Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 (NRSV)
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near--
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful army comes;
their like has never been from of old,
nor will be again after them
in ages to come.
Yet even now, says the LORD,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the LORD, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the LORD, your God?
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sanctify a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
gather the people.
Sanctify the congregation;
assemble the aged;
gather the children,
even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her canopy.
Between the vestibule and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep.
Let them say, "Spare your people, O LORD,
and do not make your heritage a mockery,
a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
`Where is their God?'"
Psalm 103 (BCP., p.733)
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 (NRSV)
We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,
"At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you."
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see-- we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 (NRSV)
Jesus said, "Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
"So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
"And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
"And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Blog Reflection
Today, we begin preparing for the "interior resurrection" as Thomas Keating puts it, that will be ours at Easter. The impact of Easter on our spiritual lives, will have a greater meaning if we begin the Season of Lent by paying a bit more attention to what Keating calls our "emotional programs" (See The Mystery of Christ: The Liturgy as Spiritual Experience, p.36).
All of us, beginning with our birth and into adulthood, become aware of those emotional programs that we use to identify ourselves in our false sense of ourselves. Those systems are survival/security, affection/esteem, and power/control. They can be characterized as food/sleep/work/the basics, being the center of attention/popular/notable/famous, and rich/in control/determining our own destiny/self-salvation. This Season of Lent is when the Church goes on a retreat for forty days to pray, listen, fast, give alms, deny ourselves, and prepare to welcome the Risen Christ at Easter with our whole selves renewed in the unconditional love and mercy of God.
Lent is a time for looking at our own Spiritual activity. The words of Jesus in this Gospel we hear year after year, invites us to examine our motives in our Spiritual practices. Are they driven by a sincere desire to grow closer to God, by letting go of our false sense of self which is pride? Or, do we do them hoping to fulfill our emotional systems of survival/security, affection/esteem, or power/control to feed our false sense of self with things that cannot give us any lasting satisfaction?
Another way to ask these questions is, are we doing them for the sake of themselves? Or are we doing them to draw us closer to God?
Our Lenten journey that we begin today, is our opportunity to walk with Jesus into the desert for forty days, so that we may grow closer to Him in our relationship to God, our neighbor and ourselves in genuine self-sacrificing love. The love that is not shady, because it is self-seeking. But, a love that is seeking union with God as the only thing really worth while.
Paul begins our Lent every year with this reading from 2 Corinthians. Paul writes about the kairos which in Greek means "the appointed time." Paul writes that the appointed time for our salvation in Christ is now. When Paul writes in Galatians 4:4: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his son born of a woman,,,," he uses the same word kairos for time. The time to seek union with God by letting go of what is false, self-seeking, and not life-giving is now. Lent is that special time of grace in our Liturgical year to know of the merciful love and forgiveness of God that we sing about in Psalm 103.
This period of Lent is good for our personal souls, but it is also extra good for the repentance of our social sins. The sins that fuel prejudice towards LGBT people, women, people of different races, religions, cultures, abilities, health status, employment status, language and more. The sins of omission by which we neglect the poor, the stranger, the hungry, the naked, the lonely and the disenfranchised. Lent is an opportunity for the Church and society to examine ourselves from the inside out, to see if we can follow Christ more closely by becoming one diverse people of a greater hospitality, with healing and reconciliation for all of God's people. Not just some, but for all people. What an amazing Easter Day we would celebrate if that is where the Church and society landed at the empty tomb.
Let us all put our feet firmly on the labyrinth of Lent, and walk humbly and prayerfully with our God. May we all grow just a little closer to God, with love for one another so that what we sing and do on Easter Day will equal the joy of our renewed sense of self. May we discover during this Lent, that God alone is all we really need. And that, serving others in God's Name is truly good news by which the Holy Spirit will renew the face of the earth.
Amen.
Prayers
Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p. 217).
Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on
the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within
the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit
that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those
who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for
the honor of your Name. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p.101).
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