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Today does not look like a special Sunday in Lent- but it is. What is today called? Today is called “Refreshment Sunday.”

In the Anglican Communion we call the fourth Sunday in Lent “Refreshment Sunday.” The Roman Catholics also have a special Latin name for today which when translated means “Rejoice.” I remember when I was in Britain that today they celebrate “Mothering Sunday.” In America, we observe it on May 10. In the United Kingdom, today they honor their mothers. We will consider this in detail on May 10.

You will observe that it is indeed a special Day. What makes it special? Why should we rejoice in the middle of Lent? We learned that Lent is a time for serious reflection, a time for fasting and meditation, of prayer and the reading of the scriptures. In the midst of all these, why should we rejoice?

Well, the answer is simple - it is because we are halfway through lent. We are now in the position where we can see the light “at the end of the tunnel” - a day when we have a glimpse of the Resurrection on Easter Day and we rejoice. As you well know, Christians are not encouraged to fast on Sundays because every Sunday is Resurrection Day and on this day, Christians are to rejoice. Today however, we rejoice for another reason. We rejoice that in the midst of gloom and suffering as we look ahead to Good Friday, we can see beyond the horizon, that Resurrection Day is eminent.

The children of Israel had the same experience long time ago. God had heard their cry of despair when they were slaves in Egypt and had come to their rescue by sending Moses to confront Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. God had shown the Egyptians and the Israelites alike that there are no other gods greater than the true GOD. That he was the Omnipotent (all powerful), Omnipresent (present everywhere) and Omniscience (knows everything.) He had delivered them by causing the ten plagues on the Egyptians when their Pharaoh had refused to release them from slavery and also when he worked wonders for them by dividing the Red sea and drowning all the army of Egypt in the bed of the sea while the children of Israel crossed unharmed.

It did not take long before the children of Israel forgot all the Lord had done for them and began to complain about nearly everything - food, water, the environment - you name it, they complained about everything. God in turn punished them at first, but forgave them when they repented and gave them Life through the brazen image of a serpent. Anyone who was bitten by the poisonous snakes and looked at the image, lived. God gave them LIFE in the midst of death - but only when they looked on the image God had provided.

Look at the world’s situation today - unemployment, repossessions of homes, poverty, homelessness, loss of pension funds and 401Ks, diseases, wars; the list is endless. Like the Israelites, we have distanced ourselves from God by allowing ourselves to be distracted. As a result, we have been focusing on everything else but God. It was only when the Israelites focused on the image of the serpent that they lived.

The children of Israel had to be helped to have faith in God. They repented and God saw their plight and knew their difficulties - they lacked faith. After all they had just started to know God in a different and more direct way and they needed time to get used to a God who is a Spirit.

We on this side of history are also faced with so many distractions that we keep having less and less time for God. During this Lent, we need to repent. We need to do this on behalf of our world leaders and the peoples of the world. We need to learn to trust God and to Focus only on Him who loves us so much that He sent His Son so that all who believe in Him “should not perish but have everlasting life.”

So on this Refreshment Sunday when we look ahead we see two clear visions that mark our future-

the Crucifixion of our Lord that earned us our Salvation and the Resurrection that gives us the HOPE of Eternal Life.

So let us rejoice. Amen

Sermon by Rev. Admire Cleeve