Ash
Wednesday – Feb. 22, 2023 – St. Mark’s and Church of the Holy Communion
From
our psalm: The Lord is full of
compassion and mercy, long-suffering and of great goodness. (Ps. 103.8)
Today is
Ash Wednesday. This is the day we turn a corner in our yearly pilgrimage as
people of God traveling the way together and, if we look far ahead, in the distance is the Cross. His Cross. And, in between, a desert.
We begin
this day with a stark reminder --- Dust thou art unto dust shalt thou return…
Here is a
story from very early on in ministry. I
was serving as an assistant at a parish, and it was Ash Wednesday… my
husband came to church and brought our
then young son to the service – He was maybe
two- and, at that point, our only child .
When it was time for the imposition of ashes, they happened to come to
my side of the rail. I approached them. John
was holding our son in his arms. I signed the ashes on my husband’s forehead
and began to sign them on our son’s forehead.
At that point, I could not get the words out – dust thou art and to dust
thou shalt return…I was overwhelmed in that moment with anguish at the thought
of their mortality and it became almost unbearable. I did not
want to think about the deaths of my beloveds.
And yet, then and now, this is the time we are called to remember that
we are dust – and to dust we shall return… and to be mindful as the prayerbook
puts it of the shortness and uncertainty of life.
During
Lent, we are invited to not only recall our mortality but to draw closer to our
Lord and to look at those places in our lives where we have missed the mark –
the literal meaning of the Greek word sin – h’amartia –like an arrow missing the target. And, we are called to look at those times and places where we have fallen
short. St. Paul reminds us that all have sinned and fallen short. Too, we are invited to contemplate that in us which is broken and in need
of healing as well as our own participation in systemic evil and the pain of
the world.
And
it is hard to get honest about our own failures
of character, our lack of love for our neighbors, our brokenness and all that
is in us in desperate need of the healing touch of the one who heals us by his
wounds.
Yes,
It takes courage to look ourselves in the mirror and, truly, the only way we
can do this - so that it does not become
a exercise in unhelpful self-flagellation
- is to approach God knowing that as we do, he is already holding us in the arms
of his mercy, and to form a Lenten intention- offering it to him- of drawing closer and as we do that, we can
trust that our living God through the
Holy Spirit will be at work within us to open our eyes and hearts more deeply
to how he is already present with us. Indeed, closer than a breath.
The only difficultly is that usually the
closer we draw to God, the more clearly we see our own sin.
I believe that Julian of Norwich observed this in her Divine
revelations of Love - That the closer we draw to the source of a bright light, the darker and sharper our shadow
appears to be.
It is only through the never failing
compassion and mercy of the Lord – seen so clearly in the face of Jesus - that
we can have the confidence to accept the invitation of the Forty Days of Lent…
Think
with me about the Forty days and notice
something.. something that can make a difference if we can get it down into our
bones.
Noah and
his family, stewards of creation, were sheltered in the ark by the mercy of God
– while the rains fell and the flood waters swept around them as they floated
over a ruined civilization on a desert of water. And, when they landed, a new age began – the
sign of which was a rainbow placed by God.
Moses,
fleeing after he murdered an Egyptian, spent forty years as a shepherd for his
father in law Jethro before he encountered the Burning Bush and his call to
return to Egypt to lead God’s people out of captivity. Moses was hidden by the mercy of God from the wrath of the Egyptians and found a
new life in the desert..
The
Children of Israel – wandering in the desert for forty years, learned how to
become a people and to follow God’s guidance – cloud by day, fire by night. At
every turn, and even in radical idolatry, they were sustained by the mercy of God.. manna in the wilderness and water from the
rock – given the Ten Commandments, entered in Covenant, and finally brought Home.
And,
Elijah fasted for 40 days as he traveled to the cave on Mt. Horeb – fleeing
from King Ahab and Queen Jezebel after he, Elijah, had slain the prophets of
Baal on Mt. Carmel. And God, in his
mercy, met Elijah in that cave on Mt. Horeb—and spoke to him in a small still
voice and then sent him to Damascus and into a new chapter…
And,
our Lord Jesus, after his baptism in the River Jordan was led – some accounts
say – driven by the Holy Spirit – into the desert where he struggled with the
temptations that beset us all and was sustained in that desert and at the
end angels came and ministered to him, and he emerged from that desert
with clarity of calling and then launched his mission to reclaim and reconcile
God’s people.
For each
of these – the Forty days (or years) were both a time of very real trial and testing
and also a significant turning point…
and in every instance and throughout the entire time, they were held in
the merciful care of our God…
Just as
you, Church, are now…You are entering the desert of the Forty Days – it can be
a turning point .. both for us as individuals
and collectively as the faith community, the people of God in this place. In that desert – don’t be afraid to face into
the sin and the brokenness of your life – and, as you do, know that at the same
time you are being held in the merciful,
faithful, healing embrace of our God who
not only sustains us but who in Jesus Christ, is our companion every single
step of the way. The desert awaits, may we enter in with
courage and hope. Amen.
JTCO-
2/22/23
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