Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me,
Bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all his benefits,
Who forgives all your iniquity,
And heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from the pit,
And crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
Who satisfies you with good as long as you live
So that your youth is renewed like the eagles. (Ps. 103:1-5)
Another Lent has arrived. It seems to me that the older I get, the closer together the Lents are! Once again the crosses, icons, and paintings are veiled, with the exception of the crucifixes and the Stations of the cross. The penitential Lenten array has replaced the green of ordinary time. We have now entered the season when we know we will hear more about sin than usual, when there is greater emphasis on fasting and abstinence and other acts of self-denial, when parties are discouraged. And we begin it all with someone putting a black smudge of ash on our foreheads.
It sounds kind of depressing. Why would anybody want to do that? Isn’t this the kind of thing that gives religion a bad name?…..That being Christian and living the Christian life somehow takes the joy out of life?
I’m reminded of a story told by Groucho Marx. Groucho is standing on a street corner in Montreal. A priest who is passing by recognizes him and says, “Mr. Marx, I want to thank you for bringing so much joy into the world.” Groucho’s eyebrows arch and he responds, “And I want to thank you, Father, for taking so much joy out of it.”
Is that what the Christian faith is all about, if we really allow our faith to permeate our lives? Is it really about taking the joy out of life? Is Lent simply a larger dose of the joylessness that characterizes our faith?
I know Christians who don’t want to get too close to the Church because they know it would alter their lifestyles, and they think that would take the joy out of life. And from time to time I have known very active Christians who don’t seem to enjoy their faith and who don’t seem to have any fun in life and, specifically, in their involvement in the Church.
I am not here because I believe that God wants to take the joy out of life and I sincerely hope you are not here for that reason either. Every year I look forward to Lent, not because of the joylessness of Lent, but because of the opposite—the joy of Lent. It gives me an opportunity to get my priorities straight. Yes, it makes me think about some sad things—ways that I have hurt others, ways that I have hurt my relationship with God, ways that I have even hurt myself. But the reason for emphasizing the negative is positive. God in Christ wants to forgives us our sins, take our guilt away, and start us on a new path that will lead to true, lasting joy. The First Letter of John puts it this way: “If we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Likewise, Isaiah tells us that when we do the things of faith, joy is the result: “If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.”
The real beauty and joy of Lent is not that it calls me to confession, repentance, and newness of life. No, the real joy of Lent is that it calls us to confession, repentance, and newness of life. This is our common pilgrimage, a pilgrimage where together we strive to reduce the distance between what we say we believe and what we actually do. We derive a great deal of strength from the fact that Christians not only at Redeemer, not only in our diocese, but also all over the world, hundreds of millions of Christians this very day—are all doing the same thing, and it has been going on for hundreds of years. Now that is a support group!
We do it because of the joy that comes with a right relationship with God in our Lord Jesus Christ. I heard a modern day parable that says it another way. There was a man who wanted to build the biggest, best boat that has ever been built. He went about his task, but soon discovered that his funds wouldn’t cover the cost for the boat. So he decided he could do basically what he wanted to do by cutting down on parts of the boat that people didn’t see, that is, those parts beneath the water. The boat was finished eventually, and everyone who saw it, exclaimed that this was truly the biggest, best boat they had ever seen.
The time came for its maiden voyage, and the boat was launched to the cheers of the crowds which had gathered for the big event. It put out to sea and a storm arose. Because the boat did not have the proper foundation material beneath the water, the waves easily caused it to capsize, and what had been believed to have been the biggest, best boat ever built, turned out to be an imposter because its foundation was not strong enough.
Lent is a time for working on the foundation of our faith, our relationship with God through Christ, to the end that we may become the people God intends for us to be and have the wholeness of life which he wants to give us. May this Lent be a time of deep and abiding joy, not only for us as individuals and families, but for us as a community of faith.
Sermon preached by the Very Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, FL
5 March 2014
Ash Wednesday