C213 Lent 1

[00:00:05] Speaker A: You're listening to by the well, a lectionary based podcast for preachers recorded on the land of the Wurundjeri people. Hello everyone, I'm Fran Barber. [00:00:19] Speaker B: And I'm Monica Melanchthon. [00:00:21] Speaker A: Welcome this week to our conversation about the readings for the first week in Lent. And Monica and I will be focusing on Deuteronomy, chapter 26, verses 1 to 11, foray into Psalm 91, verses 1 to 2 and 9 to 16, and then perhaps a foray into Romans 10, 8b to 13, and the Gospel of Luke, chapter 4, verses 1 to 13. So these readings all cohere, broadly speaking, around what it might mean to call upon God from Israel's long salvation history in Deuteronomy, more generally in Psalm 91, and then in Christ in Romans, and then Jesus confronting the call of God in a sort of negative, sort of a way in the, in the confrontation with the devil in the wilderness. So, Monica, let's start with Deuteronomy 26, the harvest festival. [00:01:23] Speaker B: Right. A very interesting set of texts, if I may say. So I think to begin with, I'd like to say, friend, that, you know, we need to Understand this chapter 26 in the context of Deuteronomy, and Deuteronomy being a book that was perhaps written or revised, you know, and put into some sort of a fuller form soon after the first deportation of the Israelites into Babylon. So basically the crisis of the exile or impending destruction of Jerusale is the context in which this book was written and shaped by that experience. And so here you have people, therefore, under immense stress and crisis of identity and future. Yeah. And so here, I think in Deuteronomy 26, there is an ethos of unsettlement, of chaos and fright. And so they are called upon to remember something. Okay. Remember the past. And, and, and, and, and I guess the, the call or the encouragement is to, to remember what God has done for them in the past. Yeah, so, and in the context of worship, of course. Yeah. So the people are reminded about the fact that they were once refugees in Egypt. Yes, they are now, you know, have been brought to a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And there's, there's bounty, there's bountiful passage ends. You know, they have a lot to be thankful for. But the main part of the passage, in my opinion, is the one that begins with, you know, a wandering Aramean was my ancestor. So this is a creed that they are asked to recite. And a good part of the creed relates the history of this people, you know, of Abraham coming a wandering Aramean into this land, and then his descendants were taken into Egypt and they suffered, you know, under the oppressive powers of the. Of the pharaoh. But God redeems them and liberates them with. With an exercise and show of God's power, with signs and. And wonders. So I guess the first thing that I would like to say about this passage is that they are asked to recall God's saving works, okay? And I think this is something that they do and are encouraged to do, to not only celebrate what God has done, to remember God's power and might and saving power, but also in anticipation of the future in this crisis, in this moment of crisis. So I think I have read in one reflection, a book written by David Kelsey. It's called Imagining Redemption. And there's a quote in that article which says redemption from old situations is remembered so that redempt from current situations can be anticipated. Okay? So under the pressure of this crisis, the people take courage and hope from God's saving acts in the past, and at the same time it gives them the needed strength and courage, I imagine. [00:04:51] Speaker A: And the liturgical context too. I mean, I'm reminded of the prayer of Thanksgiving or the words of institution in the Christian communion prayer, which recounts the history, salvation in Christ. Well, from Israel, actually. Of course, in Christ, but the liturgical context also in this. It's not just a chronology of telling a story, it's a reenactment almost of these events in the present. And we can see it linguistically here from verse 8, where the Lord brought us out of Egypt and brought us into this place and talks about we shall all rejoice. There's a what happened for our ancestors happened to us at the same time. And I found that very powerful as an understanding of history and people's understanding of their place in history, just as a white Australian, and our ongoing tussle with our own history and the reluctance of many white Australians to identify their bounty and their benefit with invasion that their ancestors participated in or enacted so that we can't say. We say, well, I wasn't there, it's not my fault sort of thing. And this is an embodiment and enactment in this passage of a counter story to that. Actually we are involved in an ongoing way. Now, I'm suggesting in a sort of a. Sort of a negative repentance sort of posture in that example I've just given. But it's that lack that I see. It's a lack in our historical understanding and Our reckoning that I see is happening positively here in this passage that I. That struck me this time in reading it. [00:06:58] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, that's true. And I think, you know, in the, in the, in