Now Is the Time

Sermon for March 1, 2009 - 1st Sunday of Lent
Ps 25:1-10
Mk 1:9-15

I. Intro – The Gospel According to Mark read for today tells us about how Jesus is baptized, tempted in the wilderness, and then returns with a mission.
a. We’ve heard this story before though, and recently at that.
b. Jan. 11 = Baptism of the Lord Sunday; there the text stopped with the voice from heaven. In January, just after Christmas has ended, this passage serves to show us more clearly who Mary’s baby in Bethlehem is; today, this text offers us a vision of what our own wilderness journey will bring. In some ways, our journey parallel’s Jesus’ – baptism, wilderness, energized for greater mission.
c. When we celebrated Jesus’ baptism, those of us gathered for worship also renewed and reaffirmed our baptismal covenant with God and one another. We’ve also reaffirmed our baptismal covenant each time we’ve celebrated a baptism in the past six months.

II. Lent Connection: Now, just like Jesus, we are driven by the Spirit from baptismal joy and into the wilderness for forty days, for today is the first Lord’s Day of Lent.
a. Lent began as a time of preparation for converts to Christianity. It was a time of final preparation, devotion, and discipline before being baptized on Easter morning. After a while, the tradition grew that Lent would be 40 days, which symbolically connects it to many significant biblical events:
i. the 40 days of flooding during which time Noah lived in the ark, traditionally;
ii. the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness with God for the people of Israel between crossing the Jordan River and entering the Promised Land;
iii. and Jesus’ 40 days in the desert, where he was tempted by Satan.
b. In any case, it was always a time of repentance and intensely seeking spiritual growth. This is true for us today. Laurence Hull Stookey calls Lent the “forty days of devotion and discipline” – sounds like a book title. Just as it was for ancient converts, and also for Jesus, our time in the “wilderness” of Lent is a time for growth in devotion, spiritual discipline, and discipleship.
c. Thus, we read today about Jesus’ time in the wilderness because he offers an example and a command for us at the beginning of this Lent. He was baptized, he was sent into the wilderness, and he returned with God’s mission proclaiming, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news” (v.15).

III. Repent and Believe – Jesus commands it, Lent is about it, but how do we do it?
a. Repentance = “to gain a new mind, or a new way of understanding of seeing things” (“metanoia,” Homily Service, v.42, n.2); it is a change of mind and heart after the realization of wrong doing or sinfulness; it is an about-face, turning from one path to another
b. While repentance is difficult, believing seems an even harder command, for how can we make ourselves believe? True, belief, faith, is a gift from God (Eph 2.8), but it’s also a fruit of devotion and discipline.
i. Take your first step from the psalmist – pray for that belief and direction. Pray with him verse 4-5. And then hear the good news: that’s exactly God’s business. God instructs, teaches, leads, and accompanies. That’s what God does and who God is.

IV. “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long” (Ps 25.4-5).
a. These are the words of the psalmist, the words of one seeking to repent and believe, seeking to be more and more faithful to God, more and more who God calls her to be. This psalm is an example for us at the beginning of our Lenten journey.
b. Lament Psalm – God, why is life so bad right now? Come on!
i. Psalmist and others are being put to shame by others, presumably because of their faithfulness to God.
ii. The psalmist prays that his “enemies” be put to shame – not that they should be destroyed, but that they would be proven wrong for their hatefulness.
iii. Then, the psalmist prays, not for deliverance, but direction: reveal to me, teach me, lead me, show me the way of truth and salvation.
iv. Then a PRAISE - you are the God of my salvation for you I wait all day long – I AM FAITHFUL (or trying to be)
v. A REMINDER for GOD – remember that you’re merciful and steadfast and loving; don’t forget; and don’t forget me, your faithful one.
vi. Final Turn to Praise – But even with a lot of wilderness, you are good and upright. Further, You INSTRUCT SINNERS IN THE WAY. You LEAD. You TEACH.
c. In turning to praise, a spiritual practice, the psalmist grows. So too do we grow, during our wilderness journey of Lent by adding spiritual practices.

