| We�re now in the third week of Lent and the readings for today remind us of our need to turn to Christ while we still have the chance. They also show us our need to recognise God�s holiness and power, to recognise God as our hope for the future but also to be cautious in the process. We are told in our first reading from Exodus how Moses was leading his father-in-law�s flock, when he suddenly saw what seems to be a burning bush. On closer observation, although this bush appeared on the outside to be burning, it was not, in fact, burning up at all. Now Moses found this really strange and if we�d been there at that time I�m sure we�d have been just as confused. If this wasn�t enough on its own, God then spoke to Moses from that burning bush to let him know that he was on Holy ground and to take off his sandals. We are then told that Moses covered his face and was afraid to look at God�.the main reason for this being that at that time it was thought that anyone who saw God would die. Moses response was certainly an outward sign of his recognition of God�s holiness. This was to be a big turning point in Moses life following which he would eventually lead the people of Israel to the land that God had chosen for them, even though he�d never enter that land himself. I used to love reading the Chronicles of Narnia when I was a child, a few years ago��I can remember watching The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe which was based on those chronicles. To me at that time it was an adventure series about children who had to face winter all year round but no Christmas, through the spell of an evil witch. In recent years I saw the connection of this story to our Christian journey. The main characters of the story are �Aslan� the lion, the evil witch who ruled the land and, of course, the children. C.S. Lewis shows Aslan as a Christ-like figure in Narnia � as someone who could put an end to the sadness that was being experienced at that time�.in other words he was their saviour from the evil witch. Eventually the day came when the children�s longing to be free from the spell of the evil witch finally became a reality. This reality was in five words spoken by one of the animals in Narnia�..�Aslan is on the move�. Just as Aslan was the children�s hope in the story� God was the only hope the Israelites had if they were to be delivered out of the hands of the Egyptians�..today God continues to be our hope through Jesus Christ His Son. In our second reading the emphasis is on Paul�s words �the man who thinks he is safe must be careful that he does not fall�. What we need to understand here is why he felt the need to say these words in the first place. Paul�s words were aimed at the Corinthians because of their complacency in believing that their salvation was a foregone conclusion and he felt it necessary to remind them of what had happened to the Israelites. They believed that they were above the law and that they would receive God�s mercy regardless of whether they repented. As far as they were concerned, the fact that they shared in the same baptism and the same spiritual food and drink as the Israelites, meant that they would automatically enter the Kingdom of God. Well Paul brought them down to earth with a bang with his reminder that even the Israelites, who were in theory way ahead of everybody else, as well as being known as God�s �chosen people�, got so complacent that the majority of them lost their lives before even reaching the Promised Land purely because they weren�t prepared to fully commit to God and obey his law. This too can be a lesson for us to remember ���.to help us to live our Christian lives in the way that God wants us to and to prevent us from making the same mistakes that both the Israelites and the Corinthians made. In today�s Gospel we are told of two disasters that had occurred�.. the first being when Pilate ordered the death of some Galileans while they were sacrificing to God�� the second when the Tower of Siloam fell on and killed eighteen people. At that time the Jews automatically presumed that whenever something tragic happened then those concerned had to be guilty of sin. They had therefore, already made up their mind that in both the disasters in today�s Gospel the people were guilty of sin. They just couldn�t see beyond any other reasoning for these disasters. The Jews, therefore, expected Jesus to react in anger when they told him about these disasters and were shocked when he responded more with compassion rather than conviction. Yes sinful behaviour does separate us from God but the fact remains that we are all sinners and we have all been given a chance to ensure that we are not separated for a moment longer than we need to be. This chance is given to us through God�s Son Jesus Christ when we turn or repent of our sins. Repentance is not a one off action � it is ongoing and is something that we are reminded of when we say the Lord�s Prayer �And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us� Jesus� reaction also gave a warning to Israel of the need for them to repent and change their ways and turn to God while they had the chance. Finally we see a glimmer of hope in the parable of the fig tree��. a second chance being given��we see a God who loves us so much that he is willing to pull out all the stops to ensure that we do take that second chance to fully experience His love. I always remember a saying �never put off until tomorrow what you can do today�. We all do on many occasions put off tasks, especially the ones we hate doing, like cleaning the cooker, but the fact remains that they�re still there, they still need to be done, and they won�t go away! The same applies to our response to God�s call in our lives today �. do we continue to keep putting off that decision till tomorrow or do we make a stand now and accept the offer that He is making us. An offer, which can change our lives but only if we accept it. No-one can make that decision for us��..it is a decision that only we can respond to. Today God is saying �yes� to us, I want, more than anything else, for you to accept my offer....................what will our response be?........will we say �yes� to God�s call and allow Him to transform our lives for the better����the choice can only be ours������� Amen |
| Sermon based on Exodus 3 v 1-8, 13-15; 1 Corinthians 10 v1-6, 10-12 and Luke 13 v 1-9 - Third Week in Lent (Recognising God as our hope for the future) |
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