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Collect

God of infinite goodness,
throughout the ages you have persevered
in claiming and reclaiming your people.
Renew for us your call to repentance, surround us with witnesses to aid us in our journey,
and grant us the time to fashion our lives anew, through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

Readings

Isaiah 55:1-9

Psalm 63:1-8

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Luke 13:1-9

At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, ‘Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.’

Then he told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, “See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?” He replied, “Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig round it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.” ’

Patience, we heard this in Sheila’s sermon last week and we find it again in this week’s reading from Luke. I see patience with the gardener who asks the owner of the fig tree to “let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down”. I think we are like that fig tree and God is our wonderful gardener. God knows that if given that second chance, a little encouragement and even some stinky poop, we too can bear fruit. However, there is no deadline with God. Unlike this gardener, God has no timeline to get things right or else. You will never hear God say to you that you have 1 year to get it right. He does not set deadlines, because God is always patient and willing to give a third, fourth and an unlimited amount of chances. It’s okay… I don’t think he is keeping count.

But is this a test? Does God test each of us in our lives? I have given this a lot of thought and ‘I’ think he does not but then again maybe. The word test is defined as a series of questions or problems that is used to determine a person’s ability or understanding of something. More generally, test refers to a trial, experiment, or examination that is designed to determine the qualities or characteristics of someone or something. (taken from dictionary.com). If I use this definition and if I believe (and I do), that God knows who we are and what we know, then why would God need to test us? Maybe it isn’t about his test to figure out more about our knowledge about things, but instead a test for us to understand who we are, for us to see the strength of our faith.

All gardeners know that if too much fertilizer is used it can burn and eventually kill the plant. So what about God, can he give us too much?

Let’s go back to the fig tree and gardener. The reading says that the gardener was going to give the tree some manure or fertilizer, but what if he gave it too much? All gardeners know that if too much fertilizer is used it can burn and eventually kill the plant. So what about God, can he give us too much? I have heard the phrase “God will never give you more than you can handle”. This would mean that what we get in life came from God. Yes, God gave us all life, the world around us and the gifts that we have, but does God give us our illnesses, our wars or fires? Each of these can and do kill people. What about mental illnesses that result in suicide? Obviously that was more than one could handle. In First Corinthians verse 13 it says, “he (God) will not let you be tested beyond your strength” and like a lot of sentences from the Bible, they can be forgetting the second part of it; “but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it”.

If you have been paying attention, you will notice the word ‘test’ or ‘testing’ in this reading from First Corinthians and I can hear some of you saying, “but wait Sandra, the Bible says that God tests”. Yes, I saw that too.

The Bible is confusing some times. What part are just stories to help us to understand the Father, Son and Holy Ghost better and what part is actual fact? Not all of us believe in the story of Noah’s Ark or Jonah and the Whale. Can words be there that were not translated properly and we have to remember this particular letter was written by Paul, who had his own beliefs.

In my mind, God does not give us all the things that happen in this world. Some, like wars can come from people with no care for others, just themselves; fires can happen through faulty wiring or an act of arson and illnesses can happen. But, when we are faced with anything that has us struggling, no matter where you believe it came from, God is there. He may not answer our prayers in the way we may want or in our timeframe, but remember, God has no deadlines, and we need patience. He may send people on his behalf, but he is always there with an outreached hand if we are willing to just grab a hold of it.

Collect

Hope beyond all human hope, you promised descendants as numerous as
the stars to old Abraham and barren Sarah.
You promise light and salvation in the midst of darkness and despair,
and promise redemption to a world that will not listen.
Gather us to yourself in tenderness, open our ears to listen to your word,
and teach us to live faithfully
as people confident of the fulfillment of your promises.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Readings

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

Psalm 27

Philippians 3:17-4:1

Luke 13:31-35

At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ He said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox for me, “Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.” Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” ’

Covenant People

The OT lesson emphasizes God’s Covenant with Abraham, and hence to us, his descendants. God’s promise to Abraham and to his chosen people invests them with a sacred responsibility. Our understanding of Covenant changes over time. M. Scott Peck in his book, A World Waiting to be Born, traces the changing concept of Covenant through the Bible itself, from God’s promise to Noah after the flood never again to destroy the world, to the Ten Commandments for his chosen people, to the New Covenant offered by Christ and preached by St. Paul, not restricted to a specific group now but open to all people. Even Jesus, in his confrontation with the so-called “uppity woman” at the well, came to realize that God’s mercy and compassion were available not just to the people of Israel, but to all those who truly trust in God. Thomas Berry in his book Dream of the Earth explains how mankind’s misunderstanding of the covenant relationship, seeing our species as special and superior over the rest of creation, has led to our negative attitudes to nature, leading us to exploit and subdue the earth in the mistaken notion that we were exercising God’s will, building God’s kingdom by forcing nature into our own image. The consequence of our misunderstanding was “to negate the natural world as the locus for meeting with the divine.”

