Ash Wednesday Sermon           February 6, 2008

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Psalm 103:8-14

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

The prophet Joel called out, “Rend your hearts and not your garments.” His point is that outward expressions of repentance are not very meaningful if they do not express the state of your heart.

As we have ashes placed on our foreheads today, I ask you to reflect on how this expresses what’s going on in your hearts.  Are you really seeking God’s guidance, acknowledging that you have gone astray, perhaps just a little bit, but astray none the less and you want to get on the right path?  This is the call to the observance of a holy Lent.

Turn in your prayer books please to page 265 and look at the second paragraph from the top.  Note the words of admonition:

“I invite, you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to observance of a holy Lent,

by self examination and repentance

by prayer

by fasting

by self-denial

and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.

Reflect with me please on each of these.

Repentance is one of those terms that is regularly misunderstood.  All too often people think of repentance as “I’ve been bad.  I’m not supposed to feel good about myself.  God’s putting me in my place.”

Repentance is really a happy word.  It’s coming home after a period of time away. The false understanding of repentance is “I’ve been bad, so I must repent so I’ll not be in trouble any longer.”  This is not only wrong, it’s immature.  The right and mature understanding of repentance is “My relationship with God and others is damaged, perhaps even broken.  I need to repent and return to the Lord.”

Remember what I tell you so often: Repentance is metanoia and the opposite of metanoia is paranoia.

What is the process of Repentance? I came across something this week that struck me as being rather profound. It’s the “3 Rs of Repentance.” Just as there traditionally are 3 Rs in education (Readin’, ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmatic), so the 3 R’s of Repentance give the mechanism of making changes in our lives: They are “Recognize, Regret and Reorient.”

Recognize:  We recognize that we are doing something we don’t want to do or we are not doing things that we should be doing. We call these sins of commission and sins of omission. Without awareness, we will never repent and return to the Lord: There will always be a gulf.

Regret: We become conscious of the cost to others and to ourselves of our actions or lack of action. If we do not regret truly our actions or lack of action, we will not repent.

Reorient: Turning from what we don’t want, to what we recognize is right, is reorientation.  This is key: If we continue to focus our attention on what we don’t want, we will persist in that behavior.

Failure to complete a desired change is usually the result of one of the repentance steps.  Probably the most important is the reorientation step. Many of us recognize and regret our undesired actions or lack of actions, but the harder we try to stop the undesired behavior, the more we remain stuck.

St. Paul said it bluntly in the 7th chapter of Romans, vs. 15: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want [and] I do the very thing I hate.” But he goes on: “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” (Rom 8:6)

Staying focused on the undesired behavior prevents us from reorientating to the desired behavior. If we focus only on sins, things done or left undone, we will not change. The goal is not to say “No,” as it is to say “Yes,” YES to God. It is truly life giving to say yes to God. The emphasis is on God and His Grace and not on the sin.

Prayer, the catechism tells us, is responding to God, with or without words.  Prayer falls roughly into two categories: formal and informal.  Formal prayers are found primarily in the Prayer book and they are marvelous. Lent is a good time to get to know your Book of Common Prayer better.  Read through the various services and prayers.  It really is a gold mine.

Informal prayer is just being with God: Sometimes talking, sometimes not. Praying aloud is a good discipline to learn. There’s something powerful about the spoken word. I recommend that you practice saying your prayers out loud.  One of the difficulties for many people is to pray aloud, especially in front of other people.  Like anything else that is difficult, remember that that the only way to get through it is to do it. And then do it again.

Fasting is depriving oneself of food.  It has always been an important means of “experiencing” deprivation and loss and yearning which enhances our awareness of God.  When we fast we specifically become more aware of our need for God and eventually we draw closer to Him.  There are a lot of different ways of Fasting.  One of the better ways I think is called the Jewish fast.  Remember in Judaism, day begins at sundown rather than sun up.  So the Sabbath begins on Friday night and ends on Saturday night.  A Jewish fast misses the two daytime meals, breakfast and lunch, rather than the regular three meals of the day, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Self-denial.  Where does one start?  There is no prescribed formula here.  What I suggest is that you intentionally choose to focus on one or more people rather than on yourself.  Help out at school by helping a kid to read.  Volunteer at a nursing home.  They are always looking for folks to do things.  Go do a favor for someone without being asked.  Get out of yourself.

Read and meditate on God’s Holy Word.  Are you in a Bible Study?  We have several here at the Church.  If you are free during the day, we have studies here on Tuesday noons, Wednesday mornings at 10:30 and Friday mornings at 9:30. There are others at night and you can ask me about them or read about them in our newletter.

I frequently am asked,” What is the best translation to use?”  I’ve come to the conclusion that the translation is secondary.  What’s best is to get a Bible, preferably one that has margins and footnotes, and make it your friend.  I have about 40 Bibles and yet I have one that I live with.  I carry it with me.  I have 30 years of notes in it. The collect for Proper 28, the second to last Sunday of the Church year states this about scripture.

“Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

So, in review: In your observance of a Holy Lent, the Church charges you to do so:

By self-examinantion and repentance. I encourage you to do the 3 Rs of Repentance, “Recongnize, Regret and Reorientate;

By prayer

By fasting

By self denial

By reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word

I pray you a Holy Lent.

Amen.