Sunday
02/21/21 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “The
Time of Trial”
("The Journey to New Hope and New Life"- Series: Part 1 of 7)
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 25:1-10
New Testament Scripture: 1 Peter 3:18-22
Gospel Lesson: Mark 1:9-15
Friends, Brothers, and Sisters, welcome
once again on this the First Sunday of this the season of Holy Lent. This
40-day season where we are invited to follow Christ to cross and walk the road with
him to Good Friday.
As I mentioned this past Wednesday on
Ash Wednesday, the season of Lent and Ash Wednesday itself, are not strictly Biblical.
In this sense, Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent are not requirements from
the Bible, but rather they developed out of the worshipping life of the early
Christian Church. Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, is a day that we remember
our mortality, our brokenness, our need to repent, and our need for Christ.
This 40-day season of Lent, minus Sundays, is a season to journey with Christ
towards the cross on calvary. To give a little bit of a better explanation of what
the season of Lent it, here is what one source I read says about the season of
Lent:
“Lent (Latin: Quadragesima,
'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the Christian liturgical calendar that
begins on Ash Wednesday and
ends approximately six weeks later, the night before Easter Sunday. The purpose of Lent is the
preparation of the believer for Easter through prayer, doing penance…, repentance of
sins, almsgiving, and self-denial”.
“This season is
observed in the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, Moravian, Oriental Orthodox, Reformed (including Presbyterian), and Roman Catholic Churches. Some Anabaptist and evangelical churches also observe
Lent. The last week of Lent is Holy Week, starting with Palm Sunday. Following the New Testament
story, Jesus' crucifixion is
commemorated on Good Friday, and
at the beginning of the next week the joyful celebration of Easter Sunday recalls the Resurrection
of Jesus Christ”.
“In Lent, many
Christians commit to fasting, as well as
giving up certain luxuries in
order to replicate the account of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ's journey into
the desert for 40 days; this is known as one's Lenten sacrifice. Many Christians also add
a Lenten spiritual discipline, such as reading a daily devotional or praying through a Lenten calendar, to draw themselves near to
God…”
“Lent is traditionally described as lasting for 40 days, in commemoration of the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, before beginning his public ministry, during which he endured temptation by Satan. Depending on the Christian denomination and local custom, Lent ends either on the evening of Maundy Thursday, or at sundown on Holy Saturday, when the Easter Vigil is celebrated. Regardless, Lenten practices are properly maintained until the evening of Holy Saturday” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent).
So, this is a season in the Christian
Church designed to bring us all closer to Christ, as we walk with Christ. In
this season of Lent then, what can you give, what can you give away, and what struggles
do you have that can you surrender to Christ, so that you might be more like
him?
With this said, I really enjoy doing sermon series for Advent,
leading up to Christmas, and Lent leading up to Easter. Since Advent and Lent
are powerful and transformative seasons in the lives of so many Christians, having
a theme that flows through each of these seasons can help us to grown more.
With this said, my sermon series for the next 6 weeks of Lent, ending on Easter
Sunday, is called “The Journey to New Hope and New Life”. In the season of Lent,
we are invited to turn from sin and darkness, to give up, to give away, and to surrender
God, as we journey with Christ to the cross on Good Friday.
In some Christian traditions some people still flagellate
or whip there backs the way that Jesus was whipped on Good Friday. In one place
in the Philippians, a man literally gets nailed to cross every year, which is a
great honor in this place, to show what Christ has done for us. I personally, do
not think that we need to physically harm ourselves during Lent or on Good
Friday, as Jesus has suffered on our behalf and for us.
In this season of Lent, we are called to reflect on our
lives, to look at ourselves in the mirror, and to see where need to draw closer
to God. Perhaps you need to reconcile with a friend or family member? Maybe you
have a habit that you need to give up? Whatever is keeping from getting closer to
Christ, Lent is a good time tear the weeds out of our lives. We are called to
repent, draw closer to God, and to walk with Christ to the cross.
Some people give up things for Lent that they like, to grow
closer to God. They are giving up and giving away, as Jesus gave up all for us.
All of this being said, Ash Wednesday 2021, and this Lent 2021, are vastly
different. Part of Lent 2020 certainly was the same, but we are in a global COVID-19
Pandemic. Perhaps the normal struggles, sufferings, and brokenness that we all
have been through during these many months has been amplified due to the
Pandemic. Maybe we have lost friends and family member due to COVID-19. Some of
us have not seen some of our family in months. Some of us have not seen some
fellow church members in months, some have been isolated, cut off, lonely, sad,
laid off from work, struggling to pay their bills, dealing with relationship
struggles, etc.
It
is as if many of our normal struggles were at a 10 on the volume of the stereo,
and COVID-19 turned them up to a 30 on the stereo. For many, the suffering and the
struggles are louder and more real than in past Lenten Seasons.
On the day that Jesus was crucified almost all of his
followers abandoned him, he was mocked, spit on, tried, beaten, humiliated, and
nailed to Roman Cross for the sins of the world. That feeling of being all
alone, of having despair and pain, and maybe through this pandemic you can related
to Good Friday and this season better than ever before. I know that I can.
