Lent is a time to take the time to let the power
of our faith story take hold of us,
a time to let the events get up and walk around in us,
a time to intensity our living unto Christ,
a time to hover over the thoughts of our hearts,
a time to place our feet in the streets of Jerusalem
or to walk along the sea and listen to his word,
a time to touch his robe and feel the healing surge through us,
A time to ponder and a time to wonder …
Lent is a time to allow a fresh new taste of GOD!!
(Kneeling in Jerusalem by Ann Weems)
… a fresh new taste of God … ponder and wonder … and let holiness take hold of us …
When was the last time you saw a rainbow?
When you saw it did you take note of it ?Did you stop to admire it? Did it make you smile?
Have you ever thought about the role rainbows play in our world?
Rainbows are magnificent – every time I encounter one, I pause and take a moment to just enjoy it … But even more than just being impressive, Rainbows also play an important role in our stories and our mythos as a culture – for those of us who have some Irish Blood (apologies to my Scottish brethren), we tend to hold to the notion of following a leprechaun to the his pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. So strong is that draw that many references to the end of the rainbow and the pot of gold are found throughout our culture and society.
The rainbows also loom large – pardon the pun, in one of my favourite movies - The Wizard of Oz, where the lead character begins the film singing a powerful song of hope called somewhere over the rainbow, then finds herself transported thanks to a tornado to an enchanted and colourful land filled with memorable characters and majestic vistas … then at the end of the movie as Dorothy awakens back in Kansas, the home she yearned to return to … she finds herself surrounded by the familiar faces of her family, people whom she had taken for granted, and people whom she realized were with her in Oz …
That moment of transformation over the rainbow was about seeing the familiar – those people, places and things we might take for granted in a bold new light – or in Dorothy’s case in a bright colourful new light, so she could return home and truly appreciate what it is she has … rainbows are about something truly and utterly breath-taking appearing in the midst of the rain …
It is too easy to take for granted what we have here yearn for “something better over there …” We all say it regularly without even realizing it – “the grass is greener on the other side of the fence,” “the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” and of course – “Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.”
Whether we’re even conscious of it or not, we yearn for something more – something different … and yet, the less is repeatedly taught to us that when we get “there” to that supposedly “better” place, it is really no different, nor any better than what we’ve left behind …
The tendency, one we are all guilty of, myself included, is to feel overwhelmed in our lives and to yearn for salvation – rescue – for something better. But when we listen to the texts we have before us today as we’ve begun our Lenten Journey to Easter we hear a clear message to stay present to this moment and trust in God.
The story of Noah and his kin in the ark is a magnificent tale of survival and trust. Trust in God no matter what dark deep waters overwhelm you is the message. Trust in God to see you through the dark of the journey to a beautiful mountain top where you will once again stand blinking in the sun, overwhelmed by God’s grace and love.
This theme is picked up in the reading from I Peter where the writer not only likens the flood waters to our Baptism, but implicitly celebrates the TRUST that Noah and his family had in God … we are from time to time inundated by flood waters – some are intentional like our Baptism, or decisions in life that put us in challenging places for family, career, education or even fun – and some are floods that break upon us without warning, and that send us spiraling across the ebb and flow of the water – illness, life changes, accidents, disastrous acts of God – the list is quite lengthy. But the unifying feature is that simple expression of faith that the reading from I Peter proclaims that the key to “survival” in the flood waters is turning our trust to GOD.
That trust in God is foundational to our faith – that trust IS OUR FAITH. Yet we often get hung up on things that are not really important to our lives in community, or our lives as members of the Body of Christ called and commissioned to go forth into the world to share by word and deed the Good News of Jesus.
