Sermons for the Month
The Practice of the Presence of God
DATE: February 13th, 2005
SERVICE: First Sunday In Lent
TEXT: Matthew 4:1-11“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
Lent made an appearance in the newspaper on Wednesday, but only because the fire department was called to a Catholic Church in Akron due to the black smoke that resulted from the burning of palms to create ashes for Ash Wednesday. The article had some great photos, but focused more on the production of ashes than on the significance of the day and of the Season.
One of the quotes in the article that captured my attention was this, "Observation of Lent has become increasingly popular with the young and Protestants," as if Lent was a new fad instead of an ancient, significant time in the lives of Christians.
We observe Lent in an attempt to deepen our relationship with the Divine. Obviously that's a year-round goal, but we are particularly focused on it during the 40 days before Easter because we want our hearts and minds to be ready to celebrate the most significant day of the year for Christians.
Often, as Lent begins, we read the account of the temptation of Jesus, which was today's Gospel lesson. We remember that immediately after Jesus was baptized - after a voice from heaven had affirmed that he is the chosen one, the Son of God - Jesus faces 40 days of temptation in the wilderness.
There is a theme in each test that the evil one presents; Jesus is being challenged to prove his identity and substitute the devil's plan for God's plan. You'll notice that Jesus is not tempted to do anything terrible. The devil simply wants Jesus to prove himself - to turn stones into bread in order to meet his own need for food or to do a spectacular stunt that results in an angelic rescue so that people will be more inclined to believe. Just think, if Jesus bows down to the devil just once (the tense used implies a single act) he will gain immediate access to the whole earth.
Put in the right (or perhaps we should say wrong) light, each of these propositions promise Jesus a more effective ministry. But, Jesus is not fooled. Why? Well, some would say it's because of his Divine nature. But remember, Jesus also is fully human and he has spent 40 days without food, long enough to begin seeing things in the desert and to have his reasoning ability messed up. Remember, the devil is tricky and the temptations have a reasonable ring to them.
So, how did he do it? It's interesting that Jesus responded to all three temptations in the same way. He said, "It is written…. It is written…. It is written…." At a moment of challenge Jesus drew on the words of scripture, and on his intimate connection with God, to get him through. I put it that way because I believe it was more than a relationship with God, at least as we define relationship. God was dwelling with Jesus, and Jesus with God, making it impossible for the tempter to win.
There's a message in that for us. Once the temptations come, if those things are not in the picture, it's a bit late. As one writer said, "No soldier waits to learn how to use his rifle until he is in combat. No paramedic waits to learn CPR until he or she needs it."
A sense of the presence of God is vital in the midst of the trickiest test. So, during Lent, we set aside 40 days to intentionally remember our need to grow in faith. Or, to put it another way, we remember our need to strengthen awareness of God . As I said earlier, it's something we should be doing all the time, but it helps to be told, "This is the time".
Bit by bit through our lives we strive to connect with God with the ultimate goal being that it becomes automatic, a constant reality. This is a concept that is a bit hard for us to grasp, since we tend to compartmentalize our lives. I've been thinking about it more because of a book I read recently titled, The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence.
He was a humble cook whose writings of more than 300 years ago were collected into a book. He writes about developing the ability to constantly dwell in the presence of God.
It began with his sincere desire to belong totally to God. Then, he accepted God's forgiveness of all of his sins, not allowing guilt or shame to dominate his life. The next step was to renounce that which would offend God. Then, he began to live as if there were no one but him and God in the world. He describes holding his spirit in God's presence, not just during prayer time, but every minute.
He writes that when we keep ourselves faithfully in God's presence, always remembering that God is before us, asking for grace when we need it, God becomes more familiar to us and God's presence becomes a natural thing.
So, to summarize what he wrote, we give ourselves to God; we accept forgiveness; we sincerely desire to do God's will and we constantly, consciously acknowledge God's presence until that presence becomes as much a part of us as our eyes or a leg.
There's no doubt that if that were the case, our ability to face challenge and temptation in our lives would be tremendous.
I've been reading so much in the newspaper this week about the young man who was massively injured in an accident with shredder. Over and over again his amazing faith in the midst of this terrible event has been sited. It's hard to believe that a 19-year-old facing such trauma could not only see God at work in the situation, but witness to it. Maybe he had grasped what Brother Lawrence had written about the presence of God, or perhaps that understanding was God's gift to him in the midst of his pain.
Whatever the case, I know I long to be constantly aware that I am in God's presence. In my head I know it's true, but I want that understanding to be so much a part of who I am that regardless of what I'm dealt in this unpredictable world I'll be able to stand firm in and witness to the love of God.
I invite you to join me in this quest of giving ourselves to God, accepting forgiveness, developing a sincere desire to do God's will and constantly, consciously acknowledging God's presence until that presence becomes as much a part of us as our beating hearts.
Brother Lawrence says it's not easy and that he made many mistakes. That will be true for us too. It's not something that will happen overnight, and it will require a commitment from us. But, in the whole scheme of things, is the time we spend growing in faith and in relationship with God ever wasted?
Lent give us a concrete opportunity to pause and to consider this - holding ourselves in God's presence is not just some far-fetched idea for religious fanatics, but a reality that can save us from despair in the midst of life's challenges and from apathy in the midst of life's ordinary days. If Lent is a fad, as the newspaper article suggested, then may it be one that we all take up with enthusiasm! AMEN