I must admit that the season of Lent, is not my favorite season. However, I do find the Collects we say in the season of Lent to be some of my favorite Collects in the prayer book. I think this means that as I grow in age and wisdom, I will probably grow to like the season of Lent more and more. Today’s Collect is yet another outstanding one: “Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found.”
The unruly wills and affections of sinners. How have our wills and affections been unruly lately? Let me count the ways, toilet paper hoarding, frozen pizza, booze, the meat section of any grocery store, paper towels. I can go on and on, but you get the point. I know I have preached on this topic before, and I know Father Charleston has preached on it as well. The issue is the idea that we can fix something we have no control over. The notion that through the power of our will and hard work, we can make people think the way they should. That we can make the entire world a safe place where nothing wrong ever happens. That we can save ourselves, that our destiny is in our hands.
Times of great crisis causes two things to happen to people, either we double down on the idea we can fix everything, and we can get the world to function based on our will, or we realize that the illusion of control that we all live under, is just that, an illusion. Lent is so important because, usually, it creates a kind of virtual life-crisis for each of us. It does so by changing the appearance of our worship space, by encouraging us to give things we up that we like, by fasting from meat on Fridays, by being more generous. Lent creates in us, if we do it properly, a sense of reliance on God for what we need, and the curbing of dependence on self.
In Lent this year; however, we have been hit by a real-life crisis. We are experiencing an incredibly demonstrable loss of control over our lives. How have we reacted? Have we turned to God for guidance, or have we made an effort to force our wills on others? Have we turned to God for solace, or have we turned to something else to relieve us from this burden? Have we given up control during this time to the almighty, or have we doubled down our need to be in control of even those things we are in no way able to control?
Today we heard the Ezekiel prophecy of the dry bones coming back to life. Ezekiel was a prophet who lived during the Babylonian exile. He was taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar’s forces. What we read today from Ezekiel is part of his prophecy of the restoration of God’s people. Specifically, what we have read today in the vision of the dead bones, is the restoration or cooperate resurrection of Israel. The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel is an account of Ezekiel’s prophecies while in exile. The structure of the book goes from why Israel has fallen, to the restoration of Israel. Ezekiel tells us, “And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it, says the Lord.”
We go from Ezekiel to Jesus, healing his friend Lazarus after he was dead for four days. Jesus says some interesting things to his disciples in this reading. Jesus says to his disciples when he hears of Lazarus’s illness, “This illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it.” Then Jesus decides to stay for two more days where he is before coming to see his friend who he loves. As they travel to Lazarus, Jesus gets upset with his disciples and says, “Lazarus is dead; and for your sake, I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” As Jesus approaches Bethany, Martha meets him, and then Mary comes to him; his encounters with them bring Jesus to tears. Then after declaring himself the resurrection and the life and being called the messiah by the sisters, he calls Lazarus back from the dead. The breath of God that breathed life in the first man, the breath that Ezekiel envisioned putting flesh back on the bones of the dead, restores Lazarus to life.
Today scripture tells us of two types of resurrection. The resurrection of the individual and the resurrection of society. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Jesus is our promise of resurrection. Jesus has won for us everlasting life, through no merit of our own. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. This year Lent has a whole new meaning, not only for us but for the world. An invisible enemy has brought our world to its knees. Hopefully, the Church has trained her people to know what to do when they are brought to their knees. The answer to great distress, to a crisis, is not always to stand and fight, but many times it is to kneel and to pray. As we prepare to celebrate the feast of the Resurrection of Jesus, while we are in exile, may we all be on our knees praying to God, and allowing him to work all things out for his glory.
Sermon preached by the Rev. Christian M. Wood
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida
5 Sunday of Lent
29 March 2020