THIS PAST WEEK ON ASH WEDNESDAY – WE WALKED THROUGH THE DOORWAY INTO THE 40 DAYS OF LENT - THE 40 DAYS (EXCLUDING SUNDAYS) WHICH PRECEDE EACH YEAR THE CELEBRATION OF EASTER.
LENT IS ALL ABOUT PREPARING FOR EASTER… AND WHERE DO WE BEGIN ON THIS 1ST SUNDAY OF LENT? BARBARA BROWN TAYLOR SUGGESTS IN HER SERMON ON THIS SAME TEXT FROM LUKE’S GOSPEL THAT:
“THE SEASON OF LENT BEGINS WITH JESUS SITTING IN THE WILDERNESS, BEING TESTED BY THE DEVIL… HIS HAIR IS STILL WET FROM HIS BAPTISM BY JOHN… NO SOONER DID HE COME OUT OF THE WATER THAN THE DOVE THAT HAD LIT ON HIM TURNED INTO A GUIDE BIRD, LEADING HIM AWAY FROM THE RIVER AND INTO THE DESERT WITH THE VOICE OF GOD STILL RINGING IN HIS EARS: ‘THIS IS MY SON, THE BELOVED, WITH WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.’ ”…THE 40 DAYS OF LENT ARE INTENDED TO ENCOURAGE US TO CONSIDER OUR FAITH INTENTIONALLY AS WELL AS TO REMEMBER OTHER PERIODS OF TESTING, TRIAL, & WILDERNESS WALKING THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE THROUGHOUT OUR LIVE & GOD’S HISTORY…IT WAS 40 DAYS THAT NOAH SPENT DRIFTING ON A FLOODED & DESOLATE EARTH HOPING FOR DRY LAND SOMEWHERE… IT WAS 40 YEARS THAT THE ISRAELITIES WANDERED IN THE WILDERNESS BEFORE GOD BROUGHT THEM INTO THE PROMISED LAND… IT WAS 40 DAYS OF TEMPTATION IN THE WILDERNESS FOR JESUS… AND IT IS 40 DAYS OF LENT THAT WE STEP INTO HERE IN ROCKY HILL, CT…
ON THIS PAST WEDNESDAY MANY OF US GATHERED TO MARK THE TRANSITION FROM ORDINARY TIME TO LENTEN TIME… WE HAD A UNIQUE HOLIDAY ON ASH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. BECAUSE OF THE WEATHER RELATED CANCELLATION OF OUR SHROVE TUESDAY EVENT WE CELEBRATED MARDI GRAS HERE ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT WITH LOTS OF PANCAKES, BACON, SAUSAGE, & A KING’S CAKE AS WELL AS WONDERFUL DIXIELAND MUSIC & SOME DANCING & SINGING! AND THAT SAME NIGHT, BECAUSE IT WAS ALSO ASH WENDESDAY, WE TRANSITIONED RIGHT INTO LENT WITH WORSHIP & THE USE OF ASHES (BURNED FROM LAST YEAR’S PALMS) TO MARK OUR BODIES WITH THE SIGN OF THE CROSS… WE BEGAN OUR LENTEN JOURNEY THIS PAST WEDNESDAY WITH CONFESSION, WITH THE ADMISSION OF OUR OWN BROKENNESS & WITH AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF OUR OWN MORTALITY…
THE WORDS “REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE DUST AND TO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN” ARE THE TRADITIONAL WORDS USED ON ASH WEDNESDAY TO REMIND US THAT DURING LENT WE JOURNEY TOWARD JERUSALEM AND DEATH AS WELL AS TO THE EMPTY TOMB ON EASTER MORNING, WHERE WE RECEIVE THE GOOD NEWS OF ETERNAL LIFE…
LENT IS ALL ABOUT MOVING FROM DEATH TO LIFE… IT IS ABOUT PREPARING FOR THAT AMAZING & SHOCKING EASTER MORNING… LET’S CONSIDER MAKING THIS LENT A TIME OF RENEWAL & A TIME FOR “SPRING CLEANING” OUR HEARTS…
LET’S LET GO OF ALL THAT NO LONGER WORKS FOR US… LET’S SIMPLIFY & PURGE OUR LIVES OF EXCESS SO WE MIGHT CREATE OPEN SPACE FOR SOMETHING NEW TO COME IN… LET’S MAKE THIS LENT A TIME FOR RECONNECTING WITH GOD…. LET’S MAKE THIS NEXT 40 DAYS A TIME TO RENEW OUR HEARTS AND A TIME TO “LET THE POWER OF OUR FAITH STORY TAKE HOLD OF US.” (ANN WEEMS)
THE BIBLICAL TERM USED TO DESCRIBE THIS NEW BEGINNING WITH GOD IS REPENTANCE. REPENTANCE HELPS US TURN AROUND & TURN BACK TO GOD… LENT OFFERS US A CHANCE TO TURN THINGS AROUND, TO BE TRANSFORMED…
“Lent is God’s time to initiate change in us. Its beauty and mystery set the stage for Easter’s triumph. Lent, therefore, is not about human activity; it is about God preparing us for resurrection. Lent is a time to create for ourselves a holy openness to profound transformation. Lent refashions how we look at ourselves and how we look at God. From beginning to end, Lent is a season of God’s activity.” (from Breathing New Life into Lent by Judson Press)THE PROPHETS OFTEN CALLED FOR “RENDING THE HEART” – A TOTAL CHANGE OF THE PERSON’S BODY, MIND & SPIRIT.
