First Sunday in Lent

February 22                NOTES FOR REFLECTION             First Sunday in Lent

Texts: Genesis 9:8-17; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15

Theme:  The most obvious choice would be "The Temptation of Christ", but in my view we should resist it.  It's too easy.  "Facing Temptation" or "Resisting Temptation" would be better.  For reasons that will become clear shortly, I'm going for "The Temptation of the Body of Christ".

Introduction.  If there is a common thread running through these three readings this week it is surely about the essential foundation upon which confession stands.  We do not come before God in fear and trepidation "hoping against hope" for a fair outcome – much less, a lucky break.  To pinch a phrase from our funeral liturgy, in confession we come before God "in the sure and certain hope" of forgiveness.  Our reading from Genesis, therefore, is very much post-Flood: punishment is in the past, and now we have the gracious promise of God our Creator to the whole of Creation that never again will God give up on us.  The baffling verses from Peter extend God's forgiveness in Christ backwards in time, so to speak.  Even those who died in their sins are not beyond the saving reach of Christ.  And we finish with some helpful swot-notes from Mark: forget the details, he seems to say, and just grasp the basic facts that Jesus was baptised, tempted to deviate from his mission, but did not do so.

Background.  Most of us, if we think about Lent at all, think of it as a time for personal (individual) stock-taking, reflection, remorse, confession (in the strictly private Anglican sort of way), and perhaps a vow, or at least a desire, to do better in the future.  We also have some sort of "race memory" that we ought to "give something up for Lent" – something like cake, chocolates, or alcohol – but to what end is not always entirely clear.  One of my favourite priests, who had a well-earned reputation for enjoying such delicacies, once told his congregation that he had no intention of giving up any of them for Lent, but he was intending to give up gossiping, grumbling and criticising during the Lenten Season, and invited them to do the same.  They assumed he was joking and laughed.

Over the years I have tried to teach the idea that in corporate worship we confess our sins as one body, not as individuals.  In large part our three Eucharistic liturgies support me in that.  In the first one, we "call to mind our sins", and we confess that "we have sinned in what we have thought and said..."  In the second one, there is an unfortunate lapse into individualism – "I will confess my sins to the Lord, I will not conceal my wrongdoing" – but the rest of that section returns to corporate confession thereafter.  The third liturgy makes the point most explicitly: "We come seeking forgiveness for all we have failed to be and do as members of Christ's body."  There in a nutshell is my case, and now in support I call my first witness.

He is known to us as Pope Francis.  Just before Christmas I saw on the TV News a short item about the Pope's address to the pre-Christmas gathering of the Curia in the Vatican.  Not for him a few polite words thanking them for all their hard work and bidding them safe travel and a good break over the holidays.  Pope Francis took the opportunity to share his thoughts about the "spiritual diseases" that all-too often afflicted the Curia.  The full text of his extraordinary address was published on line by The Tablet on 30/12/2014; and if you are looking for something to use as a Lenten resource this year, I recommend this.  I can't do it justice in these Notes, but here are some points that struck me.

He began with Paul's image of the Church as one Body, and he applied it to the Curia.  The Curia is a complex body comprising many congregations, councils, offices, tribunals, commissions, and so on, made up of people from diverse cultural, national and linguistic backgrounds; and yet it is called to be one body within the Body of Christ, and must act as one body.  It can only do this, he said, if every member understands that without Christ we can do nothing, and that means that each member requires daily nourishment from a diet of prayer, scripture, and reflection, and the "assiduous receipt of the sacraments".  Without such practice a member will become a mere "bureaucrat, a formalist, a functionalist, a mere employee".

And that was just to warm up!  He then proceeded to list what he called 15 "curial diseases" (spiritual diseases that can afflict any body of Christians), and he certainly didn't pull his punches.  Included on the list were what he called the "pathology of power", manifesting in a sense of superiority, power games, and even "rivalry and vainglory".  Others he called "Spiritual Alzheimer's" (forgetting what God has done for us), and "Existential Schizophrenia" (basically, hypocrisy).  Two that particularly struck me were not, perhaps, quite so dramatic, but certainly familiar within my experience.  The first he called "the Martha complex", throwing ourselves into work and more work, and forgetting the "one thing that matters".  How often have we been too busy to go on retreat, keep a scheduled appointment with our spiritual director, or even have our daily prayer time?

The other is "excessive planning".  How many times at parish or diocesan level have we thought that one more plan, one more seminar or conference, one more study, one more flow-chart or pie-chart will help us up the 5-step, 10-step, or 12-step ladder that leads to a "successful" church!  Prayer, waiting on the Spirit, retreats – who has got time for all that stuff?

