Loading...Ash Wednesday is a moment set apart. Many of us are used to the rhythm of Sunday worship and time set aside to reset our lives: our perspective, our actions, and our words. But, Ash Wednesday is an interruption.
It interrupts the week
It interrupts the patter.
It interrupts our complacency.
Indeed Ash Wednesday, as the beginning of Lent interrupts the status quo.
This season is our annual “reset” button for our lives of faith.
Jesus’s words from Matthew’s gospel can be heard in a variety of ways.
His tone and the “message between the lines” are open for interpretation:
earnest, snarky, chiding.
But, whatever the subtext,
he seems pretty emphatic that your relationship with God
is not merely a show of piety or religiosity.
We have to be careful, I think,
that we don’t, then, swing so far the other way
to say that our relationship with God is private,
that it never sees the light of day,
and that it shouldn’t be shown in any way.
Rather, you and I are challenged,
especially on this day,
to step away from “me and Jesus” piety on the one hand
and from grandiose shows of faith on the other,
in order to find an intentional path of faith that’s given to us in our baptisms.
Shooting today...
What can I say....?
Complacency? Thoughts and prayers?
Repentance – turning back to God.
Turn back to God even if we’ve put our trust in other – worldly – things.
This repentance is a reminder of our identity as the baptized, beloved people of God.
We come from a variety of traditions
and therefore some variation in baptismal understanding,
but, I invite you to hear again the baptismal promises of this tradition:
•Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in prayers?
E.g.
•Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
E.g.
•Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
E.g.
•Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
E.g.
•Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
E.g. school shootings? How do we respond?
On this day in our life of faith together, we are reminded of this gift,
this challenge, this journey--
we are not called into private relationship with God in Christ: rather into community and into the world;
we are called to be in community and to reflect the love of God in the world: not to earn points, stars in our crown or belittle others for not doing their part;
we are called to speak up and speak out for justice, for hope, for each other;
we are called to follow The Way of compassion, of humility, of grace, of lovingkindness.
While we know this, we hear it, and repeat it to ourselves and others,
we sometimes get caught up in busy-ness
in our own anxiety
or, in the trappings of piety.
And, we forget this call of the Spirit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are gathered here on this Ash Wednesday to remember;
to be reminded.
We are gathered to be reminded of the gift of life,
to be reminded of our call and the invitation that has been extended,
to be reminded of the journey of Jesus’ Way.
We are gathered to step outside of whatever has cluttered our lives
and to come forward to be reminded of our baptisms:
the grace poured upon us in water
and the life given to us in promise.
Once a year, the cross that was marked on your forehead in oil at your baptisms – the “seal” or, as I like to say, the “branding” that we carry with us always – appears again.
It is marked again in the ashes and dust:
maybe as a sign of the chaff that has burned away
or a sign of sins that have been purged
or a sign of new life given again
or, yet, something else for you.
Today, we are reminded that we are not the center of the world,
not even of our own world.
We are reminded that we are all connected with each other in this room
and in this tradition, yes,
but also with the faithful throughout time and space,
with all people of the earth,
and with all creation.
We are reminded that we are God’s.
We are all God’s beloved--
in this room, in this tradition, in faith, in the world.
We are reminded that
regardless of what we do and what we don’t do,
we are the Lord’s:
beloved, claimed, and sent into the world to be this good news for all,
especially for those who struggle to trust the goodness of God.
We are reminded that we are dust,
but dust that is treasured, and reconciled, and loved.
Amen
