Lent 3: Who Shall 'Scape a Whipping?

Exodus 17:1-7
Psalm 95
Romans 5:1-11
John 4:5-42

First Lesson: Exodus 17:1-7

Challenges:

This is a pretty straightforward, well-told passage.  It hits many familiar themes in Scripture and in our own experience.  I guess that an obvious connection with the Gospel Lesson is the presence of water, living water, that brings LIFE.  

Opportunities:

There are some very familiar human experiences in this passage, the most notable being our curious preference for slavery over freedom (especially when freedom becomes difficult).  Like the Israelites who wonder out loud "why-oh-why-where-they-brought-out-of-Egypt," how often do we wish to return to the oppressive habits, compulsions and states of being that God has liberated us from?  Let's face it: the wilderness is scary, even if it involves our freedom.  What wilderness is God bringing you into?  Bringing your congregation into?  And how is God providing for you?

Also, this is a classic example of the "murmuring motif."  Whatever you do, don't just mention this motif off-handedly as if people will really know what that actually means.  Instead, why not act it out a little?  "Bringing us out here...hmph...grump...middle of the desert...grrr...what do they think they're....hrrumph...son of a...grrr."  Perhaps this will remind your audience of themselves from time to time.

The Good News: 

The Lord has had and will continue to have ample opportunities to give up on "this people."  Instead the Lord gives them water and provides for their needs.  God does the same for us.  It reminds me of a line from Hamlet.  Hamlet tells Polonius to care for some actors who have arrived at Elsinore and Polonius answers, "My lord, I will use them according to their desert." And Hamlet replies [and this is key], "God's bodkin man, much better: use every man after his desert, and who shall scape whipping?  Use them after your own honor and dignity-the less they deserve, the more merit is in your bounty. Take them in."  (Act 2, scene 2).  Thank God [literally] that the Israelites and we are not 'used after our desert.' That's grace.

Psalm: Psalm 95

Challenges:

This is a wonderful psalm and it almost feels churlish to come up with some challenges that might occur when dealing with it. But, alas, that is what this blog is for (challenges, not churlishness).  If a person had not just heard the First Reading from Exodus, or if a person HAD just heard this reading and was thinking of something else at the time (which, let's face it, is entirely possible within a worship service setting), they might not really understand what happened at Meribah and Massah (see verse 8).  That might have to be explained again.  Also, there's nothing wrong with looking at the Lord (or Jesus for that matter) as our shepherd. The Bible uses this image all of the time and it's one of my favorites. Just always remember that an image/metaphor/analogy/whatever can only go so far. Shepherds kept sheep not just out of the kindness of their hearts, but also to make money off of the animals.  So ultimately, like every other image/metaphor/analogy out there, the idea of us being "the sheep of his pasture" can only go so far.  Be aware of this if you decide to wax eloquent on verse 7.

Opportunities:

All I had to do was start reading this psalm and the music of Morning Prayer in the ELW (Evangelical Lutheran Worship) jumped into my head....and at the time of publishing has yet to leave. This Sunday could be a good chance to use this Psalmody as an alternative to reciting the Psalm responsively.  You can find it on pages 299-301 in the ELW.  I don't know how this jives with your Lenten piety, but I think it could be really neat. I'd suggest having a cantor or choir sing the verses and have the congregation sing the refrain. Have fun!

The Good News: 

The good news is pretty much spelled out there for everyone to see in this psalm. This reading just gets my blood pumping, does it do the same thing to you?  (again, Morning Prayer is still lodged in my brain, so that might have something to do with it).

Second Lesson: Romans 5:1-11

Challenges:

Once again, an amazing passage from Romans.  Once again, it is a very thick passage which can be quite a slog on Sunday Morning. I don't want to sound like a broken record, but WOW: reading Romans in worship is tough.  There's a lot to get across and if your lector/reader/whatever isn't prepared to change their voice with the sentences, inflect at changes in thought and go at a measured pace it will be very hard for people to get what's going on here.  If I had all the time in the world, I'd sit down with my lector/reader/whatever and do a little Bible Study on what this is saying: perhaps that would help.

But whatever you do, never, never, never, NEVER berate the reader for the way they read in front of everyone.  I was berated in such a way approximately seven years ago after I had read a lesson in worship and the situation is still very vivid in my memory.  Outside of one of your readers saying "Satan is Lord" at the end of a lesson, DON'T CRITICIZE THEM IN PUBLIC!

