Scripture Reading: Isaiah 43:16–21 | Psalm 126 | Philippians 3:4b–14 | John 12:1–8

“…forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14)
 
There’s a lot we can say about fear: fear for our world… for ourselves and those we love. But this morning I want to specifically talk about our fears for the future of St. Luke’s Church and our Parish… fears shared by many Christian Churches these days.
 
Looking back a few decades, it all seemed like a very different situation: pews were full; Sunday School programs were packed; the younger generation seemed like a pretty solid foundation for our institutions. As we know, that’s not the case these days… for a whole lot of reasons. Some that we are responsible for, and others outside our control. For those of us who love and believe in the Church’s significance, this situation is a frightening one, and we naturally wonder where things are headed… and what we can do to perhaps head in a different direction?
 
Saying all this stuff out loud is important. We need to name our grief for what it is. And it’s ok to be sad that the story of St. Luke’s, and many congregations, has not turned out the way we had expected.
 
But as important as it is to acknowledge our disappointments, and to try our best to turn things around, there is the real danger before us of choosing to follow our fears… our fears of future loss… our fears of failure… anxieties which can only leads us away from God’s self-giving love, if we choose to focus instead on protecting ourselves.
 
But through our Scripture readings today, we are invited to follow a different path… to not be led by our fears, but to face the future with a heavenly hope. One which can help us gives thanks for God’s past mercies and grace… help us faithfully persevere amid the challenges that each day brings, and open us up to take our part in the New Life God is bringing about.
 
In our first reading, we heard from the prophet Isaiah a message of hope from God for Israel at a time when it seemed the future of their community was in jeopardy. They were facing tough times in the shadow of their powerful pagan neighbours, in large part because they had been unfaithful to the LORD their God. Yet alongside the words of warning that the prophet Isaiah offered came an invitation to turn to the Living God and trust in His saving love. Isaiah 43 begins this way, with verses 1-3:
“But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; 
I have called you by name, you are mine. 
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; 
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; 
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, 
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”

These promises and assurances from God don’t just spring out of nowhere. They call to mind the many amazing things the LORD has done for Israel: redeeming them from slavery, providing for them in in the wilderness, establishing them in the Promised Land, and preserving them through countless catastrophes… even ones they had brought upon themselves.
 
But the hope that God is offering in Isaiah Chapter 43 is not simply found by dwelling on the past, or by desperately trying to fix their present problems all by themselves... Rather, it is to be found by looking to the LORD in active faith today… to turn to the One who has been faithful all along, who is with us, even in our present troubles, and who calls us to trust Him with our future, and the New Life that He is bringing about. Isaiah 43:18-19,
“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”
The prophet points us forward to anticipate not a return to the glories of the past, but to the “new thing” God has in store… something far beyond what Israel, or you and I, could have imagined: God’s New Life, His New Creation breaking through at last.
 
Many centuries later, this ‘new thing’… this New Life from God was finally coming to light in Jesus Christ, God’s Son. And in our reading today from the Gospel of John, we catch a glimpse of a His rescuing hand at work in the life of one of His followers… bringing something to life that breaks the awful power of fear: grateful, self-giving love.
 
This passage takes place in the town of Bethany, at the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, the now-famous friend of Jesus who had died, and whom Christ had restored to life after four days in the grave.
 
This is a significant point that we really need to pause and take note of: Not long before, there had been absolutely no natural hope left for Lazarus. He had no future at all, apart from the power of Jesus Christ to step in and set him free from the grave. But Christ had come… and so Lazarus lived again.
 
In a nutshell that is the Christian hope: Christ has come; in Him we live.
 
Returning to Bethany, we find Mary, the sister of Lazarus, offering a lavish display of gratitude to Jesus: she pours out on His feet precious anointing oil, then wipes  it with her hair. It’s a beautiful moment. An example of humble, self-giving love… a striking picture of worship…  filling the house with the fragrant offering of thanks and praise, in response to what Christ has done for her.
 
But there was a problem: after all, this gift was a huge waste. It was not at all practical… as Judas Iscariot points out. This act was not going to help feed the poor. Or draw more people into Christ’s growing movement. Surely these resources should have been used much more efficiently.
 
On the other hand, as the author, John, points out, this gift was also not going to feed Judas’ own selfish desires either… it did nothing to satisfy his greed… a temptation that rests on the lie that we don’t have enough.
 
How often do we let our own selfish desires and fears of not having enough lead the way? Lent is a great time to seek to become more aware of our own false motives, and consider how we too might need to let go of them.  
 
Even so, Judas raises an important point: the practical matters of God’s kingdom work do matter, after all! The poor need to be clothed and fed. The Good News needs to be shared with our world, and we do need to invite other people to join us in pursuing it. And there are times when it really does seem like we don’t have enough to do what we’ve been called to do. Times when we can easily find ourselves simply acting out of fear.
 
But the WHAT of the Church, the things we are called to do in the present as God’s people, flows out from the WHY… from the Good News of what the Living God has already done in the past… from His ongoing presence with us even now… and from the hope of a future that only He can open up for us to share in. It makes perfect sense to be led by fear when troubles come if we are all on our own. But the Good News is that in Jesus Christ God our Saviour is with us.
 
St. Paul speaks to this same basis for hope in our reading today from his letter to the Philippians. If hope for the future of God’s people rested on our human efforts and success, than St. Paul had plenty of reasons to be confident in himself: as far as Israelite heritage, religious learning, and sincere devotion were concerned, St. Paul had it all. Or in his words: “If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more” (Philippians 3:4). Yet this same man had also experienced tremendous difficulties, struggles, persecutions… the loss of everything. And yet he did not despair, and let his life be led by fear.
 
For St. Paul saw himself as sharing in the sufferings of His Saviour… Jesus, God’s own Son, who had not grasped onto His identity as the Almighty One, but who emptied Himself, and took up the mantle of humble service instead.  More than that, He took up the cross, embracing for our sake the loss of every conceivable sign of success… abandoned by both young and old, by the rich and poor alike… Jesus gave up everything, His body and blood… as an act of self-giving, faithful love for His Father in Heaven, and for a world of lost sinners like us.
 
The spectre of the cross was a truly frightful situation… the Gospel authors tell us Jesus dreaded facing it Himself. But even so, He was not led by fear, but by the love of the Living God. He could let go of all else as long as He stayed true in the love of God… a love that loss, betrayal, humiliation and even death could not overcome.   
And so, following in Christ’s footsteps, St. Paul could now let go of all else too: let go of his past success… let go of his expectations for the present… led by the love of the Living God to pursue wholeheartedly the New Life that, in Christ, the LORD was now bringing about.

