LENT 1
March 13, 2011
(Genesis 2:15-17 & 3:1-7; Ps. 32; Romans 5:12-19; Mathew
4:3-11)
the Rev. Ken Kroohs
St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church
High Point, NC 27262
the Rev. Ken Kroohs
I invite you
to take home the Great
Litany and use it during Lent as a prod ... a prod for reflection on your
life. Let me rephrase that .... as a
prod to reflect on our actions. Too
often we speak about our “lives” without fulling acknowledging that means our “actions”. What we have done with our lives — with the
time we have.
A few years
ago there was a series of movies about our judgment ... how God will judge
us. In a couple of them God essentially
had a DVD which showed our lives and God would pick segments to show and ask
about.
That’s what
meant by reflecting on our lives ... our actions. To review those DVD clips and evaluate how we
acted. The season of Lent is intended
for that specific purpose ... to encourage us to reflect. And the Great Litany is a wonderful tool for
that purpose. So take a copy home and
use it. You will find some that seem to
have little implication for you. That’s
OK although I would suggest re-visiting each a few days later to see if they truly
have little implication for you.
Others will
feel like a slap directly across the face.
Those are the ones which truly challenge us. Ultimately we have to recognize our
weaknesses and failures and begin, and end, our reflection with one of the
first petitions: remember not, Lord Christ, our offenses, neither reward us
according to our sins. Spare us good
Lord ... spare us.
Ultimately we
begin, and end, recognizing that our only real hope is in God’s mercy. Not in our actions.
BUT that does
not excuse us from seeking to act in a more loving, God following, Christian
way. So the reflection ... a few which
hit me this year.
From all
blindness of heart — the interesting word there is “heart”. It means our spirit, our desires, those
intentions which guide our actions. A
person who has a greedy heart will always act in a certain way for
example. So I think the intention of the
word “blindness” is to suggest we fail to reflect on and consider what spirit
drives our actions. ..... the petition specifically mentions pride,
vainglory, and hypocrisy ... with, I believe “hypocrisy” being the key
one. Few people knowingly act out of
evil intentions. We convince ourselves
that our intentions are good. ... We are hypocritical.
From all
false doctrine, heresy and schism — possibly more important for clergy than
lay people but that could be debated.
The real challenge here is to know what is false doctrine and
heresy. But in our current society the
desire to split Christians along schismatic lines is strong ... and very
dangerous. Nothing could be better for
the enemies of Jesus Christ than for Christians to fight over whether the 7
days of creation are seven 24 hour days or a symbolic teaching. Groups fighting over such issues are not
working to build the kingdom of God.
Which may be
part of the reason I am always so struck by: that it may please thee to send
forth laborers into thy harvest, and to draw all mankind into thy kingdom.
..... I wonder about the phrasing. It
could be read as if the author believes it possible God would NOT want to send
laborers into the fields. That God would
NOT want people building the kingdom of God.
I believe the issue is more about we understanding that God HAS
sent us into the fields. We understand we
are the laborers ... not somebody else.
We understand that when we wonder “when is somebody going to do
something about that” the ‘somebody’ is us.
In a similar
way I am challenged by the wording .... remember this is NOT scripture so it is
a bit more acceptable to question!! ..... I am challenged by the wording that
it may please thee to show thy pity upon all prisoners and captives, the
homeless and the hungry, and all who are desolate and oppressed.
Of course God
shows pity on prisoners and captives, homeless and hungry, desolate and
oppressed! We are again
challenged to understand that God shows pity through our actions. .....
Maybe not exclusively but certainly a major part of God’s love is shown when we
act.. ........ Have we shown God’s pity?
Or have we let God down?
That it may
please thee to give and preserve to our use the bountiful fruits of the earth,
so that in due time, all may enjoy them.
One difficult understanding for many of us is that we do not own this
earth. I tell people it is like a friend
has allowed us to us their beach house.
How do you treat the beach house?
Do you abuse it? Or do you try to
leave it even better than you found it?
In Genesis we
face a word whose ENGLISH meaning has changed.
When it says God gave ‘dominion’ over the earth it is control but not
ownership. Rather it is a stewardship.
...... Do you have a retirement money invested in a fund? If so, the fund manager is the steward of
your funds. How do you expect the
steward to treat your funds? .......... How do you think God expects us to
treat God’s resources?
That it may
please thee to inspire us, in our several callings, to do the work which thou
givest us to do with singleness of heart as thy servants, and for the common
good. The key part of this one, I
believe, is “as thy servants”. Shirley
and I recently watched a DVD about the Pullman car porters ... how they just
did what needed to be done with no consideration of their own ego or
status. Remember the finest restaurant
server you have ever experienced.
Now in human
society the porters were mis-treated.
Don’t mis-understand the comparison.
BUT, we should do what God wants us to do without consideration of how
that affects the way our earthly ego or status is concerned.
That it may
please thee to preserve, and provide for, all women in childbirth, young
children and orphans, the widowed, and all those whose homes are broken or torn
by strife. In some ways this one is
very Old Testament. Throughout the Old
Testament one major commandment is to care for widows and orphans — those who
have the most difficulty in life. Our
life has changed some ... although this is still very true in most parts of the
world. And we certainly know the pain of
homes broken or torn by strife.
That it may
please thee to visit the lonely; to strengthen all who suffer in mind, body and
spirit, and to comfort with thy presence those who are failing and infirm.
.... I suggest the Great Litany is a great prod for reflecting about our
lives. So .... what lonely person did
you visit this week?
That it may
please thee to forgive our enemies, persecutors, and slanderers — yeah right.
What ever happened to revenge rather than forgiveness? ......
Reflection, do we truly WANT God to forgive our enemies? ..... Why not?
As we process
around the church in this LONG litany I always have to fight down a chuckle
when we reach the next one: That it may please thee to strengthen such as do
stand .... yup, standing through this is a challenge! But reflect on what this means. It means to stand for God. To strengthen those who stand for God. .....
Good reflection ---- are we doing enough to even NEED help standing??
You will find
meaning and challenges in ones I did not mention. Great.
I again invite you to take home this copy and spend time with one or two
each day.