“We don’t think ourselves into a new way of living; we live ourselves into a new way of thinking.” — Richard Rohr

Berry’s comment reminds us that the Bible portrays the Divine within natural images: God meets Her people in the wilderness, at a mountain; God speaks to them “from a cloud”; God confronts Moses in the form of a “bush burning but not consumed,” at one and the same time, earthly and holy. Creation is God’s first incarnation. All life is holy. All creation is divine. As fish swim in the sea, so we live and move and have our being in the Divine. If the human species dies out on this planet, it will not be God the Creator destroying humankind as in the story of the great flood, but rather mankind not assuming attitudes consistent with God’s true covenant. God is as faithful and true as the sun that rises every morning. If we are to save the environment, it is necessary to change our attitudes, and such changes are profound, reaching to our fundamental spirituality.

What is very important to understand about this covenant is that we cannot separate worship of God from the divine way of life. To quote Richard Rohr, “We don’t think ourselves into a new way of living; we live ourselves into a new way of thinking.” We know God by engaging in divine activity. Christianity traditionally understands God as a personal God and like any person the Creator has divine attributes which we can recognize: “where love is, God is.” Many Biblical passages make it clear that we know God if we live in love. To be God’s covenanted people we must act as mediators of the divine to the world by our attitudes and actions: “if any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Following the way of the cross, knowing God and knowing the divine way, are one and the same covenant.

Perhaps the best way to get a handle on just what it means to be the people of the Covenant in 2022, we could recycle and reuse Paul’s words from the epistle today: “setting your mind on earthly things.” In light of the environmental crisis facing us, it is necessary for us to “set our minds on earthly things.” Humus is the Latin word for earth. Humanity comes from earth (“dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return”). Humility is being close to the earth, hence, earthiness, honesty. In other words, we must see the earth with Divine eyes and realize it is precious in God’s sight. To fulfill our covenant with God, we need to care for Creation, not subdue it or “have dominion over it,” but love it. “For God so loved the world that he gave . . . life.” Rev. Lauren Van Ham wrote recently, “Unfathomable harm has come from misinterpretations of scripture . . . which never meant that our species had God’s blessing to use our power over other forms of life, but rather to take full responsibility for the power we have been given, to use the privilege we hold as humans, to care for all Creation and to develop intimacy with all beings.” To be God’s covenanted people is to live Christ’s way of selfless love so that others might live abundantly, including the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, indeed, the very sea and air which bring forth life.

Collect

God of deliverance and freedom, you taught the people of Israel
to acknowledge that all things come from your bountiful hand.
Deepen our faith so that we may resist temptation
and, in the midst of trial, proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, now and for ever. Amen.

Readings

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

Romans 10:8b-13

Luke 4:1-13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” Then the devil[a] led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written,
‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,
‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’
and
‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

By definition Lent is a 40 day penitential season of the Church Calendar, in preparation for Easter. In the early church, it began as a two day fast ending the Saturday night before Easter.

It was not until the mid-4th century that the two day fast became 40 days (not counting Sundays). The 40 day period was chosen because it shadowed Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness (today’s Gospel reading) and Moses’ time on Mount Sinai. The focus was a time to prepare baptismal candidates, and in some locales it was a time of penance. Grievous sinners sought restoration and a return to participation in Communion (having worn sack cloth and being marked with ashes for 40 days).

There was not universal acceptance of the practice for a number of centuries, but the basic nature of Lent was eventually solidified in the Roman Catholic Church calling for a solemn season of faith and sacrifice, fasting, study and alms giving, and daily attendance at Mass.

After the Reformation, Protestant churches adopted various practices from the Roman model, and today, we in the Anglican Church follow a variety of practices such as book studies, scripture readings, taking on new outreach tasks. (We, however, do not seem to emphasize the daily fasting from certain foods as we recognize that enjoying food is one of the gifts of creation).

…this Lent asks us to act—to act to preserve and care for creation, to be willing to change how we live—to help ward off the real threat of Climate Change and related environmental degradation.

This year, with direction from Sheila, we have a particular Lenten focus for reflection, study, prayer and action. Shelia’s chosen book for the Lenten Study is Saving us: a climate scientist’s case for hope and healing in a divided world. In addition Sheila asks the parish as a whole to look at our stewardship of the planet we call home and challenges each of us to find ways to be a blessing to the earth.

The idea is to thank God for all the blessings of creation—to use our reflections, study and actions to focus on changes we can make in our daily lives to show our love for God in our care for creation.

This is a change from the traditional focus of Lent which in many churches has tended to emphasize sin and our need for repentance and forgiveness. For example, the liturgy for each week could start with a Penitential Order found on page 216 of the BAS.

We need to recognize that God, the ground of our being, is to be found within creation—in each of us, in the plants, the animals, the earth, the sky, the water—all kinds of living things. And that loving God means loving creation and calls us to be caretakers.