“…forgetting what lies behind” he says, “and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14)
 
Today we’re invited to follow in St. Paul’s footsteps, as he followed Jesus our Lord: Not to place our hope in retrieving the glory of the past, but giving thanks for the good things God has done… grieving the loss of what has come to an end, and then placing the past in the hands of our faithful Saviour.
 
And we are invited not to be led by fear in the present either: but to faithfully share in the sufferings of our Saviour… honestly bringing our fears to Him in prayer, just as He calls us to! Remember the words of St. Peter, “Cast all your anxiety on [God], because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7).
 
Are we concerned about empty pews? Then let us pray, but not just that they may be filled for our sake, but that God would also help all of us to bring His Good News and self-giving love to those who may never darken our doors. Let us learn to pray for them just as earnestly.

Are we worried about small Sunday schools and the absence of younger generations? Then let us pray, but not just so that more young people will come here and make us feel more secure. The younger generation is not our future. We can’t place our hopes on them to save the Church… or for that matter, we can’t put that kind of pressure on their shoulders! What they need is not more burdens… what they need is to experience the freedom, and peace, and joy, and fellowship, and love, and New Life in Jesus Christ! That is why we want young people here… to share the Good News and God’s gift of love with them.
 
Otherwise, we’re not seeing them as they are… as beloved children of God. Otherwise, we’re just making them into a means to an end… to serve our own desires.
 
I’ll say this again: The future of the Church is not about having more young people. But the future of the Church invites young people into God’s story, just like the rest of us… because the future of the Church is God’s gift to us all in Jesus Christ. It’s the gift of freedom where once there was only fear. Joy where there once was sorrow and grief. Purpose and meaning where all once seemed hopeless. The future of the Church of Christ is New Life where there was none… a future that only the Risen Lord Himself can guarantee.
 
Back to John Gospel again. It once seemed that Mary had lost everything in the death of her beloved brother, but Jesus had done what no one else could do and brought them new life again. In thankfulness and praise, Mary offered back to Jesus a beautiful gift of love… an act of worship… a longing to bless the Lord, and share her love for Him.
 
When Judas protests, Jesus defends Mary’s so-called ‘wasteful’ gift. She was responding with all of her heart to the mercy and grace she had received, and her gift of worship and self-giving love became a part of the story of God’s salvation… preparing the way for the cross, and the New Life that Christ won for us there.
 
We are invited today to bring all our fears to the Lord and leave them with Him. And instead, to be led by the life-giving love of Jesus… to respond like Mary to His mercy and grace with worship, thanksgiving, and praise… like St. Paul to share in Christ’s sufferings and loss for a time, but filled with the hope that in Christ alone our future is on solid ground... pursuing our deepest calling as the Church to make known His self-giving love in all we say and do.
 
Love, not fear needs to lead us forward as a Parish. Love, not fear which is ours to share in Jesus Christ.
So let us bring our fears to our Heavenly Father, and pray that His saving will be done in our Church, and press on in hope together towards the heavenly calling of God in Jesus Christ. Amen.

​Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, and Sermon this week can be found here:

And our Songs this week can be found here:

Scripture Readings: Joshua 5:9–12 | Psalm 32 | 2 Corinthians 5:16–21 | Luke 15:1–3, 11b–32

“If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
 
Our Gospel reading today recounts a well-known, and well-beloved parable… a powerful story offering surprising comfort and hope… good news for all who have wandered, and lost themselves… a window into the heart of God’s abundant saving grace, which calls us all to be transformed by His New Creation.
 
Before we dig in to this parable and try to discern it’s message for us this morning, perhaps we should take a step back and remember it’s place in Luke’s wider story. For the last few chapters in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus has been hard at work revealing the character of God’s good Kingdom. He has been teaching with many parables, short stories and punchy word-pictures that often have the effect of shaking up the expectations of those listening. He has also been more directly confronting the beliefs and practices of many regarding what it really means to be faithful to the LORD… about what it means to be aligned and in sync with what the Living God is up to in the world.
 
Luke tells us today that many were moved by what Jesus was saying and doing, but that not everyone appreciated what they were hearing… or seeing. Luke 15:1-2 says 
“Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’”
If Jesus claims to be sent from God, and to walk in God’s holy ways, they grumbled, then how could He stand to spend time and share meals with those kind of people?
 
Before we look down on the Pharisees and scribes, let’s not ignore our own easy prejudices… our own tendencies to avoid the ‘wrong kind of people’, whoever that may be. Who are the ones that we would find hard to welcome and to share a meal with? Who do we find it hard to imagine taking part in God’s Kingdom?  
 
In answer to the complaints of the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus tells three parables: about a Lost Sheep, a Lost Coin, and a Lost Son… or rather, Lost Sons. All three of these parables speak of the surprising and saving love of God, but the longest, the story of the Lost Sons, ups the ante, and drives home the point… and a challenge.

First off, we hear about the shameful story of the younger son, who insults his father’s honour, wastes every penny of his inheritance by chasing after his own desires, and is left destitute in a foreign land… having lost everything… not only money, but friendship, dignity, and hope. He has no one who cares for him. He’s burned every single bridge.
 
But in his lowest moment, he remembers his father, and how his father had treated his servants with kindness. Of course, it was out of the question to be welcomed back into the family after all he had done… but maybe his father would have pity enough to hire him? Maybe? So the youngest son returns, planning to sell himself to survive.
 
But Jesus paints for us a picture of welcome no one would have anticipated. At the first sight of his shameful, ruined son, the father is filled with compassion and races toward the wretch, welcoming him home with a warm embrace and throwing a joy-filled feast in celebration. The scholar Roger Van Harn unpacks the significance of the father’s welcome, and what it meant for the young man’s future:
“What follows are the signs of restoration. The best robe was the father’s robe. The signet ring was a sign of restored authority and responsibility. The shoes were a sign that he was indeed a son, not a servant. The killing of the fatted calf was a sign that the whole community was invited to celebrate the restoration of the relationship. The unexpected, extravagant display of grace in restoring his son is accounted for by the father’s own words: ‘Let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’”[1]
 
The younger son had indeed brought shame and dishonour on his family, and lost everything… but what mattered most to the father was that this wayward son had returned. That they were reunited, reconciled. That new life could begin.
 
