Lent 1
The Reverend Martha Frances
Year B, Lent 1 - 1 March 2009
Text: Mark 1: 9-15; Genesis 9: 8-17
Other Readings: Psalm 25: 1-9; 1 Peter 3: 18-22
Today's readings are about covenants, among other things. God's relationship with humans has often been in the form of a covenant, & the end of the flood story is one of the first covenants in the biblical account. Covenants are usually made between unequal parties. Equal parties usually contract with one another, but here, God's covenant is with all creatures, not just humans, & none, not even all gathered together, are equal to God. This covenant isn't just with Israel but is between all present & future generations of humans & other living creatures & God.
Furthermore, notice that neither Noah nor his sons ever say a word. God is the only one who speaks. God doesn't even require a response. Isn't it amazing that, immediately after God has destroyed the whole of animal life on the earth except for the 8 people on the ark, God is eager to establish this free & gracious gift with the world which didn't ask for, earn, or even respond to God's promise. What an generous God we worship! God yearns for relationship.
God obviously knows that even these folks whom God saved in the flood are going to sin; that's part of the equation. Yet, sin is the starting point of redemption, & God is willing to take another chance on the beings on this earth. Just in case God forgets this rash promise to continue to relate lovingly to the world, God places a rainbow in the sky to remind Godself first as well as the rest of us of this lavish covenant.
In Peter's first epistle, we are reminded of God's patience with Noah & Noah's family & that Noah's prehistoric family was saved from the waters of the flood just as we are saved through the waters of baptism into God's covenant with us through Christ.
The gospel story today has 2 parts: Jesus' baptism & Jesus' temptation. First, let's look at the image of covenant, this time through baptism. God's gift of Jesus & affirmation of relationship with Jesus is a powerful part of Jesus' baptism. God's voice affirms to Jesus: "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." How much more lavish could God be in covenanting with us than through the gift of a Son who dwelt among us as fully human & was even destroyed for humankind's short-sightedness & sinfulness?
Lent is an appropriate time to focus on the Covenant we're most familiar with in our own worship & life-story: that of the Baptismal Covenant. In the early Church, Lent was the time of intense preparation for those who would be baptized at the Easter Vigil, & the larger Christian community took the pre-baptismal journey with the new converts, & in so doing, prepared to renew their own baptismal vows in solidarity with the newly baptized. Why is regular renewal of covenant such an important part of their & our lives? Simply, because the 5 baptismal promises, although they are basic to being a disciple, challenge us to commit once again to make the Christian journey the center of our lives.
On the evening of the 11th of April, the evening before Easter at 5:30 p.m., we will be baptizing several children as part of the Easter Vigil service, & it is not too late for you or a family member to choose to be baptized. However, you need to let me know soon so we can schedule a time of preparation for baptism. It is my solemn prayer that the whole Hope community makes the Easter Vigil an integral part of your Lenten discipline, for new Christians need your presence, & all of us need to recommit to these basic tenets of the Christian faith.
You see, God still makes covenant with us regardless of whether we ask for it or respond to it, & we can certainly never earn God's love. God sent Jesus the Christ to all of us, those who acknowledge that gift, but also those who never recognize Jesus as Lord. God continues to reach out to us unconditionally, so our response isn't about earning God's grace or forgiveness. That's already lavished freely upon us.
When we respond by living into the covenant which God makes with us, our lives are infinitely richer. We're invited, in community, to respond to that incredible love of God by covenanting—promising—to live faithfully in Christian community & reaching out to ever-widen that circle of community. Because we need a sign much like God's rainbow reminder of our promises to God in response to God's love for us, we repeat the baptismal covenant on a regular basis.
The 2nd of those baptismal promises (which are found on pages 304-05 of the Book of Common Prayer) states: "Will you persevere in resisting evil, &, whenever you fall into sin, repent & return to the Lord?" And we all respond, "I will, with God's help." We don't ask if people will fall into sin but when. We all know that we will sin, & when that happens, we promise to repent & return to God. Years of experience have taught some of us that the quicker we repent & return to God, the sooner our pain will be lessened & the less damage we will do, both in our relationship with God & in our relationship with one another.