THIS KIND OF TRANSFORMATION DOESN’T HAPPEN BY SIMPLY WISHING IT SO…
TRANSFORMATION ONLY HAPPENS WITH GOD’S HELP… IT IS ONLY AS WE TURN & SEEK TO RETURN TO GOD THAT GOD ALSO TURNS TOWARD US & OFFERS US A HAND UP…
TODAY WE ARE REMINDED THAT JESUS DIDN’T JUST WANDER INTO THE DESERT BY MISTAKE! JESUS “WAS LED BY THE SPIRIT” INTO THE WILDERNESS… JESUS WAS LEAD INTO HIS 40 DAY WILDERNESS EXAM BY THE HOLY SPIRIT… AND TODAY WE DON’T HEAR MUCH ABOUT THE HARD WORK OF THE 40 DAYS. INSTEAD WE GET RIGHT TO JESUS’ FINAL EXAM…
WE HEAR TODAY WHAT JESUS HAPPENS AT THE VERY END OF HIS 40 DAY WILDERNESS TIME… IT IS AT THE END OF THOSE LONG DAYS & NIGHTS THAT JESUS IS MOST SERIOUSLY TEMPTED… TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL - THE VERY PERSONIFICATION OF EVIL.
WE ARE OFTEN TEMPTED WHEN WE ARE THE WEAKEST – RIGHT? IT WAS WHEN JESUS WAS REALLY, REALLY, REALLY HUNGRY THAT HE GETS TESTED TO SEE IF HE WILL USE GOD’S POWER TO PROVIDE HIM WITH FOOD… IT’S WHEN JESUS IS EXHAUSTED & WEAK & WONDERING WHAT IN HEAVEN’S NAME GOD HAD CALLED HIM TO DO THAT THAT THE TESTING BEGINS…
TEMPTATION OFTEN WAITS UNTIL WE RUN OUT OF OUR OWN RESOURCES… WE ARE MOST SERIOUSLY TEMPTED WHEN WE HAVE THE OFFER OF A LITTLE HELP FROM SOMEONE OTHER THAN GOD…
WHAT A STRANGE CONTRAST IT MUST HAVE BEEN FOR JESUS TO GO FROM THAT VERY PUBLIC BAPTISM - WITH GOD SPEAKING FROM THE CLOUDS - TO 40 DAYS & 40 NIGHTS ALONE IN THE DESERT…TALK ABOUT AN OUTWARD BOUND EXPERIENCE OF THE SOUL…
BARBARA BROWN TAYLOR AGAIN COMMENTS APTLY HERE:
“IT IS ONLY A TEST IF HE IS SORELY TEMPTED – TO RISE ABOVE THE HUNGER, THE DANGER, THE HELPLESSNESS OF THE HUMAN CONDITION &SEIZE SOMETHING BETTER FOR HIMSELF….THIS IS THE STORY IN WHICH EVERYONE FINDS OUT WHAT BEING THE SON OF GOD REALLY MEANS. THIS IS THE STORY IN WHICH JESUS PROVES WHO HE IS, NOT BY SEIZING POWER, BUT BY TURNING IT DOWN. GOD’S BELOVED WILL NOT PRACTICE MAGIC. HE WILL NOT ASK FOR SPECIAL PROTECTION OR SEEK POLITICAL POWER. AS MUCH AS IT MAY SURPRISE EVERYONE, INCLUDING HIM, HE WILL REMAIN HUMAN, ACCEPTING ALL THE USUAL RISKS.”TODAY AT THE VERY START OF OUR OWN 40 DAYS OF LENT WE OBSERVE JESUS BEING TEMPTED AT THE CLOSE OF HIS OWN WILDERNESS TIME… AND INSOFAR AS WE BELONG TO JESUS, THIS IS A STORY ABOUT OUR OWN IDENTITY AS WELL… FOR THIS STORY REMINDS US OF WHEN WE ARE TEMPTED & WHAT WE DO & WHAT WE SAY & HOW WE TOO MUST SOMETIMES DECLARE, “AWAY WITH YOU, SATAN!”
LET’S PREPARE FOR SOME SPRING CLEANING OF OUR HEARTS THIS LENT… LET’S PREPARE TO OPEN OURSELVES TO GOD’S LEADING… LET’S CHOOSE TO MAKE THIS LENT A TIME TO “INTENSIFY OUR LIVING UNTO CHRIST.” AMEN
(grateful acknowledgement to the sermon entitled “The Wilderness Test” by Barbara Brown Taylor from Bread of Angels)