the call to remember, the people are asked to remember not just the good things, but also the negative, the negative memories. And so, yeah, always remember that you were a refugee, that you suffered oppression under the pharaoh, and it was God who delivered you from. From this. So, so what is the purpose of recalling negative, negative memories? You know, is it, you know, is it just for the purposes of remembering? I mean, I recall here a Dalit theologian, you know, who was the founder of Dalit theology, Ap Nirmal, who reflects a fair bit on this particular verse. And he says, the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, terrifying display of power, etc. Signs and wonders. And he says, liberation does not come only through signs and wonders. A certain measure of terror is necessary to. To achieve this. And I think basically what he is saying is that human progress, and I know you may not like the word human progress. [00:08:13] Speaker A: Well, not sometimes I wonder whether we are. [00:08:15] Speaker B: But yeah, never rolls on, on wheels of inevitability, okay? It comes through effort, through. Through the work of people willing to be workers with God, you know, and it is hard work to bring about. [00:08:30] Speaker A: To bring about and those. I mean, when I think about the question you pose about remembering hard things, to me, I think, well, it's about telling the truth, okay? And we don't have a fuller understanding of ourself and our impact on others or theirs on ours, without the truth. But one thing I would counter and theologically to that quote, is that is the grace of God is a huge interruption, the saving arm of God, or however we wish to articulate that. And we would say the coming of Christ, but is a huge interruption to that violence that that author or that scholar you just quoted talks about. I mean, that's the whole point of this, that we do keep repeating these things upon one another. And it is God who interrupts with grace and forgiveness and seeks us to do the same for one another. [00:09:25] Speaker B: Yeah, I. What the text is for me reinforcing is the fact that, yes, there is God's action, God's intervention in human history to liberate those who are in crisis. But at the same time, there is the phrase we cry to the Lord. So there is an expectation that the people will also be involved in their own upliftment, in their own empowerment, in their liberation from crisis. [00:09:57] Speaker A: And that explicit here in multiple ways, but I think especially with the final command to share with the aliens, the Levites like to share this bounty. So remember, folks, it's a liturgical act here and it's the harvest festival, so presumably you can tell me, obviously, but there's fruit and vegetables, you know, in abundance in this environment right now. So we have a visual picture of the bounty of God. And then the command is to not just be prudent with saving and eating this stuff, but amongst ourselves, but to share it with those we might consider our enemy, frankly. [00:10:34] Speaker B: And who. Who has been disprivileged in the. In the. In the process of. Of experiencing or achieving this bounty, you know, who work. Yeah, yeah. You know, I. When I read this passage, I always think of myself as a child. The excitement when we went to church on. On what was called Harvest Sunday and Harvest festival, we used to call it, and people would bring food and we would eat together. Communal meal. Yeah. I don't see that happening very much in Australia, but maybe it does. I don't know. [00:11:08] Speaker A: Well, I think some of our account congregations do that much more readily. They don't just do it at a. You know, they share abundant meals on a regular basis. But you're right. [00:11:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:17] Speaker A: You know, more of it. Bring it on, I say. [00:11:19] Speaker B: Right? And. Yeah, yeah, let's move on. [00:11:22] Speaker A: Let's move on to Psalm 91. So we're only focusing on verses 1 to 2 and 9 to 16. But this does strike me as a psalm that is, in a sense, generalizes the call that we heard Israel make to God in Deuteronomy. This is now broadened out. [00:11:48] Speaker B: Yeah. So basically this is a psalm that is addressed to a person who has found security with God and who has made God his or her refuge. And for this person, home is God. God is home. And the psalm is kind of reinforcing this notion that God is home for those who believe, and it describes what home is like for those who live a life with the Lord. Yeah. And the psalm is, you know, proceeds. In the verses that are not part of our reading, there are assurances of God's miraculous protection. But in the verses 9 to 16, it's about the fact that we as believers need not fear. And for two reasons. One, the Lord is your home. And number two, the Lord has all these angels who are watching, who are watching over you, guarding you, so that neither stones nor lions can. Can hurt you. So inanimate and animate. Yeah. Things or objects will not hurt you. So. And. And the psalm ends with the promise of deliverance, of protection and. And. And long life. [00:13:07] Speaker A: It strikes me as a very powerful psalm in general, obviously, but also to begin