March 23, 2025 3rd Sunday of Lent
Readings: 1st Corinthians 10:1-13, Luke 13:1-9, Psalm 63:1-8
What Do You Cling To?
Have you ever experienced someone that is a clingy individual? That has some real negative overtones in the worldly standards. How is a clingy individual defined, or should I say, what denotes a clingy individual to the worldly standards? Is there such a thing as a clingy individual in the church? Some would describe a person who is clingy as very demanding. Some would say that they are overly needy. I remember in high school it was someone that was constantly pushing their way into a group or person. They seemed so consumed on seeking out the company of those the desired to be around. We’ve all experienced someone who would always show up and wanted to be in the middle of whatever was going on, and possibly being a tad overbearing in how they got involved. Maybe it was someone who desired nothing more than to be involved in everything you were doing. They were seeking you! How did you handle it back then? What do you do now when you come into an encounter with a clingy individual? Is there someone in Hope, your family, or even in this church that you would classify or judge as “clingy”?
Here is another aspect of Clingy. What about our kids? As they grew up, we were their protectors, their providers. We made sure they were safe and had everything they needed not to mention being successful. The hardest thing for a parent to do is allow their children to make mistakes. It’s also another thing to trust in their decision making. Think back; those of you who have children of that age, when they were teenagers, it was hard to let them go out and do things without you being nearby to watch over them. We want to help them with every choice that they could make. Those of you who have children not yet that age, your kids will want you to back off and not be so clingy. So, yes, we were clingy. How did you feel when they would indicate, refrain from or just plain tell you that they did not need you around all the time. In so many ways they needed their independence and away from our clinginess. Now also think back to those people you think are clingy, when you in so many words tell them you want your independence from their clinginess. This puts another spin on it for you, doesn’t it? They need your company and love. Granted they may not be showing it in the right way but needing you none the less. I will say that there are cases where clinging is totally unhealthy.
Is there another way or worldly thing that we are clinging to? What about things that you must have or more of, things that you just cannot let out of sight, and yes that includes money? We cling to time, when we cannot make time for God and/or family. We cling to our jobs when all we care about is the next thing that must be done, or working for that next promotion, raise and bonus. By doing so, we are clinging to self-created idols. As Paul warns us, we can cling to drink, sexual immorality, chronic complaining or how we can one up the next person, especially in church. Think about that one, when we exclaim that we are better than this person or church, we are clinging to our own achievements. We are working our way to salvation. We cannot cling to our good deeds. Yes, in response to our salvation, God’s Grace we are to return in our gifts of time, talent and tithe, but not to the level of boasting about it and rubbing it in others faces.
So, what should we cling to? Well, in the song The Old Rugged Cross, we sing that we will cling to the cross! Cling to the cross, think about that for a moment. We have a cross displayed on our Altar, on the Wall, on the Stone out front, in the sidewalk at the entrance, we believe it is a bridge from the world over the chasm of eternal damnation to the kingdom of God, we have one on a chain we wear around our necks. Do we cling to those crosses? Is it the cross that saves us? Nope! Even the song states that it is the emblem of suffering and shame. What saves us from eternal death is the Grace of God provided by the birth, life, suffering, pain, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus the Christ, that is what saves us! By metaphorically clinging to the cross, we remember and revere what the cross stands for and what it took to bring us back to the Almighty Father. Truthfully, we cling to our Triune God that provided a way that we can be forgiven of all the sins we have, are, and will commit in our mortal lives. Just as in communion, we do it in remembrance of what Christ did for us. We need reminders of whose we are and who we owe so much to. By that, who we need to be clinging to. The Apostles Creed is another way we can. # 881 in the Hymnal.
In the Psalms passage today, David is in the wilderness, as he often finds himself. The passage states that we are to thirst for God, to hunger for the presence of God in our daily lives. We are to seek God in our moments of anguish and in our times of extreme joy. More important we should seek and cling to God in our every moment. Several things come to us in this passage. The Palmist speaks of the intimacy God has for him but also the intimacy he has for God. The Psalmist is not speaking to and with God in a temple or with a priest, but in the wilderness. For us today that means that God is not just present for us in the Church on Sunday between 10am and 11:30, but always. There is Trust, Steadfast Love, Protection, and connection given from God and received by the Psalmist. Yet we see the same in return to God Almighty. David truly believes that God is present and hears every word David utters. Yet in Davids longing to cling to God, he is present and hears every whisper of God. Do you believe that God is not just present in our sanctuaries on a given time, that God resides in our hearts 24-7-365? Do you believe that He is in your very soul, in your overly full and extended schedules, and in your wilderness of trouble and tribulations? If not. How do you get there. How do you obtain that desire and devotion in every aspect of your life?
Paul and Jesus warn us about just simply believing and not actively pursuing God and all that He can be for us. We are not to just know who God is and believe what He has done for us but continue to go on in our sinful nature. In the parable, the tree cannot grow and bear fruit if it is just left on its own. It needs care and nourishment to be fruitful. The harsh reality of that for us is this, we cannot grow in the love of God, cling to Him but only coming to church when it is convenient for us. No! It means going to God regularly. Coming in the sanctuary and be in community out of devotion to God as part of your routine. Some have said that their week is all bollexed up if they miss church on Sunday. Being in church allows you to communicate with others, we hear what is going on in their lives and they hear what is going on in our life. For those who join us online, you can be a part of this community. You may be wondering, how? Well, you hear what is going on in the lives of this church, but we cannot hear what is going on in the lives of you, the viewers. If you do not let us know who you are and include us in your joys and concerns, then it is a one-sided relationship. You see that the Psalmist had a two-way street with God. Our relationships are to be the same. There are those of you that this is the only way you can attend church, and we are blessed to have you join us this way. Others if you can, do seek also, and I say also by reaching out to others in a personal way as well. In frequent prayer, conversation and meditation just with God Almighty. He wants a relationship with you. That is how you obtain the desire and devotion with the God Almighty, relationship with community in the Name of God and with God himself in pray and meditation.
