The Third Sunday in Lent
Listen to the Sermon for March 23, 2014
Read the Sermon for March 23, 2014
Category: Meditation
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Managing Our Fear in the Pursuit of Faith
Last weekend, Dr. Richard Blackburn, Executive Director of the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, was at Christ Church Cranbrook to lead a Healthy Congregations Workshop. The guiding principles of this workshop are derived from the work of Dr. Murray Bowen and Rabbi Edwin Friedman in family systems theory.
“Family systems theory postulates that the operation of the emotional system reflects an interplay between two counterbalancing forces – individuality and togetherness.” Of particular significance is their study of how anxiety affects any emotional system and the individuals in it.
Anxiety is the response of an organism to a real or imagined threat and is present in every person and relationship. Acute anxiety is a response to a real threat and most people usually adapt fairly successfully to acute anxiety. Chronic anxiety occurs in response to imaginary threats and often strains people’s ability to adapt to it.
An emotional system may be a family, a company, a sports team, a governmental entity, or a congregation. Individuals find ways to adapt to the anxieties of the family systems from which they come and bring those behaviors into other emotional systems.
Two key objectives of the workshop were to help each person explore and manage the anxiety in his or her life and to learn to recognize and appropriately respond to anxiety at work in the emotional systems in which they are involved.
An example from the story of our faith is the reaction of the Hebrews when Moses was on the mountain and did not return to them as soon as some expected (Exodus 32). Aaron was left in charge of the people while Moses was away. The people gathered around Aaron and expressed their anxiety about the delayed return of Moses. Instead of responding to the anxiety of the people from grounding in the divine values and principles that shaped them as a people and him as their leader, he reacted by abdicating his leadership role and instructed them to make a golden calf, which they could worship. As a poorly defined leader, Aaron let the anxieties of the herd take charge and proposed a quick-fix solution to the imagined problem they brought to him. When Moses confronted Aaron about what he did, he blamed the people instead of accepting responsibility. He even went so far as to give a completely passive explanation for the idol’s existence: “So, I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off’; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
Moses himself failed in leadership in the face of the fears of the people at Kadesh-barnea. When the spies brought back a fear-laden report from the land God had commanded them to enter, the people said, “Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear” (Deut.1:28 NIV). Instead of responding to their fear of an imagined threat from the reality of God’s promise of protection, Moses reacted by caving in. The result, as you know, was that the people had to wander around in the wilderness until that faithless generation had died and Moses was not permitted to enter the Promised Land.
Contrast these two examples with the leadership of Jesus during his temptation in the wilderness, where he responded to Satan by managing his own inner being, during the occasion at Caesarea Philipi when Peter urged him to take another path than the one that would lead to the cross, and during his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane when his struggle with anxiety was so intense that he sweated blood.
Maybe Lent can be a time for us to search ourselves and discover the anxieties that interfere with our life in community and our ability to remain calm when others around us are losing their heads. When we do that, the life of the emotional systems of which we are members become healthier and we become more human, because we make better use of the uniquely human part of our brain that allows reason to overcome the reactions that come from the more primitive parts of our brains.
I am aware that many of the things that emerge from those more primitive parts of the human brain are necessary for survival. But when we are faced with imaginary or even potential threats, we have the God-given resources and opportunities to more fully express our humanity. And, as St. Irenaeus once said, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive; and to be alive consists in beholding God.” It is God who calls us to live our lives from divine values and principles so that we can build up the Church, advance God’s reign on earth, and embrace God’s vision of a creation restored in God’s Son.
That’s a worthy objective for the observance of a holy Lent.
I’ll see you in Church!
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An Invitation
On Wednesday of this week, your Priests will read this invitation to keep a holy Lent from the Book of Common Prayer to those gathered at one of our three services (7:00 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 7:00 p.m.).
Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.
I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.
This invitation is one you don’t want to decline!
Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent offer the faithful an opportunity to participate in an ancient discipline that promises spiritual growth and health. You'll be a better person and a better Christian if you take it seriously.
According to the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent forty days fasting in the desert, where he endured temptation by Satan. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a forty-day liturgical period of prayer and fasting or abstinence for the followers of Jesus. In case you are counting the days on the calendar, you will notice that there are actually forty-six days from Ash Wednesday until Easter. That’s because of the forty-six days until Easter, six are Sundays. As the Christian sabbath, Sundays IN Lent are not included in the fasting period and are instead "feast" days.
Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of adherents as a celebration and reminder of human mortality, and as a sign of mourning and repentance to God. Ashes were used in ancient times to express mourning. Dusting oneself with ashes was the penitent's way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults. The ashes used are typically gathered from the burning of the palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday. Here, we burn them to make ashes when we gather for the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper.
