Allen Pruitt. It s always bad news when somebody runs up to you and starts out with, Everything s ok. Don t worry!

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Lisa Cole
5 years ago
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1 1 of 6 Allen Pruitt It s always bad news when somebody runs up to you and starts out with, Everything s ok. Don t worry! The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, Do not be afraid, Abram. Uh oh. This can t be good. Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great. In the build up to today s story, the Lord has invited Abram to leave behind EVERYTHING HE HAS, to leave his home, his country, his family ties, to leave it all behind, and wander into a far country. And the promise? Children as numerous as the stars. Big promise but a big ask. Promises like that are hard to believe. Promises like that leave us wondering if they will ever be fulfilled, if they could ever be fulfilled.

2 2 of 6 What do you think? Think it will happen for Abram? Do you think the promise will come to pass? What about for you? What promises has the Lord made to you? When s the last time somebody came up and said, Everything s ok! Don t worry! It s the constant refrain of angels, messengers of the Lord are always saying, I used to think they were frightful looking themselves, and that s why they always had to start with, Now, I m wondering if it has more to do with the message than it does the messenger. Every week I want to get up here and say, And all I m trying to do is tell you that God loves you. God loves you and wants you to be loved.

3 Love tells you the truth, even when it s difficult. Love pushes you out of bed, even when it s still dark outside. Love makes you a mess of greens, when you really just want to eat a sleeve of Girl Scout cookies. But it s worse than that, more frightening than that: the love of God raises you from the dead, even when the grave feels more like home. 3 of 6 We sing a hymn sometime during this season, Eternal Lord of love, behold your church, walking once more the pilgrim way of Lent. A lot of truth in that first line. God is eternal, God is the Lord of love. And we make our pilgrimage, through this season of fasting and desert and wilderness, we make our pilgrimage toward that eternal Lord of love. A lot of things we don t do, except during Lent. Last week we started with the Great Litany; we only do that once a year, the first Sunday of Lent. Last week, up near the altar, one of the acolytes whispered to me, Service is kind of dark today, huh? Blood and war and death? I said yeah, but it will get better as we get closer to Easter.

4 But today, we move our confession right up front. Right at the beginning of the service we confess the ways in which we fail to love God and to love our neighbor. We confess the truth about who we too often are. And we also hear the truth about who God always is: forgiving, merciful, The Almighty and merciful Lord grant you absolution and remission of all your sins, true repentance, amendment of life, and the grace and consolation of the Holy Spirit. 4 of 6 It s a little bit like the angel starting with, Do not be afraid! We walk into church and we begin by laying our cards on the table. Lord, this is who we are. Thank you God, for being who you are. Almighty and merciful Lent isn t easy. And if I m honest, I ll tell you that I didn t make it any easier on you. We change the prayers and all kinds of stuff every season. But during Lent I even changed the post communion prayer.

5 5 of 6 Did you notice last week? Did you notice how it was all herky jerky and nobody knew when to pause or when to speak? It was a mass of sound and confusion. And that s the truth too. Our prayers to God don t all have to be lovely or wonderful or by any means perfect. True worship is the offering of ourselves, a broken open heart. And we can practice that just a little, by saying an unfamiliar prayer after communion. Right when we feel so close to God and to each other. Right after we have come forward for communion and taken hold of the peace that passes all understanding. Right in that moment when we are breathing deep and feeling clear, it all gets messed up by saying an unfamiliar prayer. And for a time, for a while, that s the right thing to do. For just a bit we are jerked out of our routines and brought uncomfortably before God, maybe even embarrassingly before God, maybe even naked before God. And we are loved. Not only when all is well, but as much or more when all is fearful and lonesome, when the horizon is dimmed and we have lost our way.

6 6 of 6 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There s a book full of sayings like that. A book full of how God will never abandon us, never forsake us, how even death is defeated by the Eternal God of Almighty Love. So say it, herky jerky. Say these unfamiliar prayers in this unfamiliar season of walking through the wilderness, on a pilgrimage toward the love of God. Step all over each other and get frustrated with a strange way of doing things. And just about the end, after six long weeks of saying this other prayer, this one that leaves us so out of kilter. Just when we ve gotten it down and it s all smooth and beautiful again Then comes Easter. That new dawn of unending light, when the creation itself breaks open with eternal life, and everything old is made new. Do not be afraid.

Allen Pruitt. My wife loves to jump out and scare me. She loves to hide and try to get me.

Allen Pruitt. My wife loves to jump out and scare me. She loves to hide and try to get me. 1 Allen Pruitt My wife loves to jump out and scare me. She loves to hide and try to get me. I suppose she loves the look of terror on my face, replaced quickly with a look that says, really? Really? She