Rainbows

 

1 Lent                     Church of the Redeemer            The Rev. Nancy E. Gossling

            I thought I might focus on the beginning of our salvation story with the book of Genesis. Not only is it a popular story for all ages but it is vivid in its imagery. It tells the story of our creation, our humanity, and our relationship with God from many perspectives. Top down, we hear about the galaxies, the sun, the moon, and the planets in their courses. Bottom up, we hear how we are formed from dust, and during Lent we are reminded that it is to dust that we shall return.

            There is much talk about the chaos in our world today. Our women’s Bible study group is currently reflecting upon the last book in the Bible, the book of Revelation, and in it, we hear echoes of the Genesis story. On these “throwback Thursday mornings” we read about the tree of life in Revelation, which mirrors the tree of life in the garden of Eden. Old and new prophets encourage their followers to change their behavior before it’s too late. Repent and return to the Lord is a recurring refrain.

Throughout our scripture stories we hear that the world was created by God and yet human beings are destroying it daily. Prophets point to changes in the climate, the violence of wars and crime, plagues and diseases, and the deterioration of organized religion. And yet God promised that, despite our sinful behavior and guilt, God would not destroy God’s creation. God promised us a new beginning and gave us a sign for all future generations, the rainbow in Genesis. Indeed, the author of Revelation writes about a new heaven and a new earth.

            Have you ever heard that phrase, “just wait until your father gets home”? Perhaps not as prevalent today in child-rearing practices, that threat was more common in the days of June and Ward Cleaver. The good wife at home, wearing heels and an apron, supervised their children’s behavior throughout the day, while preparing the perfect dinner and a martini for her hard-working husband. Upon his arrival home from his hard day at the office, he would be greeted with his pipe, his slippers, and the daily paper. If the children ever got “out of hand” before that time, Momma would utter those words, “Just wait until your father gets home.”

            Now what Daddy did when he arrived home may have varied with the person. Unlike today, “time-outs” of silence and reflection upon sinful behavior was not the “rigueur du jour.” Pauses for peace didn’t occur. No, more likely, Daddy may have pulled off his belt for some behavior modification. Banishment to one’s room with no supper may have been a kinder and gentler response. Or a little washing out of the mouth with some soap reminded children about their speech. Often quoting from the Bible, the parents thought that if they spared the rod they would spoil their child. And who would want that? After all, a spoiled child is like spilt milk.

            Some of us have commented during our Bible study of the book of Revelation, how relevant the imagery and the warnings in the Bible seem for us today. St. John’s visions in Revelation are vivid; the end-times will include warnings of impending judgment. There will be earthquakes, fires, and floods. Pestilence and plagues. Unceasing wars and terrorists. Rogue dictators and emperors. “Who can stand during these times of great tribulation?” St. John wrote to the new fledgling churches in Asia Minor.

            Now, while there are many flood stories that are common in religious traditions of all faiths, the Jewish flood story in the book of Genesis was written notably by three, if not more, authors. And it was written during much of the time that the Israelites were in exile in and around the 6th century. They had been routinely invaded by countries all around them; Egypt, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Greece, and Rome. Not unlike today in the middle east, they were in the crossroads of other countries for trade and power, and therefore they often were in the cross hairs of their neighbors.

            For the Jews who fled to Egypt, the Jews who had been exiled to Babylon, and the Jews who had remained in their own country, they experienced great chaos during this time in their lives. They underwent the demise of their government; and their temple and religious establishments were destroyed.They abandoned their cultures and traditions while living in foreign lands, and their faith in God was severely tested. Perhaps these realities are equally true today for many people throughout our world.

It was a time for the Jews of great sadness and loss. Prophets had warned them that their great Daddy, the Father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Father of all people, was coming to them in Judgment, but they had ignored their warnings. They had not changed their behaviors. And, when Daddy came home to them in Jerusalem and in their country of Israel, it was painful.

            The story of Genesis offered the Jews some comfort and hope. And the rainbow was the sign of God’s promise for all people. God promises us life, not death; and God, our Creator, will recreate us as often as it takes. Here is my sign for you for all ages, a bow in the clouds that spans all nations and all generations. This rainbow is a sign that includes all colors, covenants, and countries. My bow reminds you of my power that is far greater than yours, much higher than the mountains, and much deeper than the caverns of the earth.

