Sermon Sunday February 24 2008
Third Sunday in Lent
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
When I say the word ‘scandal’ what exactly comes to your mind? Perhaps I should ask who comes to your mind? This week there were scandalous allegations made against presidential candidate John McCain. Of course that’s nothing new around election time and it really doesn’t seem that anybody is taking these particular allegations against Senator McCain to seriously. But we are obsessed with scandal. And I am not simply talking about the superficial Paris Hilton or Britney Spears stuff. I think I can honestly assume that most of us here don’t really waste too much time with that sort of thing.
But we still love scandal. We gossip. We talk behind people’s backs. We blame people for things without getting the whole story. And I think that; blaming people, gets to the heart of our love for scandal. Scandal isn’t just about trying to besmirch the reputations of celebrities. I think at the heart of scandal lies our tendency to not want to address our own accountability for the problems and challenges that exist in our lives and so we point an accusing finger at others.
But we have always done this. We have always had a tendency to blame others for the problems of our lives. And so we come to our Old Testament lesson where we see the Israelites grumbling and complaining to Moses. These are the same Israelites who just before this were singing in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord for rescuing them from being held captive in Egypt. Now they are griping to Moses; the very person whom the Lord used to rescue the Israelites from Egypt.
Not that they didn’t have any reason to be unhappy or at least a little bit uncomfortable. After all they were in the desert and they needed water and as they went from place to place they could not find any. It’s the nature of their complaint that is so scandalous, not the fact that they were unhappy or complaining. They have already lost sight of how much God has done for them by rescuing them from Egypt.
They wanted to run from the freedom that had been given to them back into the bondage that they had been rescued from. And their grumbling and complaining became so bitter that Moses felt like his life was even in danger. Finally they question the presence of the Lord who had rescued them from Egypt when, as you read in the last verse of the Old Testament lesson for this morning they cry out ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’ Instead of working together and supporting each other, they quarrel with each other. And so they point their accusing finger not only at Moses but at God Himself.
And so you see the real danger in giving in to the temptation of scandalous behavior. The more we avoid our own accountability then the more likely we are to point the accusing finger at our neighbor, and the more we point the accusing finger at our neighbor, it’s only a matter of time before we point the accusing finger at our Lord.
It’s only a matter of time before we become like the Israelites in the desert, becoming bitter and ungrateful for all that our Lord provides for us. The devil will throw his slings and arrows at us trying to distract us from all that God does for us. We buy into the all too American notion of “If you want something done right you have to do it yourself” or “Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.” Not that there is anything wrong with being self-reliant or even independent but we should never allow ourselves to become a god of our own making and we should never allow ourselves to forget that everything we have; our food, shelter, clothing and our ability to provide for ourselves; it all comes from God.
And Satan will work through the world that we live in to convince us otherwise. The world will try to convince us that we are entitled to everything that we have, that we deserve it, that we are worthy of all that God has entrusted us with. But it’s all a lie.
It’s a lie fed to us by the world that hates us. Think it’s a little too strong for me to say that the world hates us? Well our Lord Jesus tells us this Himself in John 15. In John 15 Jesus tells us that the world hates us because we are not of the world, and that if we were, the world would love us. Now understand that when Jesus says the world, He is not talking about people per se’. Rather, He is talking about the devil’s influence over the world, He is talking about sin’s influence on the world, He is talking about the old that will all be done away with.
And He promises us that we are not of the world but that He calls us out of the world. He calls us out of our world of bondage to sin and death, just as He called the Israelites out of their world of bondage in Egypt. He called the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt and into the promised land, even in the midst of their quarrelling and griping. Even as they began to question God’s presence among them.
God would have had every right to inflict nothing but wrath and punishment on the Israelites as they griped and quarreled and sought to go back to captivity. But just as He calls us out of our captivity He called the Israelites. And so rather than responding with the wrath that they deserved God responds to the insolence of the Israelites with grace by giving the Israelites the life-sustaining water that they need and manna as He continued to call them out of their captivity.
And so He does the same for us in spite of our own lack of faith and quarreling and finger-pointing and questioning of God’s presence in our lives. Our Lord gives us not what we deserve but the living water of forgiveness through faith in Christ.
