Third Sunday of Lent Year C
Apologies this is late—family issues came up and I got behind in reposting.
From the Archives of March 20, 2022 (and March 24, 2019, February 28, 2016, and March 3, 2013)
Worship Resources for March 20th, 2022—Third Sunday in Lent
Revised Common Lectionary: Isaiah 55:1-9; Psalm 63:1-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9
Narrative Lectionary: Peter’s Denial, John 18:12-27 (Psalm 17:1-7)
For this third Sunday in Lent, we begin with the prophet Isaiah’s call to the people who have returned from exile. In 55:1-9, the prophet reminded the people not to return to their daily lives, but instead, to seek God in their daily life and needs: to seek God for the rich food, to remember the covenant God made with their ancestor David. When the people called upon God, other nations would draw to them, people who did not know God. May the unrighteous and wicked return to God, the prophet declares, for the ways of the people, the thoughts of the people, have not been God’s ways and thoughts; God’s ways are beyond what the people have understood thus far.
The psalmist seeks God in Psalm 63:1-8. Like someone lost in the desert without water, the psalmist needs God. They praise God because God’s “steadfast love is better than life.” The psalm invokes the body, needing God to live, a deep hunger that can only be satisfied by God, for they know God has been their help and refuge in times of trouble. The psalmist blesses and sings for joy, because God is the one their soul clings to.
Paul warned the church in Corinth that if they thought they were standing, they’d better watch out that they don’t fall in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. Paul was concerned that the church was doing what their ancestors did in the desert—thinking they were God’s people but turning from God’s ways. Paul reminded them to learn from their ancestors who have been set as example, to not assume belonging to the body means one can do anything they wanted to. The church was being tested, Paul declared, and God would not let them be tested beyond their strength, but they must endure and be faithful to God, because the wicked ways of the world were creeping into the way of life in their congregation.
Luke 13:1-9 is a strange passage because we are missing the historical context. At some point, Pontius Pilate, Roman governor of Judea, massacred some Galileans, and had their blood mixed in with the sacrifices he made to the Roman gods. Throughout history and in various cultures, when something terrible and tragic happens, there are some who interpret that as God’s divine judgment, that the victims must have done something to deserve it. We have seen this with preachers declaring God’s judgment after hurricanes and tornadoes and other disasters. Jesus said that these Galileans were not worse than anyone else, but that death awaits anyone who doesn’t turn to God. In a similar vein, Jesus spoke about a disaster where a tower in Siloam fell and killed eighteen people. It wasn’t their fault it happened, but death awaits us all. Repenting and turning to God is the only thing that can save us from death having the final word. The second part of this passage is a parable of a fig tree. In Matthew and Mark, Jesus is the one who curses the fig tree when he observes it has born no fruit, but in Luke, Jesus tells a parable of a man who planted a fig tree, but it never produced fruit, even after three years. He ordered the gardener to cut it down. However, the gardener pleads to give it one more chance. He will clear around the roots and fertilize it. The owner relents to give it one more chance, but if it doesn’t bear fruit, it will be cut down. Jesus warns the crowds this is their last chance. They have not listened to the prophets before them. They worry and fret about things they have no control over (such as Pilate and the tower that fell) instead of doing the one thing they can control: repenting and turning back to God’s ways.
The Narrative Lectionary continues the events of Holy Week with Peter’s Denial in John 18:12-27. In John’s account, Jesus was taken before Annas, the father-in-law of the high priest. Peter and another disciple had followed along, but the other disciple (known as the beloved disciple) went into the courtyard first. When Peter was brought inside, the woman who guarded the gate to the courtyard recognized Peter as one of Jesus’ disciples, but Peter denied it. After being questioned by Annas about his teaching, Jesus was struck across the face by one of the police. Then Jesus was bound and taken to Caiaphas, the high priest. Peter, meanwhile, was questioned again about being one of the disciples, but denied it. Peter denied it a third time, even though the person questioning him was a relative of the slave whose ear Peter had cut off and was certain it was him. Then the rooster crowed.
Psalm 17:1-7 is a prayer for vindication from a writer who has avoided the ways of the violent. The psalmist knows they have stayed true and are innocent before God. They call upon God to answer their prayer, knowing they have remained faithful to God, and God will be faithful to them.
