Second Presbyterian Church

"Lent: Remembrance, Gratitude & Attitude"
March 9, 2003

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Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2003 » Sermons for March 2003

1^st Sunday of Lent, Year B
by The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Genesis 9: 8-17
• 1 Peter 3: 18-22
• Mark 1:9-15

We all have heard stories about how people give something up for Lent. After all that sense of doing without is part of what makes Mardi Gras what it is: Fat Tuesday (the day before Lent begins). I was never very good at giving up something for lent. I would envy my friend who would give up sweets and dessert for the season. I would always say that I would give up dieting, or vegetables or something in that order. But Lent is more than figuring out from what you will abstain. And that is what I want to briefly note today. What I believe Lent is about is: Recollection, Gratitude and Attitude. I shall begin with Recollection.

REMEMBRANCE

1. Lent is the time for us to remember the price Jesus paid for our redemption and reconciliation. God loves us so much that He was willing to become human flesh, to take upon himself our sin and pay the ultimate price to redeem us from our hopeless situation. In other words, if God were not willing to become the man, Jesus of Nazareth, and to take upon himself our sin and its consequences, then we would be hopelessly lost in our world. We would be hopelessly lost in our self-centeredness. We would be hopelessly lost, period.

Lent is a time to recall this incredible price God was willing to pay to redeem you and me, all humanity, from their alienation from God. The result is that we can now come together and worship God, accept God's love, and be challenged to love one another as an example of God who first loved us. We can now stop whatever we are doing and pray for a friend and trust that God is listening to us. We can now stop worrying about our future, because we know our future is in God's hands.

In our Gospel lesson, we can see the beginnings of this price that Jesus paid. When Jesus was baptized he demonstrated symbolically his death. He already knew that being the Messiah would mean dying for the sake of sinners. And by allowing John to baptize him he took on the identity of being one who sinned. Jesus was not only human, he also took upon himself human sin, even though he sinned not. Jesus was human, in every way! The Spirit descended upon Jesus and the voice affirmed that the way to be the Messiah, the way to redeem the world was by way of death by crucifixion, then resurrection.So Lent is a time to remember the cost that God endured in order that humankind could be redeemed.

GRATITUDE

2. When we pause to recollect what God has lovingly done for us, we realize that Lent is a time to be grateful. Sometimes I don't think gratitude is something that we consider during Lent. Yet, when we stop to consider how much for which we have to be grateful, it is only logical. Sometimes we become so caught up on our everyday lives, our everyday business that we lose sight of the tremendous and countless blessings that God has given us.

Of course, the first and foremost thing for which we are grateful is the love God demonstrated for us through the life and death of Jesus Christ. No matter how rich or poor you are. No matter how intelligent or unintelligent you are. Not matter how fortunate or unfortunate you are. No matter how sinful you are. No matter how many mistakes you have made. No matter how unlovable you believe you are! God loves you and invites you to become part of God's family through Jesus Christ!

If you think you are not good enough, you are right. NONE of us is good enough to earn fellowship with God. Jesus of Nazareth is good enough and our redemption is based solely upon HIS goodness, not ours! We are saved by the righteousness of Jesus Christ and not our attempts at being good.

That's THE major reason for being grateful to God, because it transcends all the other aspects of life. All the other blessings in life can come and go. We may not stay wealthy. We may not remain healthy. We may lose family members. We can lose just about every thing else in the world. But we shall NEVER LOSE the Love of God through Jesus Christ!

All the other blessings we enjoy also come from God, and we do well to express our gratitude to God for them. But they are only temporary. They do not necessarily last. But the love of God through Jesus Christ does and will, forever.

It is my conviction that when we remember the mighty love of God, and when we allow that remembrance to build our gratitude, then the natural consequence is how God's love and redemption effects our Attitude.

ATTITUDE

3. What exactly do I mean? When we remember what God has done for us and when we feel grateful for the love and Grace of God, then that memory and gratitude develops and transforms our attitude! It would be simplistic to say that you can tell when one has met Jesus Christ simply by the attitude they project. But on the other hand, when we dwell upon the love and Grace of God it gives us an attitude that reflects the love of God, rather than some other attitude.

It also gives us the courage to look at our lives, to examine ourselves. When we profess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we accept in faith that our redemption has begun and in faith we believe that Jesus shall complete our salvation. In the meantime we are committed to transforming our lives from one of self-centeredness to one that is centered upon Jesus Christ. This is not an easy task. It is not a task that we accomplish by our own strength. It can only be done as we continue to allow the Spirit of Christ more and more come into our lives. So the process of changing our attitude is one that shall go on until either we meet the Lord or that the Lord meets us. Let is a time that can help up to get back to the process of Christian growth. It can be a time that reminds us that we still sin and there are pockets of resistances in our person that resist the call of God to grow even more faithful in Jesus Christ.

For example, I eat too much. I love to eat! My eating is somewhat out of control. I used to smoke. I was addicted to tobacco. Finally the Lord gave me the strength to quit smoking (I certainly didn't have the strength in me to quit with my own!). So, when I quit smoking I knew I had to abstain from tobacco. But I cannot do that with food! If I abstain from eating it could eventually have rather severe consequences! When I eat too much, I need to admit that my eating becomes more important than it should be; it starts bordering upon gluttony. I appreciate that gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins. First of all it has become clearer than ever to me that overeating can not only cause major health problems and shorten life, but overeating becomes a spiritual matter. Out of control eating becomes an idol; its role in our lives becomes too important. Overeating is not due to physical hunger. It is due to spiritual hunger.

So, Lent is a time, an opportunity for us to examine ourselves honestly and truthfully, and to ask God to help us to take those aspects of our lives that we stubbornly hang on to and give them over to God. Not easy, it can be very painful. But when we allow God who wills the very best for us to do this we can only benefit from the process in the long run. It is only possible when we remember, give thanks and respond by letting Jesus Christ deeper and deeper into our hearts and lives.