March 7, 2021

Third Sunday in Lent

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK

• First reading
  • Exodus 20:1-17
• Psalm
  • Psalm 19
• Second reading
  • 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
• Gospel
  • John 2:13-22

The first reading from Exodus 20:1-17
Then God spoke all these words

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work–you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Second reading from 1 Corinthians
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.

For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Gospel reading from John
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”

His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

The Jews then said to him “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body.

After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Sermon
Our first reading from Exodus this Sunday, consisting of the Ten Commandments, is the Law handed down through Moses to his people. The second reading from 1 Corinthians speaks of the wisdom of God. The gospel reading from John is tells the story of Jesus’ protesting the Jews’ use of a temple of God. The CDC, a government agency, has issued guidelines as to whose work is essential, and these include the clergy. But 43 states did not include clergy as essential workers. In New York City, Orthodox Jews were opposed to vaccinations against measles. Over vaccinations would it not be better to talk with rabbis than to bash them? In ancient times slavery was accepted. Freed slaves aquired slaves themselves. Our values in our church have changed. God determines them. In our reading of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, we are told that the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided to save those who believe. Here at St John, Pastor Stevenson feels he does not have much of a forum from which to speak or write, but feels empowered to do so. People thought the world to be flat, but scholars in Greece knew it was a globe and Columbus knew it was a globe. We can push back and help others to push back to hear the wisdom of God.

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