Because We Shouldn't Have To.

So, today is Fat Tuesday—Mardi Gras, for many of you—and plenty of folk are going absolute hedonistic bananas tonight.

For the record, the idea of partying on Fat Tuesday—indeed the very name—came out of the need for getting rid of all the fat and sugar in the house before you buckle down for Lent tomorrow.

And yet, somehow I have the feeling that most of the people going absolute hedonistic bananas tonight aren't going to be showing up for Ash Wednesday tomorrow.

Anyway, while tonight there is much fun to be had, as I look ahead to Sunday I have to be thinking about Lent.

The scriptural focus for Sunday is Psalm 25.  Well, a portion of it anyway.  The thing about the Psalms is that they have language that doesn't fit into the serene (and polite) atmosphere of the average American church.

On the other hand, I think maybe that's one of the great things about the Psalms. They help us to say (and to pray) things that we all have felt at one time or another.

Impolite things.

They may not usually be prayers, but I feel the same way about comic books.  Like the way Mystique says what so many closeted people are afraid to say in this scene with Nightcrawler:



Or even the catharsis of watching the Hulk enact the depth of anger and rage that every one us has felt at least once in our lives (trust me, Loki has this coming):



Hulk smash, indeed.

The Psalms, though, have the benefit of helping us to say things we might be afraid to say to God.  The Psalms are prayers, in other words, that go to uncomfortably true places.

If you're out of practice talking with God—or even if you're just in a terribly polite rut—perhaps you should take the opportunity to familiarize yourself with the Psalms for Lent!

And perhaps we should all learn how to channel that Hulk-like rage into the steely resolve of Mystique.  Fight the good fight, even if you don't have to hide.

Because nobody should have to.

Be good to each other,
RevJosh
021715

The scripture lessons for February 22nd—The First Sunday in Lent Year B—are:


Genesis 9:8-17

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and 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. I 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."

God 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: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I 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. When 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." God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."

Psalm 25:1-10

To you, O God,  
    I lift up my soul.
O my God,
    in you I trust;  
do not let me be put to shame;
    do not let my enemies exult over me.

Do not let those who wait for you  
     be put to shame;
let them be ashamed  
     who are wantonly treacherous.

Make me to know your ways, O God;  
     teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth,  
     and teach me,

for you are the God
     of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.

Be mindful of your mercy, O God,  
      and of your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.

Do not remember the sins of my youth  
      or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love  
      remember me, for your goodness' sake, O God!

Good and upright is God; therefore  
      God instructs sinners in the way.

God leads the humble in what is right,  
       and teaches the humble God's way.

All the paths of God are steadfast love  
       and faithfulness,
for those who keep God's covenant  
       and God's decrees.

1 Peter 3:18-22

For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.

And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you — not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

Mark 1:9-15

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And 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. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

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