Lent 2 B
I was a high school English
and Theatre teacher for 17 years. I
loved teaching. One of the things I
loved the most about teaching was watching the transformation of young
people. They would come into the
classroom---some with little to no love for literature and writing or
theatre…..and some with tremendous love for the subjects I taught. It was so joyful and life-giving to watch
them, through stories, through writing, through discussions, to become deeper
readers and thinkers, better writers and more convincing actors and actresses.
Of course, some refused. They didn’t like it so they were not going to
do it, and that was that. Frustrating to
watch young people refuse growth and opportunity, but the same can be said for adults. Oh, but when they did grow…and change…and
learn….it was just so incredibly inspiring.
One student I had actually
started off as simply a student I saw around school; he was not in my classes. As a freshman he was so shy, he literally
walked along the edges of the hallway---making no eye contact with
anyone---glued to the lockers as he crept to the next class. And then, that first summer of his high
school career, he auditioned for the summer musical. Astonishing.
I gave him a small part. He loved
it. And he came back. Again and again. He grew more confident, made friends, and
began to walk in the middle of the hallway like everyone else. He has since graduated high school and
college (majoring in theatre) and has a full life. It was such a gift to watch this transformation
unfold---and to know there’s still so much more to come.
It’s kind of like this piece
of wood. At first glance it looks like
scrap maybe. At best, a doorstop. There are rough edges and dark places, and it
seems to have no purpose. But all it
takes is the right eye---the needed vision---to see what it might become. A beautiful bowl like this, perhaps. Sure, it still has knots and imperfections,
but those knots and imperfections only add to its beauty. All the block of wood needs is someone with
good vision and the right tools and skills to help it be released into its true
form----having both beauty and purpose.
That’s what teaching felt
like to me. First and foremost, I had to
create a meaningful relationship with my students. They had to trust me. Sure, some
trusted me just because I was a teacher---but not as many as you’d
think. Especially not by the time they
had reached high school and had been disappointed or hurt by at least one
teacher in the past.
In order for them to give of
themselves---to present their thoughts, opinions, and beliefs in the classroom, in their papers, or on the
stage, we had to develop a trust in one another. Before I could get them to discuss the many
benefits of the semi-colon or just exactly what was up with Hamlet, they needed
to know that I did indeed have their best interests at heart. Even when I asked a lot of them. Especially when I asked a lot of them. If they thought what I was asking of them was
strange or too much or maybe even just boring---they were far more willing to
go ahead and do it anyway when they trusted that my main goal was their
benefit.
Our relationship with God is
like this. Before we can even believe
that there is a better “us” trapped inside of ourselves or that there is more
to this life than the rough edges and dark spots, we have to trust the One who
Created us. We have to believe with all
our hearts that God really does love us because God is, after all, asking us to
put our very lives on the line. When we
look and listen closely, we realize that Jesus is really saying: Be
vulnerable. Give up your lives as you
know them, and come follow me…..Come on.
Trust me.
So, first, we must indeed
believe and trust that Jesus’ Way is the
Way to live for our best benefit.
And then, we must be willing to take up the cross.
For Jesus, the cross was the
instrument upon which his humanity died---upon which He sacrificed his
life. It is nothing less for us. To take up our cross means we are willing to
sacrifice those aspects of our humanity, those parts of our lives, which
prevent us from being our true selves, our best selves. This is no light request: Jesus asks us to be
willing to let go of beliefs, thoughts, ways of being, which prevent us from
being the person God has dreamed us to be.
“Your ways are not my ways and your thoughts not my thoughts,” God tells
us through the prophet Isaiah. If we
mean to align our lives up with the Vision of Our Creator, it will require
change, transformation, death.
New life always requires
death. Every seed must cast off its
shell. Every flower must die in order
for new blossoms to flourish. The new
life and beauty of spring does not happen without fall and winter. New life needs death. And if we truly want a new life in Christ,
then we must accept death in our lives.
