Here is my draft of my message for Sunday.

Growing in Holiness 2013 02 17 Lent 1  Rom 10:4-13

There is the old story about the head of a monastery.  One day, a very old copy of the guidelines for their order was found,  and he carefully reads it.  He suddenly starts wailing. They dropped the r.  The word was celebrate.

Today is the first Sunday of Lent, a time to open ourselves to coming closer to God, and allowing God to come closer to us.

Getting closer to God happens in our hearts and minds, but it is affected by what we do.  Even if we have a mountaintop experience of God, without a plan of action when we get back to the valley of daily life, that experience fades away  For this reason, religions create rules for people to live by to train the heart and mind to work in God-centered ways.  Then people forget the reason for the rules, and make the rules God. We resent the rules that get in the way of what we want to do, and use the ones we like as weapons against other people who don't follow those rules.  We can forget about getting closer to God, and begin to believe we know best.  Instead of getting closer to God, we resent God for rules that get in our way., and believe we have a leash on God through the rules we like.

Paul saw this and knew that rules are not as important as what happens in our minds and hearts.  And what helps our hearts and minds get closer to God is trusting God and giving our love to God.  When we need help, ask for it.  On the way, as we get closer to God we will be loving other people: being generous, faithful, persistent, forgiving, encouraging.

For Paul, the process of becoming right with God, of becoming holy, begins in our heart and mind with calling out to God.  He directed his readers to trust God.

It is hard to trust someone we do not know, and Lent provides time for getting to know God better.  Our New Creed has the following lines:  We are called to be the church; to celebrate Gods presence.  Lent is a time where building trust in God, getting to know God better, and celebrating Gods presence go together.

When we celebrate Gods presence, we must begin with identifying how God is present.  In a worship service, God is present in the people, in the creative forces that built the church, in the creative genius in the music; in the creation and beauty of stained-glass windows.  God is present in the bread, the wine, and the water, and in the air we breathe.  God is also present in the sharing of food and beverages. 

On Wednesday evening, Bonnie and I attended an art exhibition at the CBE building.  This exhibit is open to the public during the day, and I invite you to go down.  The creativity of the students and teachers and the beauty of the art works spoke to me of Gods presence.  I feel Gods presence in beautiful sunrises, and in the death of a sparrow as it becomes a hawks meal.  God is present with the homeless people sleeping in parks and back alleys, and God is present in emergency wards in our hospitals.

Is there any place that you believe God is not present in some way?

If God is present everywhere, what is required for celebrating God's presence?

Worship is the first example, and this directive reminds us that worship is, first of all, about God.  In the creation of beautiful places of worship, such as Chartres Cathedral, we celebrate the presence of God.  Music, instrumental and voice, celebrate the presence of God.  Banners and special church furnishings such as our baptismal font celebrate the presence of God.

Stained glass windows and church schools celebrate the presence of God.   When we socialize before the service, and share coffee and snacks after the service, we are still celebrating God's presence, especially God's presence in the people around us.  We celebrate God's presence in communion, in baptisms, in weddings, and in funerals.  Avid gardeners celebrate God's presence at times from reading through seed catalogs and preparing the soil to planting, cultivating and harvesting. 

In one way or another, each of the statements that follow "Celebrate God's presence" are particular ways of doing so.  When we act to show respect to the environment, we are honouring and celebrating God's presence in the world around us.

When we show care for others, we are celebrating God's presence in them.  When we work for justice and resist evil, we are celebrating God's presence in the dark and painful places in the world.  When we proclaim Jesus, we celebrate God's presence in him and in the communities of followers resulting from his life, teachings, death and resurrection.

Our celebration of the presence of God grounds other practices that help us grow in holiness.  Being aware of God's presence so we can celebrate leads to an experience of God which can then help us trust God.  Once we trust God, then it is easier to turn our life over to Jesus, as Paul wrote to his readers, and to ask for help when we need it.  Also, we can then accept the discipline we need to continue in those practices that help us  come close to and stay close to God.  Our doing then, knowing why we do what is right, helps our hearts and minds increase in openness to God.  Without the doing, our decisions to come close to God are as fragile as frost on a sunny winter day.