What do we do with the Season of Lent? How do we keep Lent "holy?" How does it prepare us for the Easter Feast? The invitation itself provides the answers.
By Self-examination and Repentance
Each of us is equipped with something called a conscience. It is the part of our mind that allows us to distinguish right from wrong, truth from falsehood, good from evil. During Lent, we take more time than usual to examine our consciences and, when we find something for which we are sorry, we repent. One meaning of repentance is to feel or show that you are sorry for something bad or wrong that you did and that you want to do what is right. In Jesus’ preaching, repentance also meant to change course toward the abundant life God offers. We turn from that which leads to death and toward that which leads to new life in Christ.
By Prayer, Fasting, and Self-denial
Any important relationship depends on good communication. Our relationship with Christ is no exception. Prayer is the primary way we communicate with Christ. We pray privately and as a Christian community during corporate worship. If you have fallen out of the habit of daily prayer weekly Holy Communion, Lent is a good time to return to Church! And, by the way, this applies to our children as well as adults. Remember those promises we made on their behalf at the time of their Baptism? They are on this journey with us and they look to their parents and other adults to help them find God's way.
Fasting is a type of prayer. It has sometimes been called “the prayer of the body” because when we refrain from some physical pleasure or craving, our body literally cries out. Those “hungers” remind us of places in our lives where we have substituted things and experiences for what comes only from God. So, our bodies cry out for God to feed our deeper hungers.
By denying ourselves, we also are better able to identify with our sisters and brothers who don’t have shelter or enough to eat or adequate care for their mental and physical health. Self-denial can, therefore, prompt compassion in us and that can lead to seeking ways in which we can reach out to those in need, more intentionally seek peace and justice in our world, and respect the dignity of every human being.
By Reading and Meditating on God’s Word
Lent is a time when we can start or resume a discipline of daily Bible reading. We can follow the Daily Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer and the readings provided in the lectionary for those services. We can take the Bible Challenge, or join a Bible study group. We can take the readings for the Sunday services more seriously in the days leading up to or following Sundays.
As Episcopalians, we search the Scriptures through the lenses of tradition and reason. Generally speaking, tradition is the historic and evolving teaching of the Church. Reason gives us the ability to explore, to question, and to apply the meaning of Scripture to the way we live. As we journey through this forty-day season, we can take a fresh look at the ancient texts that have transformed the lives of multitudes and appropriate them for ourselves.
These are the things the Church calls us to do to keep Lent “holy” – a time that is especially set apart to attune our lives to God’s and a time to ask God to do with us more than we can possibly do with ourselves. This holy time helps us continue on the journey with God. In last Sunday's gospel, we heard how Peter wanted to stop the procession when Jesus was transfigured and stood on the mountaintop with Moses and Elijah. But Jesus pointed down the road. We have not yet arrived at our destination. There is more to come and Jesus Christ invites us to continue the journey with him. Then, at the end of Lent, when we reach the celebration of Christ's triumph over death, we'll have a greater appreciation for the depth and power of God's love for us. Please don’t pass up this opportunity.
I’ll see you in Church!
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Worship for Life
Lex Orandi is a worshiping community that gathers on Sunday evenings at Christ
Church Cranbrook for a meal and worship. The experience is sometimes described as "Ancient Future Worship."
Last Sunday evening, Bishop Gibbs and Canon Gettel were with us at Lex Orandi to begin a conversation about the next steps for this worshiping community as their founding spiritual leader, The Rev. Jim Hamilton, goes to another place of ministry in the Diocese of Maryland. It was a very good beginning, with a wonderful openness and lots of listening. The conversation will continue in the coming weeks.
After sharing some of his own spiritual journey with us, one member of the Lex Orandi community said, “Worshiping with this community helps me live my life better.” That was one of the most important things expressed during the conversation. It might be the effect any Christian community should hope to have on the lives of those who worship with them. Reflected in what this pilgrim said is not only the richness and wonder of the liturgy but also evidence of an abundance of hospitality where worshipers are able to be vulnerable and feel at home. They don’t have to “fit in” to feel that they belong because they are invited to be themselves and experience the unconditional love of Christ.
I was reminded of some words from the Preface to Liturgy for Living, written by Charles Price and Louis Weil in 1979 at the time of the publication of what was then the “new” Book of Common Prayer:
The worship of the Christian community, properly understood and done, leads worshipers to act out in their lives the love of God, which is at the heart of our worship. Worship also provides the power and the sustenance, which makes this style of living possible. This Christian style of living, moreover, drives those who are committed to it back to the worship of God, to find forgiveness and strength…When this interdependent relationship is understood, the power of worship is illuminated and the power to live increased.
