A couple weeks ago I got back from reading ordination exams. Persons who want to be ordained ministers of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) must pass (among other requirements) five exams. One of them is in Biblical Exegesis. That is a test of whether the candidates for ordination can understand the original meaning of an assigned biblical passage and then use its message in a contemporary setting. The candidates can chose an Old Testament passage or a New Testament one. Twice a year the exams are given. So readers are elected (ministers and elders) and gather to read (grade) the exams. I was part of the Chicago Reading Group, part of which you see at work in the photo.

The Old Testament passage this spring was from Deuteronomy, talking about God's instructions to the Israelite people as they enter the Promised Land. That struck me as a good metaphor for Lent, in which we prepare to enter the fullness of God's promise, the resurrection. So here is the first message from our Lenten worship series in Trinity Presbyterian Parish:

Text 1: Deut 3.18-22
Ash Wednesday


NRSV Deuteronomy 3:18 At that time, I charged you as follows: "Although the LORD your God has given you this land to occupy, all your troops shall cross over armed as the vanguard of your Israelite kin. 19 Only your wives, your children, and your livestock-- I know that you have much livestock-- shall stay behind in the towns that I have given to you. 20 When the LORD gives rest to your kindred, as to you, and they too have occupied the land that the LORD your God is giving them beyond the Jordan, then each of you may return to the property that I have given to you." 21 And I charged Joshua as well at that time, saying: "Your own eyes have seen everything that the LORD your God has done to these two kings; so the LORD will do to all the kingdoms into which you are about to cross. 22 Do not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you."

“IF YOU LIVED HERE”


You might have seen the billboards in the Cities, along the highway, that say: “If you lived here you would be home already.” It is an advertisement for rental properties that says “If you lived in these here apartments, you would not have your long commute. You would save time and money and gas and headache and have cut your daily trip to work short.” It is tempting, very tempting, to make things easier for ourselves.

The passage this evening is from Deuteronomy. It is the account of Moses addressing the people of Israel, just before they were to enter the Promised Land. It is filled with directions, memories of their past, warnings, and reaffirmations of God’s promises. This passage sounds like complicated and outdated instructions. But it is neither. It is a message to us of what God did in the past which shows us again who God is in the present.

God had promised Israel the land and remembered that promise through the generations and it could have gone into that land except that they lacked faith. So they wandered in the wilderness for forty years until all those in the unfaithful generation had passed away. Forty years wandering in the wilderness, without coming to the place that was promised, their home. Now the time had come. We can hardly think of waiting a day for what we want let alone forty years. Now is the time to enter the land.

And here is the way they should enter. All the troops who are going to take the land from the earlier inhabitants are to enter together. Now the land had been parceled out by God to the tribes. And so one could see that together the tribes will cross the Jordan and come into the land assigned to the tribe of Reuben and subdue it. The women and children of that tribe can stay there, but the men of the tribe of Reuben must continue on. Even though those in that tribe have come to the land that will be their home, they cannot stay there now. They are to go on with the men of the other tribes and together they will make sure everyone’s home will be secure. And so it is for the tribes of Gad, the half-tribe of Manasseh, the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, Issachar, Naphtali, Benjamin, Dan, Judah, and Simeon. Only when all are secure can they go live in the territory God has given them. They will work together and they will rest together. No one has life any easier than the others. According to this plan they will have God promise. They can only receive and live in the promises of God together.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent. It is a traditional time for acts of self-denial. You might have heard of people giving up various things—chocolate, or a pillow, for example, are some from my childhood. It is not that we want to make life harder for ourselves. It is a reminder that it takes some kind of dedication to be a disciple of Christ. And we renew that dedication in this season. Jesus did not take the easy way through life and gives us that example of suffering for a purpose. So that we disciples, are like our master.

Often the purpose is self-improvement. This is not a bad reason. We all have parts of our lives that need attention. It would not be a bad thing to curb some of our desires that might have gotten out of hand. But there is another possibility. It comes from that idea that we are in this together. And maybe a more meaningful Lenten experience or goal would be giving up something that hurts not just us, but also others. The Wisconsin Council of Churches suggested “going green” for Lent. It is not just saving gas to save money, but because we are using up our resources too rapidly and wastefully. Or maybe we give up anger to make our communities a better place. Or maybe we eat less, not to lose weight, but to have more to share with others. Because we are all in this together. This is God’s vision of life, not just for Israel, but for all. We do not take the easiest route, so we all have a home.