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3rd Sunday in Lent • Exodus 20:1-17 The Sinai Covenant • John 2:13-22 Exodus 20 Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I Yahweh your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of Yahweh your God, for Yahweh will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. 8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to Yahweh your God; you shall not do any work-- you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. 12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you. 13 You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal. 16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. 3rd Sunday in Lent--Exodus 20:1-17 • • • • Ten Commandments: Well known? Unknown? Deal primarily with explicit actions; contrast Jesus Stated negatively; contrast Luther Leave almost all of life open to living “righteously” • Ten words of freedom • I am Yahweh your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, the house of slaves—an ethic for insiders 3rd Decalogue • Misunderstandings or Misuses of the Decalogue – Works righteousness – Legalism – Minimalism (little expectation of changed behavior); Cheap grace • Seven deadly sins and the Decalogue – – – – – – – Lust—6? Gluttony Greed—9-10? Sloth Wrath Envy Pride What are 7 deadly sins today (in your sermons)? • Racism (sexism, classicism, etc.) • Waste of natural resources or pollution of the environment • Violence/militarism • Neglect of the poor • The fractures in Interpersonal relationships • Not loving God • Not loving the neighbor How does the Decalogue help us ethically? • Identifies clearly (and narrowly) unacceptable behavior • And yet a higher standard – How do I in this circumstance love God? – How do I in this circumstance love the neighbor? • Preaching the gospel to empower our hearers for behavioral change • Recognizing the challenges of moral ambiguity in our lives • Ethics: Individual choice and community consensus John 2:13-22 (23-25) • • • • Cleansing the temple at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus Preceded by wedding at Cana—abundant new life This abundant life challenges the existing order Why would the money changers be in the temple? – People couldn’t bring sacrificial animals from home to this feast in Jerusalem – People couldn’t pay temple tax with Roman money (emperor’s head on coins) – Jesus confronts the system, not just the abuses (the house of God has become a house of trade). Cf. Zech 14:21. – Jesus, not the temple, is focus of cultic activity. The fate of Jesus rather than the fate of the temple. Dramatic actions • • • • • Driving out with a whip Dumped out coins; overturned tables Out with the doves! Don’t make my father’s house a marketplace Zeal for your house will consume me; Ps 69:9 it was zeal for your house that consumed me. • Give us a sign = a. warrant for your actions b. revelatory act John 2 • A sign for doing this: Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up • He was speaking about the temple of his body • Where is God present? Hence the authority of his words and actions. • After Easter his disciples remembered this incident • Many believed because of the signs he was doing • Jesus knew what was in everyone. Bottom line on this Gospel • Jesus challenges a religious system so embedded in its own rules and practices that it is no longer open to a fresh revelation from God • The great danger is that the contemporary church, like the leaders of the religious establishment in the Gospel of John, will fall into the trap of equating the authority of its own institutions with the presence of God. • How do we as congregations and as individuals live righteously—maximizing love for God and the neighbor?