LENT 5A 2008

In all the lessons that we just read, we see that they contain two contrasting human emotions – despair and hope.

In that familiar passage from Ezekiel we have a message of hope delivered to the Israelites in exile. They have been cast out of their land with little hope of returning. The vision of the dead bones taking on life is meant to encourage them, to give them hope to carry on, for some day the Lord will bring them back to their home land.

In the lesson from Romans we see sin and death contrasted with righteousness and life. Once we were slaves to sin which was leading us to death, but now Christians are slaves to righteousness which will lead to life.

In the gospel we are confronted with the greatest human despair there is, the loss of one we love. Lazarus is dead. There is great sorrow and pain. Even Jesus is greatly moved by this human suffering. But because Jesus is there, hope arises out of abject despair. Life comes forth out of death.

And in our Psalm this morning we read: “Out of the depths have I called to you, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice:…..and then “O Israel, wait for the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy….”

I don’t know if you are like me, but I have found my spiritual life to move in seasons. There are times of new beginnings, like spring, times of great production, like summer, times of gathering in and harvesting, like fall, and times of barrenness and cold, like winter. Using a Biblical image, we are like trees, planted by the river of water. The hardest times for us are the seasons of winter, those times when God seems far from us and life is confusing and maybe even full of pain. These are times when are souls are in the winter season.

This morning I would like to spend a few minutes talking about this winter of the soul and the importance of nourishing our soul.

Sometimes Christians get the impression that they should always be happy, always overcoming, always, as they say in some traditions, having the victory. Some modern day versions of the gospel imply that Christians are a different breed of people, always blessed and saying Praise the Lord with a simile on their faces. Of course this is a simplistic caricature, but we do sometimes think that because we are Christians we should in some way, be spared from the trials and tribulations of life.

Why we think this way is not clear to me. All we need to do is to read the Bible and we can see right away that the men and women in the Bible underwent all sorts of trials and tribulations. Imagine what it was like to have your country invaded, your places of worship destroyed, and to be carried away into exile into the land of the enemy. Many of us know what Mary and Martha felt watching their brother die. What did Mary feel when she watched her son hang on the cross? What was the Psalmist experiencing when he cried out: “My God, My God, why have your forsaken me?” or “Out of the depths I have cried to you?”

Intense emotional struggle, doubt, despair, a sense of abandonment and even fear… these are all a part of the inner journey of the soul of those who follow the Lord. And of course what happens to us in our daily lives will affect our inner journey. I often reflect on the last days of my Father’s life. About thirteen years before he died he suffered a very serious stroke that affected his speech, his walking, and the use of his arm. This was a huge blow to a person who was used to being strong, active and whose speech was a central part of what he did. The last few years of his life were a series of strokes that finally left him lying in bed the last year of his life.

For him this was a long winter after many years of a fruitful life and ministry. The greatest struggle that he had in all of this, I am sure, was to have faith and hope in the promises of God.

I know that many of you have lived through great struggles and you know what I am talking about. Even if you have not experienced great suffering, you can remember times in your life when you were, or are now, lonely, afraid, insecure, without purpose, without faith, or is some sort of despair. These are not easy times. These are truly winters of the soul.

How then, do we live through these winter seasons without having them destroy us, without having all hope and faith crushed out of us?

I would like to return to the image that the Psalmist uses in Psalm one to describe the righteous. He says that they are like tress planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither… This is a great image. In the valley you see trees all along the river, even when there are no trees anywhere else. Their roots go down deep into the water, tapping that essential source of life. So, even during the winter season, when they loose all of their leaves, and they look like they are dead, they are still alive. They are only going through the necessary, natural cycle of winter. They are just as alive as they are in summer.

The image that is helpful for me is that of the trees having their roots buried deep into the source of life. Just as the tree along the river draws life from the water through it’s roots so too should our spiritual roots be buried deeply in our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the key to surviving those winter seasons of doubt, despair, and inner struggle. Even though our leaves may be gone, and we may look and feel like we are dead, we are as alive and healthy as ever because our roots are connected to the source of all life, our Lord Jesus.

Many of you are gardeners and you know what it takes to produce healthy plants. It takes the proper ingredients of soil, light, water, nutrients, and some luc!!. Think of your soul as a plant, or a tree. You need certain ingredients to thrive and survive. You will not thrive if you ignore these ingredients. What are these ingredients?

First, of course we need to be planted. We could say that this is our baptism. Our baptism sets our roots into the soil. We are planted into the community of faith.

Baptism sets the roots of our soul in the soil of the community of faith.. Just as a seed will not grow if it does not have soil, so our spirits will not grow without the community of faith.

In our baptismal covenant we promise to “continue in the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread and in the prayers.” This promise comes from Acts chapter two which describes the life of the early church. To grow and survive, they needed each other. So do we. There really is no such thing as a private Christian faith. God has always worked with humanity in community – through families and tribes and nations. It is in the soil of the community that we gain the needed ingredients to grow and thrive.

Once we are planted in the soil we need light and water and the proper nutrients. Continuing with this image we could say that these are the means of grace, or the word and sacraments. The Bible and our worship take us to the source, to the living presence of God. Jesus used the image of eating and drinking to illustrate partaking of the Spirit of God. Just as we receive strength from eating and drinking, so do our souls receive strength and nourishment from feeding on the Word and the sacraments. These are ingredients that help us grow and thrive and survive tough times.

Feeding and nourishing our souls does not happen magically. We have to go to the food and eat it! In the spiritual realm, it requires discipline. One of the reasons that Pastor Liz and I have been talking about our part of the baptismal covenant is that we see how many of us take God’s grace and love for granted, and ignore our part in the covenant. And when we do this, while we could say it is hurting God, it is we who will suffer the most. Last week we read Psalm 23 about God leading us to green pastures and still waters and guiding us and protecting us in the valley of death. It is we who suffer when we do not come to the table and eat and drink of the good things that God has for us. It is we who miss out on the good things that God has prepared for us.

I love the image in Isaiah chapter 55 where the prophet writes this:

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,

and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Is 55:2

Why do we spend so much time and energy on things and goals and desires that will soon vanish like water through our hands? Goals and desires are not bad things. We all have them. But when we ignore our souls, and do not take care of them, we are the ones who lose out, for we are exchanging eternal treasures for earthly ones that will soon disappear.

Having faith and hope in the midst of despair is not easy. We all will have the winter of our souls. The rains and the floods will come. But it is comforting to know that we worship and serve a power that is greater than anything that can come against us. The Bible is a book of hope. The gospel is good news. Though we go through the agony of the cross, Easter follows. Though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, God is with us.

Let me close with a great quote from the apostle Paul. It is passages like these that we need to hold onto in the midst of our winters.

Romans 8:35(NRSV)

³⁵Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ……..³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 

³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. AMEN!