Additional Homily for the Third Sunday of Lent

Homily delivered by Fr Nicholas King SJ

Scripture Readings: Exodus 3:1-15; I Corinthians 10:1-12; Luke 13:1-9

If Lent has been going well for us, we may find ourselves asking two questions: First, what is God like? Second, how should we respond to this God? Both of these questions are lurking underneath the texts of today's readings. 

 in the first reading, Moses, who, we should remember, is a currently a murderer on the run, encounters the divine, and is given a job to do. What appears to him as a flame of fire in a bush, is a presence that is so holy that Moses must take off his shoes and cover his face. Not unreasonably, Moses wants to know a bit more, like “excuse me please but what is your name?” He gets an answer; partly it is that it is that “the God of your fathers has sent me to you”. That's not so much a name, more of a job.  So then we get the name: it is both awe-inspiring and possibly slightly obscure: “I am who I am” (if that is indeed the correct translation).  Not only that, but this “is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob”. Again, this is a bit obscure; but it means that at least this is a God who is known to the people whom Moses is going to lead. And more than that, this is a God who has heard the people’s cry of agony and has taken note of their oppression.  

 Then the Psalm takes this a bit deeper; and we discover that “the Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger, and rich in mercy”. That may be the rather surprising lesson that we are invited to learn during this season of Lent, that our God is not an angry deity, who is out to get us. This merciful God is very much on our side. 

In the second reading, Paul is trying to persuade the Corinthians to avoid the worship of false gods. and now we get another image, or rather two images, the Cloud, and the Rock. The idea of the cloud, of course, is that it is obscure and rather dark; but we need also to remember that it was the cloud that was God’s guiding presence to the Israelites as they wandered in the desert. Then Paul proclaims, without any argument, that the Rock is Christ. What is this telling us about Christ at this Lenten season? A rock can be rather forbidding, like a “hard place”; but it is also reliable and safe. The Israelites knew very well indeed that a rock was a good place to build a town, unthreatened by the enemy, and you will remember that Simon Bar Jona was given the nickname by Jesus of “Kephas” or “Rock”, a symbol of the unshakablity of the Church. So our God, in this Lenten season is one on whom we can rely and whom we know will protect us. 

 Then the gospel, after all this, provides a bit of a shock. for it draws our attention to two recent events that were perhaps in that day's newspaper. First is the story of the “Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with the sacrifices”. The question raises the doubt (one that you may often have had, especially when you look at our world today) about how God can possibly permit such an awful thing to happen. Jesus, you remember, was himself a Galilean and they may have been trying to make him speak out against Pilate's injustices. But we who read the story, also know already that Pilate will, in, not many days from now, be shedding Jesus’ blood at the time of the Passover sacrifice. Jesus simply turns this into a suitably Lenten summons to repentance. then he refers to another story from today's paper; “what about those 18 people on whom the skyscraper at Siloam fell?” Once again, the message is clear: we are not to imagine that people to whom bad things happen are themselves bad people. Once again there is the invitation, very suitable for this time of year, to “repent”, or turn things around.  

 Then Jesus tells one of his “fig tree” parables to make the same point. Now we need to remember that the fig tree was always a symbol of Israel in its prosperity. so, this is what Jesus is talking about: his mission to his beloved people of Israel. Over three years his ministry has not been very fertile, and the owner (God?) argues that it is a waste of space and should be cut down. The person who looks after the vineyard Jesus?) makes a case for leaving it for a while, for a period of fertilisation. The owner is not very enthusiastic, it must be said, but he allows it one more year before it is cut down. The God of Jesus is very patient with us. 

Now in the first reading, when God called, “Moses, Moses”, he said “hineni”, or “here I am!”. We should be careful when we say that word, because that was what Abraham said to God when he started off his elderly mission journey, at the age of 75. it was the word that Isaac was later to use when God invited him to slaughter his beloved only son. So it is a way of saying yes to God, no matter how bad things may be seen to be; and the danger is that God will take us at our word. Saying “hineni/here I am”, takes courage. 

 Are you, today, ready to give this God that unconditional “Yes”?