Constant Reminders

“Constant Reminders”

The Rev Jen Van Zandt

February 26, 2023

Building up the body of Christ is our theme for Lent this year and it's meant to be both figurative and literal. There are many parts of the body that can help us deepen our faith, understand God and strengthen and grow our faith community.  The first step we took on Ash Wednesday when we listened to the state of our heart, paying special attention to those parts of our heart that are still actually closed off to God.

Today's text is calling us first and foremost to “hear.”  Shema is the Hebrew word for hear/listen. It is not a question.  It is not a suggestion.  It's a command.  Listen! Pay attention to God for God alone is the source of all life.  I’ll say that again… Listen! And pay attention to God and God alone as a source of all life.  We're not only being invited, but commanded to love God with all our soul, all of our heart and all of our might. 

We've heard this a thousand times, of course, and it was on a prayer card for Friday in our Lenten deck.  But what does it actually mean?  Well, loving God with all of our hearts means with undivided loyalty.  Undivided loyalty.  We want to do that, but let’s face it, that's a very tall order.  I'm sure we can all think of examples, probably just within the last week where we knew God was calling us to do one thing, but yet we did what we wanted to do.  We did not heed the call in thought or word or in deed.  And let's be honest, sometimes we know what God wants.  But sometimes it might be unclear, because we've forgotten how to listen to God over and above our own needs and worries and laments.  So, a simple way to reconnect with God with our whole heart is simply to ask, “God, what is it that you'd have me do?”  So, I'm going to ask you again to put your hand on your heart and to pray silently now and ask God, “God, what is it that you'd have me do?”   (Pause)

Sometimes we can hear or know what God wants right away.  Sometimes it takes repeated asking and listening to try and get clear.  So I invite you to keep trying that each day this week, especially when you feel lost or overwhelmed or confused or anxious or all the above.

The second part of this commandment, known to all Jews as the Shema, is to love God with all of our soul. But what does that really mean?  Well, for Israel it meant a full commitment to a life of faithfulness, even to the point of martyrdom.  I don't really see us being put into position very often to be martyrs in our society or in our community here.  The only thing I can remember of being even partially mocked for being a Christian was a very vivid night back in 1988 and some friends of mine were in from Europe and friends of mine from college—had come to visit.  And there were about six of us and we were in the city.  We had had a lovely dinner together and we decided we wanted to go dancing, as all older (you know, 20-somethings) want to do.  And we walked right by the most famous disco at the time.  Does anybody remember it?  The Limelight.  Now here's the problem with The Limelight.  If you don't know what The Limelight is The Limelight was a transformed church!  And I just couldn't do it.  And they said, “Oh Jen, you're such a goody two-shoes!”  And I said, “I'll tell you what.  If you guys want to go in, I'll go down the street and have a coffee.  And then when you're done, come and get me.”

So, there's things like that, but martyrdom?   I don't think we're going to have too many opportunities. But still, loving God with all of our soul means we put our foot down and say, “No, this is not what God wants for me or for us.”  So, how do we get at that loving God with all of our soul?  Well, again, a simple prayer is to put our hands on our heart, again, and say to God, “Not my will, but Thy will be done.”  Let's do that for a moment.  Say repeatedly to yourself, “Not my will, but Thy will be done.”  (Pause)

It’s getting deeper.  It's getting harder.  The third part of the Shema is loving God with all of our might.  This means giving of our substance.  It means giving of our wealth in honor and service to God. Easier said than done in this modern time when we have attachments to so many things.  So how do we know whether we're giving God with all of our might?  Well, the general rule is if it feels easy to give up that thing to God, it’s probably not enough.  If we're giving in honor of God and it feels like a meaningful sacrifice that will be pleasing to God, then we're giving all of our might, not just a little bit, but all of our might.  A simple prayer here might be Lord, help me to let go of…  So, let's put our hands on our hearts again and pray to ourselves and to the Lord, “Lord, help me to let go of…” (Pause)

This one's even harder.  But Israel knew that these commands were the very things that would shore up society, would shore up their family, would shore up their community, shore up the temple that they worshiped in. 

The only way we can do this is to keep all three of these commands, utmost in our minds and hearts, so that we don't let negative and sinful thoughts and forces creep in or even challenge and judge us.  We need to keep them written on our heart, planted in our minds and thoughts so that, therefore, they can shape and reshape our very existence.  This is why Jews to this day carry this and they attach this scripture to their arms. They put them in boxes in their pockets called phylacteries.  The men put them inside the visors of their hats; the woman in their head coverings.  They put them on the doorposts—called a mezuzah. I have one at my house, too, and it's meant for you to kiss it every time you enter the house.  But that's not our custom. 

So how are we going to remember?  Well, I came up with a kind of a crazy idea.  We have very short attention spans.  My worry is that these three commands are going to leave your brain between the time we leave worship and head to Coffee Hour.  So, guess what?  I have tattoos for all of you! Not only can this impress our grandchildren and our children, but it will be a reminder to us, at least short term, where God is inviting us.  So, there are tattoos in the back, and we're going to tattoo you all before you leave worship today or down in Coffee Hour.   There are a number of different tattoos that you can choose, but maybe this will just be a way to hold on to this message and this scripture a little bit longer as we kick off Lent.

May it be so and enjoy your tattoo.  Amen.