brooding

As we allow the Spirit of God to "brood" over our lives in the solemnity of Lent; as He shows us our frailty and excess; as He burns away the dross and cuts away the decay of our lives we find that He then begins His best work. The Creation account of Genesis 1 portrays a unformed or preformed mass of material and the Spirit hovering above ready to call into order that which was not. Then we have the wondrous drama of the emerging of all that is. And we hear that God saw that it was "good." So as we eagerly watch for signs of Spring may we also watch for signs of the Spirit in our lives. Let's look for the fresh new leaves which are the evidence that Lent has worked in us and for us as preparation for the Holy Spirit. As we slowly walk around in our skin let's stop to notice where that growth is occurring and water it with the Word of God while we commune with the Spirit of God asking the good questions "what is God saying to me here?" and "what am I doing about it?"

40

Why 40 days for Lent? 40 is a familiar number in the Scriptures. Moses was up on the mountain with no food or drink for 40 days and nights; the flood was of 40 days duration; the children of Israel were 40 years in the wilderness; Jesus' fast was 40 days and 40 nights. It seems to be a sacred span of time. A generation of human life in the Scriptures seems to be 40 years. Perhaps that is the meaning. Lent does indeed remind us that we are dust and to dust we shall return and so the human life is a brief stay. How shall we seize the opportunity of this season to alert one another of the importance of using this brief sojourn to prepare for that which is across the Jordan, so to speak? What about some intentional conversations about mortality? How might we initiate some coffee shop sorts of dialogues along the lines of "have you given something up for Lent?"   

wilderness

The Temptation in the Wilderness
Briton Riviere (1840-1920)

The Hebrews writer reflects on Jesus' humanity: "Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted." (Hebrews 2.17-18)

Yesterday at Southside we reflected on our humanness as fallen beings and our vulnerability to the areas of temptation first identified in the Garden of Eden and the mysterious "tree." Eve saw that the tree was "good for food"; that it was a "delight to the eyes"; and that the tree was "desirable to make one wise." The same three attractions -lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life are describe by the apostle John (1 John 2.16.) Richard Foster may have been the first to use the common language of "sex, money and power." Jesus resisted Satan in the wilderness in these three arenas. He was tested as to the appetite of the flesh, as to the possessions of the world and as to the raw power of mastering the whole world. This is the high priest who comes to our aid when we have the onslaught of temptation. In which area am I most at risk? In this Lent season how do I call on the aid of the One who was tested every way that I am, yet "without sin"?  

forbidden fruit

So what exactly happened in the Garden of Eden story of our fall from favour? In short we became, as my mother often said, "too big for our boots." We were created to live in fellowship with God, to know Him, to love Him, and to do His good pleasure. But there was a test. There was a tree. There was fruit. "Eat from any tree.. except.." Eve reportedly saw that the tree was good for food, that it was a delight to the eyes and desirable to make one wise, so she took some fruit and ate and  shared it with Adam. Later the Scriptures sum up our mortal sinfulness as succumbing to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life (a theology of what Eve saw.) As we travel this Lenten journey perhaps we need to assess which of the three is our current vulnerability. Are we tempted by sensual pleasure; by the advertising world's latest 'make us happy' product; by pride in the power and prestige that could be ours to put our name in the annals of historical accomplishment? The Lenten correction for these is the set of traditional disciplines of the church: chastity, poverty and obedience. Or a modern version of these: purity, accountability and simplicity.

the Good Samaritan

Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863)

The Good Samaritan

In the parable of the Good Samaritan two aspects of our fallen human condition appear, the propensity to do evil and the frailty of the human body. Having been robbed and beaten the traveller lies bloodied by the side of the path. Ironically it is not the religious fellow travellers who give him assistance but one with whom he might normally have no "dealings" - a Samaritan.

During Lent as we explore "our dust to dust" sojourns it would be important for us to work against these two aspects by setting a guard on our inclinations to sin, especially against one another; and to lend aid to those we pass by who have been robbed and beaten on life's journey. This will necessitate a certain slowing of pace and vigilance of attentiveness to those whose wounds may only be visible to the unhurried fellow traveller.

worms

"And though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. For now is Christ risen, for now is Christ risen from the dead -the first fruits of them that sleep." This is the bold passage from Handel's Messiah that celebrates the assertion "I know that my Redeemer liveth!" The worms part is a rather

loose translation of the Hebrew in Job 19.26 where "worms" are not in the original but supplied in the oldest English texts. The verse, however, is a frank acknowledgement of the mortality of human flesh. Some Christians are concerned over the practice of cremation (I am not) but whether by the corruption of the body in the ground (worms or not!) or the consumption of the body by fire this body will be reduced "ashes to ashes and dust to dust" BUT with the "sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the dead." How many times I have recited these words at a grave, and how much present and powerful hope they bring. Our future is a physical, fleshly, material existence as proven by the physical resurrection of Christ. So Lent brings us to the grave, but only for a while.

human being being human

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

human being being human

Our Lenten teaching series is entitled "human being being human" as we centre our thoughts this season on the nature of human existence, living in the physical bodies which we understand are from dust and will return to dust. What is the nature of human life in these vessels of clay and how do we relate our day to day material lives with the spiritual realities of God and the future transformation of these bodies?

Ash Wednesday. "You are dust and to dust you shall return" was the declaration the first Adam heard after the great Fall. On Ash Wednesday we begin the journey of Lent, a season of humility and repentance. We remember indeed that we are dust and acknowledge that to dust we are bound to return. We meditate on the meanness of dust, its lowliness and lack of beauty. And know that we are such. The practice of marking the forehead with ashes, smudged in the form of a cross, begun in the seventh century, in the Catholic, Anglican and many other Protestant churches reminds us of our mortality, making the hope of Easter and resurrection all the more critical. In earlier days the imposition of ashes was part of an ecclesiastical penitential ritual for people who had been expelled from the church for serious sin -whereby they could make a public sign of their repentance. They then undertook acts of penance throughout Lent and were formally restored to the church community at Easter.

What will be your path through Lent? A sober remembering that we are mortal? A grieving period concerning the weakness of "human flesh"? A season of repentance over sinful ways? A season of penance? A season of simplicity and reformed spiritual disciplines? Let's walk and talk together on this Coracle Journey.