From the Rector

My Dear Family in Christ,
 
The season of Lent is upon us once again.  Ultimately, this is good news for us, for it means that we have begun once more, in earnest, the great journey that leads us to the incredibly glory of Easter!  At the moment, however, we are in the first week of Lent, at the very beginning of that journey.  Glory, it would seem, is still a fair ways off from where we find ourselves at present.
 
Our Lectionary appoints specific readings from Scripture for each individual day in Lent, and the Gospel appointed for the Wednesday in the First Week of Lent is very much on-message for the start of a season of fasting, self-denial, self-examination, reflection, conviction, confession, and penitence:
 
When the crowds were increasing, Jesus began to say, “This generation is an evil generation; it asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here! The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here!” (Luke 11:29–32)
 
The early days of Lent tend to focus on our sinfulness, the imminent arrival of God’s justice, and our urgent need for immediate repentance.  The “sign of Jonah,” as Jesus explains, is a sign that reads:  REPENT OF YOUR SINS AND CHANGE YOUR EVIL WAYS BECAUSE JUDGMENT IS COMING!  Indeed, says Jesus, it’s already here:  the Queen of Sheba sought out Solomon for his wisdom … and “something greater than Solomon is here”; likewise, Jonah went (eventually) to Nineveh, the city of his people’s enemies, and the Ninevites heard his proclamation and repented of their sins … and “something greater than Jonah is here!”  In Jesus, God is right here, standing in front of us in the flesh.  Why, then, do we not seek his wisdom and believe his proclamation and repent of our sins?
 
That’s a tough Gospel for any of us at any time, I think.  It feels especially tough this year, in this moment, though.  With everything we see and hear that’s going on in our world just now -- war in Europe, social and economic and political chaos at home, open & actual fascism surging all over the world, severe weather driven by climate change, and rapidly shifting cultures that make it hard to believe there’s much solid ground left to stand on -- the last thing I personally want to hear about is God’s judgment on me for my sins.  How about y’all?
 
And yet, if we read our Scriptures closely and faithfully, we discover something about God’s judgment:  God’s judgment is mercy.  God sends Jonah to tell Nineveh to repent or else be destroyed.  The people of Nineveh repent and their city is spared (much to the consternation of Jonah, it must be noted!).  Even when the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden leads to the consequence that they must leave paradise never to return, God’s judgment is to provide them the means to survive and make their way in the world (even though they will now have to work for that in ways they did not before).  At the time of the great flood, God’s judgment was to call Noah to save and preserve as much life as possible from the deluge to come.  And in the fullness of time, when our disobedience and sin had broken the world beyond repair, God’s judgment was to come among us as one of us in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, to let us do our very worst to the Son of God in the flesh, and then, through his unjust suffering, to grant not only forgiveness but redemption and everlasting life.
 
God’s judgment is mercy.  And in the meantime, God’s gift is presence.  Living the Christian Way certainly does not protect us from all suffering or prevent suffering from happening to us and those we love.  Indeed, to live authentically as Christians in this world can sometimes dramatically increase our suffering.  But we do not do so alone.  We follow and worship a God who experiences and feels and knows everything we do -- everything -- and so the One we follow is always with us and beside us, sharing the burdens as well as the joys.  But perhaps even more importantly, when it feels like everything’s falling apart and the Judgment must surely be at hand, we can rest assured that God’s judgment will bring mercy.
 
In the meantime, as brothers and sisters in Christ, we try to embody that grace to and for and amongst each other.  So if you’re struggling this Lent with anything, please come join us on Monday nights at 6:30 for our current Living Christianity series, where we wrestle, in confidence, with the trials of our present circumstances and seek the Grace to sustain us through the chaos.  And as always, please reach out to me by phone, text, email, or face to face conversation to let me know what you need, and what I can do for you in addition to keeping you all in my prayers.
 
Peace & blessings,
Christopher+

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