Lent 2 -- Year A -- March 16, 2014
Text: Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 121; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17
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On Tuesday of this last week Bishop Gulick and Lindsay Ryland from the Diocese met with our vestry to discuss transition plan for our church, as we anticipated my retirement in July.
While I was in the meeting,
thoughts came to my mind on our church
and the past 20 years that we have spent together: the people I've met;
the people who came to join the community;
those who died or left;
weddings,funerals,
things achieved and things not achieved,
the ascents and the declines;
the joys and the frustrations --
everything has a beginning and an end.
The Vietnamese have a saying that reads,
"Things coming to a dead-end will change;
and once they change
they find a new way to continue." (1)
All journeys come to an end,
and yet at the end of the road there is always a new beginning.
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This last week I also had a chance to visit
a Vietnamese friend
who had a stroke some four years ago.
He could manage to move about slowly,
make his own breakfast,
and stay at home by himself.
His wife was home on the day I visited,
so I enjoyed spending time with both of them.
Our conversation was focused on his illness
and how it affected the family.
The wife spoke about how difficult life was for her
when illness struck them,
and how hard it was for her to go through the changes.
But then, after ten minutes,
our conversation shifted to a different subject,
which was the marriage of their daughter and the coming of their first grandson.
Happy stories were then told, and pictures shared.
Those events were, indeed, the new beginnings
that brought them new hope and new joy.
How often are we distracted by our burdens and unmindful of our blessings!
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The author of Psalm 121 says,
"I lift up my eyes to the hills,
"From where will my help come?"
Psalm 121 belongs to the "psalms of ascents," which were sung by worshipers approaching Jerusalem.
The Temple is in the city, high up on the mountain.
This pilgrim song speaks to a journey
in which one goes from helplessness to confidence.
"My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth."
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All the readings we have today,
the Second Sunday in Lent,
bear the notion of pilgrimage.
Lent itself can be time for a spiritual journey.
The forty days of penitence reminds us
of our mortality and our sinfulness,
helping us to become more keenly aware of our vulnerability,
and urging us to trust in God,
who can strengthen us to live with uncertainty.
Most importantly, I think, is the journey toward forgiveness.
We are fearful and we are thirsty.
We wish to go from the burden of guilt to the joy of being forgiven.
We wish to go from anger to reconciliation.
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In the Gospel of John,
the notion of journey is apparent.
It's the journey of going from darkness to light. (2)
Nicodemus was a leader of the Jews.
Rich, powerful and knowledgeable as he was,
he knew that darkness abounded.
Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born from above --
he must be changed.
In other words, he must take on a journey toward being changed -- from darkness to light.
No one else could take that journey for him.
He himself must be on the road.
No one knows what went on
in Nicodemus' mind that night,
when he came to Jesus from the dark.
Besides the fear he had of "the Jews," was there any unforgiveness or bitterness between brothers and sisters in his own family? (3)
With many people,
those things usually stay in the back of their minds,
like the part of an iceberg that is submerged beneath the water.
They make the soul longing for liberation.
Jesus must have seen them and the many other issues.
He simply says, "Truly, you must be born from above."
You know you can't do this alone.
You need the help of the Holy Spirit.
Yet you must first put yourself on the road.
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When God calls Abraham to leave his homeland,
he had to make a choice between following the call or rejecting it.
Abraham must choose between staying where he was or leaving for an unknown destination.
Abraham did follow the call.
He left his homeland, together with his family, his cattles and all the people who worked for him, including Lot, his nephew.
He trusted that God would provide and God would take care of him.
God loved and accepted Abraham not because Abraham was perfect.
God loved and accepted him for the faith he had in God's love.
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Perhaps no one knows about being on the move better than Paul the Apostle.
Paul in his ministry went from place to place
and faced all kinds of persecution and challenges.
Today we heard in the Second Lesson of Paul's words
to the believers in Rome on the faith of Abraham.
In Paul's mind,
God is the God who is able to "give life to the dead"
and is able to "call into existence the things that do not exist."
Paul says that no matter how ungodly we are,
God still loves us.
When we speak about Paul,
we speak about conversion.
Spiritually speaking,
Paul's journey was a move from pride to humbleness,
from being blindly legalistic
to fervently embracing God's grace.
In the real life, Paul went from being a persecutor of Christians to being a follower of Christ.
In such a journey,
Paul found meaning and purpose for his life,
to the point where he gave up everything to hold on to the LIGHT.
And so in another place of the same letter, he says,
"All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)
This is Paul's statement of faith.
Those on the journey of faith know well that God is always beside them, and that God can do everything, even the conversion of the soul.
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Psalm 121 is a statement of faith.
The word "KEEP" is key to the understanding of this scripture.
"He who KEEPS you will not slumber."
"The LORD will KEEP you from all evil.
He will KEEP your life."
The pilgrim starts out with doubt and apprehension.
Yet as he comes closer and closer to the One who loves him, he finds the joy of trust.
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Didn't this word "KEEP" catch our attention when we read this beautiful psalm?
What does it mean to be KEPT?
What about each of us drawing a time chart to mark his or her life events, from childhood to the present, to see how he or she has come this far?
Most of the time, we are distracted from the truth that blessings happen.
We think we can manage our lives; but, alas, we can't.
We may at times forget about God's presence, yet God is always there.
God does not lose a grip on us.
Does the future of our church depend on us getting everything right?
What about God's providence?
What about putting into practice what we believe?
What about focusing on doing what we can to
follow the call of Jesus?
The call of Jesus is the call to help the least among us, and to bring people to reconciliation with God and with each other in Christ.
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Are you called to serve Christ at Saint Patrick's?
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Our life together is but one of the small journeys within a larger journey.
With Christ there is no dead-end.
The Lord is with us.
The Lord keeps us at every step.
In the Name of God:
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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(1) "Vật cùng tắc biến, vật biến tắc thông"
(2) In the Gospel of John, "Light and darkness" is a major theme:
Believers belong to the Light; unbelievers belong to darkness. (George W. Troup, in Feasting on the Word, page 72)
(3) I have seen sisters,
daughters of the same father and mother,
who hate each other.
I have seen men
who do not wish to see their brothers.
- "Together We Can Make A Difference" is our Lenten challenge. In the narthex there is a large cart, which we wish to fill with items for the needy in the Falls Church area. We plan to take the items to FCS at Knox Presbyterian Church on Palm Sunday after church. Please bring your gifts when you come to worship and place them in the cart. The items that are most needed are: paper products (toilet tissue, paper towels, disposable diapers and wipes), coffee, rice, jelly, canned fruits (not pineapple), and vegetable oil.
- Easter Flowers. You are invited to offer flowers in "memory of a loved one" or as an "offering of thanksgiving" at Easter. Cost is $12, payable to the Altar Guild. There is a form that comes in the Sunday leaflet, but you can also contact the church to indicate how you would like your donation to appear in the Easter service bulletin. You may call and leave a message at 703-532-5656, or send an email to
- Are tornadoes coming our way during this spring and summer? We never know. The Diocese has sent out a link to a webpage with guidelines for preparation. Please