What a beautiful picture of grace, forgiveness, and abundant, generous love… offering comfort and hope to all of us who have made a mess of our lives. This story is a glimpse into the gracious love of the Living God, who above all longs for His wayward children to return to Him and find new life in His arms… but the story’s not over. Let’s turn now to the story of the eldest son.

Unlike his shameful brother, the elder son had done his duty. He had been loyal and diligent, setting aside his own desires to serve his father… anticipating the day he would be rewarded for his faithfulness, unlike that reprobate brother of his, who was thankfully gone for good.
 
But then the lost younger son returns… and the oldest hears that he has been welcomed home with a feast, and fully restored into the family. The elder son is incensed at the thought of welcoming home this ‘son of his father’ he can’t bring himself to call brother…. and so he refuses to join in the party. He cuts himself off from the joy of his father, and stands at a distance, grumbling.  
 
Again, the father does the unexpected: he goes out in search of his other lost son, and pleads with him to come home from the fields and join in the joyful celebration. Far from an expression of favoritism, the father loves both of his sons, and longs for them both to be reunited in his love:
“Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’” (Luke 15:31-32).

Then Jesus ends the story with the elder son’s response left hanging, leaving his listeners to wonder ‘How will he respond to the father’s invitation?’ Will he hold onto his resentment and bitterness, and refuse to welcome home this sinner who has finally returned? Or will he relent and follow his father back to the house and join in the celebration, reunited and ready to share in a new life together?
 
Of course, this story was told to invite others to choose how they too would respond. How were the Pharisees and scribes to respond to the surprisingly gracious welcome that Jesus was offering to tax collectors, outcasts, sinners, and all the ‘wrong’ sorts of people, who had drawn near to Jesus, seeking from Him the New Life of God’s Kingdom?
 
Perhaps more to the point: How will you and I respond? How will our lives either reject or embody this gracious, abundant love of God Jesus offers… love that does not shy from welcoming sinners, and sharing all that we have with them? The love that longs for all of us to be restored and reconciled?

This parable offers us all an invitation to rejoice in the gracious, rescuing love of the Living God, not only as it bears fruit in our own lives, but in all those who will draw near to Jesus and seek out New Life in Him? It is calling us not just to acknowledge this love from a safe distance, grumbling with our arms crossed, but rather to actively share in the New Life of Jesus Christ… extending His welcome… inviting others with our words and our actions to draw near to in Him in faith, and come to His table… where we are all offered the forgiveness, mercy, and reconciliation. The joyful celebration of sinners returning home, rescued by God’s truly faithful Son who let Himself be lost on the cross so that we all might be found… who died for us, so that we might live, reunited to our Father forever. Who rose again from the grave, so that we might know that in Jesus Christ the risen Lord, God has begun His New Creation… transforming us even today… not the least by transforming the way we see and treat those all around us.
 
St. Paul spoke of this in his letter to the Christians in the city of Corinth. In 2 Corinthians 5:14-19 he writes: “For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.
 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.”
 
Christ came to seek and to save the lost… and to rescue us all through offering His life once and for all… to transform us by His saving love, not just into better people… like the elder brother seemed at first, compared to the younger son… but to reunite us to the very heart of the Father… to reconcile us all to the Living God, and fill us with His Holy Spirit, so that we can live reconciled together as the beginning of God’s New Creation.
 
So now, remembering that in Christ Jesus God has welcomed us all, and bids us join in the joyful celebration and the New Life of His Kingdom, how can we respond today to His forgiveness, grace and abundant, saving love? How can we let go of the prejudices, and grudges that threaten to keep us apart? And how can we help those around us drawn near to Jesus, and share in His New Creation too? Amen.


[1] Roger E. Van Harn, “Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year C,” in The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts, Volume Three, ed. Roger E. Van Harn (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 409–410.

​And our Songs this week can be found here:

Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:6-7)
 
Our Gospel reading today is not an easy one to be sure. In it, Christ presents us with a challenging message to hear, to comprehend, and to respond to.
 
We’re told Jesus hears about a recent catastrophe: some Galilean pilgrims were slain by Pilate, the Roman governor, while they had come to the Temple to worship God. This leads Him to make some surprising remarks: “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.” He then says the same thing about those killed in Jerusalem when a tower collapsed: “do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”
 
Now one thing is obvious about this passage: it is a clear summons to repent… to turn away from our selfishness and sins, and to turn towards the Living God.
 
But wrapped up with this clear invitation to repent comes some nagging questions and concerns about how these two tragedies, and many others besides them, connect to our choices and actions. In other words, we might find ourselves asking today: is Jesus saying that those people simply got what they deserved? And that unless we repent and fix ourselves up, we’ll get what we deserve too?
 
Is this how we are supposed to think about the tragedies in our own lives? The sudden catastrophes that we and others find ourselves facing? What about the people of Mariupol, in Southeastern Ukraine? All those civilians besieged and bombarded by the Russian military? As heartbreaking as it is, are they just getting what was coming to them?
 
Sadly, sometimes even our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ have made these kinds of claims… trying to find some logic amid all the tragic and terrible events in our world. Sometimes it seems easier to try and draw a direct line between the evil that someone experiences and the evil that they somehow “must have” embraced.  
 
This point of view is summed up in the sentiment: “we all get what we deserve.” So, when our life starts to fall apart by a frightening diagnosis… or by a betrayal, or an accident… the age-old questions come to mind: ‘Why me?’ ‘What did I do to deserve this?’ Or ‘what did those people we love and care for who are suffering… why did this have to happen to them?’ These questions come quite naturally.
 
But as natural and urgent as these kinds of questions can be, our Gospel reading today is not about drawing a direct line between all suffering and sin… such that we can look around at human misery and somehow explain it all away. Rather, Christ is instead offering us a warning… one that all of us must heed… but it is a warning that springs from the heart of the infinite mercy and steadfast love of God.
 
Just like us, the people in Jesus’ day wanted to understand the causes of catastrophes… they shared our impulse to try and explain what seems like random or unjust tragedies, and one common way was, just like Job’s friends, to try and find fault with the victims. ‘This must have been God’s judgement on them…’ ‘They must have done something horrible for that kind of thing to happen.’ ‘They must be getting what they deserve.’
 
Psychologically speaking, this kind of reasoning is often a strategy of self-preservation…. an attempt to assure ourselves that something like that couldn’t happen to us. Or at least to help us feel a more bit secure in a world where we often feel powerless. As long as we play by the rules, and keep our nose clean, this line of thought likes to assure us, then we won’t have to worry about those kind of tragedies.
 
