The Third Sunday of Lent
15th March 2009 9:00am & 11:45am
Preacher: The Revd Desmond Cox
In today’s liturgy we celebrate
God’s giving of the law and the coming of Jesus to fulfill the law of love and once again the fathers house
becomes a house of prayer.
Mr. Bumble in Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist declares that the law
is an ass; and laws can be frustrating and inconvenient. At worst they can be
unjust and oppressive. But while we may know that some laws are bad ones, we
also know that law itself is necessary for the good order of society.
Good laws well administered, are a positive benefit to society. The
roman thinker Cicero wrote that “the good of the people is the chief law”. The
Greek philosopher Aristotle taught that humans are “political animals” and
naturally want to live in societies. Societies need to be ordered, and
therefore laws are needed. St Thomas Aquinas thought the law was a public
enactment of right reason. So all good law is an attempt at
helping human beings to live together well.
As well as laws for societies, there are things like good manners and
courtesy which help smaller groups and individuals get along. Saying please,
thank you, and sorry is important for the smooth running of our relations with
each other. Small tokens of esteem and affection help build relationships.
A third way laws help is with the things we value in the world.
We might call these, generally, the maker’s instructions. Appliances from computers to kitchen hotplates, only work well if
we follow the guidelines for use. We are not meant to try to cut
someone’s hair with garden clippers, or feed dairy cows on meat sausages. Often
the nature of a thing suggests its own laws.
Jesus is often depicted as one who came to sweep away a law bound
approach to faith and worship. According to this picture, he came to replace
formal laws and worship with spontaneous love. Today’s gospel story of the
cleansing of the temple is sometimes used to illustrate this theory. However,
Jesus also said, “do not imagine that I have come to abolish the law and the
prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them”
In the first reading we see the Ten Commandments are given to God’s
people as a gift. As the psalmist says, “the law of the Lord is perfect, it
revives the soul” God did not impose the Ten Commandments to vex the people,
but to remind them what it is to be truly human. They remind us of the way we
would have behaved naturally, before the terrible damage done by the fall. They
are, we might say, the maker’s instructions.
Further God gave the people the gift of worshipping in a fitting and
reverent manner. God made them a priestly, royal, and holy people, through the
worship they offered. The
So far from being a burden or an imposition, God’s laws are a guide to
how to live in friendship with each other and with God. Sometimes we find them
hard to keep, but that is because we are a fallen people. The good news is that
one human being, Jesus Christ, has perfectly lived out the law of love. Because he is also God. he can give
us the strength to do so to.
Later John tells us , when Jesus is on the cross, that he “knew that
everything had now been completed” And just before he died he cries out “it is
“accomplished” or “it is
finished” as some translations
say .He has lived out the law of
love, in a world full of hate, to the very end.
Jesus helps us to live out the law by giving us the gift of the Spirit
to dwell within us. The Holy Spirit is the new law, guiding us as a Church, and
helping us individually to keep Gods commands.
It is by trying to live a life of faith in the heart of the Church
that we live out the law of love.
By worshipping God in spirit and in truth and with proper dignity, we
become a light to the world. In the sacraments, we are given the light and
strength we need to bear witness to God and the commandments we have been
given.
So to recap today’s Old Testament and Gospel readings
Laws are necessary for the good ordering of life.
God gave
Jesus fulfils the law of love to follow him
We can do this by living a life of faith in the Church
As we journey closer to