As you may have guessed from my past two sermons, I have given up my sermon starter jokes for Lent.
Instead I’ll begin with a question that should be easy for anyone raised Catholic. What are the three spiritual practices of Lent? Answer: Prayer, fasting and giving to Charity.
This sermon is sounding austere already. Maybe I can share just one joke!
John Smith was the only Protestant to move into a large Catholic neighborhood. On the first Friday of Lent, John was outside grilling a big juicy steak on his grill.
Meanwhile, all of his neighbors were eating cold tuna fish for supper. This went on each Friday of Lent. On the last Friday of Lent, the neighborhood men got together and decided that something had to be done about John. He was tempting them to eat meat each Friday of Lent, and they couldn’t take it anymore.
They decided to try and convert John to Catholicism.
They went over and talked to him. John decided to join all of his neighbors and become a Catholic, which made them all very happy.
They took him to church, and the priest sprinkled some water over him, and said, “You were born a Baptist, you were raised a Baptist, and now you are a Catholic.”
The men were so relieved. Their biggest Lenten temptation was resolved.
The next year’s Lenten season rolled around. The first Friday of Lent came, and, just at supper time, when the neighborhood was settling down to their cold tuna fish dinners, the smell of steak cooking on a grill came wafting into their homes. The neighborhood men could not believe their noses! WHAT WAS GOING ON?
They called each other up and decided to meet over in John’s yard to see if he had forgotten it was the first Friday of Lent. The group arrived just in time to see John standing over his grill with a small pitcher of water. He was sprinkling some water over his steak on the grill, saying, “You were born a cow, you were raised a cow, and now you are a fish.”
Thank you for coming to a service advertised as “UU Observance of Lent.” Perhaps recent behavior and propaganda from Christian Nationalists have dampened your enthusiasm for things Christian. Perhaps you are an atheist, an agnostic, a bit Pagan, Buddhist, Jewish, liberal Christian or UU “freely following Jesus.” Hopefully the service warmed you up and we’re ready to consider Lent from a new angle.
Did you like the reading with excerpts of “Radical Loving” by Rev. Myke Johnson, UU Minister, speaking as a witch and a feminist who recalls the love she and her college friends had for Jesus. The gospel introduced them to the radical love of Jesus who tended to and cared for marginalized people. Rev. Myke recalled her young adult faith: “I believed we could change the world back then.”
Perhaps this is how early Christians felt as they shared possessions and cared for the sick at a time when the plague made such care extraordinary. Jesus’ care and concern for marginalized people showed a different way of being together, a different way to treat people from what has been experienced in this world.
He asked people to believe in a reality they had never seen, a world where vulnerable people would know their value because of the love and care they received. Jesus called this divine world “heaven.” He advocated for people who had been kept from the riches of this world.
In the gospels Jesus appears to his disciples after his death. He promises them the Holy Spirit will remain with them.
Let me pause here. I’ve been using some heavy duty Christian theological language. To appreciate it, translation might be necessary, huh? Remember that our ancestors were called heretics. Heretics comes from a word meaning having the ability to choose.
UUs get to let go of doctrines and traditions that harm and oppress. We cherish rights of conscience! We also have the responsibility to ask ourselves what meaning and value religious terms may hold for us.
Biblical scholarship asks, “What might Jesus have meant by the term “holy spirit?” He spoke of it as a comforter. Perhaps he was speaking of it as an antidote when we are plagued by being alone with struggles. Surely it reminded his followers of Jesus love. It also implied a power that would enable disciples to do great things.
Later Christian theologians said that grace is when followers receive the holy spirit and it enables us to participate and continue Jesus ministry.
Although our Unitarian ancestors rejected the trinity, we often use the word spirit perhaps to express the effect of our shared vision of beloved community and our faith that leads us to be partners in its creation. Holy spirit could refer to a radical love like that shown by Jesus. UUs have a spirit of love that enables miracles.
Love “makes a way out of no way. “ It gives us the power to hold to convictions even the face of pain and death. Have you ever been inspired by someone who demonstrated a radical love by laying down their life? Can you think of a person whose life was lived in way that bestowed precious gifts for children or loved ones? For future generations? For a noble cause? If you have a name of someone in mind, feel free to call it out now. (pause). I’m thinking of the Tuskegee Airmen and Navajo Code Talkers, Blacks and Native Americans who fought in wars to preserve freedoms that were never afforded to them.
