Obedience to God is our worship
theme for the first Sunday in Lent, February 17, 2013. Our focus scriptures are
Exodus 26:5-11 and Luke 4:1-13.
At
the Church of the Nativity we are using the lectionary passages in Lent to help
us reflect on the foundations of peace. In the wake of the shootings of
elementary school children in Newtown, Ct. and the continued killings of youth
and adults every day in cities across the United States we cannot conclude that
God’s will is being done “on earth as it is in heaven”. Therefore we must ask,
what is God’s will for us at this time? What are the things that make for
peace?
During
his temptation Jesus practices self-restraint and obedience to God alone. He is
hungry and could rationalize turning a stone into bread. It would be easy to
misuse miracle by making a spectacle of himself, jumping from the top of the
temple to draw followers. And accepting the devil’s offer of political and
military power beyond the power of Rome would make him an instant hero. But in
every instance, the devil’s appeal is to forsake the worship of God. Jesus turns
away from the prison of easy self-interest and takes the road to true freedom
by remaining obedient to God. Likewise, our passage from Exodus underscores
that the people of Israel have escaped slavery not under their own power, but
by the leadership and strength of God.
An
important lesson that I believe can be learned from these passages is that we
go astray when we make gods out human-made weapons. Safety is not something
that we can make for ourselves at the point of a gun. No matter how we arm
ourselves, we cannot be vigilant every moment, nor can we prevent someone else
from getting a larger weapon. The foundation of peace is the building of a just
community which recognizes that freedom that comes from respecting God instead
of making up our own rules as we go along. Humans can and do give into
temptation and rationalize all kinds of mischief, much of it violent. Humans on
their own often act in paranoid ways, believing things about others that are
really rooted in their own fears. That note of paranoia is often expressed in
the fears of citizens who imagine a plot on the part of Congress to take away
their rights to bear arms. Respecting and following God’s will instead of our
own desires is the key to creating a community where there is a maximal chance
for citizens to feel like there is a secure place for them, that they do not
have to take matters into their own hands, and that no powerful group wishes
them harm.
Here
is a Call to Worship based on Exodus 26:5-11. Please use or adapt anything that
is helpful to you.
Call to Worship From
Exodus 26:5-11
L: Sisters
and brothers, let us recite our history as Moses taught us:
A wandering Aramean was my father.
P: He journeyed down to Egypt and settled there.
L: At first,
we were a mere handful of family,
but soon we grew to a great people, many
and mighty.
P: Then the Egyptians abused us and threw us into slavery.
L: We cried
out to the God of our ancestors and God listened to our cry.
P: God saw our trouble, our toil, our torment.
God
took us out of Egypt.
L: With a
strong hand and a long arm, God delivered us.
With signs and wonders God led us to a
land of milk and honey.
P: And here we are now. We bring the first fruits of our
labors.
We bow before you,
God. We give thanks to you.
All: All in
our family including the faith leaders, and the refugees who
have wandered in to live with us, rejoice
and celebrate your goodness!
Let
us worship God.
HE SERPENT OF BRONZE
ReplyDeleteThe Israelites spoke against God and Moses, so God sent fiery serpents among them because they sinned and many people of Israel died. (Numbers 21:4-7)
God gave them a plan to escape death.
Numbers 21:8-9 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live." 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. (NKJV)
TAKE NOTICE.
1. Not one Israelite said "Looking at the bronze serpent did save me from death, because I was saved the minute I believed in the message of Moses."
2. Not one Israelite said "I was saved from death by faith alone, and looking at the bronze serpent was just an act of obedience."
3. Not one Israelite said, "Looking at the serpent of bronze was a testimony of my faith, however, it had no bearing on my sins being forgiven by the Lord and I was saved from death before I looked at the bronze serpent."
4. Not one Israelite said, " Looking at a serpent of bronze is a work and works cannot saved anyone from death."
5. Not one Israelite said, "Moses meant that we were to look at the serpent of bronze because we were already saved from death."
6. Not one Israelite said, " You must look at the serpent of bronze in order to join the local synagogue, however, it has nothing to do with being saved from death."
7. Not one Israelite said, There are three modes of looking at the serpent of bronze. 1. Looking at the serpent of bronze. 2. Talking about looking at the serpent of bronze. 3. Reading a book about looking at the serpent of bronze.
8. Not one Israelite said, "Looking at the serpent is an outward sign that we have already been saved from death."
You notice, that unlike the denominational churches of today, the Israelites did not write down some man-creeds in order to be saved from death from snake bites. They believed the words of Moses, as spoken by the Lord.
If only men today would simply believe what God says about the terms of pardon under the New Covenant.
THE TERMS: 1. Faith-John 3:16 2. Repentance-Acts 2:38, Acts 19:3 3. Confession-Romans 10:9 4. Water baptism-Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21
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