3rd Sunday in Lent
Isaiah 55:1-9; Psalm 63:1-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9
God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and God’s ways are not our ways, proclaims the author of Isaiah 55 in verse 8. Pretty much everything having to do with mere mortals is about merit or the lack of it. We have heard it said, “They got what they deserved!” Well, the God who sees us differently than the world strongly disagrees, for the Lord acts differently than we do. Neither the ones whom Pilate slaughtered nor the ones who died tragically by accident deserved what they got – if what was in the minds of Jesus’ hearers in our gospel lesson for 3rd Sunday in Lent was the possibility of previous misdeeds (Luke 13: 2,4). There are no worse sinners. We all fall short. We all should repent, by the way (verse 3).
Luke suddenly moves to a parable about an unfruitful tree. The man (not God) who planted the tree in his vineyard shows little empathy: “Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil (verse 7)?” However, the gardener sees the tree differently and intercedes for it (8-9).
Back to Isaiah, God announces and promises abundant sustenance and forgiveness free of charge (verses 1 and 7). Those who take the invitation to return to the supreme font of grace are assured of nourishment (1). We may have placed energy and money elsewhere (2), yet God is still willing to instruct if we are still willing to listen (6).
The text from 1 Corinthians deserves some context. The issue that dominates Paul’s letter from chapters 8 to 10 is the consumption of food that has been sacrificed to idols (1 Cor. 8:1). His initial concern is that those who have reached a higher knowledge of Christ, therefore understanding that such consumption is irrelevant, don’t become a stumbling block to those whose faith is still infant (8:8-13). Paul is asking them to be good examples. In Chapter 10, his concerns move to the danger of becoming too proud, losing trust in Christ – and therefore God – and becoming idolaters (10:7). For Paul, this is what led to the fall of many in the wilderness (1-11) and is a clear and present danger to his beloved faithful in Corinth (12). The trials and temptations to distrust God and surrender to the old human ways are the same for everyone (13). Nonetheless, God [remains] faithful and willing to gracefully provide just enough spiritual nourishment for them to remain with Christ.
The Psalmist prays:
“O God, you are my God; I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water
My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips (Psalm 63:1, 5 NRSVue).”
Bridging Faith 