Lent
March 10, 2019
Scripture Reading: Luke 4:1-13
Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you,
to protect you”,
and
“On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’
Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’ When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. –Luke 4:9-13
At this writing, I am involved in a bible study of 1 Samuel. The group decides what we study and when one member suggested he would like to study the books of Samuel my reaction was rather neutral. By the time I started first grade I knew the story of Hannah longing for a child and of Samuel being called by God in the night. Walter Brueggemann has a habit, however, of letting me know I do not know as much as I think I do. The books of Samuel talk about God in ways that are at the least foreign to we 21st Century folk who think we know a lot. Brueggemann describes God as mysterious, even dangerous, and all powerful.
In the section dubbed the Narrative of the Ark found in 1 Samuel 4-6, battles between the Israelites and the Philistines are described in which the powers of the Philistine god Dagon are pitted against Yahweh whose presence was accounted for in the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark is eventually taken by the Philistines and they place it next to their god Dagon as a sign of the Philistines view of Dagon’s higher powers. The next morning when the Philistines return to that scene, they found Dagon on the floor with broken arms and head. While the Philistine’s gained more respect of Yahweh, the Israelites learned they serve a powerful God with a mind of God’s own. The Israelites, of course, also learned that the Ark of the Covenant and thus God’s presence should not be construed as a rabbit’s foot.
When I read this in preparing for the study group, my first thought was that the Israelites had snicked into the Philistines camp and destroyed the image of Dagon. That is the conclusion of a modern-day cynical thinker who has probably read too many good mysteries where the mysterious is always explained. No such explanation of this mystery is forthcoming. The scripture treats this as a matter-of-fact report of an act of God.
Lent is a good time for us to renew our understanding of God as one who indeed has our best interest at heart but as one who may have a very different understanding of not only what our best interest is but of what all people’s best interests are and how they all fit together. Our quest is to work toward living into God’s vision that starts and finishes with our loving God and loving one another.
Prayer: Lord, during this 40-day time of introspection, help us clear away the distractions of world-think and see more clearly your way of thinking. Amen.