Joel 2: 1-2, 12-17 (NRSV)
Isaiah 58: 1-12 (NRSV)
Psalm 103 (Book of Common Prayer, p. 733)
2 Corinthians 5: 20b-6: 10 (NRSV)
We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,
"At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you."
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see-- we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Jesus said, "Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
"So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
"And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
"And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
In her reflection on Chapter 49: On the Observance of Lent from the Rule of St. Benedict, Sr. Joan Chittister, O.S.B., writes the following in her book The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century.
"Once upon a time," an ancient story tells, "the master had a visitor who came to inquire about Zen. But instead of listening, the visitor kept talking about his own concerns and giving his own thoughts.
"After a while, the master served tea. He poured tea into his visitor's cup until it was full and then kept on pouring.
"Finally the visitor could not help it any longer. "Don't you see that my cup is full?' he said. 'It's not possible to get anymore in.'
"'Just so,' the master said, stopping at last. "And like this cup, you are filled with your own ideas. How can you expect me to give you Zen unless you first empty your cup?" (p. 219).
Like the visitor to the Zen master, most of us Christians come to God quite full of ourselves. Myself, especially. We may sing hymns like "Have Thine Own Way , Lord," by when the time comes for God's way, the only way that appeals most to us, is our own. We like our place in the sun. We may as modern day Christians accept Galileo's explanation that the earth is not the center of the universe. However, we are all too happy to take the earth out of the center of the universe and replace it with ourselves. It is our way or the highway. It is as if we we were just about half way there on that highway that John the Baptist prepared for us to make way for the Lord during Advent, and turned right around and ran back to ourselves.
Lent is a time to be reminded that we are just a speck of dust in the world. As we hear throughout the day in our Ash Wednesday services: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Book of Common Prayer, p. 265). During Lent we remember that it is not by our own merits that we alone will save ourselves. It is by God's grace and mercy that forgives us of our sins through the death and resurrection of Christ that we have the hope for eternal life.
For some of us, this will mean letting to of higher expectations upon ourselves. We do not have to have all of the answers. We are not required to be perfect in all things. We are called to perfect love of God, neighbor and self.
Lent is a time for a greater self knowledge. A time when everything about ourselves that is both good and bad is to be placed into the hands of God, with the permission to allow God to change us through a daily dying to self. Lent is a joyful time of finding the victory of the resurrection, as we embrace the Way of the Cross. The contradiction of bringing life out of death, becomes a daily encounter as we make more time for God through following the example of Christ's self-sacrificial love.
For others, Lent is a time of trying once again to quite smoking, drinking, indulging ourselves in practices that are not healthy for ourselves and others around us. A period of looking for strength from God as we struggle to find opportunities for growth. A period of looking for new ways to serve God, by giving up old ways that just have not worked.
Lent will present us with moments of facing our own mortality. We will find ourselves helpless and not sure what to do. We will find ourselves giving in to those temptations to return to things as they were. What Lent reminds us, is that in those moments, God is actually closer to us even when we just don't feel like God cares or is interested. If we will look to God in those times when we don't exactly feel God's presence, but just know that God is there in our minds and hearts, we can and will find the strength to meet our challenges. If by chance, we mess it all up and fall, we can go to God who is gracious, merciful and forgiving to help us pick up and move on.
Lent is also a time to refocus those energies that we use to concentrate on our problems and needs, by turning our attention to others who need. As women's reproductive health care and the rights of LGBTQ people, immigrants, voters, the health care and future of the middle class and lower income individuals continues to be exploited and attacked, we can use our time during Lent to discern what our response will be. We can take an active role in helping those who are experiencing oppression, injustice and prejudice directly through local community support and/or through advocacy on their behalf. The opportunities for living out our Baptismal Vows during Lent, are exactly the reason why we celebrate this Season of Penitence. We can pray for the grace during this Lent to do more than just pray and leave it all up to someone else. We can ask God to "teach us to seek God, for we cannot seek you (God) unless you teach us, or find you until you show yourself to us. Let us seek you in our desire, let us desire you in our seeking. Let us find you by loving you, let us love you when we find you" (Prayer of St. Anselm of Canterbury, St. Benedict's Prayer Book for Beginners, p. 118).
During Lent we should ask the Holy Spirit for the grace to help us to open up our limited understanding of God, others and ourselves. To see God's creative and redemptive activity in those who are different from ourselves. Whether those differences be race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, health status, language, employment status, personal challenges and so on. Lent is a time for asking God to remove the blindness that keeps us from seeing God's goodness in diversity so that we may include them, by working for justice and equality.
As we begin this Lent with the ashes, may we proceed from here through the next 40 days that will lead us to Holy Week, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and ultimately Easter Day. As we prepare to celebrate God's acts of redemption and salvation, may we be about God's saving work in our own lives, in those around us, and for the good those beyond us.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me, bless God's Holy Name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all God's benefits. (Psalm 103: 1,2, BCP, p. 733).
Prayers
Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p. 732).
Psalm 51, BCP. 266, 267
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your
loving-kindness; *
in your great compassion blot out my offenses.
2 Wash me through and through from my wickedness *
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, *
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you only have I sinned *
and done what is evil in your sight.
5 And so you are justified when you speak *
and upright in your judgment.
6 Indeed, I have been wicked from my birth, *
a sinner from my mother's womb.
7 For behold, you look for truth deep within me, *
and will make me understand wisdom secretly.
8 Purge me from my sin, and I shall be pure; *
wash me, and I shall be clean indeed.
9 Make me hear of joy and gladness, *
that the body you have broken may rejoice.
10 Hide your face from my sins *
and blot out all my iniquities.
11 Create in me a clean heart, O God, *
and renew a right spirit within me.
12 Cast me not away from your presence *
and take not your holy Spirit from me.
13 Give me the joy of your saving help again *
and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.
14 I shall teach your ways to the wicked, *
and sinners shall return to you.
15 Deliver me from death, O God, *
and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness,
O God of my salvation.
16 Open my lips, O Lord, *
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
17 Had you desired it, I would have offered sacrifice; *
but you take no delight in burnt-offerings.
18 The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit; *
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
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