Prepare Yourself

February 10, 2008
Matthew 4:1-11, Romans 5:12-19
Sermon by Torin Eikler
Lent 1

It’s hard to believe that Lent is here already. It has only been a month or so since we finished celebrating the birth of the baby Jesus with all the joyful trappings that go along with the season. Now, we are headed into the time of repentance that heralds the death of the man that baby became. A difficult transition to be sure… Of course, we are also preparing to celebrate the resurrection, but for the next six weeks give or take, we will be walking with Jesus and the disciples down paths that grow darker and darker with only the promise of that new hope to lighten our hearts and guide our faithful steps.

Traditionally, a part of this journey has been the Lenten fast that echoes Jesus’ forty days of fasting in the wilderness. During this time, some people choose to give up food entirely though the number who honor the tradition so literally is small. Most of us don’t have the strength, dedication, or constitution to take up that challenge. Instead we choose among the many habits and vices that fill our lives and give one of them up. Some favorites are eating chocolate, soda, or snack foods, reading frivolous novels, or watching movies or television - dramas or (dare I say it) sports events.

Some use this season, as Carrie noted in the most recent newsletter, to support and renew a new year’s resolution - to give up drinking or smoking or to lose weight or to reach some other particularly difficult goal. I would be curious to see which of us has committed to giving up something for Lent and what those things are. But, perhaps such commitments should remain private or be shared only with those we trust to be gentle with us.


Recently, we have been revisiting The Vicar of Dibley - one of our favorite British television series - with Dave and Cindy. In one of the episodes, the small village of Dibley is preparing for Lent, and the town council decides to set an example. They each agree to give up something and pledge to hold each other accountable by paying in one pound to a community fund each time they break their vow. And, rather than choosing their own “fast,” the council decides together what each person will give up which is an interesting twist. (What do you suppose we would be called upon to give up if those who knew us best decided for us…?)

So, one particularly snobbish and arrogant member of the council gives up mean-spirited criticism. Another gives up dithering, promising to get to the point rather than mumbling a whole lot of meaningless words along the way. Another gives up his pedantic quibbling over details. Similarly, the others give up chocolate, swearing, cooking with disgusting combinations, and lascivious thoughts.
As you can imagine, this leads to all sorts of humorous situations as the group struggles to hold to their various promises while at the same time trying to catch the others when they slip up. In the end, as they gathered on Easter afternoon having been mostly successful, they all celebrate the end of Lent by returning to their various habits with gusto.


While this episode pokes fun at religious practices and the strength of the habits that tend to rule our lives, it also reveals something about the way we approach the Lenten Fast. For the most part, we treat this tradition as a temporary exercise in purity. We find some piece of our lives that we feel is at least unbecoming of a Christian and may even be sinful. Then, we commit to abstain from that behavior for six and a half weeks as a symbol of repentance. Yet, we typically return to life as usual once Easter has passed.

We laugh at the villagers of Dibley in their struggles and the way they embrace the release from their vows. But if we brush away the dust of the exaggeration in their characters, we find ourselves. Perhaps that’s why we laugh. And perhaps we need to laugh in order to avoid a sense of inadequacy. Perhaps it helps us avoid asking whether or not we should give these things up permanently.


But, this is not a sermon on holy living. We all know that our lives are filled with habits – be they sinful, unhealthy, or merely annoying and unhelpful. Those that are deeply sinful and bring brokenness and pain into the world should be resisted. And, of course, it is always good to step away from the patterns that shape our lives in order to find a better perspective to judge the power they have over us. But thankfully, our imperfections are covered, as Paul assures us, by the grace of the second Adam. And, so we strive for holy living. Yet when we inevitable fall short, we are forgiven through the grace of Christ if we can just bring ourselves to ask.

No, what I find interesting is that we have come to view Lent as simply a season of giving things up. To be sure, we understand that this is a time of repentance and that is at the heart of our symbolic self-denial. And, even though we know we will probably return to our habits, we hope that we will have greater awareness and more self-control. But Lent and the Lenten fast are not about repentance and denial in and of themselves. They are about preparation.