And so in our Gospel lesson we see Jesus speaking of this living water to a Samaritan woman, as He calls her out of her own captivity. But like the Israelites and us she is focused on her own lot in life and so when Jesus tells her of the living water of which those who drink will never be thirsty again all she hears is a way to rid herself of a taxing daily chore as she asks Jesus to give her this water so that she may never be thirsty or have to keep coming back to draw water.
The woman continues to not quite really get it. She thinks Jesus is a prophet. Finally she tells Jesus that when the Messiah comes He will proclaim all things to them. And then Jesus simply tells her that He is the Messiah. And then she goes back to the city and tells everyone. And John writes that she leaves the bucket there, as if John is trying to say that she no longer has to go searching for water. And while she certainly still would have needed the physical nourishment that the water from the well could provide, the good news that she would bring to the city was that she had found the living water.
And she would simply invite the people to come and see the One who would take on the sin of the world; the One from who’s side the living waters would flow as He died on the cross for you and bore the sins of the world for you. And now just as He did with the Samaritan woman, He calls you to worship in Spirit and truth. And the best way to worship in Spirit and truth is to take the freedom that comes with forgiveness in Christ and run with it to your neighbor.
In the desert our Lord heard the pleas of Moses and so He provided His people with water and manna. And as miraculous as that was, it was simply pointing to the true Bread from Heaven that our Lord would provide not just for the Israelites but for all God’s people through forgiveness in Christ Jesus. And through the living waters of baptism this gift has been brought to you and it is brought to you daily in the gift of God’s Word, the sacraments and fellowship with each other.
You don’t have to run from the accountability for your sins and mistakes because Christ Jesus has bore the burden of them on the cross for you. Hear the words of Paul who in the lesson from Romans today tells you that the living water of God’s love has been poured into your hearts through the Holy Spirit. You can now follow the lead of the Samaritan woman and run to your neighbor, not with an accusing finger, but with the Good News of the living water of forgiveness, freedom, and new life for all who believe in Christ Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
Amen
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
When I say the word ‘scandal’ what exactly comes to your mind? Perhaps I should ask who comes to your mind? This week there were scandalous allegations made against presidential candidate John McCain. Of course that’s nothing new around election time and it really doesn’t seem that anybody is taking these particular allegations against Senator McCain to seriously. But we are obsessed with scandal. And I am not simply talking about the superficial Paris Hilton or Britney Spears stuff. I think I can honestly assume that most of us here don’t really waste too much time with that sort of thing.
But we still love scandal. We gossip. We talk behind people’s backs. We blame people for things without getting the whole story. And I think that; blaming people, gets to the heart of our love for scandal. Scandal isn’t just about trying to besmirch the reputations of celebrities. I think at the heart of scandal lies our tendency to not want to address our own accountability for the problems and challenges that exist in our lives and so we point an accusing finger at others.
But we have always done this. We have always had a tendency to blame others for the problems of our lives. And so we come to our Old Testament lesson where we see the Israelites grumbling and complaining to Moses. These are the same Israelites who just before this were singing in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord for rescuing them from being held captive in Egypt. Now they are griping to Moses; the very person whom the Lord used to rescue the Israelites from Egypt.
Not that they didn’t have any reason to be unhappy or at least a little bit uncomfortable. After all they were in the desert and they needed water and as they went from place to place they could not find any. It’s the nature of their complaint that is so scandalous, not the fact that they were unhappy or complaining. They have already lost sight of how much God has done for them by rescuing them from Egypt.
They wanted to run from the freedom that had been given to them back into the bondage that they had been rescued from. And their grumbling and complaining became so bitter that Moses felt like his life was even in danger. Finally they question the presence of the Lord who had rescued them from Egypt when, as you read in the last verse of the Old Testament lesson for this morning they cry out ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’ Instead of working together and supporting each other, they quarrel with each other. And so they point their accusing finger not only at Moses but at God Himself.
And so you see the real danger in giving in to the temptation of scandalous behavior. The more we avoid our own accountability then the more likely we are to point the accusing finger at our neighbor, and the more we point the accusing finger at our neighbor, it’s only a matter of time before we point the accusing finger at our Lord.
