February 18, 2018, First Sunday in Lent
First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL
Christina Berry
Our gospel reading today is from Mark’s gospel. Typical of this gospel, the action is brisk. In the first eight verses of the first chapter, we’ve seen John the Baptist proclaiming that the promised one is coming. Now we see Jesus in action as he begins his ministry. Let’s listen for God’s word to us in Mark 1:9-15.
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying,
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."
It has been said that "to sing is to pray twice." In keeping with our theme of praying the Psalms this Lent, we will be singing the Psalm each week. Our reading is from Psalm 25:1-10
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me. Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O LORD!
Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
Thanks be to God.
Weeks ago, when I was still doing some thinking about Lent, Nan and I decided to order the beautiful artwork on the Psalms that you see on the bulletin cover. It came as part of a set, and we asked Emma to color them for us. As I looked over that packet of the Psalms in the Lectionary for Lent, it seemed that praying the Psalms would be a good focus for us this year. So we planned worship with a theme of praying the Psalms.
When I wrote the devotions for the newsletter, I tried to think of a brief phrase or sentence as the focus of each Psalm. I summed up today’s Psalm, number 25, as “the prayer of a student.” Little did I know that we would be coming to worship this week
praying for students,
praying with students,
praying for schools and teachers and staff and parents,
as we grieve yet another school shooting.
This may not be the sermon you expected to hear today.
This was not the sermon I thought I was going to preach.
For the first Sunday in Lent, I thought I was going to address the importance of prayers that lead us to give our very lives over to God, prayers that lift our souls up to God and let the Holy Spirit speak to us and teach us through all the hills and valleys of our journey. I was going to say something that led to this conclusion:
“Just as Jesus was pushed out into the wilderness,
still wet from his baptism
and with the blessing of God ringing in his ears,
so as we begin these 40 days of Lent,
we can trust our souls to the God who calls us beloved
who teaches us, and leads us, if we will listen and learn.”
Then I was going to say along with the Psalmist, “God leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep God’s covenant and God’s decrees.”
But it rings hollow, doesn’t it, in the stark reality of this week?
On Ash Wednesday, we remembered that we are finite. We remembered that all of us go down to the dust, yet even at the grave, we sing Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! On February 14, this past Wednesday, people gave each other valentines, flowers and candy, and the barbershoppers sang their singing valentines. I joked that while other people were celebrating Valentine’s Day, I had to work and spend the day reminding people of their mortality.
On Wednesday, seventeen people died in another school shooting.
When I wrote “prayer of a student” as a summary of this Psalm, I imagined talking about the way in which we pray for God’s guidance, and then take time to listen. So our prayer would echo the Psalmist:
“Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.”
And then we would fall silent, waiting for God,
entrusting our lives to God, listening for God to teach us.
Now I think of the prayer of a student
as being something more like this tweet:
“I JUST WANT TO KNOW IF EVERYONE IS SAFE
CAUSE IM SHAKING
THERE WAS LIKE PEOPLE IVE SEEN BEFORE
JUST DEAD IN THE HALLS
I CANT CALM DOWN AT ALL
THIS WAS THE MOST TERRYFYING TH[ING] IVE EVER SEEN.”[1]
So this is not the sermon I planned to preach.
Once again, we are sending thoughts and prayers in the aftermath of inexplicable gun violence. Once again, a rage filled white American man has used a semi-automatic weapon to gun down innocent people. Once again, people are asking for some kind of legislative action. Once again, responsible, law-abiding gun owners are saying that there is no gun control legislation that is acceptable to them and nothing we can do to prevent such actions, unless it involves more guns.
Thoughts and prayers have become a bitter and meaningless meme to many people in these times, as so many scoff at the expression as an excuse for inaction. When families are wailing in grief, and children are terrified, and teachers are literally giving their lives for their students, thoughts and prayers alone may seem hollow, useless.
But that is not true for us, for those of us who follow Jesus.
Prayer for us is neither hollow nor useless, but necessary, imperative.
We naturally turn to prayer when we are grieving.
But we do not grieve as those who have no hope.
We naturally turn to prayer in times of trouble.
But we do not pray as those who have no hope!
We pray because we believe.
We pray because we need to talk with God.
We pray because we need to listen to God.
And we pray before we set out to act.
Those prayers are not useless.
We pray because we need to listen to God.
And we pray before we set out to act.
Those prayers are not useless.
