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It was part of a larger, anonymous, religious advertising campaign—and as time passed similar billboards went up all over Texas and around the country. Several years later, the billboard became part of the debate in a Seminary ethics class… The passionate premise—which I share—was this: when ethical behaviors come untethered from their core moral foundation they begin to lose vitality. When all that remains are laws that require such ethical behavior, then moral force is lost… First, the law fades into suggestion; then, it merely fades into the ether. As a modern example, perhaps we have forgotten why the laws of Exodus forbid lending money at interest to the poor among us… but we’ve seen what usury can do. The prophet Joel is very clear with the people. A great calamity is upon them—we don’t know much about which conquering army was on the way, but the prophet is clear that the complacent and comfortable citizens of Zion need to wake up and sense the danger. One commentary notes: “Clearly Jerusalem has forgotten God’s utter fidelity. When God’s fidelity is jettisoned, human relations become unfaithful and society disintegrates.” And so comes the voice of the prophet; Joel calls the people to “rend your hearts… Return to the Lord your God…” It seems that the primary course of change for this dire situation is for the people to gather, to pray, and to remember their God. The commentary continues—the purpose of religious disciplines is to remember who God really IS, what is promised by God, and what is required for God.” 1 Yet, even though the prophet sounds the warning and calls the people to return to their God, his words of assurance are scant… “Who knows” Joel writes, “whether [God] will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind…” Ash Wednesday begins the 40 day observance of Lent. This was the first liturgical season developed in the early church. It was a time for contemplation—a time to look deep within for the sinfulness that separates us from God and a time to remember and hold fast to the steadfast love of God in Jesus Christ. That is the good news at which the prophets’ voice can hint. Paul reminds us that God does not stop with prophetic calls, but becomes pro-active by sending Jesus Christ to be our means of reconciliation with God and with one another. And as Paul puts is, there is no time like the present—NOW is the acceptable time, NOW is the day of salvation. We must embrace God’s gift of reconciliation so that our lives might be changed. God does the heavy lifting—breaking down those barriers that divide us, not only from our God, but also from one another. And we are called to remember and live into this reality—a reality one that connects us intimately with God and with all God’s people. That connection is truly the source of “change we can believe in.” It is the source of the ethical imperatives that command us to love not only God and our neighbors, but also our enemies. It is a call to rediscern God’s identity and to respond—theologically, socio-economically, politically, and personally—in ways that reflect God’s character and claim on our lives.2 In his book, The Wisdom of the Desert, Thomas Merton includes this entry: “One of the monks, called Serapion, sold his book of the Gospels and gave the money to those who were hungry, saying: I have sold the book which told me to sell all that I had and give to the poor” (p37). WOW! When I read this I think hard about Serapion’s theological, socio-economic, political, and personal response to God’s claim on his life. And I wonder what it might look like to grasp the gift of reconciliation… what it might look like to go about this rediscernment of God. Harry Emerson Fosdick writes “there is an inward certainty of God that can come only from personal communion with God” and he asserts that “To commune with God… is not only prayer in its deepest meaning; it is prayer in its simplest, most intelligible form….” He continues, “Granted a belief that God IS, the practice of prayer is necessary to make God not merely an idea held in the mind but a Presence recognized in the life…” 3 Let me repeat that, “THE PRACTICE OF PRAYER IS NECESSARY TO MAKE GOD NOT MERELY AN IDEA… BUT A PRESENCE RECOGNIZED IN THE LIFE…” Fosdick is telling us that our rediscernment begins in prayer—a piety that connects us directly to God. Few of us are natural “PRAY-ers.” A good friend, who has become a “prayer warrior” has a favorite prayer: “O God, O God, O God, O God…” A versatile prayer for sure: with a slight change in tone, it expresses adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, supplication. It is praise—it is confession. Prayer accomplishes things in us… In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus cautions his followers about the ways and means of prayer. Warning against false piety—performed for the witness of human eyes—Jesus tells us to sequester ourselves in prayer. He isn’t so worried about flowery language, but about the authenticity of the communication. His prayer pattern is simple: In these words which we lift up each week, we recognized God’s relationship to us; we proclaim God’s holiness; we seek the accomplishment of God’s will; we ask God to care for our true needs—bread and forgiveness and spiritual safety; we are reminded of God’s character and the claim it has on our interaction with others—calling us to grant forgiveness just as we receive it. Prayer is the means by which we rediscern God’s identity. Prayer calls us to respond—theologically, socio-economically, politically, and personally—in ways that reflect God’s character and claim on our lives. Leap of Faith is a Steve Martin dramedy… Martin plays Jonas Nightingale a shyster, a tent-revivalist who appears with an intricate theatrical religious production trucked in by convoy to small town America—utterly intent on separating the sheep from their offerings. Indelibly etched in my mind is the theatrical trailer, where he enters the stage chancel in a mirrored suit coat, and twirls like a disco ball to the theme song: Are You Ready for a Miracle? He’s flashy and showy, and a total fraud—PRAYING with desperate farmers for rain and healing the not-so-ill of exaggerated ailments. During his stay, this preacher befriends a teen who is crippled. The three-ring Christian circus ends when the boy is truly healed—throwing away his crutches to walk unaided. The joy continues as the rain begins, and the reality of these miracles ends the preacher’s sham. We see him last thumbing a ride out of town. The reality of his encounter with God convicted him—the genuine answers to his ersatz prayers changed his heart and his ways. Paul lays it out for the Corinthians, “We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything…” He can voice this assurance because he is convince that who we are—as persons reconciled and reconciling with God—is deeply rooted in the reality of who God is… The inherent promise is life that is true, known, alive, joyful, abundant, and fulfilled. He can also then voice the call—that our reconciliation to God—means that we live and act differently theologically, socio-economically, politically, and personally—in ways that reflect God’s character and claim on our lives. And so that which has become ether can once again reconnects to an ethic rooted in the reality of God’s own identity. Friends, in this season of Lent and beyond this season of Lent, I would encourage each of us and all of us with the words of the prophets and the apostles; with the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the spiritual voices of our own day. I encourage each of us and all of us to steep ourselves in the practice of daily prayer—continually reconnecting with the source of our being and the source of our doing in the midst of this broken and troubled world. Amen.
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