Second Sunday in Lent, 8 March 2020

Lectionary Readings for the Second Sunday in Lent

Genesis 12: 1-4a

The LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him.

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.

Romans 4: 1-5, 13-17

What are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.’ Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness. For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’). Abraham believed in the presence of the God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

John 3: 1-17

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.” The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? ‘Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Sermon for the Second Sunday in Lent

Paul declared to the church in Rome long ago: Abraham believed in the presence of the God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

What an astonishing thing to say! What an astonishing thing to believe!

We believe, also, with Paul, that this marvellous God also gave to the world even his own Son—-this Son whom He gave out of love—-that we might be brought back to Him and dwell forever more with Him. What an astonishing thing to do! What an astonishing gift to give!

We are all children of Abraham. We have all been called to go on a journey in this human life, like him. God, who knew us before we were born, has destined us for life as His beloved children, and for a good destination—-life with Him forever. It is with this supreme confidence that we journey.

The journey of Lent is a small journey within the larger journey of life.

To make this journey, of Lent and of Life, God’s Spirit provisions us with faith, hope, and love…. But on our part, to prepare for this double journey—-and indeed, to be on it, in the very midst of it, today—-with these qualities of faith, hope, and love —-we also need the daily faithful practices—-the ancient Christian practices—-of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

We don’t use that word, alms, anymore, but it is interesting to consider its origin. It comes from the Old English word ælmysse, from the Christian Latin word eleemosyna, from the Greek word eleēmosunē meaning compassion, from eleēmōn meaning compassionate, from eleos meaning mercy. Almsgiving. Giving to the poor, in love and compassion, with mercy. Because there for the grace of God go I. Because Jesus did this, with all his heart and mind and soul, and if we have any clear goal in life that brings us, daily, meaning and the deepest fulfilment it is this—-to be like Jesus who also made this journey.

Giving to the poor is a practice I hope we cultivate every day, not only in Lent. But in this holy season of Lent we increase our giving, in an intentional way, in order to drive deeper into our own consciousness what it means to sacrifice something in order to reach another, higher goal—-to understand more fully what Jesus experienced in the wilderness those forty long days long years ago. In our culture, to deprive ourselves willingly of something implies that we are simply crazy—-our modern culture is one of the single-minded pursuit of material comfort, as an end in itself. Security lies there. Success lies there.

But Jesus said, Take up your cross and follow me. Whatever that cross is, confront it with clear eyes and steady hands. Take it where true faith, true hope, true love lead you. Where I have gone, Jesus said—to the Father.

If we want to follow Jesus, we will take up this ancient Christian practice of almsgiving. It will fill us with joy, and it will keep us in the company of those who journey on with us.

If we want to follow Jesus, we will take up this ancient Christian practice of fasting. Not in a dangerous-to-your-health way, but in a simple way, a thoughtful way, a way that attempts to say that it is a good thing to go without the constant gratification of our desire for food, because in this way we understand more deeply what life is like for our fellow-travellers. We subordinate the natural desires for comfort to some discomfort, in order to focus more clearly on what this journey is all about.

If we want to follow Jesus, we will take up this ancient Christian practice of prayer. It is good to pray every day, but in Lent we increase our prayer, as a means of centering ourselves on the Jesus who has made this journey before us. When we come to the end of our own journey of life, when we stand in the presence of God and see clearly the kind of love that brought us so far, what we will be able to say is that we embraced those gifts of faith, hope, and love, from God’s very hand. And that we disciplined ourselves by almsgiving, fasting, and prayer, equipped to carry on, steadfastly, to that same end.

It will never be a dull journey!

With these gifts and with these disciplines, we are ready to meet whatever surprising and unexpected turnings our road brings us. It will be, with certainty, a journey full of joy.

Amen! l

The Rev’d Dana English

The Church of St. James Norlands,

London March 8, 2020