Third Sunday in Lent Year B 2009

03 Lent B 09
March 15, 2009

Exodus 20:1-7
1 Then God spoke all these words:

2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me.

4 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. 5 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, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 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.
8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 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. 11 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.

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

13 You shall not murder.

14 You shall not commit adultery.

15 You shall not steal.

16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 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.

Psalm 19
1 The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,
5 which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them;
and nothing is hid from its heat.
7 The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the LORD are sure,
making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true
and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who can detect their errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.
13 Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25
18 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. 19 For it is written,
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."
20 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? 21 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. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.

John 2:13-22
13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 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. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." 18 The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" 19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 20 The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?" 21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22 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.

Buzz

Philippi is developing buzz.

Do you know what buzz is? Buzz is the word that publicists use for the chatter that develops about something they are publicizing. The idea is that a well-placed ad or a well-organized event will get people talking, and all that talking does a whole lot more advertizing than the ad or the event.

We, the people of God, are in a sense God’s publicists. Our purity of intention and action in serving God and our neighbors is the chief means we have for generating buzz about God. Whenever our motives or actions are out of keeping with that mission, negative buzz is created. God’s name is dishonored.

This is what is making Jesus angry today. It’s not the world that makes him angry. Jesus loves the world God has created, because God has called it good. It’s the people of God that have made him angry. They’ve made him angry because they have created negative buzz about God. God’s house has become a marketplace, a trading post with the world. The purity of the motives and actions of God’s people has been poisoned. Their motives are about protecting themselves at other people’s expense. They’re collaborating with the powers of the world to generate wealth and security. They have forgotten their mission. They’re running on fear.

So the God of Israel is seen by the Romans as a quaint set of harmless beliefs. The God of Israel is seen by the poorer Jews of Israel as a weak and powerless God or worse, a judging and unforgiving God who only wants to see them suffer, and who holds every jot or tittle of their disobedience against them. This is negative buzz. These are lies about God. This makes Jesus angry.

Jesus was sent to purify God’s people, so that good buzz would be created, buzz about God.

Let’s think about this for a minute. What kinds of things generate buzz?

Well, we all know about gossip. Gossip is buzz, I suppose, negative buzz. What generates it is someone’s bad behavior, which makes the people who see it uncomfortable. I’ve heard a lot of people criticize gossip as the attempt to make oneself superior to another by listing off another’s faults, but I think gossip plays another role; it is a sinful society’s way of dealing with its own temptations. Most of the bad behavior we see is behavior we’re capable of ourselves, things in ourselves we don’t like. I’ve found it axiomatic that the things that most deeply irritate me in other people are the things of which I am usually most guilty. By rejecting the other person I am really acting out the rejection of myself.
If I am insecure about my social graces, I will be particularly irritated by rudeness. If I struggle with egotism and arrogance, I will loudly condemn it in others. If I am lustful and possessive, I will really go to town on adulterers.

But another thing that generates buzz is unusual goodness. Yes, people sometimes buzz about routine goodness, the kind of goodness we show to those we love, the kind of decency we manifest in everyday life. But really that’s more rare. You don’t hear people say, “Did you hear about Harry? He obeyed the law all week!” Or “Did you hear about Betty? She gave her children some food yesterday!” or “Did you hear about Bob? He went to work for forty hours last week!”

Now you might hear about these things if Harry or Betty or Bob had been particularly unkind or indecent or lazy or uncaring in the past, and now are showing improvement. But even that is rare. People rarely pat us on the back for things we should have been doing all along. In Twelve Step fellowships, people in early sobriety often expect everyone in the world to forgive them everything because they aren’t drinking like pigs or shooting heroin in their arms anymore. They’re a little surprised that no one particularly cares.

Of course, some folks work hard at generating positive buzz for themselves. This they do for lots of reasons: to develop business opportunities, to have status in the community, to gain power. But most people can tell when the motives are mixed.
But then there’s the kind of wondering buzz that develops when someone’s actions are so beautiful, so right, so beyond what we expect of ordinary people, that we are forced to think of God.

Jesus shows us the way to become that kind of person.

We were talking at Unbinding the Gospel about people we think of as saints. The amazing reality is that Jesus offers all of us the opportunity to become saints. A saint is nothing more or less than a “holy one,” one who clearly and completely belongs to God in a way that is somehow undeniable.

When we meditate on the Ten Commandments, we should avoid thinking about them as rules. They are not about what we do, but about who we truly worship. If we truly worship, if we look to God above and apart from any other power in the world, we become holy. We don’t need to worry about our actions. Our chief motive will be to generate positive buzz about God.

Philippi is getting some buzz. People are hearing about what’s going on here. People are talking about a culture, a community that is happening here, one that seems to be free of the kinds of judgment and self-righteousness and backbiting and gossip churches are often known for, one that gives generously to the poor and the outcast, one who shows compassion for the least and the worst of society, one that actually helps people to transform and grow.

Our regional minister has heard about the good things that are going on here, and he wants to come and see. We’ve been mentioned in national publications about the church. Now, you know me, and you know that my only concern is that God gets the credit. I hope that’s your concern as well.

I hear people congratulating me on giving a kidney to our member Betty. But I told Betty and I tell most of the people that compliment me that, in a very real sense, it is God in Jesus Christ who is giving this to her. If I were not a follower of Jesus I wouldn’t have considered it. If the congregation hadn’t voted to support me in giving it, I might not be able to. One of the best things I’ve heard yet is a member of the church who had been on the list of potential donors asking himself, “If I’m willing to give a kidney for someone I know, why wouldn’t I be willing to give one to a stranger?”

Now that would create some buzz.

The ten commandments are not about rules for living that generate success or happiness. They are a vision of a community that generates good buzz about a God the world doesn’t know, a community that’s like the stars and the forests and the clouds in the sky, beautifully obeying, beautifully interacting, beautifully testifying to their creator, who don’t need any of the things other nations need to keep them safe and whole, who have everything they really need and feel joyfully grateful and thankful, even though what they have may be far less than their neighboring nations with tall towers and rich palaces and terrifying armies.

The commandments won’t make you rich unless you are meant to share. They won’t make you famous unless you are meant to testify. They won’t make you beautiful unless you are meant to attract people to God. They won’t make you eloquent unless you are meant to preach and teach. They won’t make you strong unless you are meant to suffer for the sake of the gospel. They won’t make you pure unless you are meant for eternal life.

And this is the good news: you are meant for all these things. Some for one and some for another, and all for purity and holiness and eternal life.

Amen.