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.