So perhaps this Season of Lent, in addition to our own spiritual stock-take, we should encourage one another to look at our own faith community, and our own diocese and our own wider church.  We, too, may need to remember that we are a complex body, comprising congregations, social agencies, schools, colleges, offices, and a whole lot more.  Are we afflicted by our equivalent of curial diseases?  Are our social agencies so busy helping "their clients" and pursuing Government contracts that they have forgotten their need for daily nourishment?  Are our schools so committed to teaching their pupils "useful" subjects" that they are neglecting their special character as cells in the Body of Christ?  And are our local faith communities really distinguishable from other clubs and social gatherings of kindly people?

This Lenten Season may we all daily "come seeking forgiveness for all we have failed to be and do as members of Christ's body".

Genesis 9:8-17.  It is fashionable, particularly among many "Greenies", to accuse the Church of propagating a message of exploitation of natural resources, often quoting Genesis 1:28 in support of their criticism.  Today's passage is generally overlooked by such critics, yet here we have the clearest possible statement that God's covenantal commitment is to the whole of creation, and not just to humanity.  (Pedants might want to suggest that the covenant is limited to the animal kingdom, and that plants are not mentioned, but pedants should chill out and enjoy rainbows more.)  More importantly, as people of faith should we not, whenever a rainbow appears, see it as a reminder of God's mercy to all of us?  And, like the author of our next reading, see it as a reminder of our baptism?

Taking It Personally.

·        Call to mind the victims of the terrible tsunamis of recent years, and pray for those who are still trying to rebuild their lives after such devastation.

·        Pray for those, especially in the South Pacific, whose lives are threatened by rising sea-levels.  What can we do to help?

·        Where was God in those tsunamis?  Where is God in the rising sea levels?  What is the purpose of praying about these disasters, past and pending?

·        Reflect on the whole Noah story.  What is it really about?  What does it mean to you?

 

1 Peter 3:18-22.  I have never met anyone who claims this passage as his or her favourite passage of Scripture: in fact, I'm not sure that I have ever met anyone who claims to understand it.  But as I have pondered it today I keep getting in my mind the wonderful icon of the Resurrection showing Christ bursting out of Hades pulling Adam and Eve out with him.  And if those two can be saved by the resurrection of Christ there is surely hope for those who laughed at Noah until it was too late!  But whatever we are to make of verses 19 and 20, the message of the other verses in this little passage are wonderfully clear and encouraging.  Through baptism we become "people of the ark" saved from death; we become like those brought out of slavery through the Red Sea; we become the people of God through the saving action of God.  Let us remember all this every time we see a rainbow, and give thanks!

 

Taking It Personally.

 

·        Give thanks for your baptism.

·        Reflect on verse 21.  Write out your own version of it.  Bring out in your own words what it means for you.  What difference has your baptism made to your life?

·        What would you say to someone who is worried about a friend or family member who has died unbaptised, or as an avowed atheist? Would verses 19 and 20 help?

 

Mark 1:9-15.  In just 6 verses St Mark covers three major events.  He begins with his account of Jesus' baptism.  Verse 10 is subjective: Jesus "saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him".  There is no suggestion anybody else present saw it.  Verse 11 is, by implication, also subjective: the voice addresses Jesus alone.  The second episode, the temptation in the desert, is even more terse.  It is recorded as an objective account: but who, other than Jesus himself, could have been the source for this story?  Thirdly, we have the launch of Jesus' public mission.  Notice that there is no indication of the time lapse between the second and third episodes.  I am also struck by the use of the word "came" in both verse 9 and verse 14.  Where was "Mark" in each instance?  Change the word "came" to "went" in each case and you'll see what I'm driving at.  If Mark was a resident of Galilee, then, from his point of view, Jesus "went" to the Jordan to be baptised; if he was not a resident of Galilee, then Jesus "went" to Galilee proclaiming the message.  The use in both cases of "came" is perhaps theologically rather than geographically correct: it stresses that wherever we are we experience Jesus coming to us rather than going from us.  The language of verse 12 is particularly strong, echoing the language of exorcism.  Jesus does not seem to have any choice in the matter.  The "wild animals" could be literal, or symbolic of Jesus' human instincts and emotions.  The whole thrust of verses 14 and 15 is to show continuity between John and Jesus.

Taking It Personally.

• Go through each episode separately and slowly, beginning with the first.  Try to visualise it.  What impression of the Holy Spirit is conveyed by the image of the dove descending on him?  Have you ever experienced the gentle presence of the Holy Spirit resting on you?  What might that voice sound like?  How would you describe it?  Have you heard a voice from heaven speaking to you?
• When you're ready, move to the second episode.  Now what impression of the Holy Spirit are you left with?  Is the Spirit within or outside Jesus?  Have you ever felt "driven" by the Holy Spirit to go somewhere or to do something?
• When are you most aware of being tempted to do something, saying something, or think something ungodly?  Do you more readily associate temptation with doing something you shouldn't, or with not doing something you should?
• The "Good News" has been proclaimed in this country since 1814.  What exactly is the "Good News", and when did you last proclaim it to anyone?  When will you next do so?