Lent 3B
image: "Che Jesus" by churchads.net
1 Corinthians 1:18-25 with Cheryl Kerr
Psalm 19 with Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (psalmimmersion.com, patreon.com/richardbcsongleader, @pomopsalmist)
John 2:13-22
Initial Thoughts
JOHN!!! (shakes fist at the sky!) - totally out of order from the Synoptics
If you are looking for the Mark passage see Mark 11:12-19
The Jews- the religious authorities - not meant to condemn all Jews - Excellent Holy Week Insert from First Church Cambridge when Rev. Dr. Mary Luti was pastoring there.
“The Jews,” could be translated, “The Judeans,” as D Mark Davis puts it, “Frankly, I believe it reflects the inner struggle for the soul of Jewish piety better than the anti-Semitic assumptions that often shape Christian interpretations.
Bible Study
Context
Unlike the synoptics- this happens at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry
right after Jesus’ first “sign” at the Wedding at Cana (cf. 2:11)
Passover - Jesus’ death is not his first Jerusalem Passover (according to John)
Money changers and animal sellers - providing a necessary service of convenience. Are they any different than the beer and hot dog vendors at a baseball game? Or the token vendors at the arcade (might be dating myself on this one)
“We do not have any strong evidence - only our imaginations - bolster the view that the necessary trade in birds and beasts was thought to be an abuse or that this was Jesus’ main concern with it. Once again, in this Gospel, the symbolism assigned to the historical event is more important than the event itself.” (Gerard Sloyan, Interpretation: John, p. 40)
Alludes to the end of Zechariah (14:21), “And there shall no longer be traders in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day. “
Now that Jesus has come, “God is spirit and those who worship
ANGRY Jesus
Acknowledge the awkwardness of an ANGRY Jesus
Jesus drives them out with a “whip of cords” - YIPE
Righteous anger- at this of all things is uncomfortable- not directed at the Pharisees or Sadducees or Romans, but those profiting from people encountering God
Jesus drives the sheep and cattle out, but not the people- they are allowed to remain in the temple
Cleansing the temple does not mean driving out the people- even the unfaithful exploiters- it means removing their means of exploitation.
Why is Jesus mad?
Exploitation - the cost of the sacrificial doves and animals was too high and exploited those seeking grace.
Barrier - an unnecessary barrier that kept people from worshiping God
Profiting materially from faith and people’s desire to be in relationship with God - are we that much different?
“Then my Lord God will come and all the Holy Ones with him...And there shall no longer be traders in the House of the Lord of hosts on that day.” - Zech 14:15,
“That day” of the Lord’s coming is here and Jesus’ driving out the traders indicates that God has come to the temple incarnate in Jesus
“Jesus orders that his Father’s house not be made a marketplace. Yet, for the temple system to survive, the ordered transactions of a marketplace were essential… Jesus is not quibbling about maleficence or mismanagement but calls for a complete dismantling of the entire system. Underneath this critique lies also the intimation that the temple itself is not necessary. At the center of such theological statements is the fundamental question of God’s location.” (Karoline Lewis, Fortress Biblical Preaching Commentaries: John, p. 42).
Religious Marketplace - are we that much better?
Beware using this as a soapbox to condemn external injustices - Jesus is bringing it home to the doors of your church. Is your church a marketplace or a house of prayer?
Explicit charging - building use, weddings, funerals, etc
Implicit charging - what people wear, how they smell, how they look, are they able to get into your church
“...both the prophetic impulse and institutions are essential. The same preachers who are deeply responsible for the health of the institutional church are also called urgently to respond to the prophetic impulse, summoning both church and world to do better than we currently do. This inescapably creates ongoing tension, for the church without the prophetic impulse quickly devolves into mirroring the values of the prevailing powers, while the prophetic impulse that does not develop and sustain enduring institutions is quickly pushed to the margins, ignored and forgotten, or worse, co-opted to serve the very powers it originally bore witness against.” Shupe, P. C. (2008). Pastoral Perspective on John 2:13–22. Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year B (Vol. 2, p. 94).
Temple as the place where you went to encounter God - Jesus is the new temple (v. 22) Through Jesus you encounter God
“He acts authoritatively in his Father’s house, the temple, because the basic dwelling place of the Lord, the God of Israel, is henceforth to be Jesus’ body. This body is the ‘temple’ of the Evangelist’s concern. The deed of Jesus indicates that (Gerard Sloyan, Interpretation: John, p. 41)
At the time of John’s Gospel the temple has already been destroyed
The first passion prediction
Thoughts and Questions
Good summary: “The narration happens in real time, as if the reader can see everything that Jesus sees. Yet, Jesus’ command to the dove sellers differs strikingly from the accounts in Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-48). Instead of a concern for temple malpractices (“den of robbers”), Jesus orders that his Father’s house not be made a marketplace. For the temple system to survive, however, the ordered transactions of a marketplace were essential. The temple had to function as a place of exchange for maintaining and supporting the sacrificial structures. Jesus is not quibbling about maleficence or mismanagement but calls for a complete dismantling of the entire system. Underneath this critique lies also the intimation that the temple itself is not necessary. At the center of such theological statements is the fundamental question of God’s location, which will be confirmed in the dialogue between Jesus and the Jewish authorities.” (Karoline Lewis, Working Preacher)
What tables would Jesus turn over in our churches today? What would he see that would cause him to pull out his whip?
