THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT

On this Third Sunday in Lent, we are not quite halfway to Easter from Ash Wednesday, but close.  It is good to consider how far we’ve come, but there is still plenty of time until the cross.  Plenty of time to jump on this Lenten experience to grow closer to Christ!

Today’s sermons will include Isaiah 55:1-9 and Psalm 63:1-8.  We hope you will join us in person or online as we join in the fellowship of Christian believers that happens when two or more of us join together to grow in faith.

Isaiah 55:1-9 is known as the “invitation to the thirsty.”  Anyone who has been to the grocery store lately can appreciate the call at the beginning of the verse, asking all “who have no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”  When was the last time you left the grocery store without paying for anything??

But the verse reminds us that we put great store in things we choose that do not fill us up and time in labors and activities that do not satisfy us. We are wasting our energies, wasting our resources! But the words of God are “good” to take in.  The experience will be richer and more satisfying than anything else we can consume.

Psalm 63:1-8 is a psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah, a wilderness all his own. Theologians do not know if this time of isolation was before David became king or when he had fled Jerusalem as his son, Absalom, tried to steal his throne. Regardless, David calls for God with the longing of thirst in a “dry and parched land where there is no water.” The longing and desire can only be quenched by God’s almighty power and love. The satisfaction of God’s presence will satisfy better than the most decadent meal or the richest of foods. 

Both verses are about cravings and satisfaction. What do you crave? What truly satisfies your longing?

Prayer: Elohim, creator God, help us to curb our cravings from things that will never satisfy as will the everlasting bounty that you provide.  As scripture says, “in you we will neither hunger nor thirst.”  Help us to be aware of the false pleasures that only fill us for a short time. Be with us as we turn away from those and look to the offerings you give which are eternal. Amen.

– Elizabeth Bowman and Sarah Lauren Kattos