Lent where, where, you know, it's refreshing our focus on repentance, on truth telling about ourselves, on reorientation to God. And this is, along with the other readings this week, especially very clear on. On whose we belong, on whose we are and who we belong to and indeed where we are located. This is about location, like metaphorical location in terms of living with God. [00:13:44] Speaker B: And actually, some of the commentaries on this particular psalm make mention of the fact of the title of Robin's book. Even the devil can quote Scripture, you know, and because the devil here, you know, can. Calls to mind the Gospel of Luke. [00:14:02] Speaker A: Which we're coming to shortly. [00:14:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:03] Speaker A: Who quotes this? So verses 12. Verse 12 is quoted in the Gospel reading today. [00:14:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:12] Speaker A: Of course, I pull up reading verse 10. No harm will overtake you. No disaster will come near your tent. Really. [00:14:24] Speaker B: So, yeah, you know, I mean, the psalm doesn't really answer all questions, you know, I mean, it, it does leave people wanting. I mean, what happens to people who have, you know, who had met with an accident. I think this is a question we've raised before while discuss discussing the psalm, you know, how do you explain to them that the God is your refuge and God is your home and God is protecting you, you know? [00:14:50] Speaker A: Yeah, well, it's in conversation with all the scriptures, isn't it? Like, you know, I mean, the truth is, if I shall say that is not that these things won't happen, it's that you are not alone. And, you know, that's what the Deuteronomy remembering liturgically has done you. This awful stuff happened. Yeah, but you were not alone. God was there. And, you know, we remember that. And in Christ, nothing separates us from the love of God, you know, so there's a sense in which when we're preaching, obviously we always, we take seriously and we problematize this text in front of us, but we have a whole converse, you know, layers of conversation that we bring to this. And that would be my response. [00:15:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I, I'm thinking now this is, you know, I was just going scrolling through my Facebook this morning and came across this transgendered individual in the United States who's of Indian origin named Alok Wad Menon. And people have been posting little clips of his talks. Apparently he was in Melbourne on February 26. But today, the clip that I watched, he says that, you know, I'm a, as a transgendered person, I fear going out in the Current climate, I really, really fear it. But he says, I cannot sit at home. And I go against all my inner instincts. This is not verbatim. I mean, I go against all my inner instincts and I go out because I do believe that along with the hate, there are also moments of love. And he says I dress up in my, in my, you know, clothes that might seem odd to people. And there are people who will make cat calls or who will make, you know, negative comments or threats. But then there are those who will, who will come up to me and say, love your shoes, how's day going? And he actually says, God comes to me through those people. [00:16:42] Speaker A: Well, that's okay. And witnessing. That is witnessing, isn't it? [00:16:46] Speaker B: Yeah. So basically, I think what, what the, what the psalm is saying is yes, there is, we believe that God, that God brings all the good, but there are also. That is encompassing also of some of these negative. [00:17:01] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And experiences, what life is, you know, and the devil. And many in the gospel story will see that presence of the evil one and evil spirit alongside the good and the godly. [00:17:16] Speaker B: Yep. [00:17:16] Speaker A: And it's our discernment. [00:17:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:18] Speaker A: You know, I mean, this season in particular, but always what is our discernment about those voices? The one that seems terror, seems good, might not be. [00:17:28] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:17:29] Speaker A: Shall we move on now to Romans 10:8b to 13? [00:17:34] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:38] Speaker A: Now this, we always say this with Romans. Really. It's a complex passage embedded, you know, it's a small part of a larger conversation in chapter 10 about, well, Paul talking about, I suppose, Israel's predicament in his terms and around the rejection of the Messiah. It seems to me this passage for us in Lent puts into sharp relief fundamental affirmations about who we are, children of God, that we are in Christ. It is a resource, this passage, I think, for the self examination and the repentance and the forgiveness and the new life that are all the themes of Lent in particular. What struck you? [00:18:28] Speaker B: Well, first of all, I'd like to affirm the fact that this particular poem by Paul contains several Old Testament resonances. So he picks up, you know, phrases from Deuteronomy, from Isaiah and from Joel. So in a way he's giving new life to these old. [00:18:49] Speaker A: