aLent 1 ~ February 10, 2008 ~ A sermon preached by The Rev’d Erl G. Purnell at Old St. Andrew’s Church, Bloomfield, CT
Genesis 2.15-17; 3.1-7; Psalm 32; Romans 5.12-19; Matthew 4.1-11
For reasons that have everything to do with the moon, Lent-2008 begins very early. The which, of course, means that Easter is also very early—March 23rd, only two days after the spring equinox. Given that Punxatauny Phil suggested last week that we’ll have six more weeks of winter, the timing should be pretty good for early crocuses, daffodils, and tulips. I hope that’s the case because this winter has been such a mish-mash of weather—a few nice snow storms, lots of rain, cold but also temps in the 40s. I’m already gearing up for the wonderful re-birth we call spring.
But first … first we have to go through Lent. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving-kindness; in you great compassion blot out my offenses.” That’s the beginning of Psalm 51—Miserere mei, Deus in the Latin—which is recited at the Ash Wednesday service. The psalm is a call to repentance, a call for God to “wash me through and through” and to “cleanse me from my sin”. How can I not be reminded of a washing machine or laundry detergent ad? Can’t you see the scrubbing bubbles?
When I lived on my farm in Maine, the nearest electric pole was a mile away and so we lived in simple elegance and elegant simplicity—that is, without electricity or running water and most other conveniences of modern life. I traded something valuable—can’t remember what but it must have been wanted by somebody else—for a nearly-new wringer washer complete with, not one, but two rinsing tubs. She was a beauty, don’t ya know!
Every-so-often we’d run out of clean clothes—or, our dirty clothes would be just too dirty—and laundry day would be declared. Fortunately we didn’t have that many clothes, but we did have kids who tended to get what clothes they had dirty pretty fast.
The reason I’m telling you this story is because it always took a while to do the laundry. First there was getting the clothes all soapy; then the scrubbing; then the rinsing; then the wringing; then the hanging on the line to dry. It was a process, and as I say, it took some time.
I suppose it’s the same with Lent. It takes some time to get washed through and through and a little longer to get hung on the line for the sun to dry and freshen you up. What happens for any of us between Ash Wednesday and Easter is in many ways a personal thing. If you were unable to attend the Ash Wednesday service, I hope you’ll find it in the Prayer Book sometime because it challenges us to think about how we might repent.
The Litany of Penitence is a long confession shared between the celebrant and the people. Together, those gathered acknowledge to God, to one another, and to “the whole communion of saints” that we have sinned “by what we have done and left undone”. We all know those words pretty well.
But then, the litany gets more specific. It’s kind of like, now that the soap is in the tub with the wash and water, the time’s come for some muscle power and scrubbing. Mostly, I don’t like this litany. It’s because it makes me uncomfortable. It calls me up short. It forces me to acknowledge that, try as I may, I don’t always measure up. Consider a few of the things called into consciousness:
· deafness to God’s call to serve as Christ served us
· unfaithfulness, pride, hypocrisy and impatience
· a self-indulgent appetite and ways
· exploitation of other people
· frustration
· envy of those who have more than ourselves
· an intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts
· dishonesty in daily life and work
· negligence in prayer and worship
Do you see what I mean? Ouch. And that’s only the first half.
I liken the second half of the litany to the rinse water and wringer in the old washer on my farm. Here it is transposed into one long request that God accept our repentance: for the wrongs we have done: for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty; for all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us; for our waste and pollution of [God’s] creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us.
That wringer sure gets tight with things like indifference to cruelty and injustice or uncharitable thoughts or the pollution of [God’s] creation. You see why I don’t much like this litany? I know that in my life I haven’t been all God would have me be. I’ve fallen short here and there and I don’t much like it.
So, now we have these forty days where we’re invited—that’s what the Prayer Book says—invited to self-examination and repentance. Believe me, I think the exercise of self-examination and repentance needs be taken seriously. But, frankly, the washing through and through doesn’t quite put things right. We must also bathe in the warmth of God’s forgiveness and grace—hang on the line to dry if you will—before we step back into the world squeaky clean and like new.
What matters here, it seems to me, is what we learn from our introspection and repentance. Lent only matters when we do something about human need and suffering, the injustice and cruelty. No amount of prayer, self-denial or fasting matters if uncharitable thoughts, prejudice and contempt for those who differ from us continues. Forty days seems long, but is it long enough head off our lack of concern for those who come after us because of our our pollution and wasteful ways?
Lent is yet one more starting time. We’ll find ourselves here again in a year. When that happens, how will we remember what we have accomplished in 2008 with regard to these Lenten prayers for God’s forgiveness? I want to think that together we can and will bring about a kind of change that profoundly matters, for each of us and all of us, and for this fragile earth, our island home. “I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance.”
Amen.
Copyright © 2008. Erl G. Purnell
All rights reserved.
