Lent 2016 (C) 2016-03-12: Reading the Lectionary with my family
(I encourage you to read the full text. Hold me accountable if you feel it has not been handled well. It is what Scripture means when it says to wrestle with the Bible and mentally struggle with it and inwardly digest it.)
"If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him,
and the Romans will come and destroy both
our temple and our nation.”
Many people witnessed the raising of Lazarus. They saw the man bound, the burial and mourning, and the stone across the tomb; they smelled the stench of death; they stood near the grave; they heard Jesus' prayer and they heard Him call Lazarus from the grave. They saw the dead man raised! Some then went to the Pharisees and gave their witness and testimony. The response was a concern not for what our infinite immortal God was working among His people, but rather for the finite mortal temple and the nation. This seems inconceivable. It is ironic.
To fully explore today's readings from Exodus and John in their context and then contemplate how they interact would take much more time and space than I have in this blog. These are amazing passages! Perhaps we can find a helpful starting point for unpacking these readings by observing that the very wonders that led to the institution of the Temple and the nation of Israel were less present and tangible than Lazarus, a dead man, walking among the crowds of Passover in Jerusalem. The wonders that lead to the Passover commemoration were but distant memories kept alive in Israel through the temple. The dead and decaying Lazarus lived and walked among them there and then! Our first instinct might be to judge the evil, ignorance and arrogance of the temple leaders as if to say "I would have never done this." However, Lent holds the Pharisees up as a mirror before us and asks "Really, wouldn't you?"
A new friend posted a message recently: "Many go to church. Few go to Christ." This precisely directs us toward the starting point we are being encouraged to adopt today. The context of the Pharisees was self-worship shrouded and disguised in temple worship. In other words, the temple became a prop for the creation of self-image; for a political, financial, commercial and social propping up of self! Jesus undermined the prop and thus endangered the carefully constructed image. Jesus endangered the self, thus, the conclusion that Jesus must be eliminated - what it was coming down to is something must go: Him or me.
How different are we? Do we really follow Jesus or is Jesus a prop for our own gain and our own self-image?
To fully explore today's readings from Exodus and John in their context and then contemplate how they interact would take much more time and space than I have in this blog. These are amazing passages! Perhaps we can find a helpful starting point for unpacking these readings by observing that the very wonders that led to the institution of the Temple and the nation of Israel were less present and tangible than Lazarus, a dead man, walking among the crowds of Passover in Jerusalem. The wonders that lead to the Passover commemoration were but distant memories kept alive in Israel through the temple. The dead and decaying Lazarus lived and walked among them there and then! Our first instinct might be to judge the evil, ignorance and arrogance of the temple leaders as if to say "I would have never done this." However, Lent holds the Pharisees up as a mirror before us and asks "Really, wouldn't you?"
A new friend posted a message recently: "Many go to church. Few go to Christ." This precisely directs us toward the starting point we are being encouraged to adopt today. The context of the Pharisees was self-worship shrouded and disguised in temple worship. In other words, the temple became a prop for the creation of self-image; for a political, financial, commercial and social propping up of self! Jesus undermined the prop and thus endangered the carefully constructed image. Jesus endangered the self, thus, the conclusion that Jesus must be eliminated - what it was coming down to is something must go: Him or me.
How different are we? Do we really follow Jesus or is Jesus a prop for our own gain and our own self-image?
As we journey through Lent we are seeing that following Jesus looks like something. If we are followers of Jesus, who He is will be seen in our choices, our words, our actions and how we bless and engage with others. The world will know we are Christ followers! We will not have to say "I am Christian," - the world will observe us and will say "You are Christian" IF we are His true followers.
The temple was feared and even despised because of the disconnect between God's Word and the works of the temple. The disconnect reveals the conviction of self-righteousness against righteousness in Christ. In Jerusalem, the temple was preserved at the expense of its God; in Jerusalem, the ego ("I") was preserved at the expense of the desire of "I AM." The more things change the more they stay the same - today we preserve the church at the expense of Jesus; my condition is preserved at the expense of God's mission and our commission. This is the context we have been praying that our Lenten journey will reveal, shake, break and set us free from. God calls us to authenticity in His mission. God beckons us to the place He has prepared for us in His Church. God's Word shouts: "Go to Christ!" As we enter authentic Christ-following we begin to see the foundations of atonement and the shattering of our sin in the text God has given us this day.
There is so much more to say. This is but a start. Today, hear the shouts of God. Will we step out of "my church" and be embraced in Christ, His Body, His Church? Is it yes or is it no?
For today's full text click here
The temple was feared and even despised because of the disconnect between God's Word and the works of the temple. The disconnect reveals the conviction of self-righteousness against righteousness in Christ. In Jerusalem, the temple was preserved at the expense of its God; in Jerusalem, the ego ("I") was preserved at the expense of the desire of "I AM." The more things change the more they stay the same - today we preserve the church at the expense of Jesus; my condition is preserved at the expense of God's mission and our commission. This is the context we have been praying that our Lenten journey will reveal, shake, break and set us free from. God calls us to authenticity in His mission. God beckons us to the place He has prepared for us in His Church. God's Word shouts: "Go to Christ!" As we enter authentic Christ-following we begin to see the foundations of atonement and the shattering of our sin in the text God has given us this day.
There is so much more to say. This is but a start. Today, hear the shouts of God. Will we step out of "my church" and be embraced in Christ, His Body, His Church? Is it yes or is it no?
For today's full text click here
