Third Sunday in Lent, year ‘B’: Bewildered
Featured contributor: The Rev. Helen Dunn
Four wilderness themes appear in the lectionary readings for the third Sunday in Lent: 1) liberation wilderness: the people of God in the early days of their exodus from Egypt, working with God to form a new covenant with each other and the land; 2) the physical, sun-scorched wilderness in the psalm: the sun making it very clear that they, too, have a voice, that the human creation is not the only inhabitant of the earth who speaks; 3) the interpersonal wilderness in the letter to the Corinthians: displaced persons in a refugee camp grappling with what it means to live in community; and 4) Christ-gone-wild in John’s Gospel: Jesus who flips tables and throws fisticuffs when he encounters the economy of God clashing with economies that exploit the earth and its inhabitants—human and animal alike.
Commentary
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1 Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me.
The chapter begins by locating the people of God within their liberation history: they were once enslaved in Egypt, a place where, though they owned land and operated much of its commerce and industry, they were forced to work for a foreign dictator who exploited them, the resources of the land, and the animals of the land.
Verse 3 begins the first of ten warnings (commonly known as The Ten Commandments). It was the Lord their God (YHWH) who brought them out of slavery, the God who operates on principles of equity and justice. As the people of God form a covenant for life after slavery, they must not tie their way of life to the ways (i.e. the gods) of their oppressor. These ways are spelled out in the first half of the Book of Exodus (1-18), which chronicles the enslavement of the people of God in Egypt.
4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Verses 4-6 outline the second of the ten warnings. The people of God ought not to set themselves over the natural world by exploiting its resources, abusing any part of the land for the gain of the human creation alone. “The water under the earth” is a reference, perhaps, to the flood in the Book of Genesis chapters 6-8, to the human and animal ancestors who suffered near annihilation when the earth gave way from human plunder.
7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
Verse 7 is the third of the ten warnings. YHWH’s name shall not be attached to any use of the earth and its inhabitants that contradicts the principles close to YHWH’s heart. YHWH will not be associated with acts of greed, exploitation, or displacement.
8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 For six days you shall labour and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
Verses 8-11 detail the fifth of the ten warnings—to remember in their own labour the sabbath principle upon which YHWH operated when creating them (humanity) as well as the earth and the animals of the earth (the more-than-human world). YHWH rested in YHWH’s labours; YHWH did not exploit YHWH’s self nor what YHWH had made—or the resources YHWH used to make it—by overworking the land, animals, or human beings.
12 Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
The sixth of the ten warnings is to remember that the teachings of their ancestors hold wisdom for how to care for the land, how to work with the land as co-conspirator so that it does not give way to their living (c.f. the second warning in verse 4).
13 You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal. 16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. 17 You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.
Verses 13-17 include the final five of the ten warnings, spelling out the ways of their oppressor in Egypt. The slave-masters went about ensuring success, profit, and power by murdering; committing adultery; stealing; bearing false witness; and coveting land, property, covenanted human relationships, and livestock. The way of the newly liberated people of God shall not include these practices. It is important to notice that the just care of livestock is included equally amongst the care for your neighbour’s house and spouse.
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1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows the handiwork of the Lord.
The opening to the psalm locates the heavens as offering praise to God. “Heavens” is a synecdoche for the whole of the creation—i.e. the land and animals. The point made at the outset of the Psalm is this: it’s not just humans who have the ability to praise the Creator.
2 One day tells its tale to another, and one night imparts knowledge to another.
A reference to the first five days in the Genesis creation stories. The earth was created with the capacity to communicate to God and amongst its own biospheres before humans and animals came onto the scene.
3 Although they have no words or language, and their voices are not heard, 4 their sound has gone out into all lands, and their message to the ends of the world.
A reminder that human language is not the only, or even the primary, form of speaking. There are more-than-human voices in the world.
5 In the deep has God set a pavilion for the sun; it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber; it rejoices like a champion to run its course. 6 It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens and runs about to the end of it again; nothing is hidden from its burning heat.
The psalmist now gives an example of a more-than-human voice that is constantly speaking: the sun.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent. 8 The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to the eyes.
A reference to the Ten Commandments in the Book of Exodus (I’ve called them the Ten Warnings in this commentary). It’s important for the psalmist to locate the sun (i.e. the earth) as equal participant—co-signer—of the community covenant formed at Sinai.
9 The fear of the Lord is clean and endures for ever; the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
“Clean” refers to the food rituals that involved preparing and sacrificing certain animals in order to keep the people of God set apart from the practices of neighbouring nations. The animal creation is very much part of keeping “the law of the Lord,” though we might ask to what degree their consent was honoured in this process?
10 More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold, sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb. 11 By them also is your servant enlightened, and in keeping them there is great reward.
The delight experienced in keeping the law of the Lord is compared to the pleasure/wealth enjoyed from the insect (bee) and elemental systems (gold) of the earth.
12 Who can tell how often they offend? Cleanse me from my secret faults. 13 Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion over me; then shall I be whole and sound, and innocent of a great offense. 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight; O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
Verse 14 functions as a rhyming couplet does at the end of a sonnet: a way to conclude the lines that have come before. It has a kind of “epiphanic” quality. The psalmist’s final plea is for their words (“the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart”), especially those which offer praise to God, to include the earth and its animal inhabitants as co-speakers. This is pleasing to God.
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18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’
The letter to the Corinthians begins by establishing for the communities gathered at Corinth the locus of wisdom on which their decision-making and life together ought to rest. “The message of the cross” is intended as a unifying source of wisdom for a gathering of people who come from many different wisdom traditions. There are echoes here of the people of God in their early days in exile from Egypt as they struggle to form a community covenant for life after slavery (c.f. Exodus 20:1-17).
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
Wisdom does not reside in one person or one tradition alone. “Scribe” is a reference to the Jewish wisdom traditions, while “debater of this age” is a reference to the Gentile philosophers.
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.
“The foolishness of our proclamation” is a reference to all those who follow “the message of the Cross” even though its wisdom leader (Christ) was put to death.
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Verses 22-25 act as a kind of rally cry to the communities gathered in Corinth, many of whom are refugees, forced from their homes for political acts that defied the Roman authorities. Whether Jewish or Gentile, what defines them now is their willingness to gather around the unifying message of the cross despite their leader (Christ) being dead. It seems foolish, but they are told to rest assured: even Christ’s crucifixion (“God’s weakness”) is stronger than anything the authorities could promise them.ption text goes here
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13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
From the outset of this Johannine vignette, Jesus’ actions are located in the liberation history of the people of God. The Passover of the Jews is a reference to YHWH delivering the Israelites from slavery in Egypt—c.f. Exodus 20:1-17.
14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money-changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, ‘Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a market-place!’
Verses 14-16 highlight how the exploitation taking place in the temple is interrelated: it involves human and animal extraction, displacement, and inequity.
17 His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’
A reference to the Book of Psalms, chapter 69: a prayer for deliverance from persecution. Verse 17 shows the disciples having the first of two epiphanies in this gospel episode: the exploitation of humans and animals is a form of persecution.
18 The Jews then said to him, ‘What sign can you show us for doing this?’
“What sign” is a reference to the Jewish wisdom traditions. The wisdom teacher who could perform a sign to justify their actions would put their wisdom tradition ‘in the lead’ amongst the scholars and teachers of the day. C.f. The first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 1 verse 22: “For Jews demand signs . . .”
“The Jews” refers to both the wisdom teachers of the day (scribes and Pharisees were among them) and the religious authorities who colluded with the Roman authorities in the exploitation taking place in the temple.
19 Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ 20 The Jews then said, ‘This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?’ 21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body.
The “sign” which Jesus the wisdom teacher will give is his death (“destroy this temple”) and resurrection (“in three days I will raise it up”). Forty-six is a peculiar number to use in reference to the construction of the temple. Had it been forty, we might assume an allusion to the exodus from Egypt. That it is forty-six, an imperfect forty, could suggest that the liberation of the people of God at this time is imperfect, incomplete, taking longer due to the collusion with the Roman authorities illustrated in this passage.
22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
Like the concluding line of Psalm 19, verse 22 of John chapter 2 has a kind of ‘epiphanic’ quality. The disciples recognize Jesus having a seat of wisdom among the Jewish teachers and authorities of their day. “The word that Jesus had spoken” refers to Jesus speaking of the temple as his body. Note that Jesus calling out the persecution of humans and animals is one of the political acts he will be crucified for.
