Taking on for Lent • February 13, 2005

First Sunday in Lent
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7, Psalm 32, Romans 5:12-19, Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon by Michael R. Martin
First United Methodist Church of Saranac Lake, NY

We have some wonderful readings today, full of deep meaning and relevance for the Christian life. We start in Genesis with some quick clips from the Garden of Eden, where God tells Adam and Eve they can eat from all the trees, including the Tree of Life, but not from the Tree of Knowledge. But alas, they are tempted by the Serpent, and Adam eats the forbidden fruit. In Romans, Paul contrasts the impact on humanity of Adam’s actions and Jesus’ actions. Just as one man’s digression led to condemnation for all, so too has one man’s act of righteousness led to justification and eternal life for all. Adam’s act brought us sin, while Jesus’ act brought us the forgiveness of sin. I certainly don’t want to leave out Matthew’s wonderful story of Jesus’ temptation by the devil in the wilderness, the testing of Jesus before his great walk of life.

For me, these stories help to form the framework of Lent, our time of preparation for Easter. Lent is 40 days to focus on Jesus’ great contribution to our salvation, God’s great gift and Jesus’ great sacrifice. It is important to remember that the Sundays of Lent are not part of the forty days of Lent but are "little Easters," a time for celebratory reflection.

I want to tell you a tale about my experience of Lent as a young catholic:

My parents both grew up in Franklin NH, a busy mill town on the banks of the Pemigewassett and Winnipesauke Rivers, which meet in Franklin to form the Merrimack River. My father’s family was catholic French Canadians. My great great great grandfather Jean Baptiste Martin was born in Canada in the early 1800s and married Marguerite St Jean. Marguerite and Jean gave birth to my namesake and great great grandfather, Michel Martin, who married Mathilde Gauvin in February 1987 in La Presentation, Quebec. Michel and Mathilde’s son Cleophas was born July 10, 1866 in Roxton Falls, Quebec. I’ve always liked that name because it is so similar to Cleopas, one of the fellows who met Jesus while walking towards Emmaus. Cleophas married Sylvanie Dagneault, who gave birth to my grandfather Sydney on July 3, 1894 in Eastman, Quebec. My grandfather Sidney immigrated to the United States from Quebec, Canada with his bride Regina Sylvestre. Sidney and Regina probably crossed to America in Derby Line VT and eventually settled in Franklin, NH where Sidney served as Chief of Police and worked in a paper mill that made toilet paper, probably International Paper.

My mother was from “the other side of the tracks,” literally and figuratively. Like many communities in the early to mid-1900s, Franklin NH was religiously segregated and the train tracks separated the Protestants from the Catholics. I can trace my mother’s family, Patch, back to William Patche born in 1530 in South Petherton, Somerset, England. William would be my great x 10 grandfather. William’s grandson, Nicholas Patche, emigrated to the United States in 1622 aboard The Sparrow, a fishing boat sent from England. The Sparrow, with Nicholas on board, arrived in the New World just two years after the Mayflower and one year after the Fortune. The Patche family settled in Salem MA and is featured prominently in books on the early Founding of our Nation. My great great great great grandfather Reuben Patch moved to NH. My grandmother, Dorothy Bell Kelley, grew up in Franklin NH, the adopted only child of an Irish lumberman who ran a number of portable saw mills. Dorothy, orphaned at 16 when her parents were killed in a car accident, worked at the Stevens Woolen Mill on the Merrimack River, and as a nurse, and married Parker Plummer Patch Sr.

Franklin is a wonderful old town, and today still has the big wide main street. My parents met at the local town beach on Webster Lake. I am not sure how religious my mother’s upbringing was, but I know that my father and his family were devout Catholics. Growing up, my sister’s and I were indoctrinated into Catholicism. We had our catechism, holy first communion, fasted Sunday morning until after Mass, and followed the practices of the religion. Perhaps it was just my youth, but I never learned much about why we did things the way we did. Take Lent, for instance. We were always told we had to give up something for Lent. I never knew why, never connected it with any Holy Season or the coming of Easter. We were told we had to give up something important to us, something we liked. Spinach didn’t count. So at seven or eight years old, I would give up things like bubble gum, or maybe watching cartoons on Saturday morning. . . at least for the first week or so until the pressure cooled off. Give up for Lent – for whatever reason, that was the way it was.

I understand a little bit more about the Holy Seasons and Lent these days. Lent is a time of preparation for the initiation of people into the Christian life in baptism. It is also a time for the church, for us, to journey together toward Easter and for the reaffirmation of our baptismal covenant. Lent is not about being miserable, sad, and funereal in anticipation of Good Friday. Fasting and giving up something can be part of Lenten disciplines, but so can taking on some things – give up of ourselves, our precious time for the betterment of ourselves and those around us.

I’d like you to turn your program over and take a look at the Preparation for Easter Covenant on the back. This page contains a reminder of our Lenten focus, and then a number of ideas for things you can do as Inward and Personal Disciplines and for Outward and Social Disciplines. When you go home today, take some time to plan how you will spend your Lent. And I will just remind you that suggestion number two under Inward and Personal Disciplines, “Share in the Lenten Series on Sunday mornings,” takes place in the lounge right after this service.

Michael R. Martin – February 13, 2005
First UMC of Saranac Lake, 8:30AM