The First Sunday of Lent 2010

SERMON: IST SUNDAY OF LENT 2010

TEXT: LUKE 4: 1-15

IN THE NAME OF GOD: CREATOR, PAINBEARER AND SPIRIT OF LOVE AND LIFE

I need not tell you that today is the first Sunday of a season the church calls Lent. It begins on Ash Wednesday and continues until Easter. It spans 40 days from Ash Wednesday until Easter Saturday but excludes Sundays as this First day of the week’ is the day the church regularly celebrates Jesus’ resurrection . The word we use in English – Lent - was derived from the Anglo-Saxon word Lencten, meaning spring (It is the northern spring – a factor we often overlook). In France the season is called Careme, and in Italy it is Quarestima, both derived from the Latin Quadragesima.

Lent in the Western Churches was originally a period of forty days of fasting and penitence, readying the Christian for the great feast on the ensuing Easter Sunday and is held as a period of sober reflection, self-examination, and spiritual redirection.

The period of forty days had an important symbolic meaning in the ancient Jewish religion. Moses and Elijah spent forty days in the wilderness; the Jews wandered forty years searching for the Promised Land; Jonah gave the city of Nineveh forty days' grace in which to repent and Jesus retreated into the wilderness and fasted for forty days to prepare for his ministry. It was for Him a time of contemplation, reflection, and preparation.

So by observing Lent, most Christians join Jesus on His retreat.
The naming of the Lenten period of forty days owes its origin to the Latin word Quadragesima, originally signifying forty hours. This referred to forty hours of complete fasting which preceded the Easter celebration in the early Church.

The main ceremony then was not the Eucharist as we know it but the baptizing of the initiates on Easter Eve, and the fast was a preparation to receive this sacrament.

Lent has always represented a period of fasting, prayer and contemplation in the Orthodox Christian church. I would like to ask – ‘What does this time mean for you?”

For some of us it would be exactly what I have described - a period of self-examination, reflection and prayer. But I am willing to bet that for most people in church congregations it is a time where lip service is made but not much else.

Perhaps a token relinquishing of the evening pre-dinner drink? Perhaps we give up sugar in our tea or coffee. Perhaps we hide the box of Haigh’s chocolates until Easter when the Easter Bunny (or Bilby as the case may be) finds them and our little indulgences are restored.

Have we given thought to what the message of Lent really conveys? Is it not a message of sacrifice? Think about it! To take oneself off into the desert for forty days (or some long period) without provision for food and shelter would today be considered sheer madness.

I seem to recall a story of a young man who, a few years ago, caused considerable anxiety when he decided to travel across one of Australia’s deserts with little or no supplies and backup. His intention did not arise out of some religious conviction. He just wanted to prove a point, prove to himself that he could do it and get his 15 minutes of fame in the process. He achieved all that and a sigh of relief went up when he arrived safely.

These people of ancient times however were not looking for fame nor were they trying to prove something to themselves or others, they were deliberately putting themselves in a place of sacrifice and physical deprivation in order to become closer to God.

I remember a song from some years ago which carried the line “in the desert you can remember your name and there ain’t no one for to give you no pain” (obviously the grammar suggests it is an American composition – it’s actually called “A Horse with no name”). It’s a sad song as it ends by saying there is no human love in the cities.

Is that true- that we need to test ourselves with rigour and deprivation in order to find God? Is it really necessary to travel into some inhospitable and uncomfortable place to find peace and love? I think not.

I do agree though, that it is necessary to find a quiet place and some sort of refuge from our busy and noisy world. We can do that without taking ourselves off into the desert. We can close our door, disconnect the phone, turn off the TV and radio and sit quietly in our own home. During the last few months I have often done just that. I have ceased listening to talkback radio and choose instead to listen to music appropriate to my mood. I feel that I have not missed anything of importance but have avoided a great deal of stress. I recommend it to you.

I still feel that this is all still self-serving though. It might be helpful for me but I have to ask is it helpful for anyone else? It’s obviously not – except that we might become more relaxed and easier to live with.

What I am trying to say is that sacrifice is of little or no value unless it changes something in the world for the better.

You know, the greatest positive sacrifice we can make is to cease our self-indulgence – our self-centredness.

There is nothing more self-centred than a child. Obviously this trait which is found in all humans is some sort of primeval survival instinct. A human child without parental support will quickly die. They need food, clothing, shelter and something too often denied – love. When any of these necessities seem to be withheld the child suffers and lets parents know in the only possible way for it – it cries and loudly!

Too often we carry this childish self-centredness into our adult life. It even seems to grow larger as we age, as we become less self-assured and begin to sense our power and independence waning. This is when we begin to compensate by often becoming pedantic and inflexible in our ways. We are totally unable to tolerate any form of change. We assume as personal effrontery and persistently close our ears to some suggestion which could make changes to our community. We find it uncomfortable when new people enter our circle.

Last Christmas the Archbishop gave me a book entitled ‘Facing the Future’ in which various Bishops from around Australia have written essays on their vision of a future church. It is sub-titled ‘Bishops imagine a different church’.

The evangelical Bishop of Armidale has written on the challenges facing the church in rural Australia (particularly northern NSW) and how that Anglican Diocese is proving most successful in dealing with the future. He says this in part: (Facing The Future: Bishop’s imagine a different church, Hale S & Curnow A. (eds). Acorn Press, Brunswick East, Melbourne, Australia, 2009.) PP 106- 07, 108.

Bishop Peter Brain also says: “Urban living, with its ease of anonymity and sheer weight of numbers, can so easily mask the sacrificial service of city and suburban pastors and people”. Too often the wider community doesn’t even know we exist as a faith community – except when they find themselves I need of help.

The message I felt I had to speak today has not been easy to compile. But I truly believe that in prayer God had something to say to our parishes!

These are hard issues! There have been many and considerable sacrifices made by the clergy in these parishes in order to bring the message of Jesus Christ to the widest audience possible. It takes many years of financial sacrifice and focussed study to find oneself in this position. It is not done for the money I assure you! Mostly people acknowledge and respect sacrifice in anyone. There are many sacrifices made by members of these churches on a weekly basis and there are detractors who would undermine and prevent changes because they cannot bear to see the status quo change. How often do we give thought to the fact that someone may need a respite from work they do and have done for a very long time on a regular basis?

When we consider these things is it possible for us to somehow enter the church of the early centuries and relive the depth of meaning those people put into Lent?

Can we sacrifice those things in our hearts and minds that would destroy our relationship with God and our neighbours – our club mentality and our sad refusal to honour others‘sacrifices?

The Archbishop’s Lenten study is about Jonah who found it hard to face up to what God was calling him to do. He eventually was forced albeit with ill grace to accede to God’s demands. Will we make it necessary for God to figuratively ‘prepare a great fish to swallow us up’ and drag us kicking and in ill humour back into fellowship with Him and His church?

They are hard questions aren’t they? But I believe it is vital we address them especially as we enter into this season of Lent for 2010. Very much food for thought.

THE LORD BE WITH YOU