The Fifth Sunday in Lent

Renew a Right Spirit
Psalm 51
John 12:20-33

Think a bit about where you’ve been in the last few days, what experiences you’ve had, or activities you’ve been involved in. As you think about those experiences, ask yourself: Were you mindful of God’s presence with you in the midst of those activities? Did you think about God being with you? Did you think about what God brought to those experiences?

The psalm appointed for today is Psalm 51. We say this Psalm as part of the Ash Wednesday liturgy. It would undoubtedly be described as a penitential psalm. It reminds us of our wickedness, our sins and our transgressions. But as I spent time again with this psalm this week I was struck by its primary theme of renewal. It reminds us of our need for renewal, yes, but it is not intended to beat us down. Like all calls for penitence in the church, it is primarily about God’s desire and power to renew. The psalm is about God. And it is about God’s work of renewal.

One line is particularly memorable. It shows up in hymns and in other places in our liturgies. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, a renew a right spirit within me.”

Renew a right spirit within me. What exactly does that mean? In the midst of the sorts of experiences and activities that make up our daily lives, what are we asking God to do when we pray for a right spirit to be renewed within us?

What is a “right spirit?” I don’t know that there is a single definitive answer to that question, and I might see it differently next week, but this week I see two characteristics that describe a right spirit. Gratitude and fruitfulness. A right spirit is a spirit full of gratitude. And a right spirit is a fruitful spirit.

A right spirit is aware of gratitude for God’s gifts throughout daily life, in the midst of all sorts of experiences and activities. A grateful spirit is mindful of and grateful for God’s presence in all things.

And a right spirit is a fruitful spirit. I’m thinking of today’s Gospel readings where Jesus talks about a seed falling to the ground and bearing fruit. To be fruitful in this sense is to be proactive in sowing and nurturing God’s goodness in the world, to be an active gardener in God’s kingdom. To be fruitful is to create goodness, beauty, reconciliation, hope within the world.

Renew a right spirit within me. All the time every day. When things are difficult or challenging or boring. When things are wondrous, exciting, or new. Renew my spirit to be grateful and fruitful.

Not only is a right spirit a wonderful gift and a blessed part of living as God’s beloved, a right spirit has another attractive quality. A right spirit is a partial vaccine against sin. There is no pure vaccine against sin. As Augustine said, as human beings we cannot not sin. We will sin. Hence our continual need to have a right spirit renewed within us. But as our spirit is renewed, we will find it a partial vaccine against sin.

A spirit renewed in gratitude and fruitfulness will be much less drawn towards the big sins like greed and despair. There is less room for greed and despair in a spirit filled with gratitude and a sharing in the fruitfulness of God’s kingdom.

A right spirit will also be less tempted by the petty sins of self-centeredness that lurk throughout our daily lives. Also in the Ash Wednesday service we say the Litany of Penitence. It reminds us of the petty self-centeredness that tends to creep into every life. In the Litany we confess our pride, hypocrisy, and impatience. Our self-indulgent appetites and ways and our exploitation of others. Our anger at our own frustration and envy of those more fortunate. Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work.

A right spirit is a spirit shielded, at least in part, from sinful self-centeredness. A right spirit is a spirit filled with gratitude and fruitfulness.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

The Fourth Sunday in Lent

John 3:16
Numbers 21:4-9
John 3:14-21

If I were to catch you on the sidewalk and ask you to quote John 3:16, many of you probably could. And even if you couldn’t quote the words exactly, you would feel like as a Christian you should be able to. It has taken on an iconic status within our culture. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that all who believe in him may not perish, but have eternal life.” It is the bumper sticker for “real” Christians, often those who would describe themselves as “born again.” It seems to divide all human kind into those who wave it as a poster at a football game and those who don’t. Along with this is the implicit criticism: If John 3:16 is not the slogan of your life, you are not a real Christian.

I’ve always been a bit puzzled by the prominence of the shorthand slogan “John 3:16.” Is it meant to be evangelism when it is held up at sporting events? How could it work? Citing a Biblical chapter and verse won’t mean anything to the unchurched. It seems more like exclusivist taunting. “This is who I am… I know what it means… I’m a good Christian… nah, nah, nah!”

In any case, “John 3:16” has taken on a life of its own in contemporary American culture. The broader Biblical context is interesting.

This morning’s Gospel passage follows immediately after the story of Nicodemus. That’s a pretty familiar Bible story too, although I don’t recall ever seeing anyone walking around with a sign that says John 3:1-10.

