Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent

Transfiguration by Jason Jenicke

Homily for February 17, 2008
Genesis 12:1-4
2 Timothy 1:8-10
Matthew 17: 1-9

So: has anyone here ever lived through some hard times?

(You can raise your hand – you won’t be alone.)

Just what I thought: you look like a hard luck crowd!

But every crowd looks like a hard luck crowd
because every one lives through hard times.
That’s part of life and no one escapes that.

St. Paul writing to Timothy and to us says,
Beloved: Bear your share of hardship for the gospel
with the strength that comes from God.

Hardship. Hard times.
But Paul writes here of a particular kind of hardship:
hardship for the gospel:
hard times that come from faithfulness
to the gospel of Christ.
Everybody has difficulties,
whether you believe in the gospel or not,
whether you believe in God or not, everyone has hard times.
But only Christians can possibly have
hardship for the gospel.

Nor should we mistake the sacrifices of Lent
as hardship for the sake of the gospel.
When we get to heaven’s door and Jesus asks,
“Did you suffer for being faithful to my word?”
And if our best answer is,
“Well, there was that one year, Lord,
when I tried to give up desserts for Lent...”
I don’t think that’s going to impress him very much
and I don’t think that’s what St. Paul had in mind.

But Lent is an excellent time for us to ponder this hard question.
What might hardship for the gospel look like?

Well, the gospel calls us to love one another as God has loved us...
That’s a tall order.
So, who are the persons in my life
who would occasion hardship for me
if I truly made the effort to love them?
Not just to endure them, or put up with them,
but to love them…

And the gospel calls us to sell what we have and give to the poor...
What would I need to give, how much would I need to give,
what would I need to give up, what would I need to let go of
such that it would be a hardship
for me to be that faithful to the gospel?

And the gospel calls us to be people of truth...
What lies would I need to let go of, make right,
such that my honesty would be a hardship for me to bear
for the sake of fidelity to the Lord?

Those questions make giving up desserts for Lent
look like, well: a piece o’ cake!
Actually, we might find it a hardship
simply to consider those questions…

But that’s exactly what Paul encourages Timothy and us to do

Jesus took his friends up the mountain
and he was transfigured before them.
They fell down before Jesus in awe and fear.
Jesus did this to give them a glimpse of his glory
so that they would be prepared for witnessing
the hardship he would bear, his suffering and death,
for the gospel he preached.

And that’s the real question in the scriptures today
and in this Lenten season:
what part of me will I allow to die
so that I might live the gospel more faithfully?

These questions are big
but will only be answered in our day-to-day lives:
Who do I need to learn to love?
What in my life consumes me
and what do I need to let go of?
What lies do I live, day to day,
and what truth do I need to make my own?

Plenty of work there for Lent – indeed, a lifetime of work!
But as St. Paul promised,
God gives us the strength to tackle these questions
beginning here, at the altar,
this table where Jesus nourishes and strengthens us
with the Body and Blood
of the hardship he bore for the gospel
in the bread and cup of the Eucharist.
And he invites us:
Beloved: come to the table
and eat and drink this holy food
given to make you strong
that you might bear your share of hardship
for the gospel.

-ConcordPastor