As a result, this sermon series that I am starting this morning,
once again, is called, “The Journey to New Hope and New Life”. I am presenting
this sermon series as a parallel. Every week I will present the scriptures and the
story leading to Good Friday, and then Easter Sunday. The reason that this sermon
series will be a parallel is I will be connecting our experiences through this
pandemic, in addition to our normal struggles, with Jesus’ road to the cross on
Good Friday. Jesus suffered and died for us, and many of us have suffered
greatly during the pandemic. How can we compare and contrast the two?
The first week of this sermon series on the first Sunday of
the season of Lent is called, “The Time of Trial”. What I am basing this sermon
title on, is Jesus’s forty-days of being tempted by Satan in the wilderness. As
the gospel of Mark says of Jesus’s forty-days of temptation in the wilderness
in 1:12-13 once again:
“12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him” (Mk. 1:12-13, NRSV).
So, again periods of 40-days or 40-years are pretty common
in the Bible. Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by Satan for 40-days
and nights. In part, the early Christian Church developed the season of Lent to
be modeled after Jesus’ 40-days in the wilderness. During his time in the
wilderness, Jesus had really nothing but the power of God in him.
For centuries, many Christian Churches have celebrated Lent
and have incorporated Lenten practices and disciplines into the lives of there
churches. I can imagine that some seasons of Lent were different that others.
What was it like during Lent in the middle of the Civil War? What was Lent like
during the American Revolution? What was Lent like during World War II? What was
Lent like during the great influenza or Spanish Flu Pandemic from 1917-1920?
Lastly, what is Lent 2021 like during the great Global Covid-19 Pandemic?
Perhaps we have come to church during many seasons of Lent
or come to church during the time of the season of Lent with heavy burdens. Maybe
during a particular season of Lent, we had lost a loved one, had health or financial
issues, or some other struggles that brought us to our knees in prayer. Your Lent
2021 might be challenging independent of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and if this is
the case we suffer together.
With this being said however, I think that it is undeniable
that most of 2020 and thus far into 2021 has been quite different for many of
us. Never in our lifetimes have we lived through a global pandemic. I never
remember a time in my life where the entire country shut down. Maybe you
remember such a time, but I do not. I never remember a time in my short life
where over 500,000 Americans died from a virus. I never remember a time in my
life that I could not visit people in the hospital or a nursing home. I never
remember a time in my life that I was discouraged from going to public places,
or that I was asked to wear a mask everywhere.
Among the many things that have been taken from us during
this pandemic, we can probably relate to some of the examples that I just gave.
Perhaps you have lost and suffered in many other ways that I did not mention,
as well. Possibly then we are entering into this season of Lent feeling and seeing
things very differently than we ever have before. If this is the case for you,
as it is for me, then maybe you can relate better to what it must have been
like for Jesus to be tempted by the devil in the wilderness for 40-days and 40-nights.
It is not that we are awful, it is that we are all broken
and all-in need of God’s grace. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, but he
never broke, he never gave in. I have to safe that during this pandemic where
times I had tears, fear, worry, anxiety, and also great hope. Maybe you can say
the same. Our reading for this morning from Psalm 25, once again, shows us our
need for God’s grace.
Through this time though, God has indeed been with us. God
has been with us through the pain, the loss, the loneliness, and the fear. God
was with Jesus too when he was in the wilderness for 40-days and 40-nights.
Jesus went through a 40-day and 40-nights of trial, and we have been through
the challenging time of this global pandemic. Not like Jesus in the wilderness,
but we all have been through a “Time of Trial”. We all have struggled and suffered
over these many months, and maybe we had have had other big struggles in
addition to this pandemic. Next Sunday in this “The
Journey to New Hope and New Life” sermon series I am going to dive more deeply
into “The Suffering and The Anger” that some might have felt through this time
of pandemic. Then I will be focusing on this pandemic ending, and the new live
in Jesus on Easter.
In
our scripture reading for this morning from 1 Peter 3:18-22 once again, Peter
reminds us all that Christ suffered for us and for our sins. All of us, not
just some, but all of us. Peter tells us that we have hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ that is coming on Easter morning (1 Pet. 3:18-22, NRSV).
In
looking more closely at our gospel of Mark 1:9-15 reading for this morning, we
begin once again with 1:9 that says:
“9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Mk. 1:9-11, NRSV).
So,
we are given in part for this morning, once again, one of the beautiful accounts
of Jesus’ baptism. Then right after this, which is the focus of my sermon for
this morning, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Jesus then undergoes
a “Time of Trial,” being tempted by Satan for 40-days and 40-nights (Mk.
1:9-11, NRSV). From this part of this gospel reading once again, I compare our
struggles and our hurts through this time of Global COVID-19 Pandemic.
Our
gospel of Mark reading then ends once again, with Jesus proclaiming the good
news, and telling people repent, and believe the gospel (Mk. 1:14-15, NRSV).
The season of Lent in part is about us repenting, is about us turning to God. I
know that we have all been through a “Time of Trial” over these many months,
but new life is coming. Much like resurrection is coming on Easter, this
pandemic will end! This “Time of Trial” will end, for the light of Christ is at
the end of the tunnel. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment