Ash Wednesday, March 6, 2019 - a brief reflection
It is an even bolder
claim that God loves us no matter what.
I find that in
conversations with the most faithful, bible-reading folk, there is a resistance
to this good news.
The good news that you
are loved.
No matter what.
Beloved of God.
Surely I must have to do
something to be good enough. To be right
enough. To be holy enough.
Even among the most
faithful, there is a subtle question about who is NOT good enough.
Because surely I must be
in line before someone else.
Nope.
Amazing grace.
Here the Good News —
Christ died for us while we were yet sinners.
That proves God’s love toward us.
It’s not about
rules. It’s not about making up for our
failings. It’s not about who is in and
who is out.
But then…
What is this season
about?
If you let it, it can be
about you and your relationship with the triune God.`
Here are three ways we
can remember that this season.
FIRST This season is
about DUST – about the dust from which we all come. There are hundreds of
references to dust in the Bible – from creation to the generations of Jacob
being like the dust of the earth to the dust that needs shaken off our feet
when we are not welcomed.
We are but dust. Dust is literally made up of particles of
us. Really. A scientific fact.
Dust is both our source
and our residue.
SECOND This season is
about holiness.
In the gospel passage we
learned that our holiness is not about the visibility of prayers, the wasted
way we wear our fasts, the flourish with which we give our tithes and
offerings.
But we do mark ourselves
with ashes on this day — not to let others know how holy we are, but to remind
ourselves of how earthy we are. And that
we belong to God.
And so, for forty days we
seek holiness – holiness that means we are devoted to God. Not our jobs, not
the world around us, not our families, not our titles.
Devoted to God.
FINALLY this season is
about repentance. And let’s use our
fancy new word for that – the Hebrew word t’shuvah.
Let’s say it
together…t’shuvah!
It is a word that is
about turning our hearts back toward God.
Which feels different to
me from turning away from Sin….because it requires that we are straight with
ourselves about what we are turning toward…
We turn back toward God.
We turn back toward a
relationship with the divine spark of our creation.
We turn back toward the
goodness created within us,
As we were knit in the
womb.
From dust.
In love.
For goodness.
Amen.
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