To those observers back in the US -- in particular the people in the pews, who may be confused about what is happening in their Church -- what is your message to them right now?

And part of her reply was this:

Be of good faith. We're entering Lent and there's probably not a better time for us to receive this communiqué from the Primates' Meeting ….

And added these words – I was especially struck by them:

This Lenten season I want to remember who is the focus of our faith – who is Jesus. To reflect in my Lenten sermons on who is Jesus?

Who is Jesus?

The Gospel story on the First Sunday in Lent is always the story of the temptation of Jesus – this year Luke’s telling of it. In The Book of Common Prayer, in the Preface we say in Lent before we sing the Sanctus at the Eucharist, we read:

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who tempted in every way as we are, yet did not sin. By his grace we are able to triumph over every evil, and to live no longer for ourselves alone, but for him who died for us and rose again. (Book of Common Prayer, page 379)

Who is Jesus? He is the one who was tempted in every way as we are, yet did not sin; the one who knew human pain in every way as we do; the one who faced the cross and death in self-giving love, and by that grace – the gift of his love, his forgiveness, his presence and friendship, his love given to us to give to others – we are able to overcome evil, and to live no longer for ourselves alone. The overcoming of selfishness is one of the greatest triumphs.

Who is Jesus? He is the one who calls us to follow him on his way of compassion and self-giving love, serving human beings in need in this city and world – following him as his disciples. And the great mystery, as he tells us in chapter twenty-five of Matthew, is that when we serve someone in need, we serve Jesus.

I found this great quotation this week from St. John Chrysostom. In this place where we are to tell the truth, I should truthfully say I found this quotation on the web – a translation from a passage in the great collection of early church Greek and Latin writers by the French scholar Jacques Paul Migne. One can hear in these words an echo of the old boy preaching in the Great Church, an earlier Hagia Sophia in Constantinople where he was bishop. I can hear an echo of him preaching on the text from Matthew in his words:

Do you wish to honour the body of Christ? Do not ignore him when he is naked. Do not pay him homage in the temple clad in silk, only then to neglect him outside where he is cold and ill-clad. He who said: "This is my body" is the same who said: "You saw me hungry and you gave me no food", and "Whatever you did to the least of my brothers you did also to me" … What good is it if the Eucharistic table is overloaded with golden chalices when your brother is dying of hunger? Start by satisfying his hunger and then with what is left you may adorn the altar as well. John Chrysostom, In Evangelium S. Matthaei, hom. 50:3-4: PG 58, 508-509

Many times I have quoted similar words from Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who spoke and wrote so often about finding Christ in human beings in need – what Mother Teresa called Jesus in his “distressing disguise” – sometimes very distressing indeed:

“In Holy Communion we have Christ under the appearance of bread; in our work we find him under the appearance of flesh and blood. It is the same Christ. ‘I was hungry, I was naked, I was sick, I was homeless.’ ”

The new Presiding Bishop has asked that this First Sunday in Lent be a time when the congregations of the Episcopal Church join in prayer and reflection for all those people living in extreme poverty around the world. She has asked that we bring to your attention a special offering for Episcopal Relief and Development, formerly the Presiding Bishop’s Fund for World Relief, to help those in need in some very real ways.

As Presiding Bishop she has repeatedly held up the Millenium Development Goals – goals of helping people in great poverty and need. There are eight of these goals:

·      Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

·      Achieve universal primary education

·      Reduce child mortality

·      Improve maternal health

·      Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

·      Ensure environmental sustainability

·      Develop a global partnership for development

“Do not ignore him when he is naked.”

But is this to ignore the Gospel message of the Savior? If you honestly wonder that, it is a good question to ask the Savior in prayer.

Today’s great reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans is a wonderful statement of the Good News of salvation:

“The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:8b-13)

If you confess with your lips and believe in your heart, if you call out the name of Jesus with your lips and trust in your heart that God raised him, that he is living and present, and is God with you and me – that we will be saved, brought back to God, brought home to God.

I think of all the people through the centuries around the world who have called out the name of Jesus with their lips. First, there is Stephen the first deacon, at the very beginning of the new church, at the beginning of the Book of the Acts, one of the first acts, one of the first things that happened. When the vigilante mob was stoning him to death, Stephen prayed “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (Acts 7:59) And then in a loud voice, to be heard over the crowd, as the stones struck, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7:60) Imitating in his last words the Jesus he called on, by forgiving at the hour of his death.

And when I confess with my lips that Jesus is my Lord and believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead, the Savior always calls me and calls you to follow him, as disciples, to share his servant ministry of self-giving love and compassion.

And there are the lonely moments when we find ourselves out in the wild places and there are the doubts and temptations not to trust.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, *
abides under the shadow of the Almighty.

And I am the needy person.

He shall say to the LORD,
"You are my refuge and my stronghold, *
my God in whom I put my trust."

I put my trust – that God is with me in Jesus, the one who has been tempted in the wild places in every way, and has been through what we go through,

Because you have made the LORD your refuge, *
and the Most High your habitation,

Jesus is the one who invites us to live with God – as friends of God. Life with him is the Promised Land we are invited to enter.

There shall no evil happen to you, *
neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.

For he shall give his angels charge over you, *
to keep you in all your ways.

They shall bear you in their hands, *
lest you dash your foot against a stone.

Ah, Jesus, you were dashed against a stone. There evil did happen to you – every evil. You were not kept from it. So that when we come to the hour of the cross, we may trust that God is with us in you, and holds us in hands which bear the scars of human suffering.

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