It’s only a matter of time before we become like the Israelites in the desert, becoming bitter and ungrateful for all that our Lord provides for us. The devil will throw his slings and arrows at us trying to distract us from all that God does for us. We buy into the all too American notion of “If you want something done right you have to do it yourself” or “Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.” Not that there is anything wrong with being self-reliant or even independent but we should never allow ourselves to become a god of our own making and we should never allow ourselves to forget that everything we have; our food, shelter, clothing and our ability to provide for ourselves; it all comes from God.
And Satan will work through the world that we live in to convince us otherwise. The world will try to convince us that we are entitled to everything that we have, that we deserve it, that we are worthy of all that God has entrusted us with. But it’s all a lie.
It’s a lie fed to us by the world that hates us. Think it’s a little too strong for me to say that the world hates us? Well our Lord Jesus tells us this Himself in John 15. In John 15 Jesus tells us that the world hates us because we are not of the world, and that if we were, the world would love us. Now understand that when Jesus says the world, He is not talking about people per se’. Rather, He is talking about the devil’s influence over the world, He is talking about sin’s influence on the world, He is talking about the old that will all be done away with.
And He promises us that we are not of the world but that He calls us out of the world. He calls us out of our world of bondage to sin and death, just as He called the Israelites out of their world of bondage in Egypt. He called the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt and into the promised land, even in the midst of their quarrelling and griping. Even as they began to question God’s presence among them.
God would have had every right to inflict nothing but wrath and punishment on the Israelites as they griped and quarreled and sought to go back to captivity. But just as He calls us out of our captivity He called the Israelites. And so rather than responding with the wrath that they deserved God responds to the insolence of the Israelites with grace by giving the Israelites the life-sustaining water that they need and manna as He continued to call them out of their captivity.
And so He does the same for us in spite of our own lack of faith and quarreling and finger-pointing and questioning of God’s presence in our lives. Our Lord gives us not what we deserve but the living water of forgiveness through faith in Christ.
And so in our Gospel lesson we see Jesus speaking of this living water to a Samaritan woman, as He calls her out of her own captivity. But like the Israelites and us she is focused on her own lot in life and so when Jesus tells her of the living water of which those who drink will never be thirsty again all she hears is a way to rid herself of a taxing daily chore as she asks Jesus to give her this water so that she may never be thirsty or have to keep coming back to draw water.
The woman continues to not quite really get it. She thinks Jesus is a prophet. Finally she tells Jesus that when the Messiah comes He will proclaim all things to them. And then Jesus simply tells her that He is the Messiah. And then she goes back to the city and tells everyone. And John writes that she leaves the bucket there, as if John is trying to say that she no longer has to go searching for water. And while she certainly still would have needed the physical nourishment that the water from the well could provide, the good news that she would bring to the city was that she had found the living water.
And she would simply invite the people to come and see the One who would take on the sin of the world; the One from who’s side the living waters would flow as He died on the cross for you and bore the sins of the world for you. And now just as He did with the Samaritan woman, He calls you to worship in Spirit and truth. And the best way to worship in Spirit and truth is to take the freedom that comes with forgiveness in Christ and run with it to your neighbor.
In the desert our Lord heard the pleas of Moses and so He provided His people with water and manna. And as miraculous as that was, it was simply pointing to the true Bread from Heaven that our Lord would provide not just for the Israelites but for all God’s people through forgiveness in Christ Jesus. And through the living waters of baptism this gift has been brought to you and it is brought to you daily in the gift of God’s Word, the sacraments and fellowship with each other.
You don’t have to run from the accountability for your sins and mistakes because Christ Jesus has bore the burden of them on the cross for you. Hear the words of Paul who in the lesson from Romans today tells you that the living water of God’s love has been poured into your hearts through the Holy Spirit. You can now follow the lead of the Samaritan woman and run to your neighbor, not with an accusing finger, but with the Good News of the living water of forgiveness, freedom, and new life for all who believe in Christ Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
Amen
posted by Steve at 11:50 AM
2 Comments:
Sorry, you just seemed to have explained the texts and how we "fail" to do what God does and then leaves one sitting not knowing what we have done and what Christ did for us.
And what I wished in this one is you should have continued that theme of scandal throughout. YOu started it and I liked how you were going but then it was dropped as you started talking about the Samaritan woman and us and things like that. You spent a lot of time talking about the Gospel lesson and that seemed to eat up a lot of time that you could have been talking about this scandal.
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