Thus, this Lent asks us to act—to act to preserve and care for creation, to be willing to change how we live—to help ward off the real threat of Climate Change and related environmental degradation.

Change is possible—but change is rarely easy or cost free.

Collect

Eternal God,
you revealed to the disciples
the everlasting glory of Jesus Christ.
Grant us, who have not seen and yet believe,
the gift of your Holy Spirit,
that we may boldly live the gospel
and shine with your transforming glory,
as people changed and changing
through the redeeming presence of our Saviour. Amen.

Readings

Exodus 34: 29-35

Psalm 99

2 Corinthians 3:12—4:2

Luke 9: 28-36

Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

This Sunday we celebrate the Transfiguration as the finale of the Epiphany season. Since Christmas our worship has been focused on the revelation of God the Creator through the person of Jesus Christ. The readings have focused on who Jesus is in his full humanity and divinity and how Jesus reveals who God the Creator is.

In our time of great division, of people turning more and more to the separation of ‘us’ and ‘them’ we need to experience God’s inclusive love and show that inclusive love to the world in our words and actions.

We began with the visit of the Magi where it was revealed that the gift of Jesus Christ and through him salvation was not a gift meant only for the Jewish people but for all humanity and in fact for the whole of creation including the stars and celestial bodies. The symbol of the guiding light of the star and the Magi feeling this pull to the Christ child point to this.

The next Sunday we celebrated the Baptism of Jesus where the voice of the Creator announces that Jesus is the Son, directed related and connected to the Creator in essence they are one and that the energy that connects them is love and that Jesus’ ministry and person are blessed by the Creator.

In the weeks that follow we hear of Jesus’ miracles such as turning water into wine showing the abundance of God’s overflowing gifts, we hear Jesus stating that he is the embodiment of the servant of God prophesied by Isaiah who comes to “bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” (Luke 4:18-19) this revealed that Jesus is the one the prophets spoke of who would be the Messiah, to bring hope and healing to a broken world. We hear of Jesus’ miracle of a catch of fish beyond anything Peter, James and John could understand but that reveal to them that this Jesus is someone who they are willing to give everything up for to follow and to learn from.

As the weeks go on, we hear the Sermon on the Plain where Jesus speaks powerful words about how God works in the world, bringing blessings in the midst of trials, bringing about justice for the powerless, rewarding those who stand for peace and for those who are persecuted for their faith. Jesus reveals God not to be a warrior king but a loving parent, watching over all people, aware of the hardships people face, aware of the evil that roams the world and affects every area of our lives, aware of the imbalances of power that corrupt the world and that God works in and through all that with love.

On Transfiguration Sunday we receive one more story of revelation, one more epiphany to open our eyes to a deeper way to understand Jesus. It is the story of some of Jesus’ closest disciples receiving and being overwhelmed by a confusing vision. They see Jesus in his full humanity and divinity a sight which frightens them and which they don’t fully understand until after the resurrection. More than that though there is a secondary revelation of Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah two of the great figures in Jewish history who represent God’s interaction with humans.

In their time Moses and Elijah were the mouth of God relaying God’s messages to the people, Moses brings to the people the Law, a way for the people to understand God’s expectations around how they are to understand and interact with God, the world and their neighbour. They are to know and love God above all else and the are to treat all people with dignity, respect and love, just the way they would want to be treated. The Law Moses brings reveals God through the relationship God desires with the Hebrew people.

Elijah on the other hand is the great symbol of the prophets, those willing to speak God’s truth into the world, challenging the people to return to a right relationship with God and with each other. Challenging them to be just, loving, respectful, fighting against envy, greed or collusion with the unjust rulers of the nations.

Both of these figures, Moses and Elijah symbolize God’s way of speaking and relating to the people of Israel until Jesus comes into the world. The reason some of the disciples witness this revelation is to help them understand that Jesus speaks of the same Creator God of the Hebrew scriptures even if the message seems different, this is further highlighted by the voice of God reminding the disciples who Jesus is and declaring to them that they are to listen to him.

Our readings today remind us of God’s great desire to have a relationship with us, God’s great love for us and God’s great desire that we know we are loved and that we in turn love others.

In our time of great division, of people turning more and more to the separation of ‘us’ and ‘them’ we need to experience God’s inclusive love and show that inclusive love to the world in our words and actions. This is a time when we need to hear God’s declaration of love for us and for all people loudly and allow it to wash over us and remove the fear which causes our divisions and fear is the root cause of those divisions and the opposite of love. We need to allow God’s love to calm our anxieties, to strength our resolves to do and say to others what we wish would be done and said to us. God is love and in loving God there is no fear. Jesus shows what the power of love can do giving him the strength not to fight back in anger or fear but rather to reach out in acceptance, understanding and love. Amen.