Psalm 32
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be always acceptable to you O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
Long ago, deep in the north woods there was a group of lumber jacks. All of these lumber jacks worked hard, but some of the young men thought they not only worked harder but that they were better. Over a meal these boastful thoughts became words and the words became a challenge; before they knew it, there would be a competition. The next day, one of the young lumber jacks would see how much wood he could chop compared to the patriarch of the group. Everyone gathered the next morning. As the sun rose you could see the able muscles of the tall young man, he was quite an imposing person. You could tell that the more experienced older lumber jack at one time had that same stature, but now age had weathered him. With the sun up the competition began - wood chips started to fly all around the young lumber jack while the senior lumber jack simply laid out his tools and prepared his work area. Before long the young lumber jack had removed his shirt and his body was covered in sweat. The older experienced lumber jack was quietly swinging his axe at a steady pace. The competition was in full force.
As the morning wore on the old man sat down and methodically poured himself a cup of coffee. The other man saw this and chuckled to himself, he even quickened his pace with the delight of tasting sweet victory.
With the sun high in the noon day sky, again the old man sat down and taking out his checkered napkin and a full meal he ate his lunch. The young man barely put down his axe as he ate a few bites and had some water. He probably splashed more water on his face than he drank. The wood chips began to fly again as he resumed his feverish pace.
With the sun moving across the sky the old man sat down for a cup of tea and a biscuit with just a bit of jam on it. The young man seeing this again quickened his pace with thoughts of joy, he was so confident in his victory. His smile shone like his axe blade.
While we are not in a competition, we are into Lent full force. For many of us the season of Lent began on Wednesday with the imposition of Ashes and Fasting. For others, we became aware of Lent as we arrived in church and noticed that the altar covering was no longer the green we had become used to, but is now purple - the color of Lent. Regardless of when you came into Lent - welcome. Welcome to a period of study, reflection, and preparation for the Resurrection of our Lord.
On this first Sunday of Lent it was the words of the psalm that caught my attention. Quite frankly, the psalms are overlooked by many people. Before I learned to appreciate the psalms I was like many Episcopalians believing that the psalm simply separated the reading of the Old and New Testament stories. I would suggest to you that the psalms found in both the Book of Common Prayer and the Bible would be great Lenten reading. The poetry and the meaning of the psalms are beneficial to our Christian growth and experience.
Listen again to the words of psalm 32:
“While I held my tongue,
my bones withered away,
because of my groaning all day long”
That is a person heavily laden with sin. You can sense the anguish.
My bones withered away....
We are all burdened with sin. Sin is not a word we are comfortable with; and maybe that discomfort is something we need to live with, especially in this Lenten time.
Our Book of Common Prayer tells us -
sin is the seeking of our own will instead of the will of God
seeking of our own will
instead of the will of God
This distorts our relationship with God
With other people
And with all creation
It is “missing the mark” - and we all do it. Jesus was broken for our sins and lifted to a new life. We are broken by our sins, we miss the mark, and by God’s grace we are lifted to a new life here on earth and at the heavenly banquet.
But look at the very mid point of the psalm -
“I will confess my transgression to the Lord.”
then you forgave me the guilt of my sin.
From that point forward we don’t hear of sin, we only hear how wonderful the Lord is.
You are my hiding place;
you preserve me from trouble
Mercy embraces those who trust in the Lord.
Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord;
Shout for joy, all who are true of heart.
Being true of heart, being righteous is an attainable goal. Being true of heart is not being without sin. It is opening up and asking for forgiveness when we miss the mark, it is being open to God and trusting God to guide us rather than we guiding our selves.
Our young lumber jack was not guided by God, he was very self driven. He had worked all day to claim the glory and bragging rights by cutting more wood than the old seasoned man.
As the sun began to set the day was over and the competition complete, now the young man sat down exhausted. As the dust and wood chips settled the two piles of wood could be clearly seen; the tally of the wood was made. The young man had missed the mark - the old man was clearly the victor. The young man was incredulous - how could this be? “Old man how could this be? I watched you. Your pace was never as fast as my pace; you stopped for coffee, for lunch and for tea. I don’t understand.”
“Exactly” said the old man, “you see as I set out my tools, had my coffee, ate my lunch, drank my tea - I also sharpened my axe.”
Lent is a time for us to sharpen our axe, a time for spiritual self care. A time to sense whether we are the young brash lumber jack, or the wise man. It is in these first days of Lent that I realized I have been the young lumber jack - more focused on producing long papers on theology rather than embodying theology. I need to sharpen my axe and pray that you will join me.
By sharpening our axe we can be closer to God. We can live a righteous life. We can ask for forgiveness, we can be open to God’s call, and we can be open to trusting God to guide us.
Perhaps for some this will start with the Rite of Reconciliation of the Penitent; a short set of prayers said with your priest, Kurt, Andrea, or Marjorie, where you ask for God’s forgiveness. This is an unburdening so that you can journey in Lent without the heavy load of past errors.
Think about the small child who accidentally breaks a vase in the living room. Perhaps the child hides the pieces of the vase under the sofa. Or perhaps they clumsily glue the pieces together. For most children the greatest punishment is the anguish of not telling their parents what happened. Lent allows us to leave these burdens behind.
This time of Lent might include meditative scripture reading, or a prayer group.
Lent may be a time to read the psalms. The poetry of the psalms is a powerful way to listen to God.
Lent prepares us for the journey of the services of Holy Week; Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil, and finally Easter Sunday.
This time of Lent allows us all to sharpen our axe so that when the dust settles and the wood is stacked we will find ourselves closer to God.
We know that sometimes we all miss the mark. And through God’s grace, all those failures and errors are used to build wondrous things. We simply have to offer them up to God and let Him shape our lives.
Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord;
shout for joy, all who are true of heart.
Henry McQueen
March 13, 2011
Lent 1A
St. Patrick's Episcopal Church and Day School
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