The problem, of course, is that this clearly isn’t true. And it also leads to a dangerous kind of presumption… the attitude that somehow we are secure in our moral superiority. If sin leads directly to suffering, then I can look down on those in misery. After all, they’re only getting what they deserve, right?

This is the attitude, the presumption that Jesus forcefully attacks in our reading today, undermining the false sense of security this viewpoint fosters: ‘You think those folks were worse sinners than the rest of you? Forget it! Don’t assume you’re any better… turn around and put your trust in God!’
 
The scholar Marguerite Shuster has this to say regarding our reading: “Most emphatically—a point that cannot possibly be overemphasized—we have no justification for using a text like this one to free ourselves from anxiety about the fate of other people on the grounds that they are, after all, getting no more than they deserve. That would be to turn on its head what Jesus is doing here. What he is doing, though, is not very pleasant: he is telling those who are not at the moment suffering that they should not rest secure in their immediate comfort, for that comfort is not a sign of their positive moral deserts… Instead of resting secure, one should take grateful advantage of time given to repent, for it may be cut short at any moment.”[1]
 
Jesus is not offering an argument for why those tragedies had happened at all. Instead of a why… He gives offers a what… a clear and urgent call to action. He’s warning us not to trust in our own self-righteous security… and instead calls us to turn to the LORD with all of our heart, and strength, and mind… and to do so NOW, without delay! It's not about how to avoid suffering, it’s a call to live faithfully every day… no matter what comes our way. A call to place our trust in the Living God, and stay true to our Saviour.
 
This is the same concern we heard in St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthian Christians this morning, urging them to beware the dangers of spiritual presumption… of assuming we’re standing securely on solid ground when we are not. He offers up the example of the Israelites when they were rescued from slavery in Egypt… after they had already been saved by God, and were on the way to the Promised Land. Yet Paul reminds us, because of Israel’s persistent unfaithfulness, they kept on turning their backs to God their Saviour, and brought about all sorts of suffering on themselves as a result. They kept on choosing the roads that only led to death, when God had already done so much to spare them, to provide for and guide them… to bring them a whole New Life.
 
In light of their less than ideal example, St. Paul doesn’t want Christians to assume that because we’ve been baptized, or share in the other sacraments, or have experienced God’s salvation in the past, that we can now just live however we want to. Of course, all these things (Baptism, Holy Communion, powerful experiences of God’s saving grace) are wonderful gifts of God meant to draw us deeper into His fellowship and life, they are not guarantees that we can assume set us free to chase after our own desires. We cannot assume that because we are Christians how we live each day doesn’t matter: “if you think you are standing,” St. Paul warns us, “watch out that you do not fall.”
 
But along with that warning, St. Paul points us again to the grace and mercy of God: “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:12-13).
Turn to the LORD and trust in Him, Paul says, even in the midst of our trials, knowing that He longs to be our gracious and faithful Saviour. Not giving us simply what we deserve, but abundantly more than we could ask or imagine!
 
This is what we heard from the LORD through the Prophet Isaiah in our first reading today: an invitation to share in the abundant generosity of God’s salvation. Isaiah 55:1-3.
“Ho, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.”
Everyone who thirsts, come… you that have no money, come, buy and eat… without money, and without price. No talk at all of what we deserve.

The scholar Timothy Saleska highlights the nature of this gracious invitation… this undeserved gift of God to all who turn to Him: “This banquet of salvation, this feast of victory, is not exclusive but inclusive! For all of us who are burdened by life’s failed expectations, by our own inadequacies, and by our sin, God says, “Come and eat!” For us who are afraid of death and who often feel as if we are slaves to circumstances beyond our control, God says, “Come and eat!” For everyone who is thirsty, here is water. To all of us who have no money—nothing to give—Yahweh still says, “Come and eat!” …This is indeed precious food. Not only do verses 1 and 2 invite all those who have nothing and have no means of their own, but in effect it says: “Your money is no good here anyway.” “Come, buy wine and milk without money and without means of exchange.” That doesn’t only say, “those who have nothing can still eat,” but also that the meal is not available for money anyway. No one can offer anything to get it because it is priceless—it has no price and is beyond price!”[2]
 
Friends, God offers us not what we deserve… He gives us abundantly more! More mercy. More forgiveness. More fellowship. More meaning and hope, and joy. More peace, even in the midst of chaos and catastrophes. More comfort, even as we grieve. More life… even in in the very shadow of death.  
 
And nowhere is the abundant grace of God more lavishly given than in the catastrophe of the cross; where the terrible cost of the sins of the world was bourn by the only One who did nothing at all to deserve it. Where Jesus Christ, gave His body to be broken to put our wicked and wayward world back together… and gave His precious blood to wash all of our sins away.
 
This is the same Jesus who warns us to turn our hearts today and every day to the Living God. To seek Him, to listen to His voice, and entrust our lives to His saving love, receiving His gift of New Life that Jesus paid for at the cross… and inviting others to join us in turning to Him with all our hearts.
 
I’ll end now with a few more words from Timothy Saleska: “In the end, Yahweh serves up Christ for us. In him we find compassion and pardon and eternal life. In him God keeps the covenant he made with David, and we receive the mercies of his eternal kingdom. He feeds our hungry souls and fills us with good things, all at no cost to us (remember, the feast is priceless) but of course at great cost to him.
 
And so, in Christ the meal is ready. He brings us the precious gifts of forgiveness and eternal life. And he wants us to come. As the text says, “Seek him while he allows himself to be found… Call him while he is near!” The meal is ready now. Now is the time of salvation. In his word and the proclamation of it and in his supper in which he offers his very body and blood, the God of pardon and peace and eternal life is to be found. In Christ, the work of the servant is freely offered. Come and eat!”[3] Amen.
 


[1] Marguerite Shuster, “Third Sunday in Lent, Year C,” in The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts, Volume Three, ed. Roger E. Van Harn (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 392.

[2] Timothy E. Saleska, “Third Sunday in Lent, Year C,” in The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts, Volume One (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 365.

[3] Timothy E. Saleska, “Third Sunday in Lent, Year C,” in The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts, Volume One (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 366–367.

​Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, and Sermon this week can be found here:

​And our Songs this week can be found here:

Rev. Rob is away this Sunday, so in the place of a sermon this week we invite you to take a moment of prayerful reflection after the Gospel reading, listening for the word of the Lord this day in the Scriptures and the liturgy.

