The Feast of Enoughness: Lent 1 10th February 2008: Susannah Underwood at St Mary's

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7: Matthew 4:1-11

They stand on the mountain together. The devil, who deals only in illusions, and Jesus who calls himself the Truth. There spread before them are all the kingdoms of the world. The cities with their golden pinnacles and jewelled palaces dazzle in the sun as it begins to set. “There they are for the taking”, says the illusionist, “all of this, all the power, all the glory, all the pleasure of adoration. The people will cheer for you, the women will dance for you, the men they will love you. I will give you all of this. Just say the word. Turn to me. Submit to my ways. Call me Lord…and it’s yours”. He turns to Jesus, who stands shivering in the wind, 40 nights have taken their toll. He has lost weight, his cheeks hang hollow now. The climb up the mountain has taken all the physical strength he had left. There is silence, the devil twitches with delight. Saliva falls from his mouth. Jesus gazes at all that leads to the skyline in the distance.

“Get away from me, Satan! Take away your lies. This is not yours to give away…and anyway all that glitters... The power that you offer is an illusion. The riches will rust.”

The devil, temptation, what ever name you would give. Deals in illusions. Plays to our deepest desires, our God placed desires sometimes and whispers a quick fix. An easy way out. A promise of instant satisfaction. A promise of something better. A promise of something more. In the story of Adam and Eve we see it in the lies of the snake. “Eat this fruit and you will be like God”. A trick, an illusion, for what they had forgotten, what this illusion was masking, was that God had already made them like himself. They were made in his image and they were blessed with all they needed. They were asked to till and keep the land, to steward God’s creation, but they were seduced into the idea that that living in harmony with creation and God, was not all there was to it, was not enough. Surely there must be more?

There are many illusions in our culture and part of the task of Christian living is to unmask them for ourselves and others. A commitment to Jesus is a commitment to attempt to live truthfully. Today, as we begin our Lenten journey, I would like us to search truthfully and explore a little of how we may fail to live as good stewards of God’s creation and to see if a life lived more simply, could help restore harmony in relation to our planet, and also with God.

The illusion that has dominated our culture since the industrial revolution is that the earth is ours to use as we wish, to take from as we wish, to service the advancements of especially the Western world. The illusion that the priority usage of the world’s resources should be to fuel the economy of a capitalist, consumer culture. I think this issue, and our part in it, is particularly poignant with Lenten themes, especially those of repentance, self denial and reliance on God. And it would be worth exploring these a little further.

In terms of repentance, it strikes me as a shame that since so many Christian individuals and organizations have so often led the way on issues of justice, or the alleviation of poverty, that when it has come to environmental issues it appears that the church has had to catch up. Indeed, although the stories of creation in the Old Testament can tell us a lot about our relationship to this planet and all that is in it, misinterpretation of the verse in Genesis where humanity is given “dominion” over creation is blamed for some of the attitudes and actions that have led to what many scientists now recognize as an ecological crisis.

For some years we forgot what was in so much of our Christian heritage. The world was created and God saw that it was good. God revealed himself in it, in burning bush, cloud and mountain. The Psalmist calls for mountains and hills, cattle and flying birds and creeping things to praise the Lord. When Jesus dies on the cross, the picture Matthew gives is that the earth is so shocked that it quakes and the sky turns black. And Revelation and Isaiah give a vision for a time when all the earth will live in harmony with each other. The earth living in harmony is a sign of God’s reign. God is intricately revealed in his creation and the life of his Spirit is what runs through and sustains it. For the church, for the world and for ourselves, we need to repent where we have treated the world’s resources carelessly and selfishly and failed to steward well this holy place.

In terms of self denial, perhaps we need to search ourselves. Our answers will be individual, but how much have we bought into the illusion of a consumer culture that tells us that however much we have, we always need more? Adverts and programs on fashion, toys, technology, all which change at an increasing rate, encourage the culture from a young age of always looking for the next thing. Are we ever satisfied with what we have? It can be seen too in our sometimes thoughtless consumption of energy, of food, of resources. Use as it suits, and then throw away. It can be so difficult to resist the illusion, the whisper of false promises, that buying more, that owning more, that using more, will satisfy, will fill our need. Of course the second part of this illusion has been that these choices are our own business. Yet now we are increasingly aware of the effect of our actions on our own environment and on the lives of people and wildlife across the globe.

There is a lovely phrase, it comes from a Church of England report on ecology, and I have found it useful in trying to understand a Christian response. It speaks of a feast of enoughness. A feast of enoughness. My word processing spell check got very cross with me when I wrote it out. Microsoft it seems certainly doesn’t like the idea of enoughness! The theology behind it is this. That when God created the world on the seventh day, he stopped. He saw that what was, was good and was enough. In the time of the Israelites the year of Jubilee was a time too, when the land was given a rest, when resources were shared out equally once again. The feast of enoughness is a phrase that goes against the idea of constant consuming. It goes against the illusion that we can never have enough. And it speaks to us of stopping, of appreciating the goodness that we have been given, and feeling full and satisfied with that.

Lent is a chance to take time to stop. It is a time to immerse ourselves in God. To see God alive in creation. To marvel at birdsong, at green shoots, at rain as the water of life, to feel the sun warm our cheeks. A chance to live more simply and appreciate what we have. To see the feast that we already have before us. Many Christians over the centuries, many Christians now, have found a great richness in living with vows of poverty or simplicity. For lives that are freed of the habit of constant consumption are somehow able to appreciate their dependence on God. I don’t think it is the calling of each one of us to renounce all riches, but a Christian principle of simplicity is perhaps needed by all of us, for the sake of the world. Moving out of the illusion that always having more is healthy for us or God’s creation, would be a worthwhile activity and discipline this Lent.

Adam and Eve took in the garden more than was theirs to take. The harmony between God and the world was broken.

Jesus stands on the mountainside. There will be times to feast with people. But this has been a time to stop. Cold night after cold night he has relied on God. In some ways here, Jesus has been closer to creation than ever before, even when it first poured from his heart. He does not look at the tempter, at the illusionist as he speaks. He has no personal need to argue with him. The words come simply as truth from his soul. He calls over the valley, the wind carries his voice to the proud cities, through the streets of the towns, across the plains of the deserts. “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. Not the culture of more, not the illusion of quick fixes and instant satisfaction. Worship God, serve only him, and you will find the feast he provides is always enough”.

Amen