3 Lent B - 15 March 2009

3 Lent B - 15 March 2009
Exodus 20:1-17; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; John 2:13-22
James V. Stockton

“We come into the world into the middle of things to which we are indebted, things not of our own making, for whose repair we nevertheless become responsible.” So writes professor and theologian Paula Cooey in her book Willing the Good: Jesus, Dissent, and Desire." She continues, “We die in the middle of things, leaving the legacy of our shared but unique presence, including the effects of our mistake, to strangers we will never know.” From this she concludes that “Transfiguration of desire” becomes for many people “a way of life, a perpetual revolution, and as such, a gift to the future.”

What is it that people desire but to love and to be loved, to be appreciated to be remembered, to be safe and secure, to be happy, to be free? This is a list of guesses; and as such it is incomplete. Probably anyone could add to or edit it. Cooey’s point is that a relationship with God especially as disclosed in God’s self-expression, i.e., in Jesus Christ, God become one of them, people can find their most basic desires met and thus transformed, we might say ‘morphed,’ into something quite unexpected.

Rector's Study March 2009

From the Rector's Study ~

As a season that anticipates the conclusion of the shortened days and lengthened nights, the colder weeks and chillier months, Lent prepares people for the dawning of the springtime, the most literal translation of its name. And, by its spiritual definition, Lent prepares the heart and soul for the renewed dawn of the Light of Christ. The comparatively less hospitable weather of the season of our winter moves us to exercise a relative retreat into the refuge of our homes. So also Lent draws each of us to an inward spiritual retreat, an inward examination of our relationship of with God, of God’s relationship with you and me, personally.

The traditional practice of some sort of self-denial during this season exemplifies and supports this effort. For example, if one gives up his or her habitual Diet-Coke or coffee in the morning, then each time the habit ‘kicks in’ in, it reminds one powerfully of one’s intention to go deeper into the mystery of the knowledge and love of the Lord. Toward this end, and building upon the virtues of this tradition, I propose a new way for us together to engage this discipline here at ECR.

1 Lent B - 1 March 2009

1 Lent B - 1 March 2009
Genesis 9:8-17; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15
James V. Stockton

Each of the readings for today reminds people that Christianity is something robust and challenging. Noah and his family suffer the deluge of the world. They suffer the angst of trying to warn their neighbors and friends to turn from their selfish and silly ways and be reconciled with God, and of meeting only with disdain and ridicule, but knowing that there simply is nothing more that they can do. Peter reminds the early Church, particularly those about to be baptized into it, that Christ Jesus suffered persecution and death for their sakes personally as much as for the sake of the world. He reminds them that their continuing relationship with God in Christ means continuing to confront their own proclivity for getting it wrong even when they are trying to get it right. The gospel reading reminds people that Jesus himself must endure a time of testing in a wilderness both material and spiritual in nature; that he must endure the pain of knowing that when John, his cousin and fellow seeker after God’s truth, is imprisoned, the corruption of the authorities who put him there ensures the worst possible outcome. Lent continues today with these reminders that Christianity is a robust and challenging enterprise by which God challenges the people of God in order that the people of God may continue to express God’s challenge to the wider world around them.