What God Intends For Us
- Rev. Kate Dalton
- Mar 9, 2020
- 5 min read
This week, a parishioner came to talk with me, and they remarked that after doing some reading about Lent – it did not seem very appealing. I conceded that Lent did not have nearly the shine and appeal of Advent.
According to Crosswalk.com, “Lent is an intensely penitential time as we examine our sinful natures and return to the God we have, through our own rebelliousness, hurt time and again.1”
Other takes on Lent:
1. From the BBC – “The Christian churches that observe Lent in the 21st century (and not all do significantly) use it as a time for prayer and penance.2"
2. From CRI Voice – “Christians today use this period of time for introspection, self-examination, and repentance. Most Christian churches that observe Lent at all focus on it as a time of prayer, especially penance, repenting for failures and sin as a way to focus on the need for God’s grace.3”
The heavy hitting key words for Lent are repentance, penance, and sin. No wonder it’s not that appealing.
One definition of penance is remorse for past conduct. But another is voluntary self-punishment to atone for wrongdoing. Remorse for past conduct is the stuff of personal growth – a chance to reflect on our actions and change. Unfortunately, I think Lent is more readily associated with the second definition – self-punishment to atone for wrong-doing (note that we could substitute the word sin for wrong-doing). The issue with self-punishment to atone for wrong-doing or sin is that God does not require this of us. God welcomes us whether we atone or not.
A couple of things to note here. First of all, what is sin. I’m guessing that many of us can imagine a list of sins – after all isn’t that the idea of the 10 commandments. You should honor your mother and father. You should worship just Yahweh. You should not murder. You should not commit adultery. You should not steal. You should not bear false witness against your neighbor.
A simple list – right? Well is it? What if your mother and father abuse you? What if violence has been committed against you in the name of God? What if you kill someone to protect others? What if your partner has Alzheimer’s? What if your family is starving? What if lying about your neighbor protects them?
The point is – not even the ten commandments is a simple list. While they may be the will of God in many situations it doesn’t mean they are always the will of God – because they are based on relationships and relationships are complicated.
I think this is what Jesus is getting at – relationships are complicated and as such there are no clear-cut answers. Instead, we have to know God well enough to know what God wants in a given situation. We have to know God’s preferences and biases. We have to know when God might break God’s own rules. Isn’t that what Jesus demonstrates again and again in the Bible. That’s why the Pharisees are getting so mad – Jesus is breaking God’s own rules and saying it is God’s will.
So, for me, rather than dismissing sin, I find it much more helpful to think of sin as when I turn away from God’s will, from what God intends for us. Which means I have to know what God intends for us to even be cognizant of my sin. But it’s also important to remember, as the person who came to see me in my office pointed out, God still loves us even when we sin. So, if that’s true – why does it matter whether we sin or not. Well it matters because while our sin does not affect God’s ability to be in relationship with us, our sin affects our ability to be in relationship with God. And that’s where penance comes in. If we recognize and can see how our sin damages our relationship with God – only then do we have a chance to change the way we act and hence change the way we relate to God. You could think of God’s way as like a groove on a track or a record. When you’re in the groove, your experience is as good as it can be. But if you’re off – if you’re slightly out of the groove, you don’t have the same experience. The groove doesn’t go away – but your experience changes.
There’s one additional component of this story that I want to focus on this morning. Jesus tells Nicodemus that to enter the kingdom of God, we have to be born of the spirit and not of the flesh. One of the commentaries that I read this week by Rich Procida noted this about the passage:
Birth had significant implications in ancient Palestine. It was the most important factor in one’s life. It determined one’s social status, station in life, inheritance rights, and occupational opportunities. Social mobility didn’t really exist, and family honor was everything.
Being reborn could have life changing effects, especially if one were born from above, a child of God. Children of the father share their father's inheritance. Being born from above would upend the social order in a way that makes Nicodemus uncomfortable. It would raise the status of the poor and dejected.4
As we’ve mentioned before, there’s a group of us participating in a class called Sacred Ground in partnership with St. Bart’s here in Yarmouth.
The class focuses on racism and privilege, specifically on how so many of us benefit from being perceived as white, without even realizing it’s happening.
The class has helped expose the uncomfortable reality that who are families has a large part in determining who we will be and how we understand the world. As families accumulate wealth and power, those privileges are passed on to their heirs – not because their heirs are more deserving than others – simply because they are related.
This passage suggests that this kind of system – a system where people can accumulate resources and power – is not what God intends. In God’s system – the unifying factor is that we are all beloved children of God – which means we cannot arbitrarily separate one from another based on birthright. It challenges the idea that I have a right to wealth that others don’t have simply because my family earned it and then passed it on to me. It challenges the idea that we are justified in denying others a voice and necessities because of their perceived status in the world order.
And now, I am uncomfortable, and I agree with the parishioner who came to see me – Lent is hard. It is. But it also can be transformative. I wholeheartedly believe that God is love. And I want to be in relationship with God, I want to be part of that love. Lent reminds me that although my intentions are good, I am often part way out of the groove – but the more aware I am of my misalignment, the better chance I have to re-align myself and to try again. The better chance I have to fully experience the groove of God’s love that I am always being offered – and for that, I am grateful. May God bless us on this journey. Amen.
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