16 March 2025 - Lent 2, Year C

 

Theme

Our entire Lent season is a preparation for the upcoming Easter story and ultimately, Jesus’ resurrection and its implication for us today. Our readings this week encourage us to keep the resurrection in mind when confronting today’s challenges. Abraham is so concerned with his current childless situation that he cannot imagine a future until God’s covenant promise. Paul warns against those who claim to follow Christ, but live in a way that is only concerned with current issues that have no eternal value. Jesus grieves over Jerusalem and its people who do not understand God’s call to a resurrection-life.

Scriptures

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 - God promises Abram that he will have biological children and descendants of his own; so many that they will match the number of stars in the sky.

Psalm 27 - A beautiful psalm declaring God’s goodness and expressing the desire to live in God’s house forever, praising God and basking in God’s presence.

Philippians 3:17-4:1 - Paul urges the readers to follow his example and of those like him. He warns against those who claim to follow Christ but their conduct says differently - “their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things and they think only of this life on earth.”

Luke 13:31-35 - Jesus grieves over Jerusalem who refuses to listen to God’s messengers and ends up even killing them. 

or Luke 9:37-43a - Jesus heals a demon-possessed boy. When it was expressed that his disciples were unable to heal the boy, Jesus declares the listeners a “faithless and corrupt people.”

The Context

When encountering prophetic-type passages in Scripture, we should always remember that many of the biblical books were written many years after the events transpired. This is not to downplay the possibility of divine foreknowledge, however, this understanding helps us be aware of the author’s possible intentions in using prophetic language. For example, when Jesus speaks about accomplishing his purpose in three days, it could be that the author of Luke was referencing Jesus’ future resurrection and encouraging the reader to associate Jesus’ true purpose with the resurrection.

Personal Application

Paul’s warning to the Philippian church is just as relevant to us now as it was then. There are many people who claim to be Christians today who have a complete disregard for the ways of Christ. Their god is their their guns, their favourite political figure, or their appetite. They brag about their wealth or their status and they worry only about that which adds value to their lives on this earth now. Paul calls us instead to follow him as he follows Christ in focusing on things that have eternal value. Some of these could be: caring for the mourning, helping someone see God’s image within them, feeding the poor, caring for the planet, fighting for justice, loving all people and showing mercy. These are resurrection values of eternal importance.

How can we live our lives now with God’s resurrection promises in mind?

Communal Application

As a church in the 21st century, we do not want to find ourselves in the same situation that Jerusalem did 2000 years ago as Jesus mourned over their inability to listen to God’s prophets and messengers. I believe that God is still using men and women as prophetic witnesses in the world today. Many of them are saying things that are challenging and we might not like very much. And yet, when we dig into what they are saying, they are preaching God’s truth and justice to all. I think of the incredible people who are passionately teaching us about unjust racial systems, LGBTQ+ issues and challenging our preconceived, harmful perceptions of God that only benefits a particular group of people.

Let us be careful about only listening to self-proclaimed prophets that look just like us and only say things that massage our ego and reinforce our own beliefs about God and the world. 

How can we be more alert to people in the world who God might be trying to use as prophets to our modern generation?