Indeed the gospel of Mark tells us that Jesus is our rainbow; and the time of our judgment was fulfilled in Him. For Christians, the kingdom of God had arrived, and was revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. “Who is this?” the disciples had asked themselves, that even the winds and the waves obey Him?

            A friend recently sent me a story about monks. “A young monk arrives at the monastery and is assigned to help the other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the church by hand. He notices, however, that all of the monks are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript. So, the new monk goes to the old Abbot to question this, pointing out that if someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up! In fact, that error would be continued in all of the subsequent copies.”

“The head monk, says, "We have been copying

from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son." He goes down into the dark caves underneath the monastery where the original manuscripts are held as archives, in a locked vault that hasn't been opened for hundreds of years. Hours go by and nobody sees the old Abbot.”

“So, the young monk gets worried and goes down to look for him. He sees him banging his head against the wall and wailing.

"We missed the R! We missed the R! We missed the bloody R!"

 

His forehead is all bloody and bruised and he is crying uncontrollably. The young monk asks the old Abbot, "What's wrong, father?" With a choking voice, the old Abbot replies, "The word was CELEBRATE!” (Not Celibate)

Our own salvation story has not omitted the “R’s” in the original manuscripts. While judgment and punishment was part of the retribution when Daddy came home, Christians will claim that sin and death were destroyed on the cross. In Jesus, we are promised many “R’s”: rebirth and the renewal of our relationships. We are restored to health and wholeness. We are reconciled to God, promised a resurrected life, and the recreation of a garden where there is eternal rest, and the Tree of Life still stands.

            Lent is the 40 days of wilderness when we join Jesus in resisting the temptations that tear us down. Repent and return to the Lord, St. John reminded the churches in Asia Minor. “Repent, and believe in the good news,” Jesus said.

Today, there is a rainbow in the clouds even for us. And the good news of St. Mark is that when Daddy comes home, we will know that our sins are forgiven; we will know God’s gracious love, unmerited and undeserved. This is God’s revelation for us to remember throughout our Lenten journey!

            People of the Redeemer, remember the “R’s”.

Genesis 9:8-17        Mark 1:9-15

Secrets

 

Ash Wednesday     Church of the Redeemer             The Rev. Nancy E. Gossling

            In our Eucharistic liturgy throughout the year, we begin the service with a prayer, which is called a Collect for Purity. In it we claim that before God, no secrets are hid, and all desires are known. Now such claims can make some people nervous. I have heard some people actually appalled by this thought, thinking “Oh my God” God knows what I think, as well as my secret desires, and it’s not good. In contrast, other people have confessed that they find comfort in this knowledge. That God knows everything about them and it’s still OK.

            Members of my family have struggled with a variety of addictions over their lifetimes, and as a grateful member of Al-anon, I like the saying, “You are only as sick as your secrets.” Acknowledging that alcoholism is a family disease that feeds on the denial of the illness, while hurting its members, then “coming out of the closet” about what’s really going on inside your own soul and your family is important. Admitting that there is a problem is always a good first step.

            The Ash Wednesday service is our liturgy for coming out of the closet, even if it only means that we go into the privacy of our own rooms and confess to God the truth about ourselves. We acknowledge that our new year’s resolutions have faded like yesterday’s news, we’ve done those things which we ought not to have done, and we’re ready to give it another try. On a very basic level, we admit that we are dust and it is to dust that we shall return. Indeed, Ash Wednesday has been called the day when we attend our own funerals, and there is no denying our mortality. (Feasting, p21)

The late Rev. Marilyn McCord Adams said it best, “Lent grapples with the fact that our human denial systems are very strong. Most of the time we need to think, and we need others to think, we are decent people. The Ash Wednesday liturgy stage-manages us into public exposure; we are not what we seem. Deliberately disobeying the gospel by receiving ashes is a way of coming out of the closet; we are people who are not pure in heart, who do not love God with all we have.” (p24, Feasting) Today, we publicly confess our sins in a very long litany of penitence.

Now, in all fairness, we want people to see us as decent human beings, and we are. However, we all have various wounds and baggage that weigh us down and prevent us from living fully into the beloved children of God that we are. Rather than thriving like a well oiled machine, we survive. And so we need to shake off some of that rust that corrodes our beauty.

