Scriptures and Reflection Questions for March 20

Scriptures and Reflection Questions
Second Sunday in Lent, Year A
March 20, 2011
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Collect

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone
astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith
to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your
Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
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Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary
Year A
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How to use this page:

Print this and read a different passage each day and think about it.  Some questions
are offered to help stimulate your reflection.  You'll find your experience of worship
on Sunday will be intensified.

For a method to read and pray with the scriptures you might try to use the ancient
practice of Lectio Divina (Divine Reading).  We've written some instructions on
how to use Lectio with the Sunday Scriptures at the following link:
www.stpaulsfay.org/id272.html
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The Lessons

Genesis 12:1-4a
Psalm 121
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
John 3:1-17

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Genesis 12:1-4a

The Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's
 house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and
I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will
bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all
the families of the earth shall be blessed."

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.

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Would you have gone?  Why?
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Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills; *
   from where is my help to come?

My help comes from God, *
   the maker of heaven and earth.

God will not let your foot be moved; *
   the One who watches over you will not fall asleep.

Behold, the One who keeps watch over Israel *
   shall neither slumber nor sleep;

The Holy One watches over you *
   and is your shade at your right hand,

So that the sun shall not strike you by day, *
   nor the moon by night.

God shall preserve you from all evil *
   and is the One who shall keep you safe.

God shall watch over your going out and your coming in, *
   from this time forth for evermore.

                        The Saint Helena Psalter

__________

How might you let this Psalm comfort and relax you?
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Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh?
For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not
before God. For what does the scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned
to him as righteousness." Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift
 but as something due. But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the
 ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his
descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the
 adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is
void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.

For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace
 and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law
but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of
 us, as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations") -- in the presence
of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence
the things that do not exist.

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It is important to Paul's argument to understand that the law, the Torah, was given
to Israel beginning with Moses, centuries after Abraham.  Yet Abraham is the father
of faith and was regarded by God as a righteous man.  What does Paul's argument
mean to you?
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John 3:1-7
There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by
night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from
God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God."
Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without
being born from above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having
grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Jesus
answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being
born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of
the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born
 from above.' The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but
 you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who
is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" Jesus
answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these
things?

"Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen;
yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and
you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No
one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of
Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son
of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order
that the world might be saved through him."

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Jesus speaks to Nicodemus in metaphor.  Nicodemus hears him literally.  Think of
 other situations where such confusion happens?

What does it mean to you when Jesus says "You must be born from above"?

How does Jesus describe the Spirit?  What does that mean to you?
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Lowell

The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, AR

The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love.
Our Rule of Life:  We aspire to...
     worship weekly
     pray daily
     learn constantly
     serve joyfully
     live generously.

Check our website: www.stpaulsfay.org