Nicodemus was leader among his people, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He was drawn to Jesus. He saw in Jesus something he yearned for, but he struggled. He came to Jesus at night. He challenged Jesus’ teaching. “How can anyone be born again? From above?” Someone described Nicodemus as an example of partial belief. Like all of us probably. Partial belief. A deep, almost irresistible longing. But a struggle to really comprehend or accept belief in Jesus.

To Nicodemus Jesus says, “No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit.” Scholars debate how much of what follows is actually from Jesus and how much of it is John the evangelist. In either case, it is a sermon. To Nicodemus and everyone yearning to believe. This is how it works. This is the one thing you really need to know. God so loved the world that he gave his Son so that all who believe in him might experience eternal life. This verse is the focus of the Gospel, the proclamation of the Good News. God so loved the world.

It may seem odd at such an intense moment of proclamation to introduce what seems to be a relatively obscure image from the Old Testament—the bronze serpent that Moses lifts up in the wilderness to protect the people from poisonous snakes. If we had not just heard the story as this morning’s Old Testament reading, it would most likely not be familiar to most of us.

The people of Israel were wandering in the wilderness. They had been wandering in the wilderness for a long time. Just as we have now been wandering in the wilderness of Lent for a long time. They were frustrated, uncertain, tempted by sin, whining about the food, unsure of God’s care for them.

Although the story of the bronze serpent may not be well known today, it would have been a familiar and powerful sermon illustration for the people of Jesus’ or John’s day. Gerard Sloyan writes about what that sermon illustration would have conveyed: “Moses’ serpent of bronze, if looked upon with trust in God, preserved the Israelites from death. The exalted Jesus, looked on believingly, gives the life of the final eon to those who believe.”

Look upon God. We cannot save ourselves from the wilderness of sin. But if we look upon God, if we place our trust in God, we will be given life. God is a trustworthy source of eternal life. Look up from life’s cares and temptations and look upon God.

One other note about John 3:16. Raymond Brown, writing about all of the Johanine literature, notes that “In all other examples, God’s love is directed to the disciples.” God loves us. God acts because God loves us, God’s own disciples. But here, in this climactic, focal point of John’s Gospel, God loves the world. God’s love is for the world. Believers and nonbelievers, the just and the unjust, all nations, the fullness of creation. God sent his Son to bring life to the world. Because God loves the world.

God sent his Son to bring life even to Nicodemus, even to the whiney Israelites in the wilderness. God sent his Son because he cared especially for Nicodemus, who struggled to fully trust and find faith. God gave life to the Israelites—particularly when they were tired, uncertain and frustrated with their God.

God so loved the world, that all who try to believe in him might have eternal life. The limitlessness of God’s generous love is very good news for us. And it might remind us to show similarly broad generosity of spirit as we seek to share John 3:16 with others.

The Third Sunday in Lent

The Zone of God's Liberation

Please check back.  Sermon will be posted soon.

The Second Sunday in Lent

Another Day at the Office (with Satan)
Mark 8:31-38

Just to review how today’s Gospel passage begins: Jesus is teaching his disciples. He says that the Son of Man will undergo great suffering, be rejected by the leaders of his own people and then be killed. Peter is troubled by Jesus’ words and rebukes him. Then Jesus, in turn, rebukes Peter, saying to him, “Get behind me, Satan.” Jesus speaks directly to Peter, saying to his face, “Get behind me, Satan.”

I’ve read and heard this Gospel passage many times. As I entered into the story this year, something new really hit me. Peter stuck around. Even after this very highly charged exchange with Jesus, Peter stuck around.

People turn away from Christ and leave the Christian life all the time. When I think of the casual, petty and insignificant reasons that people leave the church or turn away from the Christian life… When I think of those excuses in light of this passage, it’s pretty striking. People feel justified leaving the church or the Christian life for incredibly casual, petty and insignificant reasons. Peter’s Lord, Jesus, accuses Peter of being Satan or at least speaking Satan’s words. And Peter stayed around.

So what all is really going on in this passage? It helps to put it in a larger context. Just a few verses before the passage we heard today is that portion of Mark’s Gospel usually called “The Confession of Peter.” Jesus asks the disciples who people say he is. They give a variety of answers. Jesus presses them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter says, “You are the Messiah, the Christ.” Peter recognizes Jesus as God’s anointed Messiah.

Then Jesus begins to teach how the Messiah must suffer, be rejected and killed.  This is what upsets  Peter and he rebukes Jesus. The Greek has a patronizing tone to it. Peter is putting Jesus down, correcting Jesus as though he were a child or an underling.

Several scholars I referred to pointed out that Peter was actually on pretty solid ground. There was absolutely no expectation within the Judaism of Jesus’ and Peter’s day that the Messiah would suffer. It may be hard for us, looking back through two millennia of Christian understanding to realize how crazy Jesus would have sounded to Jews of his day.