For years most of us have known how prayer matters to us, how it changes us for the better. We know that our prayers change our hearts. But did you know that praying changes your brain? A researcher named Sara Lazar studied people who meditate – pray – and did MRIs to see how it affected their brains. It turns out that a half hour each day of prayer – meditating - changes and thickens the areas of the brain involved in focus, learning, memory, emotional regulation, empathy and compassion. Prayer and focused thinking such as meditation shrink the area of the brain involved in anxiety, fear, and stress. This is true whether you are a praying believer or a meditating unbeliever!
So regular prayer can lead to more empathy, less fear, and an increased ability to stay focused in difficult situations. When we are trembling in fear, or when we are confused, the regular practice of daily prayer can lead us in the way of truth, and teach us the path that we should follow.
One Christian writer, reflecting on thoughts and prayers, said,
“Since prayer aids in clear, calm, and empathetic thinking,
if we are going to respond well to complicated issues such as gun control,
prayer may be more helpful in leading us toward better policy solutions
than would an urgent, fretful, ill-considered response.”[2]
On Wednesday, we stepped out of our normal routines.
We stood silently while ashes were smeared on our foreheads in the sign of the cross, and we heard the words, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
On Wednesday, while declarations of love were shared, and flowers delivered and songs sung and sweethearts enjoyed a night out, the families of seventeen people took in the horror of their loss, and hundreds more trembled in relief that their children were alive.
On Wednesday, we began the forty-day journey of Lent, a time of preparation and prayer.
So regular prayer can lead to more empathy, less fear, and an increased ability to stay focused in difficult situations. When we are trembling in fear, or when we are confused, the regular practice of daily prayer can lead us in the way of truth, and teach us the path that we should follow.
One Christian writer, reflecting on thoughts and prayers, said,
“Since prayer aids in clear, calm, and empathetic thinking,
if we are going to respond well to complicated issues such as gun control,
prayer may be more helpful in leading us toward better policy solutions
than would an urgent, fretful, ill-considered response.”[2]
On Wednesday, we stepped out of our normal routines.
We stood silently while ashes were smeared on our foreheads in the sign of the cross, and we heard the words, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
On Wednesday, while declarations of love were shared, and flowers delivered and songs sung and sweethearts enjoyed a night out, the families of seventeen people took in the horror of their loss, and hundreds more trembled in relief that their children were alive.
On Wednesday, we began the forty-day journey of Lent, a time of preparation and prayer.
For what do we pray, and for what do we prepare?
We prepare for action, to live as people of hope,
and to share that hope in the way we speak and think.
We prepare to offer our lives to God so that we can do God’s will.
We pray for wisdom, to be led in the way of righteousness,
so that we may use that wisdom in making good decisions,
and in asking our elected officials to act wisely.
We pray for God’s guidance, to lead us in the paths of steadfast love
so that we may love even those with whom we disagree.
We pray to find our center, so that we can be ready to act.
So Lent begins, and we begin with prayer.
We pray with energy, and with hope,
with empathy and compassion, and with open hearts.
Turns out that my original conclusion works after all.
“Just as Jesus was pushed out into the wilderness, still wet from his baptism and with the blessing of God ringing in his ears, so as we begin these 40 days of Lent, we can trust our souls to the God who calls us beloved who teaches us, and leads us, if we will listen and learn.”
“God leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep God’s covenant and God’s decrees.”
The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
Our prayers will show us the way to walk – in the paths of steadfast love.
Amen.
[1] https://slate.com/technology/2018/02/the-tragic-social-media-accounts-of-the-florida-school-shooting.html
[2] https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/10/thoughts-and-prayers-las-vegas/542319/
We prepare for action, to live as people of hope,
and to share that hope in the way we speak and think.
We prepare to offer our lives to God so that we can do God’s will.
We pray for wisdom, to be led in the way of righteousness,
so that we may use that wisdom in making good decisions,
and in asking our elected officials to act wisely.
We pray for God’s guidance, to lead us in the paths of steadfast love
so that we may love even those with whom we disagree.
We pray to find our center, so that we can be ready to act.
So Lent begins, and we begin with prayer.
We pray with energy, and with hope,
with empathy and compassion, and with open hearts.
Turns out that my original conclusion works after all.
“Just as Jesus was pushed out into the wilderness, still wet from his baptism and with the blessing of God ringing in his ears, so as we begin these 40 days of Lent, we can trust our souls to the God who calls us beloved who teaches us, and leads us, if we will listen and learn.”
“God leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep God’s covenant and God’s decrees.”
The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
Our prayers will show us the way to walk – in the paths of steadfast love.
Amen.
[1] https://slate.com/technology/2018/02/the-tragic-social-media-accounts-of-the-florida-school-shooting.html
[2] https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/10/thoughts-and-prayers-las-vegas/542319/
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