Christ Episcopal Church
February 14, 2016
1 Lent C
Our 5 o'clock Ash Wednesday service is a special service designed for our children and their families. The chairs in the chapel are set in a circle around a large round table from the nursery. We all enter the chapel quietly together, having gathered in the hallway and removed our shoes. The table in the center is set with candles, water, rocks, crosses, and the ashes, all symbols of our faith. We spend the first part of the service taking about the items on the table, what they represent, and how they are connected to Ash Wednesday. This service is familiar to most of our children and youth, and we always have a good conversation. Since many of our kids have been coming to this service for as many years as we have been offering it, I decided to add some new items to the table this year. So last Wednesday when everyone entered the chapel, in addition to the items that are always on the table, there were suckers, grapes, and cheese.
What, you might reasonably wonder, do suckers, grapes, and cheese have to do with Ash Wednesday, much less Lent, especially when we hear this morning that Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil and ate nothing at all.
In the reading from Deuteronomy, we hear Moses tell the people what they are to do once they have entered into the Promised Land and settled there. The people are to make an offering of the first fruits of their harvest in thanksgiving for all that God has done for them. The people are to be thankful, not in general, but for something very specific. They are to give thanks with these specific words ""A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey." The people are to recount the story of their escape from Egypt in some detail as they make their offering of thanksgiving to God. The story of the Exodus will sustain God's people in good times and hard times. In good times, they will tell the story of the Exodus and celebrate the wonders God has done in their lives. In hard times, they will tell the story of the Exodus and remember what God has done for them in the past so they can see what God is doing in the present. In both good times and hard times, telling the story of the Exodus is the occasion of great thanksgiving.
When Jesus is famished and being tempted by the devil, he, too reaches back into Scripture for sustenance. When Jesus says "One does not live by bread alone," he is quoting Deuteronomy 8 which says "One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." When Jesus says "Worship the Lord your God and serve him only," he is quoting Deuteronomy 6 "Fear the Lord your God and serve him only." And when Jesus says "Do not put the Lord your God to the test," he is again quoting Deuteronomy 6 which says exactly that. And why does Deuteronomy command these things? Because they are the appropriate and grateful response to the God who led them out of slavery in Egypt, through the wilderness and into the Promised Land.
So, what do suckers, grapes, and cheese have to do with any of this? At the appropriate time in the Ash Wednesday service, I invited each person to take a sucker, and if a sucker wasn't appropriate for some reason, to take a grape or a piece of cheese. I asked them to look at the sucker or the grape or the cheese, and just think about the way it looks. What color is it? What shape? What texture? Then I asked those with suckers to remove the wrappers and we listened as the wrappers crinkled. Then we looked at the suckers again. Finally, after it seemed that we had exhausted all visual possibilities, they could put their sucker, grape, or cheese in their mouth. But they couldn't chew it until they experienced what the food felt like in their mouths, what it tasted like, and what it reminded them of. Then, finally, they could eat.
My point was for everyone to savor the item they choose. I wanted them to fully experience the sucker, or the grape, or the cheese. I wanted them to do that, not as a point of etiquette, but because I think that God wants us to savor Lent rather than seeing Lent as a means to Easter. Lent can be a time to savor our own stories, to savor our story together, and to savor the story of Scripture much the way the Hebrew people have savored the story of the Exodus year after year after year. The story of the Exodus has sustained the Hebrew people in good times and hard times, and has given and continues to give the Hebrew people the opportunity for deep gratitude. Savoring our stories, the story of our life together, and the story of God's people will also sustain us and can become an opportunity for the same gratitude. Lent is not about giving something up in order to get that thing back on Easter. Lent is about deepening our appreciation and understanding of all that God has done for us, through out history and in our own lives, so that our hearts are ready for Easter.
Today is our Annual Meeting Sunday, so I am supposed to reflect on our life together and our goals for the next year. At the vestry meeting on February 1, the vestry and I actually talked about the difference it would make at Christ Church if we more deeply and actively appreciated each other. Rather than just think about how grateful we are to our Sunday School teachers, or our Altar Guild Members, or the people who coordinate our outreach ministries or serve coffee hour, what would life be like at Christ Church if we behaved toward each other with such gratitude? What might that look like? On the first Sunday of Lent each year, we hear that the devil tempted Jesus in order to derail his ministry. Our greatest temptation, and one which could certainly derail our ministry together, may well be to take each other for granted. So, as we mark a new year on this Annual Meeting Sunday, one which will bring new experiences and new challenges to all of us, as we embark on our Lenten journey together, I suggest that we savor Lent, savor our stories, the story of our life together, and the story of Scripture, and make living with gratitude our Lenten discipline. If we actually live as truly thankful people, we will arrive at Easter refreshed and prepared for all that lies ahead.
Amen.
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