Our themes
over the past few weeks have been taken from the Old Testament
Lent 1 we
looked at Isaiah 58, the reading for Ash Wednesday, as we thought about what an
acceptable fast might look like. The
reading for that day was from Deuteronomy, while the people were still
wandering in the wilderness. Here we thought about the dominant story in our
lives. Moses gave the people rituals to remember the story of the exodus, the
story of liberation from oppression, of wandering in the wilderness and the
entry into an new land. What rituals
help you to remember and tell the story of faith?
Lent 2 we
heard a reading from Genesis, where Abram and Sarai are promised a future,
something that seemed impossible given their age and lack of children. Do we look at the future, in despair, or can
we trust God with the future?
Lent 3,
last week, we read psalm 63, and thought about the ways in worship is, or is
not, a safe place for people; we also heard Isaiah 55, and thought about God’s
invitation to eat and drink; this led to us reflecting on the choices we make. In
what ways do the choices we make give life to us and others, in what ways do
the choices we make kill our spirits or inhibit life in general?
This
morning we have heard a reading from the book of Joshua. At the end of Deuteronomy, Moses dies; Moses,
along with many others who left Egypt, never set foot in the promised land. Joshua
was appointed by Moses to lead the people after his death. In chapter 3, the
Israelites cross the river Jordan; on dry ground, as the priests stood in the
middle of the river holding the ark of the covenant.
Joshua 4: 19-24 “The
people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they
camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. 20 Those twelve
stones, which they had taken out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal, 21
saying to the Israelites, “When your children ask their parents in time
to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 then you shall let your
children know, ‘Israel crossed over the Jordan here on dry ground.’ 23 For
the Lord your God dried up the waters of the
Jordan for you until you crossed over, as the Lord
your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we crossed over, 24
so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord
is mighty, and so that you may fear the Lord your God
forever.””
“Our Old Testament thread in Lent has been on
the covenant between God and the people of Israel. Today’s lesson from Joshua
marks another instance of where God fulfills the covenant, even when the people
have gone astray. God has made a nation out of the descendants of Abraham and
Sarah. God has led them through the wilderness, and now as they enter their new
home, God is providing them with the stability of home. No longer will they
gather manna, they will be able to grow their own crops. As they celebrate the
Passover, remembering what God had done for them in delivering them from
slavery in Egypt, the manna ceases, and God’s abundance is revealed in the land
around them.” [2]
What has
all this to do with us today, 3-3 ½
thousand years later?
The people
we have been reading about, people in exile, people in the wilderness, Moses,
Abram and Joshua, are our ancestors in faith; their story is part of our story
– part, not all, of our story. and like
them we need to remember who we are. We are people of the story, and we need to
keep telling the story, the story of a God who is faithful, the story of a God
who keeps reaching out to us, who offers a future, reconciliation and a
continuing presence. The people of
Israel had markers, like the stones at Gilgal; rituals like the Passover, times
when the story would be told, times when people would hear and remember and
tell the stories of faith.
We too
have rituals, we too have places that mean something to us, we too look for
ways to tell and retell the story of God’s love and grace and persistence with
a stubborn people.
We do that
each time we baptise and celebrate communion; we also tell the important
stories of the birth and death and resurrection of Jesus each year. Christmas
and Easter are celebrated in the wider community, but for us they are times to
tell the story of birth, of shepherds and angels and wonder, to tell the story
of trial and crucifixion, the story of an empty tomb, of new life.
We often
think of change as something new. Moses and the people went through great
change; at times the people in the wilderness wanted to go back to the known,
which was oppression under Pharaoh. For many people trying something new,
something different is so risky, that it is easier to stay where we are, even
if that is not a healthy place to be.
“The fear of change can overwhelm us, paralyse us
and keep us from living. But that is not our only option.
Changes on this journey to the Promised Land – even
when the rules change and nothing is predictable anymore – also mean that
everything is about to become new. Life is about to emerge from death. That is
God’s promise.
Even as change sweeps over us, can we be ashamed no
more? Can we give up what is holding us back or holding us down? Can we
move towards the Good News of Jesus Christ? Can we keep joy in our hearts?” [3]
Without
change there is stagnation and decay. The reading from Corinthians today
includes the words: Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is
forgotten, and everything is new. God has done it all![4]
Where is
God calling us to tell the story in a
new way?
Where is
God calling us to embrace change?
[leave
image up]
[1]
Prepared in PowerPoint by Carolyne Chandler, based on the Lion Handbook
to the Bible and generated as an animation by pyvnc2swf
http://www.croydon.unitingchurch.org.au/www/ot_history.html
[2] By Rev. Mindi
On March 1, 2013
[3]
By Jodi H. Beyeler,
assistant director of communications and marketing Goshen
College
[4]
2 Corinthians 5: 17-18 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
[5]
Unfortunately I can’t remember where this came from - an image which has on it 'we live in a time of momentous historical change that is both exhilarating and frightening christianity itself is becoming something different to what it once was' Diana Butler Bass
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