Tag Archives: Moses

March 12, 2023 · 12:00 am

Third Sunday in Lent

Living Water

In life, we have wilderness experiences, times in which we may experience a spiritual dryness. These are often times when our faith is tested. This was certainly true for the children of Israel. God rescued them from bondage in Egypt through great signs and wonders. Yet they wondered if God could provide for their needs in a wilderness environment. Reading from Exodus:

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”   (Exodus 17:1-7)

Wildernesses can test our faith and trust in God. Some might say that we should have enough faith to not ever experience a wilderness. I believe that God allows us to experience such times in our lives because they can help build our faith and character. Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness in preparation for his earthly ministry. He certainly did not lack faith in God, the Father.

Let us look at someone struggling with an apparent wilderness in her life. Jesus met a Samaritan woman at a well. He was passing through Samaria and his disciples had gone ahead to buy food

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”   (John 4:7-15)

What was remarkable is that the woman responded to Jesus in the affirmative, without understanding all that Jesus was saying. She was willing to talk to him even though she was told not to do so.

What did Jesus mean by “living water?” The seventh chapter of John tells us:

On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ ” Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive, for as yet there was no Spirit because Jesus was not yet glorified.   (John 7:37-39)

Let us return to Moses. The Apostle Paul wrote:

I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.   (1 Corinthians 10:1-4)

Jesus was glorified on the cross. He was struck on the cross so that we might have living water. This is the gift of the Holy Spirit which he could not give us unless we were cleansed of all our sins. The Apostle Paul wrote:

When he ascended on high, he made captivity itself a captive;
    he gave gifts to his people.   (Ephesians 4:8)

Let us continue with the Gospel narrative. The Samaritan woman had a complicated life. In her heart, she must have been seeking answers to the turmoil she was apparently experiencing. She began to open her up:

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!”

Jesus’ statements shock her. She realizes that Jesus is no ordinary man. Notice how quickly she retreats to religion:

The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”   (John 4:16-26)

Through his words, Jesus opens up the possibility of her receiving the promise of God that was offered to the Jews. The argument concerning the proper place to worship was no longer valid. What was really important was the worship itself. She becomes excited. In her heart and soul, she was thirsty for God. Jesus revealed that thirst to her. Could he be the long-expecting Messiah for whom even this Samaritan was hoping?

In this Season of Lent God wants to open our hearts to what may be going on inside of us. Will we take the time to examine ourselves? Are we thirsty for more of God? Are our religious exercises going to stand in the way of what God is doing? Will church doctrine keep us from seeking living water?

Do we want living water flowing from within us? What is required? Jesus said:

“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”   (John 4:10)

We need to know Jesus. We need to spend some time with him. We need to know this gift. Is this gift for us. Are we thirsty for it? The Samaritan woman was thirsty.

Jesus is the giver. He has paid dearly so that we might receive this gift. Maybe we need to engage in conversation with him. Lent is a time to go deeper into prayer. The psalmist wrote:

Deep calls to deep
    at the thunder of your torrents;
all your waves and your billows
    have gone over me.
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
    and at night his song is with me,
    a prayer to the God of my life.   (Psalm 42:7-8)

Leave a comment

Filed under homily, Jesus, Lent, liturgical preaching, liturgy, preaching, Revised Common Lectionary, sermon, sermon development, Year A

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

February 19, 2023 · 12:00 am

Last Sunday after Epiphany

Reflecting the Glory of God

Today we have two readings of an encounter with the glory of God on a mountaintop. One in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament. Let us begin with Moses on Mount Sinai:

The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.”   (Exodus 24:12-14)

Call Moses up to Mount to give him the Ten Commandments written on stone tablets. This was a monumental event in the life of Israel and in our own lives. Moses soon became aware of the manifest presence of God. A cloud covered the mountain which was the glory of God:

Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.   (Exodus 24:15-18)

Moses commends God face to face. The glory of God is a change agent. Those who are touched by it will never be the same again.

In today’s New Testament lesson, Jesus invited Peter, James, and John up a mountain to have an encounter with God:

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”   (Matthew 17:1-9)

Moses and Jesus were called to the Mount of God for different reasons, Both callings were pivotable events in our understanding of salvation history. In both cases, God spoke his Word and made his presence felt, Moses, encountered the glory of God. Jesus was transfigured with a heavenly body. Here he is clearly elevated above the commandments and the prophecy that he came to the earth to fulfill.

The bright cloud that overshadowed them was the glory of God. just as in the case of Moses. God’s glory was on the mountaintop – his essence, holiness, majesty, and manifest presence.

What can we glean from these encounters? How do we interpret their impact on Christian believers? Fortunately, we have a commentary from one of the participants. Peter was forbidden to speak about it before the resurrection of Jesus. But later he wrote:

For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.   (2 Peter 1:16-18)

How might the transfiguration of Jesus impinge upon our lives today? Fortunately, we have a commentary from a participant:

We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.   (2 Peter 1:19)

The Psalmist wrote:

O send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling.   (Psalm 43:3)

Is God calling us to his holy hill? Jesus invited Peter, James, and John to the Mount of Transfiguration. They were close to Jesus and we’re interested in all that he did or said. Are we today’s Peter, James, and John? That would be up to us. Are we hungry for the glory of God? This is a step beyond our initial salvation.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

For it is the God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ..   (2 Corinthians 4:6)

Our understanding and seeking the glory of God is perhaps the most significant way we can evangelize the world. In his sermon on the mount, Jesus said:

You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.   (Matthew 5:14-16)

Let shine with the radiance of Jesus. The glory is not ours. We are called to reflect his glory. Paul wrote:

And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.   (2 Corinthians 3:18)

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Epiphany, homily, Jesus, lectionary, liturgical preaching, liturgy, preaching, Revised Common Lectionary, sermon, sermon development, Year A

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

February 12, 2023 · 12:00 am

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

Choose This Day

In our Old Testament reading today we find Moses preparing the children of Israel to enter the promised land:

Moses said, “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.   (Deuteronomy 30:16-18)

Life is about choices. This was true for Israel and it is true for us today. Blessings from God have to do with our obedience to God. The psalmist wrote:

Happy are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord!