Well, there's the conversation. Yeah, the conversation between the scriptures. [00:18:53] Speaker B: So for those of you who don't like the Old Testament, please remember Paul uses it too. But I guess for me what struck me was this connection that Paul seems to be making between the lips and the heart. You know, we say, put your money where your mouth. Or put your mouth. Where your money. No, put your money where your mouth is. Or walk the talk kind of thing. And I guess in a way he is. He's saying that because that is the way to. To salvation. You know, one needs to believe with the heart. You know, one needs to profess or confess with the mouth. And then one is. One is therefore. Therefore saved. Yeah. So. So in a way, this is also related to the question of identity, who we are. And so who we are as Christians is manifest through what we say and what we believe or what we believe should be, should come out through our speech. Yes. [00:19:53] Speaker A: And the inclination, capacity, commitment, response to call on God. So there was that language in the Psalm as well about calling on the name of God. We've got the whole dynamic of call in Deuteronomy being remembered and reissued and re. Embodied. And here too, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So there's something about, I think those who remember that they are not God and they are, you know, we are not the arbiter of all things and the final word, thank goodness that. That God is that for us and for all creation. And there's something about. That's all. I mean, it's simplistic, but that's all Lent asks. Well, it's all discipleship asks of us. [00:20:46] Speaker B: Yeah. So. So I think once again, the question of identity is really, really important here. I mean, Deuteronomy 26 is also about identity. Who are you? So then you begin with. Yeah, remember, remember, remember. Yeah. Remember your ancestors. You know, who were they? Where did they come from? What did they experience? All that has contributed to who you are today and, you know, don't forget it. Yeah. So. So therefore it is a question of identity. And so here too, I guess in. In Romans, Paul is. Is calling. Is calling us to live our identity in an honest and authentic way. Yeah. And that is the, this connection between the heart and the mind, the. The. The speech and the belief. Okay. And I think these are two very, very important verbs. [00:21:37] Speaker A: I also find the word shame leaping out to me in this passage today. It seems very, I don't know, striking. And that makes me think about all these themes around Lent and we. Issues of making our own judgments about ourselves and other judgmentalism about ourselves and other people that we fall into all the time. You know, we can talk about giving up chocolate or wine or. Or watching soap operas for Lent and that. Look, if that helps us remember the cross and whose we belong, let's go for our lives and do that. But are there other things that we do that are really much more life denying around judgmentalism, around others and ourselves and shaming and self shaming and so on? And I think there's a conversation there that this pattern brings up for me in the use of that term and broadening out what can sometimes be simplistic approaches to what Lent is actually about. [00:22:40] Speaker B: Yeah. So basically Lent is an opportunity for us to. To think about what we confess and how we confess it and. Yeah. And how do we allow people to understand or how, you know, how do we confess so that people really understand what we are about. [00:23:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Which is the saying and the doing as you say. Yeah. It's time for Luke, chapter 4, verses 1 to 13. So this temptation, these temptations of Jesus in Luke follows the preaching and public career of John the Baptist. Jesus empowering with the Spirit, his baptism and then his ancestry. So here again we get an absolute disclosure of Jesus identity, full of the Holy Spirit says the Spirit leads him in the wilderness. Yeah. So the Spirit has been absolutely abundant and utterly present and a driving force in every way in Luke's gospel around Jesus. And as you say here, the Spirit of life, the Spirit of God, this Spirit who creates order out of chaos, is driving Jesus into the wilderness. [00:24:05] Speaker B: Yeah. And what is, what is, what is significant is, is that even before this passage, you know, Luke has already identified Jesus as the Son of God. This is the Son of God. Okay. And yet the Son of God is not spared from the realities of life. Yeah. Like all of us, there is, you know, there are temptations and, and we need to figure out how we are going to respond to those temptations. And so Jesus, like every other human being, is confronted with a situation where Jesus has to exercise resistance and respond to these pressures by way of these temptations. [00:24:48] Speaker A: Not only every other human being. Well, Israel as well. So in the wilderness. Well, for a start, that's where John the Baptist was preparing the way, if you remember. And traditionally this is the place of the tussle between good and evil. It's also where Israel, God's son in Deuteronomy 14, did put the Lord to the test. And so in a sense, we've