​Our service of Morning Prayer & Bulletin this week can be found here:

​And our Songs this week can be found here:

Scripture Readings: Deuteronomy 26:1–11 | Psalm 91:1–2, 9–16 | Romans 10:8–13 | Luke 4:1–13

​​​“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” (Romans 10:12-13)
 
Today marks our first Sunday in the sacred season of Lent: a season of intentional prayer and reflection, of fasting, repentance, generosity, and turning wholeheartedly to the Living God as we head towards Holy Week… the yearly commemoration of what Christ Jesus accomplished for us all at the cross.
 
This season calls us to refocus, to re-centre ourselves on the truth of the Gospel… something I know that I need these days, with all that’s been going on in our world. But rather than pull us away from the concerns and struggles that we, and our wider world, are experiencing, Lent offers us a way to face them faithfully. Our Scripture readings today remind us that at the core of our faith is the conviction that when we call out to the Living God, our Saviour hears.
 
In our passage this morning from the book of Deuteronomy, we’re told of an interesting tradition that the Israelites were to put into practice. Looking ahead to a time when Israel would no longer be wandering in the wilderness, but would finally be settled within the Promised Land, the LORD calls them to celebrate: to bring an offering from their very first harvest in the land and present it to the LORD… and recount the story of their salvation. Deuteronomy 26:4-10.
 
“When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, you shall make this response before the Lord your God: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.”
 
“…we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.”
This statement stands at the centre of the story of Israel. In their lowest moment, the LORD heard their cry, and came to their rescue. He had compassion on them, and came against Egypt with supreme power, authority, and glory, delivering Israel in ways they would never have dreamed possible. They were to recount this story, reminding themselves of the source of their blessings and new life, and offer their gifts to the LORD… not as a way to manipulate Him, or to somehow gain His favour… but as a joyful and grateful response for what God had already done. They had cried out to God, and He saved them. This was something they were never meant to forget. But time and again, they did… turning away from their Saviour, and chasing after their own desires.
 
This leads us to our Gospel passage for today, and the story of Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, where after praying and fasting for forty days, He is tempted three times by the devil. This part of Christ’s story is meant to call to mind the part of Israel’s story when God had saved them from slavery in Egypt, and then led them into the wilderness… to learn to trust and follow Him on the way to the Promised Land. Sadly, instead of trusting the LORD to provide and guide His chosen people, they constantly grumbled, rebelled, and refused to place their faith in the One who had rescued them.
 
Fast forward now to Jesus, and we find Him replaying that journey, but this time God’s Chosen One is determined not to repeat His ancestors’ failures. He is dedicated to fulfilling His mission to restore the broken relationship between the Living God and His unfaithful people.
 
But Christ is not alone in the desert. We’re told the tempter, the devil has plans of his own to derail Christ’s mission, and disrupt His vital connection to His Heavenly Father. These temptations are all aimed to call into question Christ’s core identity… to shake the foundation of His faithfulness, and cut Him off from the LORD.
 
“If you are the Son of God,” the devil begins, “command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” (Luke 4:3). Use your heavenly power to satisfy your own needs and desires.
 
Next, the devil shows Jesus all of the kingdoms of the earth: “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours. (Luke 4:6-7). You don’t need to serve someone else. Bend you knee to me, and you’ll get to call all the shots!
 
And finally, the devil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem, and quotes Scripture to Him:
“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” (Luke 4:9-11)
 
There’s a deep warning for all of us here: most of the worst lies are truths that have been twisted. So much of the turmoil and destruction we see in our world today is fueled by people taking something true, and distorting it… deliberately, or even unintentionally, and turning it into a tool of the devil… undermining the work of God’s kingdom, paralyzing His people… or even worse yet, drawing us into the service of hatred, pride, selfishness, vanity greed, and fear.

How often have we heard of our fellow Christians caught up in these destructive lies? We have all seen so much damage being done in the name of Christ. Then again, how often have we too fallen prey to the enemy’s deceptions? How often have we been the ones who have failed to be faithful?
 
Of course, Lent teaches us that the response God wants s not for us to wallow in shame, but to turn from the lies to the truth, and in so doing to be set free.
 
It’s ironic that the very same passage that the devil quoted, Psalm 91, goes on to speak of his own demise, and how it will come about. In Scripture, the devil is spoken of both as a raging lion, and the crafty serpent… and Psalm 91:13-16 gives us this wonderful hope:
“You shall tread upon the lion and adder;
you shall trample the young lion and the serpent under your feet.
Because he is bound to me in love, therefore will I deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;
I am with him in trouble; I will rescue him and bring him to honour.
With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.”

The Chosen One, the Messiah, the Christ, was sent to overcome the enemy, not independently, but through the rescuing love of the LORD. “I will protect him…” God says, “He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I am with him in trouble; I will rescue him and bring him to honour.” The enemy tried to erode the bond of love between God’s Son and His Heavenly Father, but Jesus instead chose to trust and to stay true.
 
He chose to refuse to seize the power to satisfy His own hunger, and instead Jesus gives up His life to offer the Bread of Heaven to all.
 
He chose to refrain from exalting Himself and grasping after kingdoms and authority, and instead Jesus humbled Himself, taking on the role of the servant of all.
 
He rejected the chance to glorify Himself with self-centred spectacles, drawing people to adore Him in vanity and pride. Instead, Jesus embraced the way of the cross… revealing the glory of God’s holy love by dying to set sinners free. And three days later, the Living God revealed His promised salvation: raising Jesus up to eternal power, authority, glory, and life, and opening up the way through Jesus for all to share in His salvation.
 
This is precisely where St. Paul the Apostle directs our attention in our reading today from his letter to the Christians in Rome. Far from a formula for how to ensure our own salvation, St. Paul is reminding us of the saving work the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, has already accomplished for us all through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “[I]f you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” This is the Good News of what God has done for us! Like the Israelites looking back with thankfulness and joy at what the LORD had done for them, we too are called to remember the mighty things that God has done in sending Jesus to be our Saviour, placing our faith firmly in Him.
 
But more than a mere memory, this faith invites us to keep calling on the LORD. To continue to trust in Him to be our Saviour day by day, shaping all that we say and do. To believe that in Jesus Christ, we too will share in God’s ultimate victory over the enemy, and eternal life bound to Him in holy love.
 