We enter together with wild animals & angels into the scene of Jesus' temptation which happens, Mark tells us in today's gospel, immediately after Jesus' baptism & God's declaration that Jesus is God's beloved Son with whom God is well pleased. If Jesus' temptation occurs on the coattails of such a powerful affirmation of God's loving relationship with Jesus, why should any of us presume, as I often hear from people, that their acceptance of Jesus' call to discipleship should ward off all temptation? Didn't happen to Jesus; doesn't happen to us. Rather, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit's presence with us as we deal with the temptations of life just as the angels ministered to Jesus.
Mark does not elaborate on Jesus' temptations as the other gospel writers do, but we can be assured that Jesus is being tested intensely. What a powerful story to struggle with our first Sunday of Lent! During this 40 day period, we have the opportunity to walk with Jesus through his final days as a human on this earth, & in doing so, we can take heart that Jesus knows the intensity of our own temptations because they were part of his earthly life, too. Part of our Lenten discipline is cleansing ourselves through confession of our most grievous sins—those issues in our lives which trouble us, beyond which we have a hard time proceeding. Mack, the protagonist in the novel The Shack which we are reading in small groups during Lent, certainly struggled with some of the same issues in his life. Private sacramental confession is available for those who would like to avail themselves of this ancient sacrament of the Church. Just let me know when you would like to come in for Confession.
Giving up or limiting habits which are not healthy for us—whether it be alcohol or television or texting while driving or sending critical e-mails or any number of other infelicitous behaviors makes us aware of our dependence on God but also help us clear the excess out of our lives & open ourselves to what God might have in store for us. Taking on disciplines which develop our relationship with God or with others, especially within the Christian community, allows us to hone skills pleasing to God but also encourages us to give & take within our primary faith community & beyond.
I hope you are making use of the Lenten booklets I sent a week or so ago, & I have more for any household that did not get one, so that you & I & our whole community may turn your prayer attention to the struggles of those at home & abroad whose choices & sometimes their very lives are limited.
I commend our Lenten services & activities to you in this time of journeying, reminding you that in addition to Sunday morning worship, we have small study groups meeting weekly as well as Stations of the Cross on Friday evenings at 6:30, & your purple insert in the pew bulletin will outline Holy Week services for mid-April. May we journey together with Jesus for the next 6 weeks so that we may be truly joyous on Easter morn, more committed to our own spiritual deepening, & more a community of sisters & brothers in the faith here at Hope. Come, let us travel together!
Year B, Lent 1 - 1 March 2009
Text: Mark 1: 9-15; Genesis 9: 8-17
Other Readings: Psalm 25: 1-9; 1 Peter 3: 18-22
Today's readings are about covenants, among other things. God's relationship with humans has often been in the form of a covenant, & the end of the flood story is one of the first covenants in the biblical account. Covenants are usually made between unequal parties. Equal parties usually contract with one another, but here, God's covenant is with all creatures, not just humans, & none, not even all gathered together, are equal to God. This covenant isn't just with Israel but is between all present & future generations of humans & other living creatures & God.
Furthermore, notice that neither Noah nor his sons ever say a word. God is the only one who speaks. God doesn't even require a response. Isn't it amazing that, immediately after God has destroyed the whole of animal life on the earth except for the 8 people on the ark, God is eager to establish this free & gracious gift with the world which didn't ask for, earn, or even respond to God's promise. What an generous God we worship! God yearns for relationship.
God obviously knows that even these folks whom God saved in the flood are going to sin; that's part of the equation. Yet, sin is the starting point of redemption, & God is willing to take another chance on the beings on this earth. Just in case God forgets this rash promise to continue to relate lovingly to the world, God places a rainbow in the sky to remind Godself first as well as the rest of us of this lavish covenant.
In Peter's first epistle, we are reminded of God's patience with Noah & Noah's family & that Noah's prehistoric family was saved from the waters of the flood just as we are saved through the waters of baptism into God's covenant with us through Christ.
The gospel story today has 2 parts: Jesus' baptism & Jesus' temptation. First, let's look at the image of covenant, this time through baptism. God's gift of Jesus & affirmation of relationship with Jesus is a powerful part of Jesus' baptism. God's voice affirms to Jesus: "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." How much more lavish could God be in covenanting with us than through the gift of a Son who dwelt among us as fully human & was even destroyed for humankind's short-sightedness & sinfulness?
