Midweek Lenten Message

https://youtu.be/KCtNAeuP79M

Greetings to You!  I am Pastor Amelie Sell. I serve Trinity Christian United Church of Christ in beautiful Skippack, Pennsylvania.  Our church has been part of the Skippack Pike Area Ministerium for many years and our members are looking forward to meeting together with our faithful neighbors when Covid-19 is a thing of the past.  

            This year, our theme for Lent is “Into the Wilderness Together.” I have been struck by the word “together.” Often, we recall stories of people like John the Baptist or the Early Desert Fathers who spent time in the wildness isolated and separate from other people.   The 40 days we spend in Lent are based on the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting and being tempted…Jesus’ wilderness time was a solo journey. 

But, our scripture also has stories of faithful people spending time in the wilderness together.  The Hebrew people who escaped from slavery in Egypt spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness together – sometimes more “together’ than they wanted.

            I find it stressful to go on car trips with the car full of family or youth group members.  I am a little alarmed by cruises and being on a floating ship crammed full of people.  I can’t imagine the stresses inherent in a 40 year journey in the wilderness with hundreds of people….the heat…the limited food options…the smell of unbathed people…the uncomfortable accommodations….a 40 year wilderness journey is not my cup of tea.

            In an account found in Numbers 12, the leaders of the desert wanderers fell into the trap of “trashing” each other.  The Hebrew slaves had escaped slavery by departing Egypt and crossing the Red Sea.  They were led by Moses into the desert.  Despite the miracles and blessings that were constantly showered on the people, they griped and complained.  Even family squabbles ensued.  Listen to the account of a doozy of a squabble between Moses, his sister Miriam and his brother Aaron as it is recalled in Numbers 12:

Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite.

2 “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this.

3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

4 At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them went out.

5 Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward,

6 he said, “Listen to my words:

“When there is a prophet among you,

I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,

I speak to them in dreams.

7 But this is not true of my servant Moses;

he is faithful in all my house.

8 With him I speak face to face,

clearly and not in riddles;

he sees the form of the Lord.

Why then were you not afraid

to speak against my servant Moses?”

9 The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.

10 When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous---it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease,

11 and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed.

12 Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”

13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!”

14 The Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.”

15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.

16 After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran.

Here ends this reading of the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

The leaders of the hundreds of people wandering the wilderness were Moses, his brother Aaron, and his sister Miriam.  They had a very stressful calling: thousands of people depended on them and looked to them for guidance as they journeyed through the wilderness together.  And, as that stress weighed the siblings down, instead of supporting each other and commiserating together, they started to pick on each other.  They said mean and hurtful things to their brother, one of the people they loved the most.

            I don’t know how thing are going for your family during this time of Covid…this long wilderness journey.  But, if you live with roommates, or spouses, or family members, or children, I suspect things haven’t gone completely smoothly during the year we have spent in this pandemic.  I suspect we have all said things we regret. I suspect we had all done things we regret.

            The stress of being together yet in the wilderness of a pandemic weighs heavily upon us.  Our nerves are frayed. Our blood pressure is high.  We say things that are hurtful to the people we love. We are easily triggered. We are stressed. 

            But, like the Hebrew people in the wilderness, we must remember God is with us.  Despite the anger God had at Aaron and Miriam in the story, God forgives us when we mess up.  Miriam was healed. God continued to lead the people through the wilderness, feeding them with manna and making sure they had clean water to drink.  God forgives us when we succumb to the human sins of jealousy, pride, and judgment.  God forgives us when we are stressed out and jerky to one another. And, God is always with us.

            St. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, succinctly reminds us:

The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

            Let us remember God goes with us on these wilderness journeys. God gives us peace and forgives us when we fall short.

            Thanks be to God. Amen.

 

Let us now pray this prayer that comes to us from the eloquent words of the former Evangelical and Reformed Church:

 

O God of love, who hast given a new commandment through thine only begotten Son, that we should love one another, even as thou didst love us, the unworthy and the wandering, and gavest thy beloved Son for our life and salvation; we pray thee, Lord, give to us thy servants, in all time of our life on the earth, a mind forgetful of past ill will, a pure conscience and sincere thoughts, and a heart to love our brethren; for the sake of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

 

As we continue our wilderness journey though Lent, I pray you remember that we are not on this journey alone – we are together – our fellow Christians are with us – Jesus is with us – The Holy Spirit of God is with us – God is with us.

I hope to be with you all soon.

Good bye!