In Jesus Christ, we can call upon the Living God confident that He will answer. That He will be with us in our trouble. That He will rescue us. That in Him we will find abundant, and unending life, and will see God’s eternal salvation. And that this gift is not just meant for us, but for all. “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
 
Let us remember that this does not mean that we will be spared from all sorrow and suffering. After all, the New Life Christ offers us also calls us to pick up our cross and follow Him into the way of faithfulness even in the face of trials, hope in the midst of despair, and longsuffering love even for those who truly hate us. The way of life, even in the valley of the shadow of death.
 
But in Jesus, God has revealed that His power is made perfect in weakness… that despite the nations’ raging, His kingdom and authority will never come to an end, and that His eternal glory awaits all who call on His name. No matter what troubles we find ourselves facing, or what lies are tempting us to give in or give up, in Jesus we will see God’s salvation... for His is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
 
 

Along with Christians around the world, we have begun our journey through Lent, a sacred season of prayer, repentance, fasting, reflection, generosity, and preparation for Holy Week. 

Each year, Lent calls us to remember and return to the basics of our faith: our calling to lives of holy love, our deep need for forgiveness and grace, and above all the salvation of God in Jesus Christ the Lord.

Here is the first video in a series from the Bible Project exploring the Shema, a passage of Scripture at the heart of both the Jewish and Christian faith: "Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, NASB).

​And our Songs this week can be found here:

As we begin the sacred season of Lent, a time of repentance, prayer, and preparation for Holy Week, Ash Wednesday calls us to remember not simply our mortality... the fragility and fractured nature of our lives and our world, but also to remember the abundant mercy of the Living God, who in Jesus Christ "welcomes sinners and invites them to His table." 

For those of us unable to join us in person for our Ash Wednesday service at St. Luke's this year, here is an At-Home Ash Wednesday order of service. (Note: There is no Imposition of Ashes rite in this particular At-Home service.)

Many blessings in the name of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer.

​Rob+

Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 31:31–34 | Psalm 119:9–16 | Hebrews 5:5–10 | John 12:20–33

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” (John 12:20-21)
 
Do we wish to see Jesus? Do we desire to see God at work in our world?
 
It seems like a silly question. I mean, of course we would want that, right? To recognize the presence of our Saviour close at hand. To draw near to the eternal King of Kings and Lord of Lords… who also calls us to cast our cares on Him, because He cares for us. To come to know Him more completely. To experience His life. Of course we’d want to see Jesus! Such an obvious answer, right?
 
Maybe. But then again, maybe there’s more to the story than we have considered. Today, the fifth Sunday of Lent, we’re being asked to reflect on what ‘seeing Jesus’ entails… and how it might just change how we ‘see’ everything, and everyone else as well.
 
In our Scripture reading this morning from the twelfth Chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus invites us to see the surprising way in which the glory of God is made known in the world. But before we reflect on our passage, we need to set the stage a bit.
 
Right before our text this morning comes John’s account of Christ’s ‘triumphant entry’; with Jesus arriving at Jerusalem ahead of the Passover festival, riding into the city on a donkey and greeted by crowd crying: “Hosanna!” and waving palm branches. Next week, on Palm Sunday, we’ll look a bit closer at this significant part of our Lord’s story, but for now it’s important to know the context of Jesus’ words we heard today, as His controversial ministry of signs and sermons gives way to the rising tensions of Holy Week… which we are fast approaching.
 
Riding into the city, we clearly see the expectations of the crowd: they’re welcoming Him as the Messiah, the chosen One of God… descended from King David, and sent to rescue Israel for good. We’re also able to see the panicking of the Pharisees, along with the rest of the Jewish leaders who were plotting against Jesus. Having already been told in the earlier chapters of John’s Gospel that these leaders were looking for way to have Jesus arrested and killed, they looked on in dismay as the crowds of Jerusalem cheered Him on. John 12:19 says, “The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!” As it turns out, they weren’t really all that far off the mark. In the very next verse, we heard that “among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks”… and that they wanted to see Jesus too. This may not seem like a big deal today… but back then it certainly was.
 
There was little love between most Jews and Greeks in Jesus’ day, due to a long and bitter history of clashes and conflict. After Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah was conquered by Babylon, and it’s people carried away from the land into exile, the Jews had existed under the thumb of several ancient superpowers: the Babylonian Empire, Persians and Medes, who let them return to the Promised Land, and then came the Greeks, with the armies of Alexander the Great, and his power-hungry successors, who fought for control of his vast empire… which, of course, included the region of Judea.  

And like many empires, before and since, the Greeks hoped to spread their own culture, their own language, values, religions, and their whole way of life, forcing the people they conquered to conform, either willingly or not. In Judea, especially during the second century before Christ, this all led to harsh oppression, bloodshed, and essentially cultural genocide… as their Greek-speaking conquerors desecrated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and tried brutal ways of forcing Jews to abandon their faith and their God. Eventually, some devout Jews rose up in revolt, retaking control of Jerusalem at least for a time… before the entire region was brought under Roman rule. The Romans at least allowed the Jews to retain their religion and culture, but the tensions with their non-Jewish, Greek-speaking neighbours remained, and continued to fester.
 
Which brings us back to Jesus, riding into Jerusalem, at the climax of His deeply misunderstood mission to Israel. The crowds saw Him as the Messiah, but one who would bring about their desires: a powerful military victory over their non-Jewish oppressors. For them, the Messiah was to bring glory to God by crushing their enemies and bringing Jerusalem enduring freedom and peace at last. On the other side of things, the leadership of Jerusalem saw Jesus through the eyes of jealousy, and fear. Not only were they losing the respect, and influence, and glory they felt they deserved, as more and more of their people looked to Jesus instead of to them… they were also afraid that if Jesus succeeded in starting a revolt, the Romans would step in and crush Jerusalem once and for all. For them, Jesus was a threat to everything that they held dear. Even Jesus’ own disciples, seemed mostly concerned with their own sense of power and greatness. Seeing all His signs and hearing His words, but missing their true meaning. God’s people, it seems… the crowds, the leaders, the disciples, could not yet see Christ clearly. At this point, late in John’s Gospel, I think we’re meant to remember John’s words from the very beginning, where he says in Chapter 1:10-11, “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.” But we’re also reminded of this hope too, found in verses 12 & 13, “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.”
 
