Third Sunday in Lent • Year C

Historical Collect

Almighty God, consider the worthy desires of your humble servants. Reach out to defend us from evil by the word and work of your majestic right hand. Grant this, we pray, through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Gelasian Sacramentary, 7th Century)

Thematic Collect

Everlasting God, draw us into this season of repentance and create within us fertile soil in which your Word bursts forth in lives marked by the abundant fruit of your grace; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.

The Common Thread

Our evildoing and our sins are upon us, threatening to undo us in the rot of death. Yet God forgives; he covers our sin; he atones for us. This is a real and present grace. For when temptation and transgressions threaten to overwhelm us, there is a Rock for us to cling to, a divine Rock who is Christ. He is our meat and drink when we are weakened by sin. Eat; drink; this is the supernatural Rock given for you. Turn to the Lord for mercy and forgiveness, for unless you repent, you will perish.

First Reading • Ezekiel 33:7-20

Woe to those of us who trust in our own righteousness. The prophet warns with the Word of God that their entire righteousness is destroyed by one sin (Ezek 33:13). Yet, if we turn from our sin and do right, God will forget our iniquities (Ezek 33:14-16). How can one possibly turn from her sin and do right? Another iniquity is always just around the bend. Surely, the only righteousness one may rely upon is the Lord himself, who is “our Righteousness” (Jer 23:6).

This lesson on Ezekiel 33:10–13 includes a reading from The Defense of the Augsburg Confession and has an additional Scripture graphic you may use. 

Psalm • Psalm 85:1-13

The fortunes of Israel had been removed by God because of their transgressions against his law. But when they turned back to him, keeping his commands, he restored their fortunes as promised (Deut 30:1-3). One truly turns back to God when she turns the ear of her heart to what the Lord will say. I have listened to my own counsel long enough. “Let me hear what God the Lord will speak” (Psa 85:8). Only in listening for the voice of the Lord may one hope to find her way in this world. God our Righteousness will go before her, and will make a path for her steps (Psa 85:13).

This lesson on Psalm 85:1–13 includes a reading from Melancthon's Loci Communes Theologici and has an additional Scripture graphic you may use. 

Second Reading • 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

The Lord our Righteousness led the Hebrews through the wilderness. He was faithful to lead in pillars of cloud and fire (Exod 13:21). Still, with such clear signs of God’s leading, soon enough, they turned again to their own counsel. This was their greatest idol. It was always their own “wisdom” that caused them to imagine lifeless idols that could never lead them. Their god was their own counsel. They became their own unrighteous righteousness.

There are many of us who believe we stand but we are simply awaiting a great fall. Let us take the example of the Hebrews to heart. When testing comes our way, may we rely upon the righteousness of God that comes through faith (Rom 3:22) instead of upon our own idolatrous counsel.

Gospel • Luke 13:1-9

We never know what awaits us in a day. Perhaps a great fall really is just ahead. In the first pericope of Luke 13, two events are mentioned that are not told elsewhere. They illustrate the point of both pericopes. We must repent since we know not what will happen to us today. The first incident is of some Galileans who very likely supposed they were doing a good thing, a righteous thing, and should be far from harm. They were at temple, making sacrifice, when Pilate killed them. Jesus then tells of 18 people upon whom a tower collapsed, killing them all. Jesus indicates that these folk were not particularly evil. They were just like us—not really evil but not actually good either. He then adds that their fate awaits us all if we do not repent.

Judgment is coming for all people. Perhaps the ax will strike the fig tree today. Maybe it will get a reprieve of a year or so. Jesus uses a temporal example to relate an eternal, spiritual eventuality. Repent. Or else. Trust his righteousness instead of your own. Turn back to God’s counsel. Hear what the Lord will speak. Believe.

Read or listen to a lesson on Luke 13:3. Includes additional Scripture graphic.