Sunday February 28, Lent 2
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Psalm 24
While entering through the doors of the temple the poet sings a hymn of praise to God who brought order out of the dangerous primordial ocean. Appropriate for a Sunday as we enter into our worship.
Psalm 29
Astonishment at the overwhelming presence of God in nature who rules the untameable ocean and even makes mountains cavort like calves and oak trees “writhe” in a gale! We worship such a God, who makes such strength and peace available to us.
Jeremiah 1: 1-10
In Deuteronomy, Moses was exhorting the people to follow God’s call to inclusive fairness after they had entered the land God gave them and had become wealthy. Today and through the rest of Lent we read through the book of Jeremiah written many centuries later when many Israelites had become urban and were ruled by royal families. Accumulation of wealth had become the royal priority.
Jeremiah will confront the final three kings of Israel for abandoning God’s priority of justice, and foresees that there will be terrible consequences—the land God had promised will be conquered by foreigners from Babylon, and the people will be deported there and made to be slaves again. Their history of being enslaved in Egypt is repeating itself, but this time it is the fault of the greed of their kings.
Today we begin Jeremiah’s story with the account of his being known before he was formed in the womb. This may have suggested to early Christians something of Jesus’ birth—Jesus also challenged the Jewish king of his time and was known before he was conceived. Just as Jeremiah is hunted by the king who wishes to kill him for challenging his abuse of royal power, so Jesus will be hunted by Herod for challenging his power. Jeremiah objects to his call because he cannot speak effectively—this is a deliberate reference to Jeremiah being asked to take the role of a new Moses and lead the people back to their land.
Violent repression by the powerful is not limited to the ancient world. The book of Jeremiah will explore how we find hope in similar circumstances in our day.
Mark 3: 31 – 4:9
On Sundays during Lent we interrupt John’s gospel to read from Mark’s.
Jesus’ own family have just tried to restrain him because he has been accused of being the devil. We may be hearing an early Christian memory that Jesus’ own family did not support him, and his response is to say that he has a far larger family composed of all who trust him.
Jesus then recounts how harvests are enormous despite the fact that most seeds never grow into mature plants—he is assuring us that the kingdom of God’s inclusive justice will triumph regardless of appearances. As one translation puts it, “If you have two good ears in your head, you better listen!” This expectation of God’s triumph is a good expectation to cultivate during Lent, and is appropriate for a Sunday, the mini-anniversary of the resurrection.
This week’s collect:
Almighty God, whose Son was revealed in majesty
before he suffered death upon the cross,
give us faith to perceive his glory,
that being strengthened by his grace
we may be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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