Physical temptations come in a variety of shapes and sizes. We may admit that we have been digging our own graves by overindulgence in food and drink, in process addictions like gambling and pornography, for cheating on our partners and on our taxes, for lying to ourselves and to others. We have erred and strayed like lost sheep away from the best version of ourselves and we’re ready to get back on the treadmill, one day at a time, one step at a time!

            There are two other sayings in the twelve step community that are relevant for today’s service. “Fake it until you make it” we say, encouraging better behavior. And yet this is a very different injunction from what Jesus is saying in the gospel of Matthew. He warned the crowd around him, “Do not become like those hypocrites” (read religious leaders). Don’t be a fake, he cautioned them!

Apparently, the Greek word “hypocrite” used by St. Matthew is translated as “stage actors.” When we fake it, we are acting on a public stage to pretend to be a better version of ourselves. We put on masks and too often, when we are play-acting, or managing our stage performances, we will secretly hide our true selves from others. Maybe even from our very own selves.

 As actors on the stage of real life, we can fake it until we make it in good ways. We can pretend to behave better until we do. We can act lovingly even when we hate. We can behave peacefully and speak respectfully, when we really want to tear someone apart. We can give generously even when we’re afraid to let go and let God. We can fast from negativity.

The other saying in the twelve step community is similar. We are encouraged to “act as if.” Hidden behind this pithy little statement are three words that point to the possibility of transformation. Act as if you are a Christian because you are one. Act as if you are a good and decent human being, because you are one. Act as if until you are a better version of yourself until you are.

Transformation involves a process. It’s never a “one and done” kind of affair. When we act as if we love God and our neighbors as ourselves, eventually, over time, and with faithful application to that process, we will change for the better. We will shed our bad habits like the COVID virus, and we will become contagious to others.

Lent is our season for self-examination, repentance, confession, and amendment of life. Now “giving things up” during Lent has been the standard operating procedure. We give up tonic but not the gin. We give up chocolate but not the desserts. We give up swearing but not the gossip. And if we stay on that very superficial level, we will miss the point.

The idea of resolutions and Lenten disciplines is not an exercise in self-flagellation or a temporary amendment of life. Rather, Lent is a time to recognize the truth of our humanity and reorient ourselves to God. We are coming out of the closet and coming clean about our humanity, knowing that we can do better, while putting God back into the center of our lives.

So over time, many people have focused on the positive disciplines of Lent, that is taking on spiritual practices instead of giving up what we consider to be negative drags on our lives. Do it in order to reconnect your life with God, not to show off your holiness or decency to others.

Routinely, there is the age-old argument of whether or not we keep the ashes on our foreheads visible after we leave church. Even before the COVID lockdowns, some clergy had started offering ashes “to go” at train stations, or right in the middle of the market square, claiming it as an evangelism tool. Others argued it was only an inappropriate marketing strategy that was disconnected from the church community and therefore just a “shiny new object” in search of new members.

So what arguments do we make for being public about those smudges on our foreheads? Should we wash them away as soon as we can? Barbara Brown Taylor raises some interesting points. “Whereas St. Matthew presumably wrote for a culture in which religious observance was common, obligatory, and relatively uniform, western Christians today inhabit a culture in which religious observance is peculiar, optional, and decidedly pluralistic.

Therefore, in Matthew’s world, keeping one’s religious practice to oneself would have been countercultural.” And so, keeping ashes visible today would be our new counter-cultural response.

Similarly, Brown makes the point that during the time that St. Matthew wrote his gospel, being a hypocrite meant that one made a big deal about their religious practices, showing off in the market squares how holy and faithful they were. Today however, Brown suggests that the word “hypocrite” bears reexamination. “Detractors of religion now use the same word to describe someone whose practice appears to be nonexistent. In such a changed cultural context, might there be something to be said for wearing an ash cross to the grocery store?” she wondered. (p23, Feasting) In an increasingly secular and non-religious society, we are not showing off but rather witnessing to our faith publicly. We are coming out of the closet.

So, here are three practical suggestions for you today. Be counter-cultural. Don’t wash off the ashes until you are ready for bed tonight. Let people see you as a Christian, however proud or uncomfortable it makes you feel. Confess to God a little secret or a big secret in the privacy of your own room. And if you’re really bold, tell another person whom you trust, knowing that from God no secrets are hid and all desires are known. Finally, take on some sort of positive spiritual discipline, like starting your day in prayer.

This Lent, fake it until you make it and act as if you are a Christian because you are.

 

Matthew 6:1-6,16-21