- Deacon Sean Michaelson, S.J.-

If you are at all a fan of psychological drama or richly complex psychological characters in literature or theatre or cinema, you have to love the God of the Old Testament. When the first Jewish peoples reflected upon their God, our God, they imagined a highly anthropomorphic, a very human, God. God for them had feelings and emotions. God changed, tried things, learned, had good days and bad days. And these ancient Jewish peoples also determined through their experience of dealing with their God, our God, that God has a bit of a bad temper. There is no two ways about it, for the ancient Jewish peoples God could get a little irritated, and God was not above acting out of God's irritation.

In today's first reading from Genesis we have almost the end of the Noah story; we hear the part after the waters of the flood have receded when God creates a covenant with Noah. But listen now to the beginning of the Noah story:

When God saw how great was humanity's wickedness on earth, and how every inclination in the human heart was always toward evil, God regretted making humanity and God's heart was grieved. So the Lord said: "I will wipe out from the earth the humans that I have created, and not only humanity, but also the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air, for I am sorry that I made them.
(Gen 6.5-7)

That's not so nice. But it is not atypical of the God of the Old Testament, our God, to say things like this. The God of the Old Testament was one of those people who sometimes spoke without thinking, and then often ended up regretting what was said.

Do you know someone like this? Are you someone like this? Someone who when they get really mad says all sorts of terrible things that they don't really mean. And God does not really mean what God has says here, because as we know, this is not what God does. Yes, God does send the flood. But God does not wipe out all of humanity, and God does not wipe out all the animals and insects and birds, because Noah found favour with God, and God told Noah to take his family and two of every animal on the arc so that they could again fill the earth.

I bring all this up because I think it is important to keep in mind when we listen not only to today's first reading, but to the readings from Peter and Mark as well. And I think it is important to think about these things in these early days of our Lenten journey. When God articulates this covenant with Noah, it is one of the most interesting and extraordinary moments in the life, if you will, of the God of the Old Testament, our God. When God looked upon what God had created at the beginning of Genesis God saw that it was good. But when God looked upon what God had done in bringing the flood God saw that it wasn't so good. God looks upon what God had done with the flood and essentially says to Noah, 'yzsh, I won't do that again. That's not the way. That's not the way to respond to human failing. I promise you, Noah, in the future I will find a better way.'

In his recent encyclical, Deus caritas est, 'God is love,' Pope Benedict talks about just this dynamic in the God of the Old Testament. And what Benedict says is that what we see in moments like this is God turned against God's self, in particular, God's justice turned against God's love. It is a fascinating idea that Benedict presents. The sinfulness God sees in the humanity that God loves turns God, who is justice, against God, who is love. And God is left wondering what to do.

And what Benedict says is that in this conflict within God between love and justice we Christians first see a 'dim prefigurement' of the Cross. For how will God reconcile love and justice? God will do so by becoming human, by taking on our humanity and then laying down that life for us in love, the innocent suffering for our sinfulness, and in the process reconciling humanity to God.

It is precisely this process that Peter is talking about at the beginning of today's second reading when he says 'Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God.' How different this is from Genesis. When God looked upon the wickedness of the world at the time of Noah, God could only think of admitting defeat, of admitting what a mess things are, and of wiping it all out and of starting again. But having almost tried that approach, God said no, that's not the way. I shouldn't use the waters to bring death in a flood; I will use the waters to bring new life through baptism. No. I'll not wipe away human wickedness by wiping away humanity. I'll take humanity upon myself, I will become human myself, and in doing so raise humanity out of its sinfulness, and lead humanity to me. No. Justice and love do not need to be in conflict with each other. There is a better way, where love is justice, and justice is love. And that better way is Christ.

And what I think we, my sisters and brothers, are meant to take away from today's readings is that we must learn how to look upon ourselves with a justice that is grounded in love, just as God looks upon us. It is a sad fact that for so long our Lenten observance, with its emphasis on sin and penance and abstinence, has become an exercise that for many people is grounded, really, in a type of self loathing. What happens in this Lenten period is that when we hear the words of Jesus coming out of the desert in today's gospel saying 'this is the time of fulfillment, repent, and believe the good news' we say, 'O God, I better get my act together and change.' Or 'O no, I need to be different.' Or even more strangely, 'O God, I should give up chocolate!'

Why when we hear Jesus say, 'this is the time of fulfillment, repent, and believe the good news,' why don't we say 'wonderful! A light is coming into the darkness! Soon there will be freedom for prisoners, food for the hungry, and for those in sorrow, joy. Lord, how can I help? How can I be a part? Lord, what do you want me to do?'

Lent is a time of rejoicing. The Church says that we celebrate Lent. We're not meant to 'endure' Lent, we're not meant to 'tolerate' Lent, we're not meant to suffer through Lent. Neither are we meant to attempt a personality transplant in Lent. Rather, we are meant to rejoice during this time that leads us toward the celebration of our salvation in the death and resurrection of Jesus, when love and justice are reconciled. And what our God says to us in the readings today, is 'don't make the mistake I made.' Don't look upon yourself in this Lenten season and say, 'I don't like what I see. I am going to wipe that person out and start again. I am going to be different; I am going to fix myself.' No. My brothers and sisters, while it may be true that we are all always in need of a deeper conversion to Christ, don't make the mistake of hearing the words 'repent, and believe the good news,' and thinking you need to wipe yourself out and start again. Reconcile your own sinfulness and your need to repent with the fact that God made you and that God loves you and that God comes to you with good news. And that good news is that we can love like God does, as Jesus did. By becoming human God showed us that a justice grounded in love is possible for humanity. We can live in a world where all are loved and cared for. And that world begins the day you can imagine our God looking upon you in all your sinfulness and failings, and loving you, and saying to you, 'good news, this is the time of fulfillment, the kingdom of God is at hand.'

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