Lent is an appropriate time to focus on the Covenant we're most familiar with in our own worship & life-story: that of the Baptismal Covenant. In the early Church, Lent was the time of intense preparation for those who would be baptized at the Easter Vigil, & the larger Christian community took the pre-baptismal journey with the new converts, & in so doing, prepared to renew their own baptismal vows in solidarity with the newly baptized. Why is regular renewal of covenant such an important part of their & our lives? Simply, because the 5 baptismal promises, although they are basic to being a disciple, challenge us to commit once again to make the Christian journey the center of our lives.
On the evening of the 11th of April, the evening before Easter at 5:30 p.m., we will be baptizing several children as part of the Easter Vigil service, & it is not too late for you or a family member to choose to be baptized. However, you need to let me know soon so we can schedule a time of preparation for baptism. It is my solemn prayer that the whole Hope community makes the Easter Vigil an integral part of your Lenten discipline, for new Christians need your presence, & all of us need to recommit to these basic tenets of the Christian faith.
You see, God still makes covenant with us regardless of whether we ask for it or respond to it, & we can certainly never earn God's love. God sent Jesus the Christ to all of us, those who acknowledge that gift, but also those who never recognize Jesus as Lord. God continues to reach out to us unconditionally, so our response isn't about earning God's grace or forgiveness. That's already lavished freely upon us.
When we respond by living into the covenant which God makes with us, our lives are infinitely richer. We're invited, in community, to respond to that incredible love of God by covenanting—promising—to live faithfully in Christian community & reaching out to ever-widen that circle of community. Because we need a sign much like God's rainbow reminder of our promises to God in response to God's love for us, we repeat the baptismal covenant on a regular basis.
The 2nd of those baptismal promises (which are found on pages 304-05 of the Book of Common Prayer) states: "Will you persevere in resisting evil, &, whenever you fall into sin, repent & return to the Lord?" And we all respond, "I will, with God's help." We don't ask if people will fall into sin but when. We all know that we will sin, & when that happens, we promise to repent & return to God. Years of experience have taught some of us that the quicker we repent & return to God, the sooner our pain will be lessened & the less damage we will do, both in our relationship with God & in our relationship with one another.
We enter together with wild animals & angels into the scene of Jesus' temptation which happens, Mark tells us in today's gospel, immediately after Jesus' baptism & God's declaration that Jesus is God's beloved Son with whom God is well pleased. If Jesus' temptation occurs on the coattails of such a powerful affirmation of God's loving relationship with Jesus, why should any of us presume, as I often hear from people, that their acceptance of Jesus' call to discipleship should ward off all temptation? Didn't happen to Jesus; doesn't happen to us. Rather, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit's presence with us as we deal with the temptations of life just as the angels ministered to Jesus.
Mark does not elaborate on Jesus' temptations as the other gospel writers do, but we can be assured that Jesus is being tested intensely. What a powerful story to struggle with our first Sunday of Lent! During this 40 day period, we have the opportunity to walk with Jesus through his final days as a human on this earth, & in doing so, we can take heart that Jesus knows the intensity of our own temptations because they were part of his earthly life, too. Part of our Lenten discipline is cleansing ourselves through confession of our most grievous sins—those issues in our lives which trouble us, beyond which we have a hard time proceeding. Mack, the protagonist in the novel The Shack which we are reading in small groups during Lent, certainly struggled with some of the same issues in his life. Private sacramental confession is available for those who would like to avail themselves of this ancient sacrament of the Church. Just let me know when you would like to come in for Confession.
Giving up or limiting habits which are not healthy for us—whether it be alcohol or television or texting while driving or sending critical e-mails or any number of other infelicitous behaviors makes us aware of our dependence on God but also help us clear the excess out of our lives & open ourselves to what God might have in store for us. Taking on disciplines which develop our relationship with God or with others, especially within the Christian community, allows us to hone skills pleasing to God but also encourages us to give & take within our primary faith community & beyond.
I hope you are making use of the Lenten booklets I sent a week or so ago, & I have more for any household that did not get one, so that you & I & our whole community may turn your prayer attention to the struggles of those at home & abroad whose choices & sometimes their very lives are limited.
I commend our Lenten services & activities to you in this time of journeying, reminding you that in addition to Sunday morning worship, we have small study groups meeting weekly as well as Stations of the Cross on Friday evenings at 6:30, & your purple insert in the pew bulletin will outline Holy Week services for mid-April. May we journey together with Jesus for the next 6 weeks so that we may be truly joyous on Easter morn, more committed to our own spiritual deepening, & more a community of sisters & brothers in the faith here at Hope. Come, let us travel together!
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