been talking about remembering history and re. Embodying history. Jesus is reliving this story of his people in the wilderness 40 days, another obviously very important symbolic number, but as you say, needing to remember and perform. But I don't mean that in a performative way, but remember his identity in a sort of negative way in the face of how the devil is approaching him. And you know, what is so tempting about so many things that might entice us is they appear to be good. So the first one here is, you know, Jesus is hungry and well, his. [00:25:58] Speaker B: Yeah, bodily needs. [00:25:59] Speaker A: Yeah, bodily needs. Have some bread here. And I probably would have eaten it, but then, you know, I'm not the Messiah. It's written, one does not live by bread alone. So, and we can remember Romans 15, Christ did not please himself. You know, like Paul rehearses this event in not so many words. And then the next temptation, it's always, if you are, then, so this is about your identity. If you are a child of God, well, the Son of God we would hear maybe for us the refrain is, if you are a child of God, then you know, anytime we're tempted by something, it'd be interesting to think, if I'm a child of God, what then is my posture in relation to this thing? That looks attractive. Be an interesting exercise. And we do do it subconsciously all the time. Yeah, yeah. [00:26:53] Speaker B: So. So the first temptation is about bread and body. [00:26:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:26:56] Speaker B: The second one is about power. Right. You know, all of these kingdoms of the world, they will bow down to you, all this. You will have all this authority. And to that Jesus says, you know, I will only worship God and serve God. And the third one is, you know, testing God, you know, God's angels. Now this is in a way relates back to Psalm 91, because God has all these angels who are protecting you. And, and here the devil is saying to Jesus, test these if this is true or not, you know, if these angels are really protecting you. And so Jesus says, no, I'm not going to test. [00:27:39] Speaker A: Yeah. I don't need to prove anything. I am God's son. [00:27:42] Speaker B: Right, right. So for me, I think first of all, it is Jesus. Even though Jesus is the incarnate son of God, Jesus experiences all these human, the suffering, the hunger, the pressures of. [00:27:59] Speaker A: The lure of power. [00:28:01] Speaker B: Yeah. So ministry is, is something that is, that is also confronted by similar pressures or temptations. You know, it's part of the territory of, of service. So, and that I think we need to recognize the fact that as, as ministers or as people of God, our lives are embedded in systems, okay. Structures and structures that, that contribute to this, these pressures. You know, we are always tempted to do this and that for our own individual well being. You know, we think is for our well being and, and we, we are tempted to abandon therefore our, our commitments. [00:28:46] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I said at the start of our little chat about this, that this is an absolute disclosure of Jesus identity that, you know, has been happening for four chapters in Luke. But there's something here about the very sort of Jesus is God's son absolutely in the Spirit, driven by the Spirit. But Jesus, as you say, in amongst the human chaos and mess and you know, temptation that. That in. That it is in this encounter with the broken and the human, that God is God. And there's something very paradoxical about that for us ongoingly. And it's the fruit of all preaching. But that's what this passage holds in my mind. Anyway. I will we've coming to the end of our time, but just to point out at the end of chapter verse 12 that the devil departed from him until an opportune time. So there's something just persistent. And that's true, awful, you know, and that opportune time is the Mount of Olives in Luke 22, where Jesus is shows. I mean, I think in that point greater. It seems to be more challenging there to resist what's offered than here, which is freedom from this cup. Take it from me. [00:30:10] Speaker B: Right, right. Yeah. I would just like to end also by saying that, you know, these adversial pressures are very real. And as you say, there's no end to them. They keep coming at you. And there is pressure also in responding to the dictates of God. And that too is pressurizing. But how did Jesus respond? Jesus knew what Jesus was. His work was in the world and that he was called by God and God, you know, God would guide him. And he committed his entire life to the ministry among. Among the poor and the. And the vulnerable. [00:30:56] Speaker A: And as those his followers, I think, were encouraged and invited in these passages in the gospel in total to take hold of our identity as children of God and that this is enough and that enticements to prove otherwise are just that, enticements. And what would life look like if we did live all the time remembering that? [00:31:23] Speaker B: Right. Yep. [00:31:27] Speaker A: By the well is brought to you by Pilgrim Theological College and the Uniting Church in Australia. It's produced by Adrian Jackson. Thanks for listening.