Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
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In C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the story begins with Lucy and her siblings making their way from our world into another world called Narnia. The land of Narnia has been under the rule of the White Witch, who has reigned for a hundred years. Her rule has been a harsh time for Narnia, for she has caused a perpetual winter to fall upon the land, a winter with no Christmases.
But Lucy and her siblings arrival marks a change. Their entrance marks the return of Aslan to Narnia, Aslan representing Jesus Christ in Lewis’ stories. Aslan’s return leads to a change in the land. The snow from the century-long winter begins to melt, Father Christmas is able to come back, the White and her minions are defeated, and Aslan even finds a way to make death turn backwards.
The world of Narnia is transformed. Where once evil ruled, it has now been beaten back. Sin no longer reigns, but instead the world is made new.
This is precisely the lesson our readings teach us this morning. God is taking the sin of the world and transforming it into something new. God is transforming us in all this as well.
Our reading from Joel this morning is written after a crisis, one that was agricultural in nature. We do not know much more than that, but what we do know is that the Lord states through Joel that God will “repay you for [those] years”. Israel will once again give right praise and glory to the name of the Lord. Then God’s spirit will be poured out “on all flesh”. Though things were bad before, God is bringing transformation and renewal to God’s people.
Psalm 65 gives us a similar message in a truth that is at the core of our faith: “Our sins are stronger than we are, but you will blot them out.” Sin is present in every aspect of our lives. It is there in those things which draw us in that cause harm to ourselves and others. Sin is present in our addictions, for we all have them whether we see them or not. Sin is every present in our societies in what theologians like to call “systemic sin”. We cannot escape sin, but we don’t have to. God transforms it. God transforms us so that we might be made a new creation that can once again love and serve the Lord.
2 Timothy gets at the transformation of our lives in the approach of death. And though bad things have come to the Pauline writer during his life, God “stood by [him] and gave [him] strength”. God transformed the bad so that the Good News might be received by those who had yet to hear it. God is a compassionate caretaker in 2 Timothy, present in the bad times to provide rescue and transformation.
Finally, there is the Gospel for today. In that reading, everything in our expectations is turned upside down . It is not the rule-following Pharisee, who has made an idol of the law over God and who gives only 10% of his wealth and not more (as one might suspect he possibly could), that is praised, but the tax collector who all in Jesus’ time would have hated. The Tax Collector is the one who truly sees himself and sees that he is in need of transformation of his self from sin into righteousness. His humility, his acknowledgement of his need for God’s transformation of himself, is what lifts him up. His humility is what saves him.
We too experience dark times in our lives. We too experience the serious effects of sin. Whether we always realize it or not, we are all searching for that which will make us whole.
God offers that renewal which we seek. We hear that in our readings today, and that restoration is a key part of our faith. We speak of that renewal in our Baptismal vows. We renew our sense of God’s restoration of us every week in our service of Holy Eucharist. God is there to make us whole again. All we have to do is pay attention and listen.
God is calling us to open up our eyes and ears, our hearts and minds, to listen and to let God in. My hope and desire is that as God is reaching out for you that you will also reach back out to God. Let the Lord into your very self. Let God transform you to renew you, restore you, and make you whole.