A suffering Messiah? It’s easy to imagine Peter saying, “No, Jesus, you know that’s not what we’ve been taught. That’s not what the Scriptures say about the Messiah. Let’s nip this misunderstanding in the bud, get it straightened out before we go any further. Our Messiah will not undergo suffering or rejection… He will come in strength and glory.”

And Jesus said, “Get behind me, Satan.”

Peter might have been feeling like a pretty nifty disciple after getting the Messiah thing right. His confidence was probably soaring pretty high. And then Jesus says to him, “Now I see or hear Satan in you.” And Peter stayed around!

Jesus saw or heard Satan in Peter’s words and actions. Satan. The Greek is satanas. Scripture does not paint a full or entirely consistent picture of Satan as an incarnation of evil. The word means “adversary.” Satan is the adversary or opponent to God’s will. Whether incarnate or not, what is meant here is a power, a force that opposes God’s will.

Mark is clear in this Gospel passage that it is God’s will that the Messiah suffer and be rejected and killed. So Satan is the force that seeks to suppress or oppose God’s will for a suffering Messiah. There are a couple of ways this can be interpreted. One focuses on Jesus. Maybe in Peter’s words, Jesus hears the same tempter he heard in the wilderness after his baptism. Jesus hears Satan, the tempter, trying to encourage him to abandon his divine mission with its suffering in favor of human goals like comfort, glory or power.

Or maybe the passage is more about Peter. Maybe Satan’s voice is the voice encouraging Peter to reshape Jesus into something that fits Peter’s expectations. That’s a powerful temptation within us all—to create God according to our own needs and expectations.

Either way, Peter’s words are part of trying to replace God’s will for a suffering Messiah with some other human desire.

And in reaction, Jesus doesn’t mince words. His words to Peter are not even remotely pastoral. Mark tells us Jesus looked at all the disciples. At least in my imagination, Jesus is thinking, “Peter may have said it, but all of you were thinking it.” Then he rebukes Peter: “Get behind me, Satan.”

And Peter stays around. In fact, right after today’s passage, Mark recounts the story of the Transfiguration. Where Jesus takes Peter (!), James and John up to the mountaintop to see the radiant glory of God shining forth in the person of Jesus. Peter experiences the glory of God face to face.

The relationship between Peter and Jesus did not end after the accusation and struggle with Satan. The relationship between Peter and Jesus did not end. Neither of them ended it. Peter did not sulk away with his feelings hurt. Nor did Jesus cast Peter out of the fellowship of disciples. A new day dawned. The relationship continued. In way, even an event as highly charged as this one is just another day at the office for disciples of Christ.

We don’t know if there was some moment of private reconciliation between Peter and Jesus. I like to think there was. I like to think Peter recognized his hubris and went to Jesus. "I'm sorry, Lord. Please forgive me. And help me remember that I need your help to guide me in the right way." I like to think that Peter expressed his repentance and found reconciliation in God’s mercy.

This passage seems to carry two messages for us in our lives today. The first is a reminder of the significance of evil in our lives. Whether or not you think of evil as something incarnate in a Satan or whether you see evil as darkness within the human heart and soul, whenever we—by our action or inaction—oppose the will of God, we are in the same camp as Peter. Peter’s misspeaking may not seem like a big deal, the sort of thing we would brush off, especially since we can explain it as such an easy mistake given the circumstances. We often can explain away our own missteps in the life of faith... given the circumstances. Surely our words or actions are not that big a deal… Not really evil. No.  Every single time our actions or our inaction thwarts or opposes the will of God, we are in the same place as Peter when Jesus says to him, “Get behind me, Satan.”

Second, as significant as evil is for us, it is also routine. This exchange was almost a normal everyday occurrence between Jesus and Peter. Confronting and overcoming evil in our world, within ourselves is a routine part of the Christian life. We need not fear that our own struggle with the voice of Satan will permanently alienate us from Jesus. The relationship will continue. It’s just another day at the office for Christian disciples.

Evil is both more significant and more common that we think.

We are in the season of Lent, of course. On Ash Wednesday, the church invited all of us to the observance of a holy Lent. Part of that invitation was a description of the origin and purpose of Lent. This season of Lent “was a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.”

All Christians need to continually renew their repentance and faith. The Christian life is never static. There is never a time in the Christian life to pause and measure our success or accomplishments. There is never a time when we can say, “I have arrived! I have recognized the Messiah.” The Christian life is a process of continual repentance and renewal. And for those, like Peter, who stick around, tomorrow may bring amazing revelation of glory.