In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Today is the Second Sunday of Great Lent.
Of all the seasons of the church’s year, Lent is one of the oldest and most striking—the drawn curtain, the dark curtain, the idea of fasting, the “giving up something for Len”—as we talked about last week all evoke common memories.
In today’s Gospel Reading, Jesus goes into a desert for forty days to prepare Himself for all that awaits Him in life. During the period of Lent, we join Him there by going into our own “desert.” During those forty days, we try to go back to the basics to clean out those things that muddied our hearts and souls over the past year and to clean them out by inhaling the breath of God into our lives—a fresh start.
There are many, many stories in the Bible that deal with “fresh starts” or opportunities for people to begin anew. Right in our own ancestral homeland such a story took place at the foot of Mount Ararat. I’m referring to the story of Noah’s Ark. A fresh start is what the story of Noah’s Ark is all about. It’s not hard for us to understand the fear the people of the Old Testament had for floods or other natural disasters. A flood could eliminate entire villages or wipe away towns and cities.
Rising water threatens to destroy everything in sight leaving nothing behind. Not too many years ago, we all saw a video of a horrible Tsunami in Indonesia and the power water has to destroy. Noah, however, was safe because he was in the Ark that rode above the waters. After the rains stopped, Noah saw a rainbow—a sign from the Heavens. It was a sign of a new beginning and a sign to the entire human race of God’s promise to save those who had faith in Him.
It is still spectacular to see a rainbow. People usually stop and stare at rainbows when they appear across the sky. God used a rainbow as a sign that reminded those on the Ark that whatever storms they faced in life, God is faithful. The Ark and the Rainbow are signs of God’s Love for His Creation.
Time has passed and thousands of years have come and gone since the flood and Noah’s Ark but floods still occur. Time has shown us that there are other “floods” that can destroy lives and families just as tragically. These are the floods of greed and lust and drugs and alcohol abuse and materialism and on and on and on.
Some of us know people whose lives and families have been destroyed by one or more of these. It is difficult today to raise a family, to stay true to our values and to sustain a marriage vow with all the temptations life throws at us.
Like Noah, we, too, have been given an Ark. It is the Church. Like Noah’s Ark, the Church floats over the floods as a place of safety. Our Ark is found in the community into which we were baptized. Noah’s sign from God was a Rainbow. Our Rainbow comers from the chalice. It comes from Holy Communion and the sacred words of scripture. That is God’s “forever sign” to us that He remains faithful in any storm to help us stay on course and above the water.
But a question remains for us. Are we still in the Ark? That is what Lent is all about. Lent is not about God’s loyalty to us. It is about our loyalty to God. Lent is a time to refresh our faith in Him and all He asks of us.
On each Sunday of Lent this year, we will hear a story (a parable) about different people with different issues and different problems. All these stories center around the theme of getting to know God and growing closer to God. In the Christian tradition, the faithfulness of God is liken to that of a faithful spouse—that God is faithful to us for better or worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer; but what about us?
Can we say the same about our faith in God? The forty days of Lent is the perfect time to think about that. Do we remain faithful to God for better or worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer? Great Lent is the time to renew our commitment to Him and to re-take our place in the Ark of His Church and live our lives believing that a Rainbow is coming.
I’ll end with this. I’m not sure we all know the Armenian name for the section of the church where you are all seated is called. It is called the “NAV”—the boat that floats over the flood waters of life. The Church is our Ark. Lent opens the door for us to enter the Ark once again. Today is the Second Sunday of Great Lent.
Amen.