Lent is the season when we remember God’s ways and turn back to God. We remember the stories of our ancestors and learn from their lives how God has always remained faithful, even when we have gone astray. We hear the words of the prophets and the teachers in the early church that those who remained true to God knew the fullness of God’s love in their lifetime. Jesus teaches us that our lives without God are dead ends, but we do not need to use the fear of punishment to justify faith. It was not the Galileans fault, or those who died at Siloam. Without God, our lives may come to an end without much hope or meaning. With God, our lives are full, and we know that death does not have the final word.
Call to Worship (from Isaiah 55:1-2, 6)
Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters!
You that have no money,
Come, for there is plenty!
Listen carefully to God,
And delight in rich food that satisfies.
Seek the Lord while God may be found,
Call upon God who draws near.
Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
Almighty One, we confess that the world’s ways lead us astray. We search for bread and wine that never satisfies us, worldly desires that give into worldly measures of success. You call us to Your ways, but we chase the shiny things of this world that have no value in Your realm. May we listen for Your voice and for the true things of this world that matter: the love we have for one another, the way we care for each other and the earth You made, the pursuit of justice in order to establish peace. May we be fed by Your word and satisfied by the wellspring of everlasting life. In the name of Christ we pray. Amen.
Blessing/Assurance
God’s desire for us is greater than any desire we have for the things of the world. God will not stop pursuing you until you turn back. God knows your heart and that you long to be one with God. You are God’s beloved child. You are forgiven, loved, and restored. Amen.
Prayer
Holy One, when we look at the world, our heart breaks. We have failed to care for the earth. We have failed to pursue peace and have allowed violence to run rampant. Most of all, we have allowed others to co-opt Your name and Your words to justify hate. Forgive us all for not speaking up, for not calling out those who have harmed others in Your name. Move us to pursue Your call to justice, especially for the most vulnerable among us, for they know You, and they are Your beloved children. Help us to protect them, to pursue justice, and proclaim Your reign is one of love and never of hate. Amen.
Worship Resources for March 24—Third Sunday of Lent
Revised Common Lectionary: Isaiah 55:1-9; Psalm 63:1-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9
Narrative Lectionary: Wedding Banquet, Matthew 22:1-14 (Psalm 45:6-7)
The Hebrew Scriptures during Lent point to hope for a future. The prophet Isaiah, in 55:1-9 speaks to the people coming out of exile, that God has something greater in store for them, if they’d only perceive it. If they’d only leave behind worldly ways, worldly measures of success, they would find satisfaction in God’s ways. The prophet questions why they work for food that doesn’t satisfy, and instead, they should listen to God’s word and ways, and find the rich food. God desires to make an everlasting covenant with the people, and to lead them to a higher way of life.
The psalmist sings of how their soul longs for God in Psalm 63:1-8. Invoking the image of the desert in need of water, so the singer longs for God with their whole being. The writer of this psalm was a strong poet, speaking of the depth of their desire for God. God’s steadfast love is better than life. The singer blesses and praises God, and finds comfort in the shadow of God’s wings.
In Paul’s first letter (that we have) to the church in Corinth, in 10:1-13 he compares them to the people of Israel in the desert with Moses. He uses the image of baptism to refer to the people escaping from slavery into freedom through the Red Sea, and by God’s appearance to them in the cloud. Paul interprets the water from the rock as the rock of Christ, the living water. However, Paul is using these stories as a metaphor, stories that the church in Corinth would be familiar with, rather than reinterpreting the stories. The Christians in Corinth must be careful not to go astray, for as the people in the wilderness went astray, so some in the church have followed the ways of other peoples around them. He warns them not to become idolaters, and not to put Christ to the test. God does not test us so we might fail; rather, we are not alone in the struggles we go through. This passage has been misinterpreted to say that God won’t give us anything we can’t handle. That’s not what Paul is stating; rather, we are called not to be proud, but to understand that life is a struggle, but God is with us in the struggle and in our suffering.
In Luke 13:1-9, Jesus hears that Pilate ordered the death of some Galilean pilgrims who were sacrificing at the temple. However, the way Jesus speaks about it, it’s clear that some in the crowd thought it was a sign that God was displeased with this group of Galileans. They were interpreting this as a sign of God’s judgment. Jesus instead tells them that they didn’t suffer because they were worse sinners, but rather that suffering is not God’s judgment. However, unless we turn back to God, we will all suffer death. Unless we repent, death is the final judgment on us all, no matter who we are. Jesus then tells a parable of a fig tree, similar to accounts of Jesus cursing the fig tree in Matthew and Mark, but in this case, the gardener saves the fig tree for a short time from destruction. This fig tree hasn’t produced fruit for three years, but the gardener pleads to give it a chance to be nurtured for another year. But if it doesn’t bear fruit after that, then it can be cut down.
