Whenever it’s time to pack for a trip, I always pack too much. I’ll admit it. That might not be a problem for everyone, but I’ll admit it, I always stuff too much in there. Rarely do I bring exactly what I need, which, truth be told, is really not much at all. I drag around with me that extra jacket, an extra pair of pants, or a whole other set of shoes. And that’s just clothes, I’ll throw in a few extra packs of shampoo or soap. And when I get home after the trip and unpack, there are things in there I never even touched. My wife will tell you, I’m a terrible packer.
I dragged around too much extra stuff all over Germany in November; and I overburden our family when we’ve traveled in our little Toyota across the country in the summer. I have yet to perfect the art of packing only what I need for the journey. [Spaceballs: “Take only what you need to survive.”]
I think I’m afraid I won’t be OK, if I don’t have extra. “What if I need it?” “Just in case,” I justify.
And then you know the funny thing? Despite all that extra packing, there’s always something that I really do need, that I don’t have.
Sisters and brothers in Christ, welcome to the season of Lent!
Lent is often envisioned as a journey, a 40 day journey, through the wilderness. (40 days because of Jesus’ 40-day period of temptation in the wilderness and the Israelites 40 years of wandering in the desert.) And we’re starting out, this Ash Wednesday — those who want to participate — c’mon let’s go, let’s take the Lenten journey. Not everybody goes — just those who want to participate. That’s one of the things that I love about Lent — as opposed to, say, Christmas, where everyone is caught up in one way or another. Observing Lent, on the other, hand is much more discrete — especially given the Gospel from Matthew: we don’t practice Lent out in front of people; we do it quietly, behind closed doors and with no fanfare. The rest of the world continues as usual, but we mark and travel a Lenten journey.
So how shall we pack?
Lent is a time for shaving away all the extras in our life. Traditionally Lent observers give up things during Lent, we can fast. [pause] These disciplines are encouraged, because they are ways of emptying ourselves. Mother Teresa said, “God cannot fill what is already full.” We shave away the extras at Lent so that God can fill us.
And we are full, aren’t we? Mother Teresa was right, there’s not much room for God. We are “stuffed” in so many ways: Stuffed with food, stuffed with things in our closets and garages, stuffed with ego, stuffed with desires, stuffed with fear, stuffed with worry. “What if I need it? Just in case. But it means so much to me.” But with all our overpacking, the one thing that we do need gets left out...or just squeezed in at the last minute. I don’t think we leave God out...but...
The grace and peace of Christ just gets stuffed into the outside pocket of our lives, like that last-minute pair of socks that I almost forgot, so the grace and peace of Christ then becomes just one more thing that I drag around.
Sisters and brothers in Christ, Lent is a time to empty our bags, to lighten up. Ever travelled light? The gift of Lent is in the shaving away, the clearing out, the cutting back, the fasting (“God cannot fill what is already full”), in the giving up, in the quieting ourselves, and the opening of our hands in prayer and our ears in attentiveness. Paul Tillich: “We are most powerful, not when we possess, but when we wait.”
How will you keep Lent? I hope you do.
If you choose to give something up or take something on (like walking or gardening or meditating), do it because it will ultimately clear some space for God’s grace and peace in your life. If your Lenten discipline becomes just one more thing on your to-do list, then it’s already become just one more item you’re stuffing in your luggage.
Somehow Lent and its disciplines got to be burdensome…all about gloom and doom, when it is, in fact, the Old English word for “springtime”!
Is the fig tree in my back yard all about gloom and doom because it has no leaves right now? Or is it wonderful because the tiny brown buds, if you look a little closer are not dead and depressing, but rather starting to turn green ever so slowly because something is about to happen! That’s Lent!
Lent is a gift. Packing light is a gift. Clearing out is a gift. It means there’s room being made for something to happen — for God’s ever-present grace and peace to move in and take over our lives in Christ Jesus.
It comes, however, when we’re honest (first), and when we clear out our excess stuff/empty ourselves (second), not when we’re proud and bloated. We have to be honest — that’s what the ashes are all about... But it’s hard to be honest: “We almost have to woo humility during Lent.” It’s like a skiddish deer at the brook. You have to be patient and still before our humility tiptoes out. [pause]
Let’s be still and honest during Lent, honest about our sin, about where we’ve fallen short and where we’ve hurt others…Let’s woo humility.
And then, as a community of faith, let’s try to lighten up and unload our excess, our pride, our stuff, our fear...our whole lives.
It’s time to be honest, it’s time to let go, it’s time to fast.
And Christ awaits our unpacking, and guides us into the flowering desert, into the budding garden, into the springtime. Christ awaits and abides with us into the journey.
May we follow, and may we go light.
AMEN.
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