SERMON LENT 5 Year A 

‘Strengthen us to love and obey you in newness of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ 

Today’s readings are all about newness of life: the spirit of God breathes new life into the dry bones of the Ezekiel reading, Paul’s letter to the Romans exhorts us to focus on true life, the life of the spirit; and the Gospel tells the dramatic story of Lazarus who, four days dead, rises from the tomb, the death bandages still on his body.  

Newness of life is at the heart of what we can expect and hope for as Christians. This newness is nothing less than a transformation of who we are and what we do. In his reflections on icons of the Virgin Mary, Archbishop Rowan Williams talks about the work of Christ within us, changing us from the inside, bringing us to new understandings and new ways of being, that we might be more truly conformed to God. This is not a transformation into some kind of holier-than-thou, self-righteous, killjoy but into a person filled with joy and compassion, deeply loving and deeply loved.  

As I hope I have suggested over this series of sermons, self-examination and confession are part of this process. We have come now to the last two lines of the General Confession: ‘strengthen us to love and obey you in newness of life’. The use of the word ‘strengthen’ here is of some significance. We are not asking just to love and obey, or for wisdom, or even for guidance, but for strength.  

The implication is clear – this is not something that we can do on our own and it is something that requires greater strength than we might normally possess. There is a profound human truth here. Change is not easy, particularly change that is somehow attached to our sense of identity, of who we are. Just considering a new hairstyle is challenging enough, let alone the prospect of letting go of particular ways of seeing the world, of relating to other people, or even of seeing ourselves. However much we may WANT to change, it is hard to do so. And if we don’t particularly want to let go of something, then it is even harder.  

As I thought through what sort of things that we might want to hang on to but that God might wish to transform within us, I came up with a very diverse list. There are some pretty obvious things – like cruel humour. To make a joke at someone else’s expense can earn you many laughs and make you the life of the party. This kind of humour is endemic in our society and richly cultivated in the media. But it does not honour the person who is the butt of the joke.  

There are some less obvious items on God’s agenda too. Perhaps we are being encouraged to let go of pride or of low self-esteem. Loving and obeying God may involve learning to love ourselves in a more healthy way. It may mean letting go of debilitating grief and learning to live joyfully in the present with gratitude for having loved and having been loved. None of these things are easy. 

It requires great strength to open ourselves to the transforming love of God, to look honestly at ourselves and to seek wholeness. We can confidently expect that God will change us in ways that we do not expect, that we will be challenged to do things that we think we cannot do and to become different people.  

It is clear that the transformation that occurs within us as we open ourselves to God’s action within is not something that happens overnight. Rather it is the work of a lifetime. The petition ‘strengthen us to love and obey you in newness of life’ hints at this continuing process. As our lives are constantly renewed and changed, so may we love and obey God from the new standpoint. 

[For 9.30 am: I have asked Meagan Morrison to take some time to talk with us today about her experiences as an ABM missionary. ABM is our mission for this month. Meagan’s experience as a missionary speaks directly to this point about God’s transforming love renewing our lives. ]

We might not all wish to open ourselves to God’s presence in the manner of John Donne, one of the giants of English metaphysical poetry. In the sonnet ‘Batter my heart, three person’d God’, Donne sought a vigorous divine intervention, rejecting any thought of gentle transformation: 

BATTER my heart, three person'd God; for, you

 

As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend;

 

That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow mee,'and bend

 

Your force, to breake, blowe, burn and make me new.

 

I, like an usurpt towne, to'another due,

         5

Labour to'admit you, but Oh, to no end,

 

Reason your viceroy in mee, mee should defend,

 

But is captiv'd, and proves weake or untrue.

 

Yet dearely'I love you,'and would be loved faine,

 

But am betroth'd unto your enemie:

 

Divorce mee,'untie, or breake that knot againe;

 

Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I

 

Except you'enthrall mee, never shall be free,

 

Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee.

 

 

 

I would rather that God took the gentle approach with me, but Donne’s passionate request highlights just how difficult it is for us to change and just how much we need strength to surrender ourselves to God.  

As we say this General Confession each week, it can just roll easily off our tongues and slide, as if coated in Teflon, over our consciences.  Or it can be the occasion for us to examine those consciences and to surrender ourselves anew to God’s transforming action in our lives.  

Merciful God, our maker and our judge,
we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed,
        and in what we have failed to do.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves;
we repent, and are sorry for all our sins.
Father, forgive us.
Strengthen us to love and obey you in newness of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.