The Narrative Lectionary focuses on the Parable of the Wedding Banquet as recorded in Matthew’s account. Jesus tells a story of a king who holds a wedding banquet, but none of the invited guests come. They make light of it, or they mistreat the king’s messengers and slaves, even killing them. So instead, the king sends his slaves out to invite everyone on the main streets in. They find people, both good and bad, and fill the banquet hall. But when the king arrived for the feast, he noticed one was there without a wedding robe—a garment that would have been given him to wear if he didn’t have his own. He doesn’t know what to say, but the king has him thrown out, saying “many are called, but few are chosen.” The parable shows God’s generosity, that the kingdom is for all people, but sometimes those invited take it for granted, and those who are welcomed don’t always honor the invitation. Transformation is required for all who choose to accept the welcome.
The psalmist conjures up the image of the royal throne room in Psalm 45:6-7 as the psalmist praises their earthly king. God loves righteousness and hates wickedness, and God has anointed the new king with the oil of gladness.
God is inviting us to a new way of life, a higher way, a way of wisdom and insight. God is calling us to repent and turn back to God, to turn away from the ways of the world, for they lead to death. The way of the world is to compare sins, to think “at least we’re not as bad as those people.” However, we will all end up with the same fate, no matter who we are. The ways of worldly success lead to dead ends. The ways of worldly pleasures lead to emptiness. The ways of the world simply lead to the grave. But the way of God leads to life, to God’s steadfast love that endures forever, and death has no hold. Choose the life God desires for you, and you will be satisfied. Choose the transformation God offers you, and you will find life eternal.
Call to Worship
Everyone who thirsts for righteousness,
Come to the waters of life!
Everyone who is hungry for justice,
Come and be fed by the Spirit!
God has made with us an everlasting covenant,
God’s steadfast love endures forever.
Come, worship God, who leads us into life;
Come, follow Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
God who Made us and Longs for us, we confess that our own desires have led us astray. We have consumed more than we need and have found ourselves wanting. We see only what we lack, instead of all the blessings we have. We mistake blessings as possessions and wealth, rather than understanding the blessing of Your love, grace, justice, mercy, and peace in our lives. Forgive us for our misguided ways. Forgive us for our wrong definitions. Call us into the path of gentle correction, that we may strive to live out Your ways of love and justice, to mold our desires to be what You desire for the world, so we might love one another and become the Beloved Community on earth as it is in heaven. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Blessing/Assurance
God is our help, our strength, our refuge. The psalms declare we rest under the shadow and shelter of God’s wings. There is nothing you can do that will take you away from God. There is no place you can go where God will not find you. You each are God’s beloved child. Repent; turn back to God, and living into God’s ways, knowing you are forgiven, loved, and restored. Amen.
Prayer
God Most High, help us to take the higher way. Help us to leave behind the paths of this world—the paths of worldly success, the paths of petty revenge, the paths of looking out for ourselves and our own. Instead, help us to embrace the high road. Though it is difficult, help us to work for justice in our seeking of peace. Though it is long, help us to seek reparations when we seek reconciliation. Remind us that we do not sojourn alone. God Most High, You called a wandering Aramean as our ancestor in faith; You called a wandering people to become Your people; You called a wandering preacher in Galilee Your Son, and You have called us again to be Your children. Help us to seek Your ways, for they are higher than our ways. Amen.
Worship Resources for February 28th, 2016—Third Sunday in Lent
Revised Common Lectionary: Isaiah 55:1-9; Psalm 63:1-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9
Narrative Lectionary: Parable of the Tenants, or Taxes to Caesar, Mark 12:1-12 or 12:13-17 (Psalm 86:8-13)
The prophet Isaiah shares the words of God to the people coming out of exile, to remember that what they seek in this world is not what God desires for them. God tells the people to work for what satisfies, to seek the ways of God. God will make an everlasting covenant with the people and they will be an example to the nations, even the ones they do not know.
In Psalm 63:1-8, the psalmist sings of their soul’s desire for God and that only God can satisfy. The psalmist meditates and thinks about God, their longing is for God, and with their lips they will praise and bless God.
