Third Sunday in Lent
It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple those who were selling cattle, sheep, and doves, as well as those involved in exchanging currency sitting there. He made a whip from ropes and chased them all out of the temple, including the cattle and the sheep. He scattered the coins and overturned the tables of those who exchanged currency. He said to the dove sellers, “Get these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a place of business.” His disciples remembered that it is written, Passion for your house consumes me.
Then the Jewish leaders asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things? What miraculous sign will you show us?”
Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple and in three days I’ll raise it up.” The Jewish leaders replied, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days?” But the temple Jesus was talking about was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered what he had said, and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
John 2:13-22 (CEB)
If you’re able, try to think of this scene without any preconceptions from how you may have heard it taught or preached before. Resist the urge to over-theologize and simply witness the scene as it unfolds, just the way the crowds in the temple courts might have.
Imagine Jesus coming into the temple ahead of the Passover without an agenda…just one of thousands of faithful Jews re-living a ritual handed down through generations.
Hear the voices around you: “How are you this morning Simon? Everything okay with the family?” “Yeah, everything is great Miriam. Are your kids going to camp this summer?”
Nothing remarkable to note. Just everyday folks making small talk as they walk through the same routine as their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on down the line.
But something about the scene this time just doesn’t sit right. Something within this son of a Nazarene carpenter demands that he react to the injustice he witnesses, rather than simply accepting “the way things are.”
It would have easy to just allow the status quo to march on. After all, what difference would his outburst make in the long run, other than bring attention to himself and his followers?
And yet, in this moment, Jesus seems to succumb to a deep need for authenticity. To call out the injustice for what it is. To put his own emotions fully on display in hopes of breaking the numbing spell of ritual and routine.
This week at New Wineskins we’ll mark the third Sunday in Lent with a conversation about “Living Transparently.” We’ll talk about why it’s so hard to be vulnerable and authentic, and the benefits of breaking through politeness and niceties to allow our real selves to be seen and known.
Please join us this Sunday, March 3, in the New Wineskins Virtual Theology Pub powered by Zoom as we continue our Lenten journey toward Easter and Resurrection by discussing the practice of living transparently.
6:00pm ET: Happy Half-Hour (informal meet & greet time)
6:30pm ET: Presentation & conversation begin
This week’s discussion video from The Work of the People invites us to consider what it means to live transparently, the barriers we face to authenticity, and how breaking through can lead to deeper relationships and a fuller experience of life.
Click here to view this week’s discussion video (email address required)
Lent 2024: A Journey Into Self-Awareness
Many of us have experienced Lent as a season of repentance and self-sacrifice…of giving something up or letting something go.
But what if we saw it instead not as self-sacrifice, but self-awareness? What if we use these six weeks as an opportunity to know ourselves better and seek the kind of transformation that Divine Love invites us into?
This year for Lent, we’ll be exploring various spiritual practices designed to awaken us to who we are and what our place might be in the ongoing love project of transforming the world.
Celebrate Black History Month!
February is Black History Month and we’re celebrating by highlighting the voices of Black faith leaders sharing inspirational thoughts about antiracism and building better communities and a better future. Each week we’ll post a video from The Work of the People that invites us to think more deeply about racist systems and structures and how resistance can lead to redemption.
Click here to view this week’s Black History Month video (email address required)
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