And so, as some Greeks come, seeking Jesus, He says that the fateful hour has now arrived for Him, the Son of Man to be glorified. How? By military might? By rising in fame, power, and influence? By crushing His rivals, and seizing control, like everyone else expected of Him? No. Our Lord makes clear that His hour of glory means going first to the grave. Buried, like a single grain of wheat in the ground, in order to bear much fruit, and bring new life into being. “Very truly, I tell you,” He says to us,  “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. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.” (John 12:24-26)
 
Setting aside the praise and expectations of those around Him, He chooses instead to surrender His fate to the will of His Father in Heaven, setting His face towards the cross as the fulfillment of what He had come to do… the only means by which God’s great rescue mission would succeed. As one scholar writes: “Jesus sees his own forthcoming death. It would be so easy to avoid it, to choose the path of human glory and follow the crowd to revolution. But if the seed is not placed in the earth, “it remains alone.”… Jesus’ path to glory will also put him in the ground before he can bring his fruit to his Father.”[1] His glorious victory would be to faithfully face the cross. This is ultimately the place God’s life-giving power shines through the brightest. But what kind of ‘fruit’ was Jesus’ crucifixion and death to bring about? What was accomplished by laying down His life in the grave?
 
More than we could ever imagine, and certainly more than we can speak of today, but our text today points us to some of the ‘fruit’ of our Lord’s life-giving death. At the cross, Jesus reveals the true and glorious heart of God: a heart full of forgiveness, reconciliation, and love… which He intends to bear all sorts of fruit in our lives. N.T. Wright puts it like this: “Jesus’ death will be like sowing a seed into the ground. It will look like a tragedy… In fact, it will be a triumph: the triumph of God’s self-giving love, the love that looks death itself in the face and defeats it by meeting it voluntarily, on behalf not just of Israel but of the whole world, the world represented by these ‘Greeks’.”[2] In the words of our Lord: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself”( John 12:32). All people. Jew. Greek. All. Any who will receive Him, believe in Him… follow Him. And in coming to Him, we find ourselves drawn to each other in His love. To see ourselves, and everyone, only in the light of the cross.
 
Christ died to draw us back to God, and back together too. To bring us God’s forgiveness, reconciliation, and love… and to bring human forgiveness, /reconciliation, and love to life as well. To tear down old hostilities, and put to death our prejudices… to set aside our selfish ways, that we too can share in His glory. Not the glory of this world… the glory of fame, power, or domination… but the glory of God’s eternal love, planted in Jesus at the cross in order to take root and spread through us His people, and out into His world.
 
Do we still want to see Jesus? To draw near the Living God at work in our world? If so, we are pointed first of all to look at Him on the cross: offering His life in God’s own glorious, self-giving love for all of us, Jew… Greek… all of us, while we all were still His enemies. And seeing Him there, offering His saving love to everyone, we are pointed to our enemies… and called to love them too.  
 
How might seeing Jesus offer His life for sinners transform how we see the real people in our lives, and in our wider world? How might it call us to change our attitudes and actions towards the people we’d rather not see? Those we fear? Those we despise? Those we are struggling to forgive? What might we have to set aside if we are to reflect the holy, self-giving love God offers us all in Christ? Our own ambitions? Our bitterness? Our selfishness? Our indifference?
 
Seeing Jesus truly, coming to know Him as He really is will challenge us, and change us, and call us to let His love take root in us. Seeing Him on the cross, there’s no more enemies to overcome… just fellow human beings in need of God’s forgiveness, and New Life. To live this way, to follow Him, means letting our old life die… letting Christ bury our fear, and hate, and evil with Him at the cross. But it also means bearing the fruit of God’s glorious love: becoming the way that God’s goodness, and mercy, and healing power flows into our world, which is still being torn apart by the darkness Christ died to rescue us from.
 
So may the Holy Spirit of God help us always to see Jesus: to remember His self-giving love offered once and for all on the cross. May His love take root within us, may it change how we see and treat those in our lives, and by His grace, may we bear all the fruit that comes from following Jesus. Amen.
 


[1] Richard A. Burridge, “Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year B,” in The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts, Volume Three, ed. Roger E. Van Harn (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 542.
 

[2] Tom Wright, John for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 11-21 (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004), 29–30.

​​Our All-Ages Song for Lent can be found here:

Scripture Readings: Numbers 21:4–9 | Psalm 107:1–3, 17–22 | Ephesians 2:1–10 | John 3:14–21

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. (John 3:14)

What comes to our minds when we look at a cross?

For many, crosses are simply a common Christian symbol… an image closely identified with one of the world’s religions. With a bit more reflection, of course, crosses become a lot more uncomfortable. Long before Christianity, crosses were simply instruments of death… a form of brutal execution, designed to cause all sorts of suffering, as well as to publicly display the powerlessness of the victim, all while showcasing the supremacy of those who had them lifted up.
 
This tension isn’t erased when we turn to the story of Jesus either, for the crucifixion of Jesus exposes the worst of what’s wrong with the world: as this upright, innocent man is betrayed, /and handed over to humiliation, suffering, and a cruel death in an absolutely atrocious act of injustice.
 
And yet… from the very beginning, Christians have looked back on the cross as absolutely central to the Good News of God, seeing it as the focal point of genuine forgiveness, and the indispensable pillar holding up all of our hope. The season of Lent lays before us the road to the cross, and it calls us to contemplate its deeper significance. And so today, the fourth Sunday of Lent, we’re drawn towards an odd passage from the Book of Numbers (or as it’s known in Hebrew: In the Wilderness), a story about doubt, deadly snakes, and a curious cure… a story picked up by Jesus Himself to point us to His purpose: to shed much needed light upon His mission of redemption.
 
The story takes place in the wilderness, as the people of Israel are being lead by God through Moses from slavery in Egypt into a whole new life, and new land of their own. At this point, they’ve already spent years travelling in the desert, consistently provided for by the gracious hand of God. And yet, they consistently prove themselves to be quick to turn on the LORD… exposing their lack of trust in His love for them, and betraying Him in their hearts every time they find themselves in trouble.

“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?” we heard them say today, “For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” (Numbers 21:5). The scholar Elizabeth Achtemeier sums up their reaction like this: “Absent is any recollection of their gracious deliverance by the hand of God. Gone are all thoughts of the covenant they have entered into with the Lord at Mount Sinai. Forgotten is the divine promise that they are to be God’s chosen, holy nation and a kingdom of priests. Their present discomfort and suffering rob them of the memory of God’s gracious redemption and faithful day-and-night guidance of them.”[1] And so, in the face of Israel’s persistent unfaithfulness, serpents are sent, bringing to light the people’s sin… with dire consequences.
 