Paul speaks of the ancestors of Israel who came out of Egypt into the wilderness. Using the language of baptism, and the metaphor of Christ as the rock, Paul retells the story, with the people passing through the Red Sea as a sort of baptism, and striking the rock for water as Christ provides living water. However, they need to remember how the people perished in the wilderness when they didn’t turn to God’s ways, and so will the church in Corinth should they not follow the ways of Christ. They will be tested, as they have put God to the test. 1 Corinthians 10:13 is a particular verse that has been taken out of context, often falsely summarized as “God will never give you too much to handle.” God will never test you beyond your strength—but that doesn’t mean in life we aren’t given too much to handle. The world gives us an awful lot.
Jesus begins in Luke 13:1-9 speaking about two tragedies that had happened: one in which Galileans had been killed by Pilate, and a tower collapse in Siloam in which eighteen people died. Jesus explains that neither group did anything to cause what happened to them—they were no worse sinners than anyone else—but God is calling them to repent or they will die just like everyone else. Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree, a tree that wasted its soil and never produced a fig, but was given one more chance. All of us are called to repent and turn back to God—though none of us deserve death, our end will not change unless we turn back to God.
The Narrative Lectionary has two choices from Mark 12. In verses 1-12, the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, Jesus tells a story in which it is clear that the owner of the vineyard did not send his son with the purpose for him to die, but rather in hope that the tenants would finally listen to him, since they had not listened to the messengers before. And just like some who had been killed, the son was also killed and thrown out of the vineyard. Some of the leaders wanted to have Jesus killed after telling that parable, knowing it was about themselves. Jesus makes it clear in the parable that though this is to happen, it is not God’s desire for it to occur, but God’s reign that is at hand will be not for those who have rejected Jesus.
The second choice in verses 13-17 takes place the following day, when other religious and secular leaders try to trap Jesus on the question of taxes. They believe that Jesus will end up proving one side over the other, that either Jesus will uphold the view of the Pharisees and anger the Herodians, who prosper under Rome, or that he will agree with the Herodians and anger those following the law. Instead, Jesus’ answer reminds them that the world is under God and that to give to the Emperor what belongs to him, is in reality giving to God what is God’s, because God is the maker of all.
Psalm 86:8-13 reminds the listeners there are no gods greater than God, that God alone is the one who does great and wondrous things. The psalmist pleads for God’s guidance and teachings, and gives thanks for God’s deliverance and steadfast love.
It’s not God that gives us too much to handle, but the world. It is not God that tempts us, but the world tempts us. It is not God that condemns us, but we condemn each other. We decide that entire groups of people deserve what they get, rather than seeing that all of us have fallen short, all of us have sinned (Romans 3:23). But through God’s steadfast love, there is redemption and forgiveness of sins. Through Christ, there is eternal life, which death has no hold.
Call to Worship
Everyone who is thirsty,
Come to the wellspring of life!
Everyone who has nothing to eat,
Come and enjoy the feast!
For God is setting a banquet table,
Christ is offering the well of eternal life!
Come, for all things are ready;
Accept the invitation, for you are already welcome here!
Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
Almighty God, we have played your role. We have judged others severely. We have condemned others. We have gloated when someone’s end seems fitting to us. Forgive us for our short-sightedness, our judgment, our self-righteousness. We remember that all of us have failed to live into Your image. We have failed to love our neighbors. We have failed to love our enemies. We have failed to bless instead of curse. Forgive us for our iniquities, and call us into repentance. In the name of Christ, who was holy and yet died as one of us, we pray. Amen.
Blessing/Assurance of Pardon
God leads us into life, sets us on right paths, and assures us that we are loved. There is nothing you can do that can take away God’s love for you. Extend that love and forgiveness to others, and you will find God’s love and forgiveness is already with you. Go, and share the Good News. Amen.
Prayer
God of Creation, create in us new hearts to love others, hearts that are free from the need to judge. Create in us new minds to seek Your wisdom, minds that are free from the desire to seek our own gain and satisfaction. Fill us with the spirit of compassion to be moved towards the welfare of others instead of the selfish greed we often feel. Create us anew, and fill us with Your Spirit. In Your name we pray. Amen.
Worship Resources for March 3—Third Sunday of Lent
Revised Common Lectionary: Isaiah 55:1-9; Psalm 63:1-8; Luke 13:1-9; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
On this third Sunday of Lent, we continue our thread in the ancient writings of the Hebrews of God’s covenant, reading Isaiah 55 and knowing that God still loves the people despite where they have gone wrong, just as God loved David despite the fact he was flawed, sinned and fell short. God still invites us to participate in the covenant, even though we have not kept our end. God still provides for us, even though we have abused what we have been given. Repent, turn back and seek God, and we will find that God is still offering to establish a covenant with us, God is still providing an abundant feast, where we will never thirst or hunger.
Psalm 63:1-8 contains the words of the psalmist who seeks God as one seeks water in a desert. We seek because we want to be satisfied. Not to just get by, but because we want to never again be thirsty. So it is that we seek God, not to just get by in our daily woes, but because we know without God we do not have life and we will always be seeking something more. We know that when we turn to God, God is there, God is waiting for us, and God provides.
Luke 13:1-9 contains the parable of the Fig Tree as told in Luke, but also tells of a massacre by Pilate against some Galileans. The question is really about punishment—did the Galileans deserve their punishment? Did God cause their punishment? It is a question we continue to ask today: do bad things happen because people deserved them? Can we really know who is in hell or heaven? Jesus tells them, “No, but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” The focus is on you, not them. The focus is not about worrying about other’s punishment or need for repentance, but our own. We are the ones in need of turning back to God. We know that we are judged by God. I know my own sins and shortcomings. If I judge others, I am using the opportunity to evade culpability for my own wrongdoings. Jesus uses the story of the fig tree to remind us that we all have been given the opportunity to turn back to God, and that through Jesus we are reminded of that possibility, but only we can produce good fruit. We can’t go pointing out the wrongdoings of others when we are still at fault ourselves. We are the ones who need to repent and turn back to God.
1 Corinthians 10:1-13 reminds us that to be faithful to God is to remain in God’s ways, we actually do need to repent in our own lives and to be faithful to God’s ways. Paul looks the Israelites in the desert with Moses as examples of those who had seen God’s deliverance and yet reverted to their old ways. The church in Corinth was full of division and many were continuing cultural practices, including ignoring the poor at the Lord’s table (ch.9), having a sexual relationship with one’s stepmother (ch. 7), and so on. The Corinthians claimed to follow Jesus, but also claimed a lot of other things, such as cultural practices that were harmful to others. Paul calls upon the church in Corinth to remember their ancestors and their mistakes, and that we must all be accountable for our actions and know that God is the one who judges us.
In this season of Lent, when we talk about repentance/turning back to God, it can be easy to start seeing the specks in other’s eyes. We can also interpret earthly disasters as God’s judgment, or consequences of poor decisions as God’s punishment. But we shouldn’t be looking for the sins of others, looking at their mistakes, when we still have plenty of our own. It is our own self we must deal with, our own self that we must bring into accountability. For we can only change ourselves. Any therapist will tell you that we cannot change others, but we can change ourselves and how we react to others.
This is also the message from Jesus: we can’t change whether others sin or not, we can’t know for sure that what happens to them is punishment or not, but we do know for ourselves that we need to change, we need to repent and we need to seek forgiveness for where we have gone wrong.
Call to Worship
Sometimes our life’s journey turns difficult and challenging
God guides our steps and brings us back to the way
Sometimes the path grows dark and menacing
Christ shines his light so that we can see the way
Sometimes we feel lonely, forgotten, and downtrodden
The Spirit moves in us, comforting us and giving us hope
God is with us, every step of the way
May we know God’s presence along this journey of faith. Amen.
Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
Providing God, You have given us an abundance in creation, but we have misused it. We have hoarded resources from others, abused the resources given to us, and we have damaged and destroyed Your creation for our own desires. We are quick to point out the faults in others, but we have failed to take care of what You have given us. Forgive us for living in ways that are harmful to others and creation. Forgive us for not accepting our own responsibility and doing what we can to change how we live. Call us back to Your ways of honoring Your creation, caring for all created beings and using Your resources for the well-being of all. In the name of Christ, who taught us how to live with one another in love, we pray. Amen.
Blessing/Assurance of Pardon
We know that God calls us into the ways of wholeness and healing. We know that God always shows us another way to live. We know that God forgives us when we forgive others. We know that we have been given new life in Christ. Go with the knowledge of God’s love and forgiveness in your hearts, and share it with the world. Amen.
Prayer
Molder and Shaper of the earth, You have built us up, made us to be people to love one another, and by loving others we love You. When we have stretched ourselves thin, mold us back to be connected with You. When we have been pushed down, renew our strength and courage to reach up and extend out into the world. When we feel torn and broken, mend us back together. You are the Potter, the Mender, the One who renews us. In the name of Christ, who makes us all new, we pray. Amen.