That is the meaning behind the name of this worshiping community. The Latin phrase Lex orandi, lex credendi, loosely translated, means "the law of praying is the law of believing.” It is an ancient Christian principle about the relationship between worship and belief. An early version of the maxim is found in the writings of Prosper of Aquitaine (c. 390 – c. 455), a Christian writer and disciple of Saint Augustine of Hippo. He wrote, “Let us consider the sacraments of priestly prayers, which having been handed down by the apostles are celebrated uniformly throughout the whole world and in every catholic Church so that the law of praying might establish the law of believing." * The principle guided Thomas Cranmer as he prepared the first Book of Common Prayer and it has guided those entrusted with subsequent revisions.
The love of God at the heart of Christian worship leads worshipers to act out the love of God in their lives. Worship teaches us to live. That’s why the discipline of weekly corporate worship is so necessary for the Christian journey. Our prayers shape our beliefs and our beliefs shape our lives. During the Epiphany season, I often begin the blessing of the congregation with these words from The Book of Occasional Services: "May Christ, the Son of God, be manifest in you, that your lives may be a light to the world."
I hope every person who enters a Christian house of worship and participates in worship with a community gathered there will be able to say, “Worshiping with this community helps me live my life better.” And we can all say an enthusiastic, "AMEN!"
I’ll see you in Church!
* Patrologia Latina [Latin Patristic] 51, pp. 209–10
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Life Beyond the Law
In yesterday’s sermon, I explored Jesus’ explanation of the “higher righteousness” that is necessary to enter the kingdom of heaven. I’d like to explore that a little further in this Monday Message.
Jesus says that the goodness of his followers must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees and then he offers examples of how the letter and the spirit of the law need to be joined together for abundant living. As we consciously align our lives with divine commandments and principles, over time we are formed into living expressions of them. Jesus tells us that he did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. The fulfillment of the law occurs when external rules become internal inclinations, when rules for living become a way of life, when the seed takes root and produces virtuous fruit.
When Jesus says, “You have heard it said in ancient times… but I say to you,” he is calling us from merely avoiding negative behaviors to intentionally behaving in positive, life-affirming ways. A life beyond the law is not a lawless life but an abundant life. Abundant life, according to the teachings of Jesus, is about more than following the rules; it is about the formation of character and virtue. Following the rules is but the first step toward fruitful and virtuous living in the realm where God reigns.
St. Paul refers to the Law of God as a tutor, which guides us until our characters are so formed that the point of the Law is inherent in the way we live. He also likens the following of spiritual rules to the discipline followed by an athlete during training; when the contest comes, the athlete is prepared.
My career on the track team did not last long. But it lasted long enough for me to recognize the discipline of training, including the use of ankle weights. After weeks of running a quarter of a mile with weights strapped to my ankles, I discovered I was much faster without them on the day of the race.
We practice things like not lying so that we might become people who are known for our truthfulness. We avoid coveting and stealing what belongs to others so that we learn to be grateful for and generous with what is ours. We refrain from murder so that even our murderous thoughts are replaced by loving actions toward our neighbors.
Have you ever noticed the carved figures on the reredos above the high altar at Christ Church Cranbrook? Eight of the carved figures represent the “Crown of Christian Virtues” as described in the Second Epistle of Peter.
“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (II Peter 1:5-8 KJV).
The next time you come to the high altar, let these figures remind you of the fruit God is trying to bring forth in our lives through the disciplines God has given to us.
• Faith – A Sower
• Virtue – A Martyr
• Knowledge – A Scroll
• Temperance – A Figure in Starry Robe With a Pilot’s Wheel
• Patience – A Woman Untangling a Skein of Yarn
• Godliness – A Soldier of Christ with the Sword of Justice and Breastplate of Righteousness
• Kindness – A Priest holding a Chalice
• Charity – A Figure Holding the Earth with the Holy Spirit, in the Form of A Dove, Sheltering it Beneath its wings.The things God has commanded us to do or not do are supposed to lead us to a point when we are not merely slaves to the rules but people in whom the deeper purpose of the rules is fully expressed in the way we live. God has given us the Church so that through our gathering together we might help each other grow toward the greater righteousness of which Jesus spoke in his Sermon on the Mount.
In the next few weeks, there are several events in the life of this parish that are opportunities to explore our lives, strengthen the community of faith, reach out to others, and grow toward that greater righteousness. I realize we are asking a lot, but I hope you will find these occasions to be time well spent for your spiritual welfare and the spiritual welfare of others. You can click each item for links to more information.
February 23 - Ministry and Muffins
February 28 – Evening for Outreach | Purchase your tickets Now!
March 4 – Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper & Mardi Gras
March 5 - Ash Wednesday & Lenten Wednesday Program
March 7-8 – Healthy Congregations Workshop | Register Now!