V. Now is the Time: Today, hear Jesus’ words, the “good news of God”: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news” (Mk1.14b-15). Hear him. Now is the time. Now is the time for renewed fervor.
a. Lent is a time of discipline, devotion, and renewed faithfulness. We’ve been growing in faithfulness and devotion during the past six months that I’ve been here. We’ve seen some of the fruits of this: there are more people in worship and participating in study groups; there new ministries sprouting and on the horizon; there’s a joyful spirit in this place.
b. But now is the time for increased focus on our growth. As Rev. Bev Lanzendorf quoted an unknown source on Ash Wednesday, God loves us as we are, but God loves us too much to leave us as we are. God is calling us to be more – to be more faithful, to be more devoted to God, to be more fully whom God created us to be. And Lent is the time to begin.

VI. Lent is like a Purse or a Desk:
a. Over time, things get away from us. Our purses fill with stuff, our desks get cluttered with piles of papers, notes, debris, and the like. You start having to dig for change in the bottom because you can’t find your credit card; you forget to do that important project because it was buried.
i. Thus, every so often, we need to go through them, shucking off the things that are unnecessary so that we can get our work done and go about our lives more effectively.
b. This is what Lent offers us: a time to shuck off the things that prevent us from living more faithfully to God as witnesses of God’s kingdom. So, we search our lives, confess our sins and turn the other way. We repent, as Jesus commands. And we grow in belief, as Jesus also commanded, for we take on new spiritual practices and disciplines.
c. What spiritual discipline or practice have you added to your lives, or what might God be calling you to do? Here are some options you might consider:
i. Volunteering to mentor a Howard Elementary School student;
ii. Writing letters back and forth to one such student;
iii. Participating in one of the two Lenten Bible studies – either on Sundays after worship on Tuesdays at the Sheens’;
iv. Joining together in worship and eating on Wednesday nights; or Saturdays;
v. Writing notes to people you see doing wonderful things;
vi. Beginning a new prayer practice of opening and closing each day with five minutes of prayer, asking God for guidance through the day, and then offering back to God all your concerns, joys, and thanks for things that have happened that day;
vii. Or simply recommitting to pray before each and every meal you eat.
d. Through these and other spiritual practices, God helps us to repent and grows our faith, in accordance with Jesus’ command. God guides us through the wilderness so that we can grow in faithfulness and love.

VII. Driven into Lent with a Mission:
a. Though God has driven us into the wilderness, God will sustain us on the journey and bring us out on the other side, more faithful, more loving, and more ready to serve. God guides us through the wilderness.
b. This parallels Jesus’ experience, recounted in the Gospel passage. He’s baptized; he’s sent into the wilderness where he faces trials and temptations, but also where he’s waited on by angels (the messengers of God); and then he’s led out of the wilderness with renewed vision, courage, and conviction of God’s mission in his life.
i. Likewise, we’ve renewed and reaffirmed we celebrated the Baptism of Jesus in January, we also took part in a reaffirmation of our baptismal covenants – we’ve also done this in little ways every time we’ve had a baptism here. Now, we’ve moved into a time of wilderness searching.
ii. Through Lent, we’re called to search our souls in the light of God’s revelation in Jesus. We’re called to look deeply into the waters of baptism and see in them our reflection, the reflection of who God created us to be, but also who we currently are. We’ve fallen short of the glory of God. We know this, and Lent is a time for us to heed Jesus’ call to repent and believe.

VIII. God is with Us: This is not something we have to do alone though. God guides us, as the psalmist notes.
a. After laments, praises, and courageous reminders for God, she turns back to praise: God is good; God instructs sinners in the way, leads the humble in what is right, and teachers us God’s way of steadfast love and faithfulness (Ps 25.9-10).
b. Jesus has called us to repent and believe, so that we might witness to God’s love in the world, revealed in him.
c. And God has made sure that we can be fruitful in our repentance and belief, for God is always the one guiding and directing our steps, in Lent and in every age.
d. The time is now. Christ calls you to repent and believe. Christ calls you to shuck off those old piles that hinder your faithfulness. Christ calls you to renewed devotion and discipline. And where Christ calls, Christ leads, through the wilderness and into ever more faithful ministry in God’s name.