“A Purposeful Journey“
The Second Sunday in Lent
24 February 2013
Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church
San Francisco, California
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Psalm 27
Philippians 3:17-4:1
St. Luke 13:31-35
INI
Purpose:
I had lunch with my
mother, Ruth, a couple of weeks ago. I
would regularly bring lunch to her on Tuesdays at noon, when we could visit
together and share food. Eating was a
big thing to her – she loved it. She was
the complete carnivore, and she rejoiced in that. The visits were always marred in my mind in
that there was nothing to visit about.
At 96 years of age, my mother’s life had imploded into a nothingness
that confused her and confounded those who sought to be with her. In many ways, since my father’s death some 21
years ago, she had lost her purpose, and the options began to dwindle. Sometime during the night as the 27th
of January turned into the 28th she attempted to get up and
collapsed and died. Her journey was
done, and her purpose was fulfilled.
We meet Abraham at a
similar juncture in his life. Called by
God from the Ur of the Chaldeans into a new land, Abraham in a vision converses
with God and realizes that life seems to be at an end, that he is childless,
and that his purpose and his legacy is finished. Someone else will have to complete whatever
was set into motion by his life. At
God’s suggestion of a “reward”, Abraham complains to God:
“O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue
childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? You have given me no offspring, and so a
slave born in my house is to be my heir.”
This seems to be just
like Downton Abbey! When, however, we
see the scope of God’s past relationship with Abraham – who brought him up out
of the land of his mother and father into a new place, who took him down to
Egypt, who brought him back to these lands – we understand that God has more in
mind for Abraham and Sarah. There is
more to the purpose that has yet to be revealed.
The Vision and the Promise
Do you dream? Do you remember your dreams – write them down
– think about them later? My husband
writes them down. Fresh from bed he goes
to his office and captures what he cans of the dreams of the just ended night
of rest. Dreams are the great platform
upon which the promises of God are revealed in the Bible. And there are so many dreamers – Daniel,
Joseph in Egypt, Balaam, Samuel, Joseph the Husband of Mary, the women at the
Tomb, Peter, Paul and many others. These
men and women had their minds opened up to a new possibility. They were given the gift of promise.
Abraham sleeps – and here
the verb is the same verb used when Adam sleeps and Eve is created. This is the sleep of creation and a new
thing. He has a vision of an every day
event. In the ancient near east if two
people were going to make a contract, one with the other, certain rituals were
used to note the event – the promises that were being made one to the
other. A sacrificial animal would be taken,
killed, and then divided into two parts and set on the ground. Then those who were making the agreement
would walk between the pieces, would walk on the blood of the animal, and make
their covenant, their agreement. So
Abraham dreams, the animals, the mysterious passing of the torch and the
burning pot between the pieces, and finally the promise – descendants and land.
Now Abraham has both
promise and continuing purpose. There
will be an heir, there will be a family – like the stars of heaven, there will
be a land, a home, and a place.
Jesus’ Purpose
In Nikos Kazantzakis’
book, The Last Temptation of Christ, we meet a confused and troubled
Jesus who is being pursued by a dark Spirit – a black angel that chases him
into the desert. He flees to a monastery
there to understand his purpose and his journey into life. It is a Jesus that each of us can
understand. It is a Jesus who looks at
the question of life and can’t come up with an answer right away. Eventually, Jesus learns that this black
angel is nothing but the Holy Spirit who is attempting to anoint him with
purpose and destiny.
You are not so far from
that spirit and that situation. It is
but a few years ago that you were in search of a new rector, but more than
that. You were searching out promise and
future as well. Like Abraham and Sarah,
you were wondering who your family of faith might continue to be, and like
Jesus you were a bit pensive and fearful of the prospects.
In the Gospel for today,
it is not only Jesus who wonders, but others as well. The Pharisees share some information that
they think Jesus’ might find useful – “Get
away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.”
They don’t get it, and Jesus quickly reminds them that they are far
from the mark. Jesus purpose is
continuous and evident. He points out
the signs of his purpose: casting out demons, curing people, and then he drops
the big clue: and on the third day I
finish my work.
The Journey
My mother was on a
journey – one that she really didn’t ever understand. She was however aware of the movement and
events that made up her journey. Abraham
and Sarah were on a continuous journey that extended over a great deal of time
and space. From time to time they needed
to check in on their journey to both understand and effect the purpose of their
journey. The psalmist for this morning
is on a journey as well. It is a journey
that extends from distress to a sublime longing for God, from the battlefield
to the beauty of the temple, from loneliness to a relationship with God. Jesus is on a journey as well, with a bitter
end. Jesus goes to Jerusalem, the place
that kills the prophets, and Jesus is the prophet. He goes in spite of the bad news that the
Pharisees bring, because that is his purpose.
His coming, his journey is a blessing to Jerusalem, and a blessing to
those of us who follow him.
What will your journey be
this Lent. I ask this of you not only as
individuals, but as a community as well.
Where will you go? What is the
purpose of your journey? What is the
promise of your journey? As individuals
you weigh the situation of your neighbors, your faith, and your family to
determine how you might pray, how you might distribute alms, how you might
share the promise and purpose with others.
The larger purpose of the community, this community, is just a summation
of all that individual purpose and promise.
In the second lesson, Paul
speaks about being imitators of Christ, and in the 15th Century
Thomas à Kempis wrote a book of spiritual disciplines that he entitled Imitatio Christi. It consists of four “books”, each of which
suggests an arena where we might discern our Lenten purpose. He suggests an awareness of Spiritual Life
first – an awareness that extends beyond the Eucharistic Fellowship here, in
this place, that moves out into the world of our lives. In the second book he suggest that the
Christian “take up the cross” and take on whatever life gives to live it out in
the manner of Jesus. In the third book
that is cast as a dialogue between Jesus and a disciple, Jesus suggests that
the disciple not only imitate him, but incorporate himself into Christ. Finally the fourth book discusses the role of
the Eucharist, and the nourishment that the Eucharist offers in our journey.
So, where shall you go,
what shall you do this Lent? Be an
Abraham, be a Sarah, and have a dream.
SDG
