Musical Prelude and Service.

Genesis 9:8-17 & Mark 1:9-15
What are we doing with Lent?
There are several traditions associated with Lent of course. There is a tradition of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, the day before lent of course.
There is the tradition of Ash Wednesday when many have the mark of the cross placed on their forehead with ashes. I participated in that at St. Paul’s this past week by the way.
There is the tradition of observing lent by giving something up; or like we do here, contributing to worthy causes based on a recognition of the luxuries we enjoy in our lives.
All of these are focused on reflecting on the place of Jesus Christ in our lives as we make the journey to Holy Week. We reflect on how we walk with Christ as we prepare to remember his betrayal, trial, execution and finally his resurrection.
Scripture through the next several weeks focuses on covenant and how Jesus embodies God’s steadfast love and commitment to the healing of creation.
Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent makes it abundantly clear that we are mortal. Death is a part of our lives. Even Jesus dies. We cannot evade that reality.
But …. this story also tells us that God stays with us; walks with us and loves us always. God’s faith – God’s fidelity to us and care for us is never ending.
The scripture reading from Genesis this morning tells us the conclusion of the story of the flood and Noah’s relationship with God. We are told the rainbow is a sign or reminder of God’s covenant; God’s promise to creation. God has made the promise to not destroy creation in the future. It’s a reminder and a reassurance for us of God’s steadfast love. But it is a reminder not just for us but also for God. It’s a reminder for God we are told.
I find that fascinating. For the ancient Hebrews this was something of an acknowledgment that God does get angry. God loses patience with humanity. We human beings are fallible. We lose our way. We have a tendency to treat each other horribly. But in spite of all that, God will remain faithful to us and love us and call us back to God over and over again.
That’s Gods promise.
So, despite the wars; despite the violence we embrace; the mass shootings, God sees the rainbow and remembers.
Despite the multitude of ways that we oppress one another; the ways we dehumanize one another and teach our children to fear and hate one another, God sees the rainbow and remembers.
Despite the ways we exploit and scar the planet; the ways we let greed and the lust for wealth and power overwhelm our relationships to one another and God’s creation, God sees the rainbow and remembers.
God remembers the covenant to always love us and nurture us and walk with us.
And so, I look at Jesus and consider that he, God’s son, is yet another sign of God’s covenant to always love us.
This is my son in whom I am well pleased.
Jesus is driven into the wilderness. He is forced to endure living amongst the beasts; and yet even as he faces these hardships, God does not abandon him.
In Mark’s story of Jesus’s time in the wilderness, we do not get details or descriptions. Just that he was tempted and lived with beasts. We are left putting pieces together. We are left with our imagination, perhaps some speculation.
Was this perhaps a chance for Jesus to face his mortality? Was it an opportunity to consider how he would respond in the midst of peril and fear?
Jesus eventually emerges from the wilderness to begin his ministry. He sees the road in front of him and begins what is a winding road to Jerusalem.
We who proclaim to follow Jesus are now on that road with him. We are among his disciples. People who are fallible. Who as we read Mark’s stories, we learn all too often get the lesson wrong. People who bicker and give in to jealousy. Who are often impetuous. Who succumb to fear and anger and in the final days, abandon Jesus to the cross.
And yet, we cannot forget that Jesus chose these followers. He taught them, walked with them and loved them.
Lent offers us a journey of contemplation as we approach the drama and reflection of Holy Week. This is a time of contemplation and memory. We are reminded time and again that we are mortal. We have only so much time here. We get to choose how we will live that life. But we can do so knowing God walks with us, guiding us, serving us, loving us.
That even as we fall or stumble. Even when we anger or hurt God; God’s love for us; God’s fidelity, never ends.
Quite often reflections around Lent lean into what we should do. How we display our love and faith in God. How we serve God through our service to others. What are we prepared to sacrifice in memory of what has been sacrificed for us. But perhaps we should also consider the deep faith; the incredible love; the unbreakable faith God has placed in us. That no matter how much we may stray from the path God sees for us; no matter how capable we are of giving into temptation; God never gives up on us.
May we remember that in the aftermath of the next storm to strike our lives, we can look to the horizon; see the rainbow and remember that we belong to God and God remains with us, loving us and welcoming us back.
And we can say again.
thanks be to God. Amen

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789