🦁 Lent 3-1

Readings: Psalm 19; Exodus 19:1-9a; 1 Peter 2:4-10. 

Reflection

Good morning. This is Tim Dribble, broadcasting from Sacramento, California. Today's readings come to us from Psalm 19. Exodus Chapter 19, verses 1 to 9 A and first Peter Chapter two verses 4 to 10. 

Psalm 19 is titled The Law of the Lord is Perfect. To the choir master is Psalm of David. And this talks about how the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. And it goes on and talks about how he pours out his speech and night. He reveals his knowledge. There is no speech. There are. There are no words. His voice is not heard. The voice goes through all the earth. Yes, the first part here, the first six verses saying what God does and how he does it. And verses 7 to 11, we get a rewording of the law. The Lord is perfect reviving the soul. Its sure making wise the simple, the precepts of the law, the right rejoicing, the heart. The criminal war is pure and lightning. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The rules of the world are true, righteous, all together they are more desired than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter than any honey or drippings of the honeycomb. They are more by them. As your servant warned you keep the great reward. 

So this is how again reaffirming how God is that perfect being God is the one who gives us parts knowledge. Honest if we listen to Him and take the time to do that. And then who can discern his error? So the verses 12 to 13, ye like you can question them. You can do that, you know, don't keep your servant also from presumptuous sins. Don't let them have dominion over me talking. And we you know, we can't we don't we shouldn't question God, we shouldn't be presumptuous. And then and then you shall will keep us blameless and then sin of great transgression. And then chapter or verse 14 as something that you we hear of as a lot of priests who use this in the opening of their sermon is what the words of the mouth in the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Oh, Lord, my rock and my redeemer. That's a very old school. For years and years I've been in the Episcopal Church. I've had lots and lots of priests say this is it's kind of going away. The younger the newer priest, the younger priest don't do this as much. But when I first came in the Episcopal Church over 30 years ago, that was a very common opening line to a sermon. And this is asking the blessing of the Lord, say, hey, you know, let me be saying the right thing. And, you know, look, you know, let it be acceptable to God who is our rock and our redeemer? 

Now, in Exodus, we continue the story of the Israelites. So they gone out of Egypt, they burn in the desert. So it talks about and the third new moon after the people of Israel gone out of the land of Egypt. So this is three ish months or so. They came in the wilderness, the Sinai. They set out from a rough of them. So rough of them is actually not a place rough them is and I'm probably not pronouncing that exactly right, but it is you know, it is a place of refuge or rest in Hebrew, but biblical scholars believe, based on what they can kind of recreate in going by the writings and other things that we have about the not knowing what the people of the Israelites did when they left Egypt. They believe that the what the rough of them in this particular passage is referring to the wadi roughly in southwest Sinai. So this is the Sinai Peninsula. We all know about that place right now, and that's, you know, the hotly contested area between Egypt and Israel, where they've had several wars. So this is God. So Moses goes up on the mountain. So this is Mount Sinai, and the Lord says, hey, you use what you're going to tell the people. You shall tell the house of Jacob, the people of Israel. You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, how I bore you all eagles winds and brought you to myself. Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all people. For all the earth is mine. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and the holy nation whose words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. So here we have God saying, Look, I did what I said. I got you out of Egypt and you see how powerful I am. And if you're true to me, I'm going to make you the chosen people. So again, going back and reaffirming what the covenant with Abraham, we go on. So Moses came down the mountain, went in, told the elders of the people, and told them what God said to do, and they answered, All the Lord has spoken, we will do. So then Moses went back and told God, Hey, they're accepting us. And God says, okay, so I'm going to come to you in a thick cloud that people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe you forever. So God's coming down in the cloud on Mount Sinai that the people can hear, and this would be the thunder and all that that comes out because God's backing up Moses here so that people will know, hey, this is real. And you're not just making this up and you are reading from first Peter We're talking about the living stone and in building traditions. Back when buildings were built out of stone, you had a cornerstone that was that stone had to be perfectly level, perfectly cut in perfect shape, because every stone that was laid after that, that that stone was the key. It was also called Keystone. It was in the corner of a building. So it was that cornerstone. That's where the building starts. And if it's not perfectly level and all cut properly and all this, your building is not going to come out. Right. 

And this is talking. So we're going back and forth between Isaiah here. But Peter, this is you come to him a living stone rejected by man the chosen, and that's why you got chosen and Precious so we're talking about the rejected stone now becomes a cornerstone you don't in in building in masonry that didn't happen Like I said the cause had to be that perfectly Mason stone And here we have Jesus who was rejected. Jesus. Can we know the ministry? He was rejected. He was arrested, convicted of garbage, horribly beaten, disfigured, and then hung on the cross to die. But this is that. This is where Peter's thing. But this rejected stone is this is the cornerstone, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone going back. We call in the Old Testament and they things he goes on, he says they go, they stumble because they disobey as they were destined to do. But we knew this was going to happen. But you are chosen race of world, priest of the holy nation, of people, your own possession. The you may claim the excellences of him who called you out in the darkness this marvelous light once you were not the people. But now you are God's people. Because we have received mercy. Because once we didn't have mercy and this is God's grace again, this is this is the key to two things, is this is God's grace to us. God forgives us and forgives everyone for everything if we ask it. Amen.