St. Paul’s Church in
Bergen, Jersey City NJ
February 21, 2016
The Second Sunday in
Lent
Genesis 15:1-12,
17-18
Psalm 27
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 13:31-35
God Is Always Persistent
Well,
now we’re about a week and a half into Lent so I have a question: how are we doing
with our Lenten disciplines?
Have
we gone astray or have we persisted?
Have
we persisted in what we hoped to give up?
Have
we persisted in resisting chocolate or skipping snacks between meals?
Have
we persisted in not smoking or spending less time in front of our computers or
on our phones?
Have
we persisted in what we hoped to take on?
Have
we persisted in spending a little more time in prayer or being more generous to
those in need?
Have
we persisted in resisting the temptation of indifference? Have we resisted the
temptation to not care, to not love, to not welcome the stranger?
Only
we can answer those questions, of course, so I won’t ask for a show of hands.
But,
I’ll say that I’ve had mixed success. My hope was to spend more quiet time in
prayer and reflection, but, well, you know how it goes…
I’ve
had mixed success but give me a break because persistence is hard, right?
Persistence
is hard because we get discouraged and distracted, worn down by the burdens and
pressures and obligations of life.
Persistence
is hard because sometimes we get lazy or we don’t pay attention and the next
thing we know we’re biting into a delicious Three Musketeers bar, when we had
hoped to give up chocolate during Lent.
The
next thing we know we’re not being as caring, loving, welcoming, or prayerful
as we had hoped we’d be during this holy season.
The
next thing we know we haven’t prayed in weeks.
Persistence
is hard - but it’s so important.
I
was reminded of the importance of persistence on Monday night when, as my
Facebook friends know, I went to a book signing by William Shatner, who played
my childhood hero, Captain Kirk, on Star
Trek.
Shatner
has written a new book about his longtime friend and co-star Leonard Nimoy, who
as you’ll probably remember played Spock and who died last year.
I
got there early because I really wanted to get him to sign my copy – which he
did - and so I had plenty of time to sit and start reading the book.
In
the early chapters he tells the story of the two of them starting out as young actors
back in the 1950s. Persistence was required. They had to go to audition after
audition. They got turned down. They took any acting job they could even when
it was not such a great project. They had to take other jobs like driving a cab
to pay the bills until the big break came along.
Persistence.
I
see so much of that kind of persistence among us here at St. Paul’s.
So
many of us have had no choice
but to persist – to keep working hard, often doing jobs that we don’t
particularly like – persist to keep a roof over our own heads and food in our
stomach – persist to raise our children and grandchildren, giving them a shot
at a better life.
So
many of us have to persist – so many days getting up early and getting home
late – sometimes working two jobs and yet still just a paycheck or two away
from disaster.
With
so much necessary persistence in our day to day lives, it’s not so surprising
that our spiritual persistence might be a little shaky – it’s not so surprising
that days or even weeks may go by without prayer – that we don’t get to church
as often as we should or want –
that we’re not as caring, loving, or welcoming to those who are the hardest to
care for, to love, to welcome.
Well,
the good news is that while we may sometimes go astray, God is
always persistent.
In
fact, God already knows we’ll astray, but God is always persistent anyway.
In
today’s Old Testament lesson we heard the story of the covenant – the agreement
– the contract – between God and Abraham, or Abram, as he was then called.
God
promises the childless Abram that his descendants will be as numerous as the
stars in the sky.
And,
then there’s a weird little ritual.
God
requires Abram to gather animals, which he then butchers, cutting them in two
and placing the parts side by side.
We’re
told Abram fell asleep only to wake up to see a “smoking fire pot and flaming
torch” passing between these animal pieces.
Strange,
right? But it turns out that this is an ancient practice for making contracts,
though normally both parties would pass between the shredded animals,
symbolizing that they themselves would be cut in two should they go astray and
break the contract.
In
this case, God (represented by the fire pot and torch) literally cuts a deal
with Abram and his descendants - but since God knows that they – we – will not always be persistent –
that we won’t always be able or willing to keep our end of the bargain, we
won’t always be faithful, since God knows we’ll sometimes go astray, God, our
persistent God, goes it alone.
God
is always persistent. No matter what.
And,
we Christians see God’s persistence most clearly in Jesus.
We’re
just a week and a half into Lent, but already the Church is beginning to turn
its attention to Jesus completing the sacrifice of his life on the cross.
In
today’s Gospel lesson, the Pharisees warn Jesus that Herod wants to kill him.
It’s
kind of odd that the Pharisees, who are usually depicted as Jesus’ enemies,
would warn him of danger.
It’s
possible, maybe even likely, that the Pharisees were hoping that Jesus would
chicken out, would go astray, would give up.
The
Pharisees were hoping that Jesus would give up his mission – give into the
temptation of indifference, to just care for himself and those closest to him –
to give up and just head back to Galilee, back to the carpentry shop, back to a
quiet, ordinary, anonymous life.
But,
no, Jesus is persistent.
As
we heard in today’s gospel lesson, persistent Jesus knows he has his work to do
and he must be on his way – on his way to Jerusalem, to the cross, and beyond.
Persistence.
God
is always persistent. No matter what.
So,
we’re about a week and a half into Lent.
We’re
persistent in lots of ways but by now, we may have gone astray in our Lenten
disciplines and eaten that chocolate or not been as caring, loving, or
welcoming as we hoped.
The
good news is that during Lent and always, God is persistent.
God
persistently keeps God’s end of the deal.
God
never gives up on us, persistently reaching out to us, loving us, forgiving us,
challenging us, and giving us the grace we need to persist.
God
is always persistent. No matter what.
Amen.
Posts