Preaching and teaching ideas
Big picture
In season five of Netflix’s Queer Eye, the Fab Five visit “Abby the Anxious Activist.” Instead of pulling up in their usual GMC Yukon XL, the Fab Five ride up to Abby’s apartment on bicycles. When they arrive, they’re fishing for a compliment:
“We biked some of the way here,” one of them says.
“I would say that biking is good because it’s really fun,” Abby responds.
“[A]lso, though, a hundred corporations are responsible for 70% of global emissions, so if you do drive, it’s not a big deal because you’re not really causing the problem,” she finishes.
The bubblegum atmosphere in the room, well, pops. Talk about a mood killer! JVN (Jonathan van Ness) makes a quip about cycling being a “killer core workout” and the gang do their best to move on.
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Feminist killjoy Abby is right: riding your bike in lieu of driving a car is a good thing to do, but it can act as a distraction from the bigger picture—or, rather, the bigger culprits. If billionaires and corporations are responsible for 70% of global emissions, we have to start thinking of the larger context when it comes to advocating for the earth and its inhabitants.
The reading from Exodus invites us to “think big picture” by considering the animals among humans in their need for sabbath rest. They, too, get burnt out and suffer the effects of human greed. In what ways do the animals in your context risk exploitation from labour and industry? Are there farmers in your congregation who could speak to sabbath care for animals in a time of mass meat production
The psalm concludes with a line that preachers often quote in their opening prayer before they begin a sermon: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. In what way do the words of the preacher’s mouth include the voice of the heavens and the earth—namely, the sun, which the psalmist insists is speaking constantly? How can your sermon open the congregation’s ears to the voice of the earth? What spiritual practices might you introduce to your congregation to encourage them to listen to the earth?
What if we thought beyond the usual picture of the church in Corinth as an outpost of the apostle Paul and considered a bigger picture? What if we thought of the folks gathered in Corinth as a refugee camp where displaced persons from different countries, religions, and languages are suddenly living together in one place after being forced to leave their homes?
We typically hear the Gospel lesson preached as the ‘house of the Lord’ turned into a marketplace. This isn’t a bad interpretation. But, what if we thought of the bigger picture? What if the issue at hand isn’t the literal selling of goods inside a holy place, but the larger issues of exploitation, extraction, displacement, and inequity? When Jesus spoke of the temple being destroyed and rebuilding it in three days, he was speaking not of the literal temple, but of the bigger picture—the death and resurrection of his own body. How might you consider the bigger issues of exploitation, extraction, displacement, and inequity that occur in your community?
Be / wildered
In the reading from the Book of Exodus, we encounter God whose desire is for humanity to act as co-conspirator, rather than competitor. All other attempts to find their way out of exile (exploiting their neighbour; oppressing all that is ‘other’ in an act of retaliation against the enslavement they had experienced) are mere idols—simulations of cooperation. There is no comparison to the surpassing value of working in cahoots with the God who brought them out of slavery.
The invitation in this Exodus passage is to be wildered: for the people of God to recognize the more-than-human creation as part of their human being. The invitation is to act as co-conspirator in the way that heaven and earth, water and sky, are co-conspirators with God in the six days of creation. The earth joins with God in profound and meaningful work, creating lifeform upon lifeform upon lifeform. On the seventh day, the earth rests just as God rests. Sabbath is a sign that Creator and creation have inherent, intrinsic worth not dependent on productivity or efficiency.
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What signs do you see in the nature around you of the earth acting as co-conspirator with God? In what ways do you see the earth resting (hint: what do the changing seasons tell us about rest?)? The French philosopher, sociologist, and poet Jean Beaudrillard once wrote: “the age of simulation thus begins with a liquidation of all referentials.” In what ways have human beings used industry and technology to “liquid[ate]” the earth and its (our) Creator as referential? How do human beings simulate (pretend) cooperation with God? In what ways are these simulations forms of idolatry akin to those practiced by the people of God and their oppressors in the Book of Exodus?
In the psalm, the invitation is to consider the human creation as a part of a dynamic cosmic design within which each piece has a place, rather than humanity seeing itself as the chief purpose of the cosmic design. “Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins,” the psalmist prays. In what ways do we presume humanity to be God’s greatest work to the detriment of the earth and its more-than-human inhabitants?
