February 24, 2008 Sermon
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Lent 3 - A (and the Exhortation, pg. 316)
February 24, 2007 Allan Conkling
Today is another busy Sunday so I will try to keep the sermon short. I hear folks asking, "Why we are doing all these different things during Lent: the Great Litany, the Decalogue, and today the Exhortation?" To me, it is important to remind ourselves about the essentials of our faith. It's also a good thing every so often to brush the dust off the old historic things in our Prayer Book. We have lots of new folks and for everyone new or old, it is a good reminder of what makes us unique as Episcopalians.
An Exhortation before receiving the Sacrament has been part of our worship all the way back to the 1500's. Why? Because sometimes we need reminding! How easily we become distracted thinking about what's for lunch, or what we are going to do after church, or how much homework we have. God does seem distant at times. But here is an invitation:
"Examine your lives and conduct..."
There is a wonderful saying, "If God seems far away, look who moved." What things you need to work on this next week? What changes do you need to make to get life back on track? You are not on this journey alone. We all need to examine our lives and conduct. The goal in all that we do is to glorify God. God has called us to live this life to its fullest, to serve others, and to become all that we were created to be in God's sight.
The Readings today affirm God's overwhelming love for the Creation. I hope that you will take them home and ponder them this coming week. The Old Testament is about people behaving badly, really badly: Headstrong...complaining...self-centered. It is how we act much of the time! God wasn't happy. The people quarreled with Moses and deserved God's judgment. But God gave them water to drink. In the New Testament Paul finishes the story. Of course we do things wrong. We are human! But, as Paul says,
"God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us."
We might be bad. Really bad. Yet there is nothing we can do to make God not love us. What Good News that is! In Christ we are saved not from any wrath from God, but saved to live life for God. Put that alongside that long Gospel reading and the point becomes clear: Despite what anyone else might say to the contrary, there is no one who stands beyond the boundaries of God’s overwhelming and extravagant love. We might put up walls. We might wish that some folks were not invited, or we might feel ourselves not worthy. Like that play last week that several of our kids were in: to others a person might be ugly, even worthless...but to God we are all precious. And like the woman at the well we can receive that living water to refresh our parched souls.
So what can we do this Lent? Listen! Listen for Christ. Listen for Christ as you pray and come for Communion today. Listen for Christ as you go about your week. Jesus said to the woman at the well:
"I am he who is speaking to you."
Listen for Christ. That is my "Exhortation" today.
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