God is here to change us. This is what Lent is for. God is here to help us change direction, to have different priorities, to slow down and look at what is really going on, to see things differently than we did before. God loves us too much to let us stay the same. God is calling us to follow Jesus to new life.
God was changing the whole world
in the time of Noah. God looked around
and saw evil everywhere, and flooded the earth in an effort to start over. For Noah the process of change went on over years. He knew it was happening with lots of lead
time. The whole focus of his life
changed to building the rescue boat and preparing it to house his family and
the animals he knew to be necessary for life.
What I love about Noah is he that he appreciates the interconnectedness
of all life. He knows that he can’t
survive without the animals and they can’t survive without other animals. He understands what each animal needs to eat
and to live, their habitats, their needs.
Did he start thinking of that just when God warned him about the coming
flood, or was that how he thought of all of life?
My favorite part of this story, is
that God shows us that God is willing to change. God regrets sending a flood. God regrets using destruction and violence to
start over. So God hangs up the weapon,
the bow, in the clouds, making a rainbow to remind God that isn’t the way, and
reminding humankind that this won’t happen again. God reflects on God’s actions, evaluates
them, and decides to do something different going forward.
1 Peter is a letter of
change. It used to be that death was the
end, but God gave us Jesus and baptism to change us, to give us life. God gave
us seasons and practices to help us refocus, wipe our slate clean, and start
over without having a huge destructive event like a flood. Jesus showed us that change is necessary to
pay attention to the poor, to free the captives, and to free ourselves from
selfishness and fear to live abundantly.
Even Jesus is being
changed. He’s been preparing to be a
Rabbi. Now he is baptized—washed and
ready. He hears the voice of God telling
him he is beloved. He doesn’t have time
to enjoy that moment. He is driven into
the wilderness. Jesus doesn’t even get
to absorb the information of who he is.
In an instant, he is out there almost entirely alone, tempted,
surrounded by wild animals. While
Matthew and Luke spell out the temptations in detail, Mark leaves it wide
open. I would think 40 days without food
and water would be enough time for every temptation to cross Jesus’ mind. We all have our own temptations—unhealthy
desires and thoughts that come to us again and again, especially in times of
stress. In the pandemic we may find some
new ones creeping in—some people are feeling tempted to eat all day, or to
drink more alcohol earlier and earlier in the day. Whatever temptations we experience, we can
imagine that Jesus felt something similar.
Did he wonder what was his worth in God’s eyes? Did he consider living a conventional life
instead of one of a Savior? Mark tells
us simply that Jesus was tempted. And
yet God is calling him to change, to become, to enter into ministry knowing who
he really is and able to resist the temptations that constantly bombard
us. Jesus is embarking on a new project,
to bear the good news to all people, regardless of obstacles or temptations, to
die to his own desires to follow God’s path of new life for all Creation.
You called me here to change you
and to change with you. I am your
Pastor/Redeveloper. I am your pastor to
help you change. Why would you want to
do that? Aren’t you happy with who you
are? I guess God’s just not done with
you yet, and I can tell for certain, God’s not done with me. I still have a lot to learn—a lot of
following to do, a lot of mistakes to make, a lot of people to encounter who
will help me see the world in a different way.
We are, all of us, always being re-created into God’s image and Spirit
of Life is no exception.
Change is scary. This congregation has been a safe place for
people to come when First Lutheran became unsafe. It has been a refuge for people hurt by
pastors and religious authorities. It
has been a place to connect and serve in Olalla, a place for stubborn people to
resist all the odds, weather all the storms, and live a life of faith. If Spirit of Life changes, does it mean that
we aren’t good as we are? Doesn’t God
love us, just as we are? Can’t we just
continue to be the safe place in the community for ourselves and for others who
think the way we do?
Spirit of Life has been
something very special in this community and played an important part in the
healing of a lot of people. It has fed
the poor and given the children a safe place to learn about how much God loves
them. And Spirit of Life is led by the
Spirit. The Spirit is driving us out to
empty us of temptations to stay on the banks of the Jordan. This church is named for the very Spirit that
won’t let us stay the same. The truth
is, we are always changing, so why not be intentional about that change. The world out there is changing—people’s
needs are changing, their temptations are changing, their gifts are
changing. And so we embrace this Spirit
that we are named for, trusting that God is with us, leading us and helping us.
God isn’t done with us yet—there is more
to learn, a lot of following to do, God’s promises to be reminded of, a lot of
mistakes to make and learn from, a lot of people to meet that will change the
way we think about the world. This
church is alive with the Spirit and learning, yes, even growing. New life is springing up in unexpected little
ways. God is changing us.
It’s ok to be a little leary, a little bit
fearful. There are wild beasts
lurking. There are dangers, although
none of them is more dangerous than not changing, become stagnant, unbending,
and irrelevant. God is calling us to
change. Not change for change’s sake,
but in order to follow Jesus. Do not
fear, we will take this change slowly, so that the flexibility of this
community is not pushed beyond the breaking point. We will use open communication so that each
person has a way to ask questions and share opinions and be in on the change
that is taking place. We will face our
fears and name them so that we realize they won’t destroy us and that God is
more powerful than all of them. I
imagine Noah and his family facing ridicule as they prepare the ark. I imagine their fear as they boarded the boat
and shut the doors and the rain began to fall, and then as the water lifted the
boat up as the waters rose. Our fear
protects us from danger, but it can also keep us from following the strange and
wondrous places God is leading.
God is here to change us because
God is showing us something new. We are
unfinished. No matter how good we are,
we know God has more to teach us. We
haven’t yet reached the Kingdom of God.
There isn’t anyone to blame or any shame to feel—only a wild ride to
look forward to as God leads us and changes us ever more in God’s image.
What does it mean that God is here to change us? Does it mean we will have to be
uncomfortable? Yes, we will. But comfort isn’t the be-all, end-all. Isn’t life more than comfort? Isn’t church more than what works for me? There’s a whole world waiting out there to
teach us to be responsive and open, inviting us to join them in Kingdom work,
calling us out to the highways and byways to encounter the love of God.
I’m excited for Lent and the call that God is
extending. It is a call to empty
ourselves—of expectations, of comfort, of the way things have always been. And it is a call to prepare to receive, as
the ark was prepared to receive the animals.
We are being prepared to receive awareness, joy, hope, a new identity
not based on what society says is important.
We are being driven to the wilderness to reflect, and pray, and listen,
and be waited upon by angels and to receive the Gifts of the wilderness: Reflection, truth, recognition of need and
openness to receiving, openness to God, reckoning with who I am and who God is,
becoming who God Created us to be.
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