The first spring after Carrie and I moved to Richmond for seminary, we had a long discussion about the nature of Lent. It started when I joked about giving up NOT eating tons of chocolate. While it was a joke, Carrie understood that I was expressing a deeper frustration with the Lenten Fast – one that I did not really understand myself. (What would we do without people who care enough to listen so deeply?) So, we began to talk about Lent and what the purpose of giving something up really is.

As we talked, we realized that when Jesus went into the wilderness after his baptism, he was not sitting in the sack-cloth and ashes of repentance. He was fasting in prayer and preparation for the ministry he was about to begin. He was getting ready to resist the temptations of great power and to deal with all the frustrations of trying to reach out to people who would not understand.

Since this is our example for the Lenten Fast, we thought we should do more than just giving something up. That is only part of the process of preparation. So, we decided to add something to our lives as well as giving something up – replacing a destructive habit with a spiritual discipline or a healthier practice. That year, I gave up coffee and added a prayer for a clean heart and a renewed spirit. Each time I smelled the aroma across the room and felt the desire to hold that warm cup and taste the rich flavor, I was reminded to offer up that prayer from the 51st Psalm. This year, I have given up reading fantasy and science fiction. Instead, I plan to curl up with a good book of theology or a collection of poetry or to spend extra time in meditation and prayer.

I am under no illusions that I will not return to fantasy novels in the end just as I returned to drinking coffee. I really do enjoy them, and I am often surprised at the theological, social, and political commentary I find imbedded within them. I only hope that in the mean time I will have prepared myself to continue with the ministry I have been given in a way that is more in touch with God’s will. And, once Easter comes and my Lenten fast in ended, I hope that I will have found - and will continue to find - as much passion and delight in my work as I will undoubtedly find when I return to the world of imagination wrapped up in the pages of a good fantasy.


And even as I have been thinking about these things again this year, I have been struck by another of Paul’s images – the body of Christ. The church is the body of Christ. That’s us – all of us together are the body of Christ. And, just Paul as says that no part of the body can be healthy and function without the rest of the body. So, too, none of us can stand alone in the ministry of our discipleship. We must work together if we are to serve our God and our world.

If that is true, as I believe it is, then our work as a body – our ministry to the world – is something we must prepare for together. We have done some of this work already. We have looked at our dreams together, and we have discovered some of the things we have been called to do as a part of the larger body of Christ: offering an open and welcoming space for all to come to God, sharing the message of God’s peace more openly, and outreach to the children and students in our community … among other things.

Knowing these things are our ministry as a congregation, what are we doing to prepare for that work? What if we were to think of this congregation and its ministry as we think of ourselves and our ministry? Are there things that we as a community of faith could give up for Lent? Are there unfortunate habits that we have? Are there patterns of behavior that bring division and pain rather than nurturing wholeness and love? How do we choose to follow our own will instead of the will of our God?

Taking it the next step, what could this community add to its life that would help bring us closer to the will of God? How can we prepare to continue the ministry that we have been given?

Should we commit to gathering for a Lenten prayer service on Fridays? Should we read scriptures that inform our peace stance? Should we stand together in a regular vigil?

Do we need to assess our space to see what is welcoming and what is not? What about developing a welcoming group committed to speaking with visitors when they come or sitting near them to help them feel comfortable with the unwritten traditions we have during worship?

How can we get ready to reach out to university students or learn about the issues that face children in broken or breaking families?


I don’t know what you have decided to give up for Lent or even if you have given anything up at all. I don’t know what our congregation would choose to give up if we sat down and talked about it. But, I encourage you – during this time when we join Christ in the wilderness, move beyond a simply symbolic fast and find some way that you can begin to prepare yourself for the return. Consider how you will honor the passion and suffering of Christ. Reflect on how you will prepare your heart to receive anew the gift of grace and salvation that we will celebrate when Easter comes. And think about how you will get ready – how we as a community will get ready – to embrace the will of God more fully and follow the leading of the Spirit as we continue to do the work of Christ as servants to all.