We’ve all heard the stories – and some of us have been involved in them – about Churches that spend inordinate amounts of time arguing over the colour of the carpet, or the placement of the furtniture, or other trivial things, when the work they are called to do and to be, remains unaddressed. Could you imagine what would have happened if Noah and his sons spent their time arguing over what type of floor covering would have been best in the elephant pen, or what shape the hatches into the hold had to be, or what colour the curtain on the sleeping quarters would be … Nothing would have gotten accomplished, and when the rains began to fall no one would have been ready …
Instead, Noah and the boys, along with their wives and children rolled up their sleeves and began the work that needed to be done. They built the ark, they gathered food and seed, they herded the animals and they got EVERYTHING ready. They were told to BUILD AN ARK … so they built an ark. They were told to gather the animals and enough food for all of them … so they got everything ready. They were told what to do and they did it.
Yet in the modern Church we are told repeatedly what we are to do … break bread, pour out the cup … by the waters of Baptism wash away the past and prepare for the future … by the gathering of community, gather in the lost and the stray … and by the breath-taking abundance that we have around us of relationship, food, talents, and even treasures, we are to go out in to the world and address the many challenges and burdens that bring suffering and hurt to the human family …
We are told in Scripture … in tradition … and in opportunities around us EVERY DAY what we should be about in our faith. Yet, we spend our time being distracted by other things …
We are so focused on other things we miss the opportunity that is often right here … I encountered a reflection once by a colleague in ministry on the West Coast. He shared a moment when he was crossing a parking lot during a stretch of almost intolerable grey, rainy days. It was one of those cold cloudy and crappy days when the rain just wasn’t letting up, and you walk with your head down and your collar pulled up trying to get from point A to point B as quickly and as dry as you can … One afternoon he was crossing a parking lot when he heard the insistent voice of a child saying – “look mummy, a rainbow … a rainbow …” More interested in staying dry, he ignored the voice but the voice continued – “Look mummy a beautiful rainbow!”
Not seeing or sensing any sunshine anywhere nearby he glanced around to confirm that they were surrounded with nothing but the thick grey rain clouds that the west coast is good at producing … He then noticed the child pointing at a puddle at her mother’s feet … “A rainbow” the child said, her finger out-stretched.
In the slick of oil or whatever is one the surface of our parking lots was the sheen of a rainbow … it had caught the child’s attention. She saw a rainbow … that’s all that mattered.
The subsequent reflection reminded all of us to keep our eyes open - even on the greyest and darkest days. You never know when you might find yourself stepping over a rainbow and unless you’re eyes are open you’ll miss it …
Now, aside from the icky connotation of considering WHAT was reflecting the rainbow that day – we have a good reminder to see what’s around us … partially with the awe and the holy WOW of a child … but predominantly with hearts, eyes, minds and spirits open to the divine presence – the HOLY that is all around us …
When we are in the middle of the deep dark storms that life can throw at us, our challenge as people of faith is to see these moments like our Baptism … we enter the waters broken, needy, and tainted by the world … the waters wash over us … God’s love envelops us … we find ourselves emerging from the other side bathed in God’s love … cleansed, renewed, made whole and strengthened by the presence of God in our lives and in our world …
Baptism is when we enter the waters and KNOW that we emerge the other side as the Beloved Children of God …
That’s what trust is all about … that’s the gift of the rainbow … that in THIS place – in THIS moment – we are given the gift of what lies “over the rainbow” – the “pot of gold at the end of the rainbow” – the “greener grasses from the other side” … and all it requires to experience this is FAITH … faith based on trusting in God’s presence in our lives and in our world …
Faith that allows us to journey forward and face whatever life throws at us by trusting in God’s presence and focusing on what’s important – what’s really important – OUR MINISTRY as the people of God present in this place …
Lavishly pour out the waters of our Baptism … Break the bread and share the cup without hesitation … worship our God and build community by inviting in the strangers and urging them to become friends … This is what we are called to be about … to get on with sharing the Good News …
… AND it begins here (Communion Table) … and it ends out there (the Doors) when we share our faith …
Instead of getting distracted, let’s just get on with it … It?? Being the Church and trusting God to see us through !!!!!!
May it be so – thanks be to God – let us pray …
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