An Lenten Sermon Preached by Rev. Jean Lenk

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ⁹‘As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, ¹⁰and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.^* ¹¹I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ ¹²God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: ¹³I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, ¹⁵I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’ ¹⁷God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.’

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’

12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, ¹⁵and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’

“Drowning and Thirsty”

A Lenten Sermon Preached by

The Rev. Jean Niven Lenk

at the

First Congregational Church of Stoughton

United Church of Christ

Forty days and forty nights.

In the Bible, the number forty is code for a period of time that is theologically and spiritually significant. The Israelites spend 40 years wandering in the wilderness [Deuteronomy 8:2,4]. Moses spends forty days on Mt. Sinai waiting for God [Exodus 24:18]. The prophet Elijah journeys for forty days to Mt. Horeb [1 Kings 19:8]. Jonah gives Ninevah forty days to repent [Jonah 3:4]. Forty represents a period of trial, introspection, and preparation for something new to be born – a new attitude, a new hope, a new relationship with God -- and it is no coincidence that there are 40 days in the season of Lent, which began this past week on Ash Wednesday.

During the Lenten Season, we follow Jesus through the last days of his earthly life. It is a time of self-examination and preparation for Christ’s crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter. It is a time to review our lives and let them be directed by God; a time for us to repent of our sins and get into “right relationship” with God. The term “Lent,” which comes from the old English word for spring, is an apt description for this season before Easter, for it is a holy springtime of the soul in which we nurture and grow our faith in God.

Forty days and forty nights. Drowning in the rain. Thirsting in the desert. Our scripture lessons for this First Sunday in Lent offer a juxtaposition of these two vastly different experiences. But in both, we also see faith in God sustained and strengthened, even under the most trying of circumstances.

Our Old Testament reading is from the end of the familiar story of Noah. For forty days and forty nights, the rains fall and the water rises higher and higher until it covers all the earth and even the mountains. To the ancient Hebrews, water represented chaos, and it was a metaphor for any threatening force opposed to God. That is why, when the earliest biblical writers wanted to stress God's authority, they spoke of Yahweh's power over the sea. In Genesis, God’s Spirit hovered over the waters and brought order out of chaos, and the Psalmist [107] tells us that God “made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed."

In our gospel lesson, Jesus also spends 40 days and nights battling the elements, but he’s out in the wilderness. In Jesus’ day, the wilderness was the desert – parched, exposed territory, where scrubby, stunted plants would cling to life in the cracks and crevices of the scorched terrain. And the desert is a biblical image for feeling lost and abandoned by God.

Many of us sitting here today may feel overwhelmed by the chaotic waters of our lives. And so too we may feel like we’re going through a wilderness time or place, we feel dried up inside and the landscapes of our lives look bleak. Maybe it’s a death, a divorce, a disappointment, a depression that has us drowning in a sea of despair, fear and anxiety, that has left us feeling alone and abandoned in the desert, thirsting for God, who seems far away.

Despite these bleak images presented in our scripture lessons, these rain-soaked and wilderness experiences show Noah, Jesus – and all of us -- that God is with us even during the drowning and thirsty times of our lives.

Noah endures forty days of trial, trusting in the promise of God. And God is worthy of that trust, giving Noah – and all humankind – the promise of God’s abiding presence even in the midst of utter loss. “I will establish a covenant with you,” God says, “Never again.” And God flings a luminous rainbow across the sky, a bridge linking heaven and earth – a reminder of God’s overwhelming and overarching love for us, and a sign that, despite everything, there is always the possibility of a new beginning.

And for all of us who are feeling lost in the wilderness, thirsting for God’s presence, St. Mark tells us that after 40 days and nights, Jesus’ time in the desert comes to an end. And so will our wilderness experiences. The text also tells us that while Jesus is out there in the desert with the devil and wild beasts, angels – God’s messengers -- wait on him. And just as God is there with Jesus in the desert, God will be with us, too, in our wilderness times and places.

Throughout the scriptures, there is hope for all who endure a time of trial, of being lost, of feeling abandoned by God. After 40 years, the Israelites reach the Promised Land. After 40 days, God gives Moses the Ten Commandments. Elijah hears the still, small voice of God. Ninevah repents.

And after 40 days, Noah and Jesus emerge from their ordeals transformed. Noah and his family go forth from the ark and multiply, peopling the whole earth – a new beginning for humanity and our relationship with God. Jesus withdraws to Galilee, and from that time on, begins to heal, teach and preach, proclaiming that the Kingdom of God is near. And when drowning and thirsty times come in our lives, we too can grow through them, being changed and transformed into something new.

Lent invites us to enter the water and to walk the desert. As you journey these 40 days of Lent, I pray that it may be a time that you strengthen your relationship with Christ and renew your trust that God will be with you throughout all your drowning and thirsty times. May this season of Lent truly be a holy spring time for your soul, during which you nurture and grow your faith. And may you find at the end of your journey that you have a new hope, a new relationship with God, and a new beginning. Amen.