And one other thing: Paul seems to be talking about the wrath of God here. Mainline Protestants will doubtless be a bit twitchy at these verses.  Take a deep breath and realize that not every verse in the Bible will support your own theology and that Scripture is a conversation of faith between many different voices. Then realize that evangelicals who sing about 'the wrath of God' aren't completely out in left field and approach people who disagree with you with a bit more humility. (always a good idea)

Opportunities:

The fact that this passage can be hard to read in worship is really too bad because there is some AMAZING stuff here.  You have justification, you have insightful comments on suffering, you have the reconciliation of God and humanity through Jesus Christ. BLAM! That's come cool stuff.

I really like how Paul talks about how we get to "share in the glory of God."  For Paul here and other places (Philippians 3 anyone?), to share in the glory of God also means sharing in the sufferings of Christ.  For Paul suffering, hardship and adversity...with Christ...take on significance and meaning that transcend our fears.

Here's another opportunity: turn this passage into a story. (That's a method that's worked well for people like the prophet Nathan and Jesus himself).  Talk about two people who are estranged.  It's really one person's fault.  But the other person gives up a great deal so that the two can be reconciled.  Is this fair? Of course not! And that's the whole point.  God's love and grace and mercy are not fair: we don't have them coming.  But they are there anyway through Christ.  That's good news!

The Good News: 

There are so many pieces of good news here that I hardly know where to start.  I'll keep it to this: there is peace between God and humanity, reconciliation between God and us.  Paul is very, very clear that all of this justification and reconciliation comes from God through Christ.  Christ died for the ungodly.  Christ justified us with his blood.  If you think about it, it's totally "unfair"and thank God for that!  Look back up at the 'good news' section of the Exodus passage...the quote from Hamlet and all that.  This ultimately applies to this passage too.  We all deserve a whipping for what we've done and/or what we've left undone.  But God doesn't treat us "according to our desert."  Again: thank God for that.

Gospel: John 4:5-42

Challenges:

This is a wonderful, amazing, insightful and "classic" (in the literary sense), story.  There are other intelligent commentaries out there that talk about ways the church has misinterpreted this story over the years. I'd check them out (www.workingpreacher.org).  Just as a quick run through: nothing here says that this woman is "living in sin."  Jesus doesn't call her to repent.  It's quite possible that her former husbands died or divorced her. We don't know. But we can be sure that life has not been easy or pleasant for her.  It's important to mention these things, but it's also important to not go off on a tangent about how the former view of her past is so wrong.  Sure, it's wrong, but you don't have to belabor the point! People want to hear about changed lives, application for today and the grace of God at work, not a lecture.

Also, as usual, any time Samaritans are mentioned you'll probably have to do a quick review of who they were and why they didn't get along with the Jews.  No matter how many times you say it, it's still important! 

Opportunities:

So Paul was talking about reconciliation in Romans 5 and we get to see some of it played out here. Jews and Samaritans don't get along that well.  As a matter of fact, why not write a quick description of the Samaritans and their relationship with the Jews and save it in your preaching notes. That way, any time the Samaritans are mentioned in worship, you have that to repeat. I doubt people will get tired of hearing the same description over and over again on Sunday morning...after all, other things happen to them in between listening to sermons and a bit of repetition might be helpful!

Maybe you could paint a picture of what life would have been like for this woman.  How it was undoubtedly hard and lonely, even in everyday mundane ways (carrying this darn bucket in the harsh sun of the hottest time of day just so I don't have to talk to anyone else from the village).  What would it have been like to have to live with a man who wasn't your husband, which meant he had absolutely NO responsibilities in regards to her safety or well-being.  It would have been precarious at best.  But her life is changed and her witnessing makes a difference, even though what she says is less than definitive.

The Good News:

When people encounter Jesus, their lives are changed.  Quite often this happens because he changes their circumstances: because they encountered Jesus they can now see, hear, walk, live, be part of society when they couldn't before.  But there are also people like this Samaritan woman. What exactly has changed for her?  NOTHING.  Her circumstances are EXACTLY the same as they were before she came to the well to get some water.  But are things the same? No, they are ABSOLUTELY DIFFERENT. Encountering Jesus changes her life in amazing ways.  She leaves her water jar and runs into town.  What's the difference? She is known by Jesus, the Messiah. We often talk about how it is important to "know Jesus" and it absolutely is important and life-changing. What's even more life changing is being KNOWN by Jesus.  She didn't go looking for this when she went to the well, but salvation and significance and meaning and new life found her.

Her experience reminds me of the experience of the two disciples on their way to Emmaus (Cleopas and his companion).  They encounter the Risen Christ and they are absolutely changed: their hearts are burning within them.  Have any of their circumstances changed? Nope, not a bit. Yet their lives are COMPLETELY changed. They head back to Jerusalem where there are authorities who want to arrest them.  They are changed, their life is new.  That's good news.


BONUS: 

You might have seen this cartoon (below). It's pretty funny. But if "finding Jesus" is important, being found by him is even more important still.  Just ask the Samaritan woman at the well!