What barriers do we put up before people and God? Membership? Confirmation? Church-y language? Inaccessible buildings?
Are we willing to worship with the money changers and cattle sellers? Those who have been bullies, exploiters and betrayers?
Exodus 20:1-17
Initial Thoughts
Memorize the ten commandments - Here is a demonstration - with pictures!
Read the whole passage - including the explanations (vv. 5-6 and 10-11)
The story everyone “knows”
Challenge: make it new and make it relevant
Interesting article about a wire that surrounds Manhattan and other cities marking them as a place Jews can do work on the Sabbath, by marking it as a ‘home.’ https://getpocket.com/explore/item/there-s-a-wire-above-manhattan-that-you-ve-probably-never-noticed?utm_source=pocket-newtab
“It's called an eruv (plural eruvin), and its existence is thanks to the Jewish Sabbath. On the Sabbath, which is viewed as a day of rest, observant Jewish people aren't allowed to carry anything—books, groceries, even children—in public places (doing so is considered "work"). The eruv encircles much of Manhattan, acting as a symbolic boundary that turns the very public streets of the city into a private space, much like one's own home. This allows people to freely communicate and socialize on the Sabbath—and carry whatever they please—without having to worry about breaking Jewish law.”
Bible Study
Order of Commandments:
Augustine of Hippo changes the traditional order of the commandments by combining the first two and separating the 10th into 2 commandments (separating coveting property from coveting a spouse)
Discrepancies based on a comparison of Deuteronomy 5 and Exodus 20
See here for a comparison of the
There is a more thorough explanation and table here: http://www.bible-researcher.com/decalogue.html
Introduction
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;”
Salvation comes first not second- God’s grace is the foundation upon which the Commandments are based
Women in the Commandments - “Women are woven in and out of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20.” Wilda Gafney, Womanist Midrash
Even though the commandments are addressed to men, they surely apply to women as well.
Relationship with God:
1.) v. 3 You shall have no other gods before me.
The relationship between God and God’s people form the foundation for all the other commandments. Living in a way consistent with these commandments are evidence of the integrity of this relationship.
You are not God - the color of your skin, the amount of your wealth, your gender identification- none of these make you God, none of these make anyone else God either
2.) v. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Judgement - 3-4 generations, Grace - thousandth generation: Grace > Judgement.
This is the God of history - “who brought you out of Egypt” and eternal Cosmos “heaven above, earth beneath, water under the earth” Robert Altar, The Hebrew Bible
Other cultures ascribed different gods to each of these realms - Baal over land, Yamm over sea, Mot over the underworld. YHWH is the God of all
“The prohibition of images...prevents Israel from prescribing limits to how God works.” Judy Fentress-Williams, The Africana Bible
3.) v. 7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
God will not “forgive” anyone...WHAT?! What do we do about this very disturbing passage?
Is this “causing the little ones to stumble” so the mill stone is cast around the neck and we take a swim?
TL;DR - This is a serious issue, not to be ignored!
There are so many instances where people use God’s name for their own purposes or to justify their own sins rather than proclaiming the good news
Be careful claiming that something is done in God’s name
4.) 8 Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 For six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.
Different from the decalogue in Deuteronomy 5:15 which the reason for observing the Sabbath is in remembrance of being brought out of slavery in Egypt, “Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, but the LORD your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That's why the LORD your God commands you to keep the Sabbath day.”
However, v. 2 puts the entire decalogue in the context of the Exodus
Relationship with Others- our relationship with God transforms our relationship with others
5.) 12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
6.) 13 You shall not murder
Not thou shall not kill- “the Hebrew verb, ratsah clearly means “murder,” not “kill,” and so that ban is specifically on criminal acts of taking of life.” Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible
7.) 14 You shall not commit adultery.
8.) 15 You shall not steal.
9.) 16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10.)17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Brings everything back to the first commandment - “to have nothing and no one before God.” Judy Fentress-Williams, The Africana Bible
Equal commandments
We do not treat them equally- Keeping the Sabbath is not equal to murde
What would happen is we kept the commandments equally
Exodus 20:18 - “All the people of Israel, woman and man, child and adult, enslaved and free, citizen and alien, behold the living God veiled in smoke, attended by lightning and thunder; no amount of androcentric, gender-exclusive language can change that.” Wilda Gafney, Womanist Midrash
Check our Wilda Gafney’s beautiful reimagining of this text on p. 105 of Womanist Midrash
You can focus on simply one commandment or do a sermon series. Examples:
3 - wrongful use of the Lord’s name: how often is the name of God used to justify power, empire, domestic abuse, political gain, liberal or conservative agendas?
4 - Sabbath: Perhaps the most overlooked- people are tired, yet what example to their pastors show them? Do we as churches hold up the Sabbath? You do as the pastor keep the “Sabbath”? Why not? Why is it less important?
