THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT

March 23, 2025

Suggested Readings:

Isaiah 55:1-9

Psalm 63:1-8

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Luke 13:1-9

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The forty days of Lent are a time for reflection and repentance. When the crowds report the deaths of religious pilgrims at the hands of Pilate and the deaths of “eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” (Luke 13:4-5 Emphasis added)

There is an assumption among those in the crowd that these deaths occurred because the victims were worse sinners than others. It is an assumption that many of us are guilty of making. We rationalize that “I don’t commit murder or adultery, so I am not as much a sinner as someone else.” Wrong.

Sin is sin. There is no hierarchy of sin. Sin is anything that separates us from God. Sin violates the relationship for which we were created. There are those in the Christian tradition who dare to damn others for sins that are determined to be the worst of all sins. Listen up. “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment, you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. (Matthew 7:1-2)

These are not my words. These are the words of Jesus the Christ. We need to repent over attitudes that judge and condemn those who are not like us. We quickly condemn those who do not look like us, have a different sexual orientation, a different accent, or a different skin color. My point is not to affirm sin, but rather to repent of the sin that claims the right to judge a sister or brother. Judgement belongs to God and God alone.

Reflection: This is a private conversation between God and me. I need to honestly come to grips with my very human tendency to judge those who are not like me. It is too easy to condemn a person who has a value system different than my own. Lent requires reflection about my attitude and actions toward others.

Repentance: Jesus said, “unless you repent.” To repent means to change direction. The reflection in which I engage leads me to change the attitudes of discrimination and hatred that bar me from fellowship with God and my sisters and brothers.

Reconciliation: Repentance results in reconciliation. Reconciliation with our heavenly parent, who forgives us and gives us the courage to be reconciled to those we have previously reviled as less than worthy.

 

Renewal: Lent is a journey. It is a journey of self-realization, of humility, of reconciliation. Self-realization is not limited to the 40 days of Lent. It is a lifetime journey of growing up into Christ.