In this case at least, the people’s suffering seems to bring them to their senses. In Numbers 21:7 we’re told they “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.” (Numbers 21:7). In response to their repentance, the LORD doesn’t remove the deadly serpents, but He does mercifully provide their means of survival… one which requires those bitten to respond with trust in God.

“And 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.” So 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.”  (Numbers 21:8-9)
 
How was that supposed to work?!? The story doesn’t care about unpacking the mechanics of the miracle. In many ways, it remains a strange story for us today. But there are a few points that this part of Israel’s story raises for us to ponder: First, God’s people had turned away from Him in distrust and ungratefulness, bringing about their own suffering  and death as a result. Yet God provided for them a sign which brought about salvation: despite their betrayal, they would live if they trusted in the LORD’s gift… if they looked on the serpent of bronze, which was raised up to rescue them.
 
Turning now to the Gospel of John, we hear Jesus draw this odd episode from Israel’s past into His own unfolding story, in the context of a conversation with one of the teachers of Judah. In John chapter 3, were told that a pharisee named Nicodemus came one night seeking to speak with Jesus. A risky move, considering that by this point, our Lord was already becoming a controversial figure. But Nicodemus seems open to what Jesus was up to. “Rabbi,” he says, “we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” (John 3:2). Nicodemus acknowledges that Jesus was sent from the Living God, the same LORD who had rescued Israel from Egypt centuries earlier, and had led them through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. He sees at work in Jesus the holy presence of God… but our Lord takes this conversation in a surprising direction. “Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” (John 3:3)
 
What follows is a back and forth between Jesus and a puzzled Nicodemus, where it becomes clear that our Jesus is presenting Himself as more than a godly teacher, but as the One sent with the unique role of revealing God work in the world. “No one has ascended into heaven” He says, “except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.”  And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:13-15)
 
If you blink, you’ll miss it. Just one line thrown into a complicated, multilayered exchange. But by referencing this ancient story of doubts, and snakes, and salvation, Jesus is shedding important light on what He claims He has come to do… comparing Israel’s unfaithfulness in the wilderness to the situation in Nicodemus’ day… and in our own!
 
Just as in the wilderness, long ago, where Israel had turned their back on the LORD, doubting His faithfulness, forgetting His gracious deliverance and covenant with them, grumbling against His provisions, and despising the path He was leading them on, Jesus was making the case that God’s people were again betraying the LORD, and so were headed for disaster. The leadership of God’s people at the time of Nicodemus had claimed to be concerned with being faithful to the LORD, obeying His covenant, and walking in His ways. Yet time and again their response to Jesus’ actions and words exposed their hardened hearts, towards God and their neighbours. They had become preoccupied with their own preservation, instead of pursuing their calling to be God’s people in the world. It was as if they were reliving their ancestor’s unfaithfulness in the wilderness: preferring the darkness of hypocrisy, selfishness, and pride to the light of the LORD… and by evoking this story, Christ was exposing the sin of His people. Not just in Jerusalem that day, but in our day and age as well.
 
How have we relived the sins of Israel in the wilderness? How have we re-enacted the same distrust, ungratefulness, and contempt of God’s holy ways in our own lives? Perhaps paying lip service to the commandments of God, while happy to hide much of our heart’s desires in the dark?
 
This isn’t easy to think about. It’s even harder to talk about. It’s so much more comfortable to turn a blind eye to our darkness… instead of stepping into the light so that it can all be dealt with. But just as Israel’s guilt, in the wilderness, and in Nicodemus’ day, was only the beginning and not the end of the story, our own failures and sinfulness don’t have the final say either. We too are offered hope and forgiveness from the LORD, as Christ reveals God’s merciful response to all our unfaithfulness.
 
As He did long ago in the wilderness, God has provided a saving gift, only this one was meant not for one betrayal, but for all betrayals… not for one moment in history, but for all of time… not only for one people, but for all the families of the earth… offering new life to any and all who look at the Christ, the Son of Man ‘lifted up’ on the cross, and see in Him, in His suffering and death, God’s unending love for sinners… and place their trust, no longer in themselves, but in Him. “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For 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. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:14-17)
 
In connecting His mission with the story from Numbers Chapter 21, Jesus was not simply exposing the darkness at work in all of our lives… He is pointing us to the remedy for our spiritual sicknesses: that is, His own life, lifted up on the cross, and offered as a gift of love from God to our messed up world. As one scholar puts it: “Like the dying Israelites looking to the snake “lifted up” for healing, we are to see in Jesus’ broken body “lifted up” on an instrument of torture our healing and the source of eternal life.”[2] For the Israelites in the wilderness, looking at the bronze snake, would no doubt be deeply uncomfortable: a clear reminder that they had brought about their own misery. But if they responded to the invitation to look at it anyway, trusting in God’s mercy, it was transformed from a reminder of suffering, sin, and death into a gift meant to ensure their survival.
 
For you and I, looking at Jesus on the cross, we are forced to remember the reasons for His suffering: our sin, but ultimately God’s love. We are invited to look at Jesus lifted up on the cross and see much more than the brutal result of human betrayal and unfaithfulness… we’re invited to see the merciful love of the Living God for sinners like us, and looking at Him in faith, we are offered forgiveness, reconciliation, and God’s everlasting life, which we now know that even the grave itself is powerless to stop.

Jesus endured the cross for us as an act of God’s saving love. His whole mission was not to condemn, but to offer us His life, once and for all. As we draw nearer to Holy Week, to the suffering of Christ on the cross, may we remember that, for us, it is always a sign of God’s great love: drawing us out of the darkness and into God’s life-giving light, where everyone can find forgiveness, healing, and hope.  
Amen.


[1] Elizabeth Achtemeier, “Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year B,” in The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts, Volume One (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 120–121.

[2] Richard A. Burridge, “Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year B,” in The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts, Volume Three, ed. Roger E. Van Harn (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 500.

Today we mark the fourth Sunday of the holy season of Lent. 
It is a time of repentance, renewed obedience, and preparation for the celebration of Holy Week: the crucifixion and saving death of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, and the joyous resurrection of our Lord on Easter. 

The season of Lent draws together a host of important biblical themes. Here is a short video from the Bible Project that can help us explore the theme of The Messiah. 

​Our All-Ages Song for Lent can be found here:

​And our other Songs can be found here:

​Our All-Ages Song for Lent can be found here: