Preacher: Jenn Hosler

Scripture: Psalm 51:1-2, 6-12; Isaiah 58:1-12; James 5:1-9, 13-16

A few weeks ago, I attended a retreat in Florida at a Catholic retreat center. I wasn’t sure
what to expect for myself at this retreat. I didn’t come in with any specific hopes, though I knew
a dedicated time for renewal and spiritual growth would be a good thing. At this retreat, created
for clergywomen within the Church of the Brethren, Meghan Larissa Good led us through
meditations to consider our spiritual calling, loving enemies, and discernment. I appreciated that
she brought this word in a way that was thoughtful, funny and relevant, realistic while also not
mundane, blunt and gritty and sincere, and also with a distinct Anabaptist lens.

You might think that a spiritual retreat encourages us to pray more, to read our bibles
more, to spend more time in silence, etc, etc. Sure, a spiritual retreat might do those things.
Ideally, though, it provides a different lens for you to consider your own journey, to “unstick”
you, to see things from a new perspective (your calling, your practices, etc.). “Spiritual
formation” is a term used to describe spiritual growth and the practice of discipleship. The first
words I wrote down in my retreat notes were this: “Spiritual formation is not just about
squeezing more toothpaste out of the tube. It’s about how to unbend the channel so that love
flows freely.” “Spiritual formation is not just about squeezing more toothpaste out of the tube.
It’s about how to unbend the channel so that love flows freely.”

This was a breath of fresh air and just a freeing statement to hear at the beginning of the
retreat. Meghan explained, of course we can all probably pray more, read more, meditate more,
fast more… but those pieces are not the core of our spiritual growth. Digging into ourselves and
what is blocking our love – that is the heart of spiritual formation. What needs to be unbent for
you, so that love flows more freely?

As of this past Wednesday (Ash Wednesday), we have entered Lent, a time of spiritual
practices and, often, fasting before Easter. Lent was originally known as quadragesima. Really
rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? Quadragesima is a Latin word which means “forty”, for the forty
days before Easter. Eventually, churches in England stopped using Latin and switched to English.

The word Lent was a word used to describe Spring, when the days lengthen. Since Easter falls in
the Spring, Lent was adopted to describe a ritual that had been going on since the early church.
Records in the early church dating back to the early 200s indicate that, for centuries,
Christians have done some type of “preparation” for Easter. This typically took the form of
prayer and fasting. It eventually was institutionalized by the Eastern and Western Churches
(what we know today as the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches) into a forty day fast. The
forty days of observance, while not mentioned in Scripture exactly, were linked up with the forty
days of Jesus’ fasting and praying in the wilderness to prepare for his ministry. This ritual was
developed to encourage Christians to intentionally prepare for Easter.

Spiritual practices, like prayer and fasting, exist to help break us out of our ordinary
stickiness and create some space for that discernment to happen. You can use a lot of images:
Preparing a garden bed for new growth. Fixing bike breaks so that a wheel spins freely, not
getting impeded by off-center break pads. Unbending something so that love flows freely. As we
enter Lent, the question is not exactly, “to fast or not to fast,” but “what needs to get unbent so
that love flows freely?” “Spiritual formation is not just about squeezing more toothpaste out of
the tube. It’s about how to unbend the channel so that love flows freely.”

I want us to spend time meditating on a few passages of scripture today: Psalm 51, Isaiah 58,
Matthew 6, and James 5. This is a modified lectio divina, a time to hear, to process, to meditate.
If you’re not familiar with lectio divina, it means divine reading, a way to read Scripture by
yourself or in a group, where you listen, notice what word, phrasing, or idea stands out to you.
Hearing the same scriptures multiple times or multiple scriptures together, each of us pays
attention to what God might be linking together, what God might be calling us to consider. We
will read each scripture, have periods of silence, and then opportunity to share as prompted.
Following the lectio portion, we will have a time of silence again, and also an opportunity to
come up for anointing. We did not have a service of ashes this Lent but the Church of the
Brethren has a long tradition of anointing. Anointing for healing, for a calling, for strength, and
for God’s Spirit to be at work. Our last scripture will be a passage from James, which features
anointing.