Readings For Lent 2, 2010 February 2010

Texts for Second Sunday in Lent, February 28, 2010 Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 * Psalm 27 * Philippians 3:17-4:1 * Luke 13:31-35

Prayer:

Jesus Christ:like a mother hen,you gather up our doubts and transform them into confidence;you surround our fearsand transform them into faithfulness;you pick up our brokenness and make us strong together.
Gather us together into your warm and inviting presence and hear us as we pray as Jesus teaches,Our Father . . .








Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18



Background: God has called on Abram to leave Ur (now in Iraq) and to “Go ... to the land I will show you” . God has blessed him, and he, his wife Sarah and his brother Lot have migrated to Canaan. Famine has struck the land, causing Abram and his family to seek food in Egypt. Pharaoh has been attracted to Sarah, thinking that she is Abram’s sister, taking her into the royal household. When he has discovered that she is Abram’s wife, he has ordered them to leave the country.



Our reading is two stories of gifts from God:
· a son and many descendants;
· the Land.



The formula “the word of the LORD came to ...” read in verse 1 and 4 is later used of prophets; so the text suggests that Abram is a prophet. God makes Abram his favorite; he will protect (“shield”), him. Abram’s “reward” is really a free gift. Custom was that if a man’s wife did not bear him a son, his chief servant (“Eliezer”) might inherit. God promises Abram a son (“your very own issue") and he will have countless descendants (“stars” ). Abram puts his trust in God’s promise; in this way, he establishes a right relationship.



From Jeremiah we know that the ceremony in verses 9, 10 and 17 are of ancient origin. Going between the two halves of sacrificial victims signified that if a party broke the agreement, he could expect to be dismembered (!). Abram has a vision : the descent of the sun, “deep sleep”, terror and great “darkness” express the awesomeness of supernatural intervention. God’s presence is symbolized by fire .Only he has obligations under the pact, so only he passes between the “pieces”. The deal is cut : David’s empire later stretched almost from the Nile to near the upper reaches of the “Euphrates” (verse 18)

Reflection:

• "Do not be afraid, Abram." How many times does the phrase "do not be afraid" occur in the Bible? In a recent radio interview Rabbi Harold Kushner said that the phrase uttered by god more often than any other in the hebrew Scriptures is; "Do not be afraid". God is always telling us not to be afraid. Why is that? What does God suspect, know, that we are so afraid of anyway? Are we afraid of God? Afraid of being alone? Afraid of finding out that our lives don't have meaning, or that they do? Whatever it is, God promises to be there in it with us, and to calm our fears.
• In this passage, God promises Abram that it will not be a slave, but a child of Abram's own that will carry on Abram's line, one of his descendents which will be as numerous as the stars, and that they will live in the land that God is promising them. I think about what it means to "carry on the family name", what we understand and feel about childbearing and barrenness today, etc. Why is it so important to have a child to carry on a family's line? WHat do we fear will happen if wee cannot havbe a child?
• What does it mean to place so much importance on carrying on of a family line? I'm sure its one of the few ways we humans can convince ourselves that we will at least in that measure have some sense of immortality - someone with our own blood will live on. But where are the stories in the Bible where the family is never blessed with the child? Where there is no Isaac, or Samuel, or John the Baptist that lifts the parents out of despair? Where is the good news for those who cannot bear a child?
• The promise to Abraham is made against competing claims. The land of promise is valued by others too. The land of this covenant is still fought over today.
• What do we do to secure a covenant? We no longer walk between halved animals. What do we do to seal a promise?

Philippians 3:17-4:1

Philippians 3:17-4:1
Background: Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, a prosperous Roman colony in northern Greece, from prison. We do not know whether this imprisonment was in Ephesus or in Rome. It appears that he was held under house arrest. It is possible that the epistle is actually made up of three letters. It contains many personal references, exhorts members of the Philippian church to live the Christian life and to good ethical conduct, introduces Timothy and Epaphroditus as his representatives, and warns against legalists and libertines. Lastly, he thanks the Philippian community for their material support.



Paul has written in Chapter 3, verse 10: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death” . He states that he has not yet fully understood Christ, but he presses on towards the goal of being with Christ when he comes again. This is how “mature” Christians should think: they have not yet achieved full understanding.


Now Paul offers himself as an example of centering oneself in Christ, in his sufferings. (At the time, Paul was in prison.) Observe those who follow his (our) example! He warns against “many”who centre on other things. Who are they? Perhaps self-centred people, but more likely Christians who insist on keeping Jewish dietary laws and on circumcision: to boast in this is to glory in an organ which should be modestly covered .These are “earthly things”, made obsolete by Christ’s coming. Society looks to Rome for citizenship but we look to “heaven” .Our bodies, now mortal, will enter eternal life in a changed form, to achieve union with Christ . As in Psalm 8, the Messiah will be sovereign over all (“subject to himself”); Christ is the Messiah and so, Paul exhorts, do not deviate from the true faith!



Reflection:

• Paul speaks about our human physical bodies and our spiritual, transformed bodies, with our 'citizenship in heaven.' What is liberatring about the idea of having our bodies transformed at the end of things? What is alienating about this idea?
• In Christian history people have sometimes ignored the physical in lifting up the spiritual. Do we sometimes forget that ours is an incarnational faith; the Word became flesh and not the other way around?
• Do we not have to be careful not to enter into a heaven/hell, spirit/body dichotomy that may lead us to prematurely abandon this world as we anticiapte the next? We're part of God's good creation, which includes this world in all its imperfections. We are to seek to 'transform' this world with God's grace.

Luke 13:31-35

Someone had asked earlier: “Will only a few be saved?” .Jesus has warned that few who have eaten with him will enter the Kingdom; many apparently pious people will be excluded. Many others, from across the world, will eat with him.

Now “some Pharisees” , in perhaps the only favourable mention of them in the gospels, advise him to leave Herod Antipas’ territory (“here”, i.e. Galilee and Perea). (Herod the Great died soon after Jesus was born.) To Jesus, Herod is “that fox” : destructive, tricky, sly, politically motivated. Herod will not cut short Jesus’ earthly ministry. His journey to Jerusalem “must”, in accord with the Father’s will, continue day-by-day; in and at his resurrection (“third day”) he will complete, consummate, his mission of restoring mankind to the relationship God intended at creation.

Jerusalem, not Herod, has first claim on God’s messengers! .This city is to be the place of, and the agent of, his murder. Jesus laments over the city and (probably) its religious leaders (“house”). The city’s residents, rejecting him now, will not see him again until they shout “Blessed ...” as he rides triumphantly into the city on the first Palm Sunday.

• "How often I have desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!" What a verse! What emotion! Some potent feminine imagery too.
• Hear Jesus' extreme sorrow that he can't make us understand his message
• Jesus wants to protect and save
• Note the imagery of a hen. We user animal images to describe countries: the American eagle, the Canadian beaver... We use them to decribe people: Herod is a fox...Can you think of zoological images found in scripture, used to speak of God...The Lion of Judah...the mother Eagle of Isaiah carrying her young to safety...
• In tradition too we find more images from Creation used to speak of God, like the wild goose of the Celts, which was a symbol of the Holy Spirit...
• What kind of animal are you?
• What image do you like to use when you think of God...?