March 30-April 6 – CCC Hosts South Oakland Shelter | Sign up now to Help!
I’ll conclude with a prayer we sometimes pray prior to worship. It is the Chorister’s Prayer of the Royal School of Church Music. This prayer has origins at least as far back the fourth Council of Carthage (398 AD) and beautifully expresses the relationship between the actions of our lives and the inner results for which we hope.
Bless, O Lord, us Thy servants,
who minister in Thy temple.
Grant that what we sing with our lips,
we may believe in our hearts,
and what we believe in our hearts,
we may show forth in our lives.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.I’ll see you in Church!
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The Renewal of the Baptismal Covenant
Yesterday, on the Feast of the Baptism of Christ, we renewed the Baptismal Covenant. We do that from time to time so that we can remember that we are God’s beloved sons and daughters whom God has invited to live in a covenant relationship. A covenant relationship is one in which each party is bound to remain in relationship even when the other does not live up to the promises of the covenant. The most important thing to remember about our covenant relationship with God is that God always remains faithful to us, even when we are unfaithful to God. God is always there, calling us back into that unique relationship.
I suppose the most impressive thing about this God of ours is the fact that, instead of sitting upon a throne, aloof and disinterested in the affairs of the people he has created, our God has chosen to enter into a covenant with us. This is a difficult thing for some to believe. I even find myself sometimes asking, when I sense my own unfaithfulness and that of the world around me, "What's a nice God like you doing in a covenant like this?"
As God's covenant promises were declared and established in the Baptism of Jesus – so God’s covenant promises are declared in our Baptism. In our Baptism we, like our Messiah who has gone before us, are anointed and our identity as God's children is established. Through Baptism we become members of God's family and are ordained to the priesthood of believers.
Whenever Baptism is administered, it is a sign of God's action and God's intentions toward us. God gets involved with us in a covenant relationship because God desires to be in fellowship with us and wants to work in and through us toward the fulfillment of our lives and the life of all creation. Who we are determines what we do, how we respond to the world and all the people and events of life.
Carl Sandburg once told a group of students at a Harvard commencement, "you need the spirit of Lincoln, who in the divided house of his day knew what to do because he knew who he was." To be taught that we are children of God and to define ourselves in that way changes what we do with our lives. It is news we can embrace or resist. The fruit of our lives reveals which we are doing.
In Baptism we are marked as Christian disciples and heirs of God's grace. Few of us can actually remember our Baptism – its precise details. But we can remember that we are Baptized just as we can remember that we are born. In remembering our Baptism, we get back in touch with who we really are, God's children, called and set apart for a special purpose. We renew the covenant God has established with us so that there may be a renewal of forgiveness, faith, and ministry in our task as God’s own beloved people.
In Alex Haley's book, Roots, there is a memorable scene the night the slave, Kunte Kinte, drove his master to a ball at the big plantation house. Kunta Kinte heard the music from inside the house, music from the white folk's dance. He parked the buggy and settled down to wait out the long night of his master's revelry. While he sat in the buggy, he heard other music coming from the slave's quarters, the little cabins behind the big house. It was different music, music with a different rhythm. He felt himself carried down the path toward those cabins. There he found a man playing African music, his music which he remembered hearing in Africa as a child – the music he had almost forgotten. Kunta Kinte found that the man was from his section of Africa. They talked excitedly, in his native language, of home and the things of home.
That night, Kunta Kinte went home changed. He lay upon the dirt floor of his little cabin and wept. Weeping in sadness that he had almost forgotten, weeping in joy that he had at last remembered. The terrifying, degrading experience of slavery had almost obliterated his memory of who he was. But the music had helped him remember.
This is a parable about Baptism. It is a parable about how easy it is to forget who we are and whose we are. So the Church is here to remind us, to remind one another, that our freedom has been bought with a price, that someone greater than us has named us and claimed us, seeks us and loves us, with only one good reason in mind – to love us for all eternity. Whenever we see the water poured and each time we feast on the bread and wine of the Eucharist, let us renew the Baptismal Covenant, which we, from time to time, have broken. Each time someone is brought to these holy waters, let us remember our Baptism and be thankful. And each time we step back into the mission field at the Church’s doorstep, let us remember that we are beloved of God so that we can share that blessing with others.
I once had a small piece of one-way glass on my desk with an inscription that said, “Lord, make my life a window for your light to shine through and a mirror to reflect your love to all I meet.” That is exactly what God hopes will come of my Baptism, and yours as well.
I’ll see you in Church!
P.S. Thanks to Tom Booth for his photo of the Baptism of Christ panel in the East Window above the High Altar of Christ Church Cranbrook.