We have experienced Holy Spirit whether or not we’ve used that term. The holy spirit is something that can shake us to our core. So maybe choose predictability instead. Maybe we choose to stay with consensual reality. It’s hard enough to navigate this world. Who wants holy spirit to mess with our carefully constructed way of thinking about life?
UUs and our tradition have often chosen to remain grounded in predicable realities of this world. Holy spirit might be too ethereal for some of us. Words like “chi” or life force as far out as we may want to go.
Still I would say that our tradition has been guided and shaped by the Holy Spirit. Jesus showed our ancestors a way to find it. They read the bible and were transformed toward Jesus’ radical way of life. Many of our UU ancestors put their faith in reason and science. And yet these too possessed a conviction to work for the creation of a world spoken of by Jesus and by prophets of every age. Our movement has possessed a prophetic vision of a better world that could be.
Lent remembers a time that Jesus went out into the desert before beginning his public ministry. The bible says us that Satan tried to tempt him by offering power in this world. With knowledge of how Earthly powers respond to prophetic faith, Jesus turned to the One he called Abba, his understanding or experience of supreme power and love. After 40 days, he emerged ready to do his dharma, begin his ministry set on remaining true.
One reason I like a human Jesus is that his story becomes more relatable and relevant. In front of us, we see global tyrants who worship power. These brutes brag while pillaging and perpetrating horrors. They race to seek their own glory without concern for costs inflicted on others. They punish and persecute any who dare to challenge their authority.
We see danger, and our will to survive is strong. Self-preservation is written into our DNA. We also know our mortality, and we long to know ourselves as part of a greater story. We yearn to overcome fears, move beyond unnecessary limitations, and give ourselves to something greater than us.
Whether we “freely follow Jesus,” or “we march to the beat of a different drummer,” Lent can be a time to find a holy spirit that enables us to bring love into the world.
UUs are creative in our observance of Lent. I read of a UU who gave up Styrofoam for Lent. Others have chosen to ride their bike to work. Some have chosen a cruelty free diet. Some bring 21st century concerns to the tradition limiting of meat consumption. They’re reaching for a planet sustaining diet. Some do a fast from alcohol or other toxins from care and respect for body as a temple of the spirit. There are so many ways to apply UU values to Lenten tradition. We can find creative ways to practice the principles formerly embedded in the UUA bylaws. We can steep ourselves in the more recently voted on Core UU values. We can make Lent an intensive training period for anti-racist or anti- fascist actions. We could choose a deeper practice of covenants in our congregation, creating agreements with community members and working together for our collective spiritual growth. We could choose to establish small group ministries that aim to strengthen our honesty, integrity, and compassion.
Traditionally lent has emphasized discipline. We can choose a discipline intended to expand our capacity for pleasure. During Lent, we can explore what’s important to us. We could cultivate our love, creativity, happiness or joy! Why not?
What could you give up or let go of that would make room for more joy and beauty? What might bring you further into divine order? What might your desert experience be? How could we invite holy spirit, remind ourselves and strengthen our commitment to a sacred truth? How might we grow toward right relations?
To grow in UU spirituality, I invite you to exercise priestly power. Perform rituals. Create your own or respectfully tailor old ones to fit and suit your integrity.
Spiritual practices during Lent or anytime can help us survive mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We need practice to exercise and grow our faith. We can do this as a community. Our shared ministry asks us to sustain the congregation as a sanctuary, a place where it’s safe to talk about our struggles, to learn and heal together.
We can be very UU while observing Lent. One of our hymns tells us “there is more love, more justice, more beauty, more peace. Our faith encourages us to find or create it.
It could be that without such hard times we might not be willing to do the hard work necessary to cultivate great love. If we face a force that is sewing great harm and cruelty, we can invoke a holy spirit, a force of love. To cultivate this force will take practice.
So “people get ready. There is a train a coming.” If we believe that love is greater than fear or hate, then we need to practice our love. We need to strengthen our faith. We need to take steps to get through the desert. A holy spirit of love will guide us.
Blessings upon us as we choose what we will do for the rest of Lent. The blessings of Easter are on their way. We will come together then to celebrate the resurrection that we see every spring.
Peace!
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