"No, said Jesus, don't demonize your neighbor. Don't presume to invoke God's judgment on someone else."

Scripture: Isaiah 55:1-9  •  Psalm 63:1-8  •  1 Corinthians 10:1-13  •  Luke 13:1-9

          In Luke's gospel this week, Jesus responds to two stories of sudden and premature death. When Pilate slaughtered some Galileans during their religious rituals, instead of blaming the governor some people blamed the victims. Similarly, in a bizarre accident of fate, when a tower collapsed and killed eighteen people in Siloam, some people concluded that they must have been "worse sinners" than the average person.

           No, said Jesus, don't demonize your neighbor. Don't presume to invoke God's judgment on someone else. You can't purchase God's favor by projecting your fears onto others. Then, as he often did, Jesus flipped the story so that its moral applied to the living rather than to the dead.  Read more in Daniel B. Clendenin's "Hungering for Food That Doesn't Exist."

Ever transplant a plant cutting, and wait for it bloom? My sister had Mom's Christmas cactus bloom on my sister's birthday the spring after our mother's death. Why did Jesus give us the parable of the gardener and the fig tree? See The Rev. Dr. Janet H. Hunt's "One More Year."

Walter Bruggemann tells us "Lent is a time for making decisions about God’s good news and our life in the world. The decisions pose the question: “What is better?"

Love and Protection "as a hen gathers her brood under its wings."

Scripture: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18  •  Psalm 27  • Philippians 3:17-4:1  •  Luke 13:31-35 or Luke 9:28-36, (37-43a)     

 As Jesus makes his way to Jerusalem, some Pharisees warn him that Herod wants to kill him. Why do you think they warned Jesus, and what was his response? Jesus follows with his lament over the city of Jerusalem. Compare images of the power of the Romans and Herod, and that of a mother hen protecting her chicks. Of conquest by force, and conquest by loving sacrifice.

The Rev. Kory Wilcoxson discusses "rejection," "broken-heartedness," "perseverance," and "protection and feeling need for protection," recurrent themes in our Lenten reflections, in "Keep on Going."

What is the reason for Jesus' lament, weeping over Jerusalem?  Why did Jerusalem, and all of us, at times, reject Jesus' love for us? See In "Jesus' Sorrow," by The Rev. Robert H. Wade.

What are the stones that pave Jerusalem which Jesus laments? What are the stones thrown that not only killed the prophets, but our very souls and spirits, and which keep us from being in relationship with God and each other?  See "The Road to Jerusalem is Paved With the Stones of Rejection," by The Rev. Michael K. Marsh.

Temptation in the Wilderness

Scripture: Deuteronomy 26:1-11  • Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16  • Romans 10:8b-13  • Luke 4:1-13

As we journey into the first Sunday of Lent, we begin with the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.  Why does Jesus go into the wilderness? The Rev. Brian Erickson gives us a surprising answer in "Dress Rehearsal in the Desert."  There is a good discussion about temptations - ones we easily recognize, and one's we don't recognize so easily - ones that sound good, or like God. What does Erickson say is the only "vaccine" against temptation? What do you think about that?

In "The Wilderness Exam, "The Rev. Barbara Taylor focuses on where the temptations take place - the wilderness. Take time to write down all the things she describes as "the wilderness," and then make up your own list of wilderness experiences. What is the wisdom and value of the wilderness? What can a wilderness experience do for us? What did it do for Jesus? What is life, and our relationship with God and each other really like without the usual "painkillers," "pacifiers," "anesthesia"? What are our  "painkillers," "pacifiers," "anesthesia?" It is life without the "soma" of Aldus Huxley's Brave New World.

Transfiguration Sunday

Scripture: Exodus 34:29-35  • Psalm 99  • 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2  •  Luke 9:28-36, (37-43a)

This Sunday is transfiguration Sunday. The lectionary brings together the story of Moses having to put a veil on his face after his encounter with God on Mt. Sinai when he brought the Ten Commandments down to the children of Israel, with Jesus' transfiguration on the mountain top with Peter, John and James, and Paul's commentary on the freeing presence of the Spirit and Christ's setting aside the veil so that we can directly experience the glory of God.

What does the transfiguration story mean to you? The Rev. Robert Chase in Mountaintops and Intersections tells us that the story tells us to listen to what God's son has to tell us, to be prepared to be surprised by God, and to look each other in the eye and move forward together rather than just stand there looking up, transcending our differences - there are things to do coming off the mountain.

The Rev. David Copley, in "To be sent out," reminds us that we are an "incarnational" church, internalizing the understanding that God has created all humanity in his image and that we are all sisters and brothers in Christ - we cannot refuse to feed the hungry, or help the poor, the outcast and suffering, when we encounter God in the flesh of Christ, and in the face of our brothers and sisters.

The Rev. Alan Brehm talks about the life giving presence of God transforming us free from fears which plague us, and bring us down in "No More Fear."

Finally, think about what we can be and do as a church as you read Walter Bruggemann's "A Church Aglow."