Lent is a gift---a gift of
40 days to sit in God’s presence. To be
silent. To listen with the ears of our
hearts and reflect on the pathway from which we have arrived and
discern----where are my footsteps following God’s dream for me and where do
they wander? What in me---what habits,
actions, words, or beliefs,---destroy rather than give life? Where is my alignment with Christ off the
mark?
Lent is a time to participate
in the ongoing, never-ending process of resurrection in our lives---death
giving birth to life. We can only do
this when we believe that God does indeed so love us; that God has our greatest
benefit as God’s objective.
If you are not there yet, not
certain you can say that you believe you are loved this much and this deeply by
Our Creator, then I invite you to participate here in the life of
Intercession. We will walk with
you---not pushing or shoving, but walking as a companion. Many of us have been
where you are, even though we all have our own story that has led us here. Come
to worship regularly and let the pattern of breaking open the Word, prayer and sharing
the bread in community begin to re-align the rhythm of your heart and
mind. Come and gather with us---all us
sinners with a future and all us saints with a past---and take your place among
us; we have a place at the table for you.
We want to hear your story. To
know you. To see you as you truly are. After all, we do believe that God loves us
just as we are…..but God loves us far too much to leave us just as we are.
And if you already know this
love and are grounded in this love and have bet your life on this love, then I
invite you to spend this season in reflection and discernment. Shine light onto your dark places and your
rough spots as you invite the Creator to come in and re-shape and transfigure
you further. Grant God access into your
heart so that the Redeemer can polish the knots and the whorls of your life and
transform the imperfections into aspects of beauty.
This, for me, is what
discipleship is all about. Being known,
being loved, and being renewed, which springs from the well of life-giving
water of knowing God, loving God, and connecting to God. Connecting to God through others and, through
others, being connected to God---this everlasting covenant that is a beautiful
web of grace. This everlasting covenant
that requires the audacious faith of Abraham, the surrender of Jesus.
The more you believe this
outrageous promise of God’s—that all of us can be renewed and brought into the
fullness of life---then the more and more you will experience it, and the more
and more you will see it happening.
This past Friday night,
Murray and I were in Madison and I was working out on the treadmill in our
hotel---one of the many deaths I must personally experience in order to receive
new life----and I saw this incredible story on the news.
It was about a boy’s high
school basketball team in Gainesville, Florida.
This team had no fans. Whenever
they played, there was no one to cheer them on.
Their parents were rarely able to come to a game and they had no
cheerleaders and no student fan base.
You see, these young men were incarcerated in a juvenile detention
center. If they exhibited exceptionally
good behavior, they were allowed to play on the team, and a few times a year,
they were able to leave the detention center to play basketball. They played against private school teams,
suiting up against young men who had far more privileges and opportunities than
most of these boys could even dream about.
But one such team of
privileged young men decided they would not play against a team with no
fans. For them, it was unheard of. So two members of the team decided to do
something about it. They asked their own
fans---about half of the crowd---to cheer and support the Gainesville
team. So, as the Gainesville players
came onto the court, they were greeted with a line of fans waiting to high-five
them as they took their place on the court.
Throughout the game, this team
of young men from Gainesville had cheerleaders with uniforms, fans sitting on
their side cheering them on, and every time they scored a basket, the entire
gymnasium lit up with hooting and hollering.
Who won the game? The journalist said since neither of these
two teams really cared who won, why should we, so I cannot tell you that. What I can tell you is that the Gainesville
teammates who were interviewed said that had never felt anything like it---to
be cheered on like that, to be encouraged.
One said he would never forget it.
And when the two young men who orchestrated the event were interviewed,
one of them said, “ I just thought: Everyone needs cheerleaders; everyone needs
to be encouraged and applauded. All of
us need to know that there is someone out there who knows all the mistakes we
have made and still loves us and applauds us anyway.”
Now that, my friends, is
Gospel.
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