March 9, 2025

READINGS & MESSAGE for the FIRST SUNDAY of LENT

DEUTERONOMY 26:1-11

Our very first reading in our Lenten season begins with the last book of the Torah – Deuteronomy…this book is totally based upon Moses’ words to his people before they enter the Promised Land…as if they haven’t heard the same words over and over again, they are going to hear them once more! … Moses reminds them of the basics of their story – suffering, slavery, freedom, their mumbling and grumbling, and now their hope in a new future…and when they harvest their first crop, an important part is put into this request of them…when they celebrate with food and drink and dance and so on, they are to invite the aliens who live in the midst – the non-Hebraic folk…and may we continue to do this also!...

PSALM 91

So, here’s a few of my thoughts on Psalm 91….as we know, introspection & self-examination are important Lenten rituals, but as Psalm 91 suggests, there’s a more productive way…and here are some:

 --- Read the scriptures in Lent as if you were one of the disciples that were present while Jesus was ministering to the folks.

 --- Write a letter to God with your desire to deepen the relationship.

 --- Write a poem, or a hymn, or a short story of your relationship with The Holy One.

 --- Draw or paint a picture about your feelings about the Lenten season.

 --- Feel God’s presence as you got through your daily routine.

 ---Work and pray to bring about change in your life.

And, you shall be raised up on eagle’s wings….

LUKE 4: 1-13

Well here, in the Luke passage this morning, we see the human elements of Jesus and what that entails…he’s exhausted, he’s been wandering around aimlessly in his ‘wilderness’ seeking answers to whatever…he’s famished, he hasn’t eaten for 40 days and it may not be the literal 40 days but very Hebraic in that 40 means a long time…and he’s thirsty… anyone wandering around in a wilderness or a desert would be thirsty would they not?...and how familiar these images are for they will reappear again with the passion and the cross… and, we have temptation, in this case the temptation is to be offered a short cut to glory…and folks, Lent is a longer road than Advent…there are no shortcuts…no dice you can throw to jump ahead of everyone else…and I say thank heavens, for this journey is necessary…

CAN WE LOOK TO THE NORTH FOR OUR VISION OF HOPE? 

So we begin our six week journey into this season of Lent with holding up this Sunday of Hope and bringing it together with our thematic idea of the designations of the six directions – North…South…East…West…Inner…and Outer…six different directions that have different meanings to where they are…this Sunday beginning with the North…and the question of how do these two ‘speak’ to each other, Hope – North…if I was a child, I wouldn’t have any problem, whatsoever, in putting these two together…for when you finally put your head down on the pillow on let’s say, Christmas Eve and wake up, early, on Christmas morning, something magical happened while you slept…presents showed up under the tree and you knew that Santa showed up and that reindeer had landed upon your roof and the jolly old guy had made his presence – while you slept…and all of the elves have been so busy in the northern workshop…busy producing all of the gifts for all of the children in the world…so, for a child, to put Hope and the North together is simple…when you’re younger and the Santa Christmas is magical…when the glass of milk is half emptied and the cookie is gone….

And then someone takes this simplicity away from you…and I’m not sure about all of you, but the North mostly seems to me to be somewhat of a desolate, cold, unforgiving, and forlorn place where polar bears live, where icy winds blow, where, for most of the time, temperatures drop much further down than what we see and feel in our winters…the frozen north…the whiteness…the wild, barren, uninhabited land of the midnight sun or the endless darkness…

But why can’t the north be seen, as through the eyes of a child, a place of mystery…a place of dreams coming true…a place where hope runs freely?...and maybe this is going to be a bit of my focus…

Our world was created in all of its different environments and the north is one of them…it’s the birthing place of the Aurora Borealis…the dancing, swirling colours in the darkest of nights…the knowing that even though the darkness is all around, the light of God still shines through and more than just shines through – it’s a twirling Dervish for each of us to witness…it’s the knowing that the north can be vibrant and alive and bring to each of us the kaleidoscope of colour and sound…

And not to forget the cry of the loon – speaking of sound…the peaceful cry of the loon and letting us know that creation is still alive…and well... and calling each of us to set aside our busy, busy lives and to listen in wonder to another small, voice of God…the cry of the loon let’s us know that God is drawing ever nearer to us and offering to us…hope…

that we haven’t destroyed our Earth too much…yet…

And the North can be a place of silence…maybe sometimes deafening silence to some…but it teaches us that we need to be still, to be silent, and to hear the voice of the One who birthed us into being…so this immersing ourselves in silence moves us to hear the voice of others – maybe some crying in the wilderness…the voices who are calling out in hope that we can hear them and feed them and clothe them and know that they are loved and cared for…the North is a place of important lessons to be learned…if we don’t pay attention to the surroundings – they could destroy us…and if we don’t pay attention to our surroundings here, we could also face destruction or emptiness…so why are places of worship becoming less frequented?...have we served e-coli instead of the bread of life?...have we somehow outgrown the importance of being in conversation with the Holy One?...questions which spring from not paying as much attention to our surroundings than we should be…the North can teach us this…pay attention…and the biblical text says “Be alert!”…and from the words of Isaiah, “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of its roots.”…for this is Hope…all is never lost if we pay attention...

So are there visions of hope coming from the North?....absolutely!...

For most of the areas are uncharted…no human has ever set foot upon most of the land (or ice)…and yet life abounds, in all of its wonders… could this be the new birthing place of the Christ-child?...possibly… maybe in an Inuit settlement above the Arctic Circle…maybe in one of the work-camps in Cambridge Bay…or maybe just North of us in (Grand Prairie or Fort McMurray or Beaver Lodge…to name a few)…who knows…but one thing is for sure, we are people of Hope and may we never stop Hoping and Acting and Doing and Being children of God and making a positive difference in this world…Amen.

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