10 - Coveting: TV, radio, media all teach us to covet - the latest iphone, body image. “The only time you should worry about your neighbor’s bowl is if there isn’t enough in it.” postChristian
How do we balance out the Ten Commandments and Jesus’ greatest commandments?
Love is the foundation: the Ten Commandments are included in Jesus’ commandments not in opposition
Thoughts and Questions
Choose to preach on them as a whole or a couple?
Why do we chose that some commandments are more important than others when Jesus and God don’t seem to? What would happen if we took each commandment as equally as “Thou Shall Not Kill”
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Initial thoughts
This passage appears in lectionary in Epiphany Year A, Lent Year B and in Holy Tuesday every year.
How does reading it paired with Beatitudes change the reading from when it is read in Lent?
Bible Study
Context:
Corinth, according to David Deffenbaugh in Working Preacher is: “Situated between two seaports. It was a place where traditions converged, where various languages were spoken and ideas were exchanged as eagerly as money for exotic goods.
Corinth also had more than its share of corruption and vice: the disparity between rich and poor was painfully evident and, as one might expect under such circumstances, prostitution was rampant. In the first century, Corinth was where fortunes were made and where more than a few lives were sacrificed in the process.”
Wisdom and Foolishness
Passage contains both universal truth and particular application
Corinthian church must have been diverse. Evidence that while most Christians were poor and uneducated, not all were.
What do our churches look like? The makeup of many mainline, middle class congregations is the opposite - mostly comfortably wealthy, with some poor mixed in.
Truth remains, “God did not choose you because you deserved to be chosen. God chose those who are undeserving, by the world’s logic, in order to confound the logic of the world.” Beverly Gaventa, Texts for Preaching, Year A, p. 124
Is there room for intellectualism in the church? “Our faith is 2000 years old, our thinking is not”
God’s wisdom is different than the world’s wisdom
“Paul asserts that the cross of Jesus Christ reveals the power of God. While for Christians some twenty centuries removed from Paul, and accustomed to the cross as a symbol in churches and even in jewelry, this assertion may seem inoffensive, it must have struck some of Paul’s contemporaries as the ravings of a madman. The cross was, in fact, the antithesis of power - except as it revealed the power of the Roman Empire to crush those regarded as opponents.” Beverly Gaventa, Texts for Preaching, Year A, p. 123
“The Jews” looking for a Davidic monarch
“The Greeks” looking for esteem, power, and beauty.
Frederick Buechner:
“The message that a convicted felon was the bearer of God's forgiving and transforming love was hard enough for anybody to swallow and for some especially so. For hellenized sophisticates-the Greeks, as Paul puts it - it could only seem absurd. What uglier, more supremely inappropriate symbol of, say, Plato's Beautiful and Good could there be than a crucified Jew? And for the devout Jew, what more scandalous image of the Davidic king-messiah, before whose majesty all the nations were at last to come to heel?
Paul understood both reactions well. "The folly of what we preach," he called it (1:21), and he knew it was folly not just to the intellectually and religiously inclined but to the garden variety Corinthians who had no particular pretensions in either direction but simply wanted some reasonably plausible god who would stand by them when the going got rough.
Paul's God didn't look much like what they were after, and Paul was the first to admit it. Who stood by Jesus when the going got rough, after all? He even goes so far as to speak of "the foolishness of God" (1:25). What other way could you describe a deity who chose as his followers not the movers and shakers who could build him a temple to make Aphrodite's look like two cents but the weak, the despised, the ones who were foolish even as their God was and poor as church mice?”
Thoughts and Questions
What is the folly that we must preach? In the midst of American Civil Religion, it is imperative to reclaim the foolishness of the Gospel.
What does the world reward? The system of the world has created a situation where 85 people have as much material wealth as 3.5 billion combined. Where is the wisdom in such a system?
Sometimes the only way to be a disciple of Jesus is to do that which makes no sense. Do the beatitudes make any sense? Does Jesus teaching make sense? Does an empty tomb make sense? Do grace, mercy, and justice make sense?
The Christian message- that of a crucified savior is foolish and doesn’t make sense- are we ok with that? Why do we keep trying to convince people this is not the case
Who are you looking for? A Davidic monarch who will overthrow the oppressors and guide you into an era of powerful autonomy? A Wise person who will answer your questions or fix your problems? Or a savior who shows you that what you need to be saved most from is you and that faith is not about sustainability, popularity, wealth, power or even survival- it is about love.
Faith is not fair or rational- doesn’t mean it isn’t true
We believe in the impossible: pigs can fly, the dead can come back to life and the Kingdom of God is at hand
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING AND GET IN TOUCH:
Thanks to our Psalms correspondent, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (psalmimmersion.com,@pomopsalmist). Thank you to Scott Fletcher for our voice bumpers, Dick Dale and the Del Tones for our Theme music (“Misirlou”), Nicolai Heidlas (“Sunday Morning”,"Real Ride"and“Summertime”), Paul and Storm (“Oh No”), and Bryan Odeen for our closing music.