| "Preparing for Lent"
February 3, 2008
The Rev. Catherine Wright
Last Sunday after the Epiphany
Year A
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Glen Ellyn
Revised Common Lectionary
It is the final Sunday before Lent begins. Lent has come on
us very quickly this year- we just got Jesus born less than
6 weeks ago and yesterday we remembered his presentation in
the temple as an infant. Here we are today seeing him as an
adult, just declared the Messiah by one of his disciples days
ago. Standing transfigured with two of the greatest prophets
of our history. And Wednesday we start our walk with Christ
towards the cross and Easter. It is all very sudden to me -
I don’t feel quite ready to start Lent, and I have but
a few short days to get ready.
Jim Hamilton preached a couple of weeks ago, and drew a wonderful
picture for us of climbing up into a weeping willow tree and
being enveloped by its branches- feeling very secure and protected
there. He had us climbing that tree with him and seeing the
light filtering through the branches. I want to go further with
that and kick around the base a little - push on the trunk if
you will. What if that wasn’t your early experiences of
climbing trees? What if yours was a little different? My brother
was a couple of years older than me, and I seemed to be encouraged
to attempt things I wasn’t really sure I was ready for.
Let’s take it from that younger sister’s viewpoint.
You say this is great, that I will love it up in that tree.
I’m not so sure. I like running around down here - it’s
just fine and I’m doing okay. Those branches look very
high - I don’t want to try it and fall. I’m not
really sure that the old dog house really will support me as
I stand on it to reach that first branch. My muscles aren’t
strong enough to pull me up. The limbs seem very scratchy -
pokey to me. The wind makes weird noises up here. I’m
scared. What am I doing? Same tree- but Jim has climbed it a
number of times and I haven’t. What will I find? Can I
trust him?
Let’s take another look at today’s Gospel lesson
and see what we might find there. So what happens when those
disciples were up there on that mountain? Faced with this odd
scene that they were not ready for - they headed off to pray
with Jesus on a regular basis, but this time was something very
different! They see him standing with two of the greatest prophets
of all times. They see him transfigured - his face shining like
the sun, his clothes dazzling white. Peter, always the one to
speak first and think later - not the best working filter in
the group - wants to enclose them and the event. He wants to
make dwellings for each of them, put them in a box where they
will be contained and safe. But even before he can get his complete
plan out, he is interrupted. They hear the voice - “This
is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to
him!” Don’t build. Listen. Listen. They reacted
how I can completely see myself reacting - fall on the ground
in complete terror. I am not climbing that tree - I am not facing
that dog house. The branches are too high. I am used to running
around down here. I am going to hide my face and freeze - unable
to go anywhere. And Jesus understands. He doesn’t yell
at them, call them a bunch of sissies with no backbones. He
goes to them, touches them and tells them to “Get up and
do not be afraid.” It is okay. I am here. I can help.
Put your foot there, grab that branch, I can give you a pull.
Nora Gallagher has written a wonderful book - Things Seen and
Unseen; A Year Lived in Faith. In it she describes her “long
journey into experience and away from idealism.” She goes
on to say that “One imagines religion as making one “good,”
and various ideal ways of behaving are often touted in pulpits.
But the opposite of sin is not virtue but faith.” (p.78)
To listen. To not be afraid.
A man on NPR was talking about his previous, highly self-destructive
life and that he finally chose to lead a different life. The
interviewer asked him how he managed that when so many others
don’t. He laughed and said it was really hard. That life,
I knew, would lead to my death. There was no other outcome.
But it was the life I knew. It was the familiar. Anything else
was something new and I was afraid to try something different
for a long time. But he did it - he tried something different
and found a new way of living - a new life. He now works as
a peer counselor - helping others discover the courage to try
a new life. He is putting his past experiences and his ability
to try something different to work for others and for himself.
Listen. Don’t be afraid. Put your foot there. The dog
house will hold up. Grab that branch. You are making progress.
So I encourage you to get ready for the climb that is Lent.
Take up a new spiritual discipline; try a new habit, or give
up something that needs to be given up in your life. Do things
that will remind you that God is present and with you, touching
you and saying don’t be afraid. When I give up meat on
Friday it is a way for me to remember all that I have and that
I am on my way through Lent - when I have to make a choice about
what to eat and I choose to restrict those choices I am reminded
to Listen, to not be afraid.
It is scary - it may be a new way of life for you. It may mean
leaving the ruts you are comfortable in for a place that is
a stretch. Giving up things, even things you know are bringing
you death and not life, is not easy. They are the known, the
comfortable, the solid ground. I don’t know what you will
discover on your journey through Lent. I don’t know what
I will discover this year on my journey to Easter. I know that
in years past Easter is so much more bright and wonderful if
I take my Lenten journey seriously. I only know that I trust,
and we are told to Listen and that we don’t need to be
afraid.
The view is great from up in the tree. The breeze feels good
and is not going to shake you out. And once you quit clinging
so tightly to that branch you are holding, the bark doesn’t
hurt. It is a good place up in the tree- give it a try.
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