RENEWsletter for March 21, 2010 - 5th Lent

Dear Partakers in Renewal--
Next Sunday's readings speak of something new. Now Qoheleth, the writer of Ecclesiastes, laments that "nothing is new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1.9). Well, there may be nothing new under the sun today, but tomorrow isn't here yet.

The readings for this Fifth Sunday of Lent can be found on the web at: http://www.usccb.org/nab/032110c.shtml, and in your Bible in:

Isaiah 43.16-21
Psalm 126.1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
Philippians 3.8-14
John 8.1-11

Otherwise, if your church uses the RCIA readings, see the Year A entry for the Fifth Sunday of Lent: http://www.usccb.org/nab/032110a.shtml.

The First Reading finds Isaiah really pumped about what God can do. He can wipe out mighty armies (Is. 43.17). He can make a way through the desert and cause rivers to flow in the wasteland (v. 19). For his people he can make a happy and prosperous life in the midst of desolation (v. 20). Yes, the LORD is doing something new (v. 19 again).

In the Responsorial Psalm, the psalmist as well sings of something new that the LORD has done. He brought back the captives to Zion (Ps. 126.1). This was unheard of in those days. When you conquered a nation, you hauled off the leaders so they couldn't incite rebellion. It was nuts to let them go back. Yet Cyrus did. It was something new that God had a hand in. This was not lost on the Israelites. They were filled with joy (v. 3)!

Paul did something new too, and he tells about it in the Second Reading. "I consider everything a loss" (Phil. 3:8). He gave up all his wealth, status, and power... "I consider them so much rubbish" (v. 8 again). Why? "That I may gain Christ and be found in him" (v. 8-9).

The Gospel Reading shows that Jesus was doing something new in Palestine circa AD 29. The Law of Moses, handed down from a millennium or so before, stated that a woman caught in adultery should be stoned. Have you ever been hit by a rock? I remember as a kid getting into clod fights. Dirt clods, as you know, can be pretty hard, and when they strike, they hurt. I took one in the temple once and the first thing I felt was an icy cold. A split-second later the pain exploded. I felt momentarily dizzy, then fear struck -- how bad was I hurt? Well, clods usually break when they land. Rocks don't.

John places this incident in the Temple where Jesus was teaching. The scribes and Pharisees brought this woman accused of adultery. The sentence was death... not by anything as "humane" as lethal injection, but by stoning. Yet, right there, in front of God and everybody, Jesus did something new. "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her," he said (John 8.7). One by one, they dropped their rocks and turned away. When only the terrified, crouching, sobbing woman remained, Jesus spoke again. "Has no one condemned you?" (v. 10). I imagine that the woman, shaking uncontrollably, raised her head and slowly looked around. She was astonished to see no accusers... just a bunch of rocks on the ground.

"Go. And from now on don't sin any more," Jesus said (John 8.11). "Remember not the events of the past," God said through Isaiah (Is. 43.18). "The LORD has done great things for us", sings the psalmist (Ps 126.3). "...forgetting what lies behind," Paul said (Phil. 3.13). Something new will happen. We can hope. And what is that "realization of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen"? It's faith (Hebrews 11.1).

Step out in faith this week and expect God to do something new.

Randy Jones
"Those who have no faith say there is nothing new under the sun!"