The Third Sunday in Lent, March 14, 2004
Exodus 3:1-15; Psalm 103 or 103:1-11; 1 Cor. 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9
On this third Sunday in our season of penitence, holy scripture gives voice to the call of God to us to turn from temptation and sin and put our trust in him.
In both passages from the New Testament, we are confronted with the destructiveness of sin. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that the sinfulness of the people of Israel during the time of Moses resulted in God’s displeasure, and “they were overthrown in the wilderness.” The apostle reminds us of their destruction because, he wrote, “these things are warnings for us, not to desire evil as they did,” and “they were written down for our instruction.”
Likewise, in the gospel, Jesus is told of Galileans who suffered and were destroyed at the hands of Pilate. He adds to this the story of some who were victims of a fatal accident, and uses these tragedies as warnings about the ultimate destructiveness of sin. “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish,” he asserts twice. Our Lord then continues with the call to repentance by telling the parable of the unfruitful fig tree in which the vinedresser forestalls the immediate destruction of the tree and works for its restoration.
The forbearance of the vinedresser calls to mind that disposition of God, which we used to speak of with a term not often heard nowadays, “longsuffering.” “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness,” we pray in the psalm. God’s merciful compassion, his tendency to be longsuffering toward us, is underscored in the teaching of the apostle that “God is faithful,” and in the assurance he gives us that the Lord himself will provide the means necessary for us to escape falling into the destructiveness of sin.
The passage from Exodus is the famous story of the burning bush in which “the God of your fathers” called and sent Moses to save his people from Egypt. This compassionate God, the “I am who I am,” calls us continually to repent of our sins and sends us the necessary means to turn away from every temptation. “He forgives all your sins and heals all your infirmities,” and so we “Bless the Lord.”
Look It Up
Read Exodus 34:1-8, and reflect on how it expresses God’s compassion and mercy. In the King James Version, the word “longsuffering” is used in verse 6.
Think About It
Examples of destruction are connected to the call to repentance in today’s lessons. How does this relate to the notion of “the wages of sin is death”?
Next Sunday
The Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 21, 2004
Josh. (4:19:24) 5:9-12; Psalm 34 or 34:1-8; 2 Cor. 5:17-21; Luke 15:11-32
