Sermon, Lent 1 (C)

 This morning, our first reading challenges us to consider our place and space within the community, and the world.

This seems fitting:

We’re in the season of Lent, which is of course an invitation to self-reflection and personal growth.

It also feels a bit like 2 years of COVID means we never really left Lent from 2020 – making this the Lentiest Lent we ever Lented.

And of course our headlines are bringing fear to our minds and anxiety to our hearts, as we hear of conflict and devastation, far and near, and contemplate the global implications.

What a great time to consider our place and space in the world.

So: Deuteronomy.

In the chapters preceding today’s passage, the writer of Deuteronomy offers the instructions for the community, regarding their economic, religious, and civil interactions.

They are being called to acts of righteousness and justice; being reminded of a war that they themselves were recently engaged in.

The Israelites are reminded that they are to do better than just what is “fair”, they are to do what is generous. Because they can.

This passage reminds God’s people of their ongoing journey – their history as a migratory people; their history as faithful people; and their history as a liberated people.

This passage inspires God’s people to recognise that they have moved from a place of scarcity to a place of abundance: and they are invited to give thanks to God.

Thanking God is a BIG part of the community’s opportunity here in Deuteronomy.

When you have a place to stay: give thanks to God.

When you have food growing: give thanks to God.

When you have the opportunity to help someone in need: give thanks to God.

When you have the chance to share your advantages and privilege: give thanks to God.

Because: it’s easy for us to get stuck in seeing inconveniences as hardships. To perceive ourselves only within our own circumstances. To complain when things don’t go our way.

We complain about the drastic increase in gas prices, while driving reliable vehicles on safe roads: until we remember the plight of refugees fleeing for their lives.

We complain about the cost or immediate availability of food that has been grown and shipped from around the world: until we remember the 900 million people facing food deprivation.

We complain about safety measures of masks and distancing in church: until we remember the Ukrainians praying in subway stations while war wages around them.

We complain about our health care system, and our government, and other ways that our preferences are not met.

We are inconvenienced: in many ways.

And we recognise that here at home, here in Lunenburg, many are suffering: there is hunger and poverty and violence.

But for the most part, we are in good fortune here.

And we are reminded that we: as God’s people: can – and should – give thanks to God.

For the lessons of Deuteronomy continue to speak to us today.

If we’re not careful, we can get stuck in the past, in our own Deuteronomic Egypt.

The Egypt that speaks of the harshness, the cruelty, and the difficulties of the past.

And it cautions against getting stuck there – stuck lamenting, stuck self-pitying, stuck looking back – even for generations that were never in the geographic Egypt.

Because to be stuck in that mindset is normalising attitudes and behaviour that are resistant to the power of God; it is reluctant to move forward into the new reality of what IS. Here, now.

Instead, we hear from the passage the invitation to dwell in the land of milk and honey.

And this focus is NOT a dream for the future: this is spoken in the present tense.

God brought us into THIS place and gave us THIS land.

We are IN the land of Milk and Honey. The land of great abundance!

And abundance means having enough – not just for ourselves, but for all.

And this is a broad application of what ‘enough’ actually means.

It means:

Enough Nourishment: it’s food to eat today, and the security of knowing where tomorrow’s food will come from.

Enough shelter: having a roof over our head, a space that is heated, with easy access to clean water.

Enough is having clothing suitable for the weather, and shoes on our feet.

Enough means being physically, emotionally, and spiritually secure: a safe place to sleep, to pray, to be with family and friends.

We have enough.

We are living in abundance.

And this is GOOD news.

For out of abundance comes joy!

Of abundance comes opportunity!

Of abundance comes responsibility to others – friends and strangers alike, those Biblical Levites and aliens resident among us.

And this responsibility is one that we can meet: and give thanks to God.

So this Lent – from our place of abundance:

Let’s honour our tradition to give something up, as we give up OUR Egypts:

Our grudges, our anger. Our selfishness, our negativity. Our social media snark, our meanness in person, our refusal to work towards reconciliation.

And as we honour our Lenten tradition to practice something new, let’s lean into our milk and honey!

With prayer, meditation, reflection, and development – to be the spiritually mature Christians that God wants us to be.

With sharing of resources, and energy, and time, and kindness – knowing that someone else could benefit from what we have – and we all have something to contribute, at EVERY age and stage!

With respect, commitment to community, and dedication to building up the kingdom of God.

With open minds, inquiring hearts, discerning wills: with the goal to live our lives, every day, being the kind of person that we want to be;

to encourage one another to be the truth-bearing community that we want to be; to journey forward in faith, alongside our friends and those we don’t call friends – in order to strengthen the Kingdom of God.

This Lent, let’s carry with us the lessons we learned, as we appreciate that we have enough.

Let’s nurture our souls as we recognise our place in this land of Milk and Honey in a healthy and faithful way:

Humbly. Honestly. Communally. And faithfully.

For the journey of Lent is a dedicated journey of faith.

Of reconciling ourselves with God, as we engage in the deep work of self-reflection and personal change - doing our best, fumbling along in our humanness, and never giving up on the journey: for we know that God never gives up on us.

So let us focus on God and on community; let us trust in God’s promises and reject the temptations that take us away from God. Let us continue our Lenten journey as we began: with self-examination, penitence, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, and by reading and meditating on the word of God. Let’s come to God and ask for help as we re-focus our hearts to the abundant lives of this land of Milk and Honey.

For with God: life is sweet.

With God: life is nourishing.

With God: life is eternal, for God’s promises are everlasting.

And this is the abundant life that God wills for us.

So let us give thanks to God: this Lent, and forever more.