. ⁷The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD to take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live." ⁹So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

Psalm (ELW)

Psalm 107:1–3, 17–22

You deliver your people from their distress. (Ps. 107:19)

¹Give thanks to the LORD, for the ^| LORD is good,

for God's mercy en- ^| dures forever.

²Let the redeemed of the ^| LORD proclaim

that God redeemed them from the hand ^| of the foe,

³gathering them in ^| from the lands;

from the east and from the west, from the north and ^| from the south.

¹⁷Some were fools and took re- ^| bellious paths;

through their sins they ^| were afflicted.

¹⁸They loathed all man- ^| ner of food

and drew near ^| to death's door.

¹⁹Then in their trouble they cried ^| to the LORD

and you delivered them from ^| their distress. R

²⁰You sent forth your ^| word and healed them

and rescued them ^| from the grave.

²¹Let them give thanks to you, LORD, for your ^| steadfast love

and your wonderful works ^| for all people.

²²Let them offer sacrifices ^| of thanksgiving

and tell of your deeds with ^| shouts of joy. R

Second Reading

Ephesians 2:1–10

While we were dead in our sinfulness, God acted to make us alive as a gift of grace in Christ Jesus. We are saved not by what we do but by grace through faith. Thus our good works are really a reflection of God’s grace at work in our lives.

You were dead through the trespasses and sins ²in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. ³All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. ⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us ⁵even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — ⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God — ⁹not the result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

Gospel

John 3:14–21

To explain the salvation of God to the religious leader, Nicodemus, Jesus refers to the scripture passage quoted in today’s first reading. Just as those who looked upon the bronze serpent were healed, so people will be saved when they behold Christ lifted up on the cross.

¹⁴And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
¹⁷Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in

the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. ²¹But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."

REFLECTION

When I hear the words of John 3:16, I’m often reminded of what we used to call “released time” in my elementary school. Every Wednesday around 2:30 we’d troop off by grade to one of the local churches where ladies of some denomination other than Lutheran would lead us in song, tell us Bible stories using flannel graph, and encourage us to memorize Bible verses. Together, we’d repeat the verse of the day again and again, and then classmates, one by one, would stand and repeat the verse individually. Naturally John 3:16 was a favorite.

In fact, John 3:16 is one of the best-loved passages in the Bible. People as diverse as George W Bush and Tim Tebow claim it as a favorite. It appears on the occasional billboard and on the bottom of a particular burger chain’s paper cups. Perhaps it is beloved because of its simplicity. In very few words, it offers the essential Christian narrative. Some people have called it a road map – which starts with God’s love and ends with eternal life. We know, as did many of my classmates, that belief is what is required of us. Christ must be the Lord of our lives and at the center of our hearts. We trust, therefore, that we will not face life- or eternity abandoned by God.

QUOTE

Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.

-Saint Augustine

PRAYERS

Since we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks and pray for

· those who are unemployed or homeless

· those who are sick or dying

· those who struggle with their faith