In her poem, “Welcoming Blessing,” Jan Richardson uses wilderness imagery to describe the process of coming to terms with inner, existential displacement. “When the landscape you have known falls away,” she writes, and “your familiar path becomes foreign and you find yourself a stranger in a story you had held most dear.” This description is very much exodus talk. In what ways does the author of the Book of Exodus rely on wilderness imagery to relay the inner, existential experience of the people of God? How can you invite your congregation to use wilderness imagery to describe their own inner spiritual journeys?
The sun in Psalm 19 seems to be experiencing its own existential crisis. How is the human failure to recognize the earth as co-communicator an act of displacement for both the earth and humanity alike?
In the first letter to the Corinthians, we encounter the clash of Jewish and Gentile communities, which have been exiled by the Roman Empire. A kind of communal bewilderment is taking place. How do groups which were once in competition with one another now act as neighbours and co-workers? In order for this budding political movement to survive, their former (Empire) ways of relating to one another have to change.
The “message of the cross” is central to the Corinthian movement, in much the same way that “those most affected by climate crises are the least responsible for it” is a central message for climate change movements around the world. How might you seek the wisdom of “those most affected and least responsible” by crises in your community, welcoming the voices of the bewildered in your midst?
The temple mentioned in the Gospel of John has been under construction for forty-six years. If you were to take a ‘bewildered’ approach to this reading, how might you consider the ecological impact of construction projects that go unfinished or left behind?
Jesus is bewildered by the corporate greed and exploitation of humans and animals taking place in the temple. He gets angry and calls the powers that be and authorities to account. How might your own bewilderment at corporate and government practices be seeds of anger pushing you to call for accountability?
Resources
Anglican Church of Canada, A Liturgical Psalter: The Psalter of The Book of Alternative Services Emended for Contemporary Liturgical Use (General Synod, 2016). Accessed online on 06 February 2024 at https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/GS2016-Liturgical-Psalter-2016-05-04.pdf
David Collins, “Abby the Anxious Activist” on Queer Eye: Season 5 (Netflix, 2020). Transcript accessed online on 06 February 2024 at:
https://tvshowtranscripts.ourboard.org/viewtopic.php?f=1158&t=48891
“H2889 - ṭâôr - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv).” Blue Letter Bible. Accessed 06 February 2024 at https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h2889/kjv/wlc/0-1/
“Indigenous Knowledges and Climate Change” in Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples’ Health in Canada (National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health, Prince George, BC: 2022), pp. 39-42. Accessed online on 04 February 2024 at https://www.nccih.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/10367/Climate_Change_and_Indigenous_Peoples_Health_EN_Web_2022-03-22.pdf
Jan Richardson, “Welcoming Blessing” from The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief (Wanton Gospeller Press: Orlando, FL: 2020). Accessed online on 04 February 2024 at https://paintedprayerbook.com/2017/06/27/welcoming-blessing/
Jean Baudrillard, “Simulacra and simulations” in Jean Baudrillard, Selected Writings, ed. Mark Poster (Stanford; Stanford University Press, 1988), pp.166-184. Accessed online on 06 February 2024 at
https://web.stanford.edu/class/history34q/readings/Baudrillard/Baudrillard_Simulacra.html
Marta Werbanowska, “‘There Is Hope in Connecting’: Black Ecotheology and the Poetry of Lucille Clifton” in ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment (Volume 26, Issue 1, Winter 2019), pp. 83–96. Accessed online on 04 February 2024 at https://doi.org/10.1093/isle/isz005
Salal and Cedar, “Tools for Climate Preachers” in Wild Lectionary. Accessed online on 04 February 2024 at https://www.salalandcedar.com/wildlectionary
Sara Ahmed, “The Feminist Killjoy” in The Promise of Happiness (Duke University Press, Durham, NC: 2010).
Author bio
Helen Dunn is a priest in the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster, serving as rector of St Clement’s in North Vancouver, BC located on the unceded and traditional territory of the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Helen played a small part in the grand opening of Creekside Commons, a wheelchair-accessible outdoor meeting space that gathers human and more-than-human creatures alike. Creekside Commons gets its name from Acts 4:32: “Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.” “[H]eld in common” is understood to include rewilded gardens that encourage the flourishing of plant life native to the watershed as well as the care for and preservation of a salmon-bearing stream.
You can read more about Creekside Commons at https://www.stclementschurch.ca/news/creekside-commons-open-for-use