Happy are they who observe his decrees
and seek him with all their hearts!   (Psalm 119:1-2)

And again:

Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall;
    happy are the people whose God is the Lord.   (Psalm 144:15)

There is the other side of the coin. Moses said:

If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.   (Deuteronomy 30:16-18)

Obedience to God is vital. Why did you not Isreal obey God? Why do we not obey God? Adam and Eve sewed the seeds of rebellion. They believed what the enemy of God’s creation lied about – that created beings can be on the same playing field as God. Unfortunately, many people still believe that, despite the evidence to the contrary.

Our flesh, carnal nature, and prideful mind still want to test the premise that we can think like God. Within our souls, a spiritual battle is taking place. The Apostle Paul wrote:

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me. For I know that the good does not dwell within me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do the good lies close at hand, but not the ability. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.   (Romans 7:14-19) 

History has proven that the flesh cannot win the battle for righteous living. The law of God taught us what is sinful. Paul wrote that the direction was spiritual. It was from God, but it was powerless to free us from sin.

If we love God then we do not want to sin, but we still do despite our efforts. What is the problem? What is the solution?

Let us look at the Sermon on the Mount in today’s Gospel.

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.   (Matthew 5:21-2)

Jesus is talking about the law. He is making it clear that there is no way for us to get around the law. We cannot water it down, so to speak. We cannot so narrowly define it so that we can say that we have followed it without fail. What else is left? Maybe we can eliminate the law in some way?

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.   (Matthew 5:17-18)

We cannot abolish the law because Jesus did not abolish the law. It is still on the books. The penalty for not keeping the law is still the same,  to this day. The Apostle Paul explains:

For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.   (Galatians 3:10)

Something must be done to remove the curse. Only God could do that. He did so through his Son. Jesus came, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Paul explains:

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.   (Romans 8:1-4)

Jesus took our punishment so we could partake of his righteousness. We do that by faith in what he has done for us. That is the beginning. Now we have a choice. Life is about choices. How do we walk? According to the flesh or according to the Spirit?

Will we wander around in the wilderness of Christendom or will we go in and possess the land that Jesus has purchased for us? Will we leave the fleshpots of Egypt behind us and trust the leadership of the Spirit? The Apostle Paul explains:

Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.   (Galatians 5:16-17)

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.   (Philippians 3:12-14)

Now is the time for us to choose whom we will serve and worship. In fact, each day we must choose. Life is about choices. Blessings and curses. Life and death. Let us choose life. Let us worship the Lord.

Leave a comment

Filed under Epiphany, homily, Jesus, lectionary, liturgical preaching, liturgy, preaching, Revised Common Lectionary, sermon, sermon development, Year A

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 7, 2022 · 12:00 am

Maundy Thursday

The Lord’s Supper

On the night before he suffered, our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood. It is referred to as the Lord’s Supper, the Last Supper, the Holy Communion, the Eucharist, and the Mass, depending upon which branch of the Church is observing it. The forerunner of this service is found in the Book of Exodus.

Through Moses, God gave the children specific instructions concerning their last supper in Egypt, before he led them out of their bondage there. They were to prepare a lamb for the meal in this manner:

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.   (Exodus 12:5-17)

What was the purpose of the blood? It was God’s protection from the destruction that was coming:

It is the passover of the Lord. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.   (Exodus 12:11-14)

Jesus is the prophetic fulfillment of the Jewish Passover. Jesus’ last supper with His disciples was not the Seder or Passover Meal, however. Rather, it was a preparation for the Passover. The Passover meal could not be served until the slaughtering of the lambs outside the city, which would occur the next day, the same day Jesus would be slaughtered on the cross.

Jesus was doing something new with His disciples. He was proclaiming His death before it actually happened. He said that His body was to be broken and that His blood was to be shed. He was saying that he was the last Passover lamb sacrificed for the sins of the people. He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world once and for all.

The Apostle Paul writes about this special meal in today’s Epistle reading:

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.  (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

Jesus was asking His disciples to anticipate in his crucifixion, participate in His suffering, and keep His sacrifice always in their memory. They would not just be remembering with their minds what had happened, but they would actually be partaking in the event themselves in a spiritual way. John’s Gospel speaks of both the power and the necessity of the Communion service.

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”   (John 6:53-58)

Today, we are invited by our Lord to anticipate his power entering into our lives more and more as we participate in his Holy Communion. We are asked to do more than just remember an historical event. We are asked to come to his Holy table with great expectation. In order to fully experience the resurrection we must be willing to enter into Jesus’ passion and death. This is our opportunity once more to die to our sins so that we might be empowered by his Spirit, to begin a resurrected life on this earth and in the age to come, a life eternal.

After Communion Jesus gave His disciples a new commandment. Jesus said that by this commandment His disciples would demonstrate the resurrected life:

“Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”   (John 13:31-35).

As we empty ourselves and take on more of Him, we become a living witness of His resurrection. Let us declare as did the Apostle Paul:

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.    (Galatians 2:19-20)

Can we imagine what Jesus had to face on our behalf? His gift was beyond price. It rings down through the ages. What are we prepared to give him today?

 

1 Comment

Filed under Feast Day, Holy Day, Holy Week, homily, Jesus, lectionary, liturgical preaching, liturgy, Maundy Thursday, preaching, Revised Common Lectionary, sermon, sermon development, Year C

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,