Signs, Promises and Actions

Readings for the first Sunday in Lent: 5th March 2006:Gen 9:8-17, Psalm 25:1-10; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15
I have been having a discussion with my friend about what one should do during Lent.
We are both agreed that Lent can be ghastly, and that we arrive at Easter feeling like crap! (if you'll pardon the expression...however accurate)
I said to my church family last week whilst asking them to fill in a "Promise Card" for the one thing they were going to do to strengthen their relationship with God during the next 6 weeks
"If you believe that you should do nothing.....then put "Nothing""
I have the strong conviction that some of us should take a step back
and enjoy the time with God
rather than further burden ourselves.
This is not an invitation to laziness
but rather a commitment to be serious about the quality of our relationship.
Lent is not about quantity, it is about quality.
It is not how much we can do
but how open we can be, how close we can get
and this may mean that rather than doing more
we should do less.
Signs
God signs to us quite clearly
how he intends to deal with us
And we hear about signs this morning and throughout Lent
The story of Noah concludes with the ushering in of a new age
and the sign that we see is the rainbow.
I often am reminded of this when ever I see a rainbow.
This could just be a pious remembering
but we are being invited to acknowledge something more
The sign speaks to us of a promise
And the promise call us to action.
God's promise is that he will draw us into a new covenant
this new relationship with God
is not one in which we are in danger of being destroyed
it is rather one in which our life is affirmed
and we come to understand that God does not stand in ambiguous relationship to us
but that we are living in union with God.
The action that this might draw out of us:
If God is in union with us, then we should live as if we are in union with God.
Yet, we often live as if God is distant and uninvolved with our world.
Is this a convenient way for us to distance ourselves from God so that we don't have to do anything?
The sort of action that this might draw out of us
is a life lived in a spirit of active faith
a life lived in constructive harmony with our environment
The Great Sign
Overarching these six weeks of Lent
is the greatest sign of all
The Cross.
It is the sign of God's love and God's desire that we should be reconciled with Him.
The promise that God makes to us
is that when we are drawn into the crucified life
then he will draw us close.
God will be close to us, and we will be close to God.
We will understand forgiveness, and love
and we will understand that these come at great cost.
Our lives are the context for much forgiveness, love and reconciliation
the cost to us will be great
the reward to us will be infinite.
At a seminar this week about Rape and Child Sexual Abuse
we got round to talking about whether or not forgiveness was a goal of counselling
Our trainer was sceptical,
I (because I believe it to be true) was saying that we cannot avoid the issue of how we forgive.
Now is not the time to repeat the argument,
but rather to note that a colleague observed
that Forgiveness comes at great cost....this is the message of the Cross
Revelation
Signs, whether rainbow or cross, are manifold
they reveal to us God's promise
I am in union with you
I love you
As we engage with them they also reveal their depth
as we live them
they open their meaning...
...these are not the only signs
we have
you may like to reflect this week on your own personal signs
...your children, your wife
your church,
your favourite place
....what do they promise us
and what action do they seek to elicit and draw out of us.