Sermon by Lou - Ash Wednesday

What are you giving up for Lent? Chocolate? Dessert? How about giving up a grudge?

How about letting go of some anger, resentment, disappointment, or some failure long forgotten by everyone but you?

What are you taking on for Lent? The traditional Lenten disciplines are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, and our Gospel reminds us that we are to do these things for the right reasons, not to show how pious and generous we are.

How about broadening our horizons this Lent and taking on more kindness, more love, more generosity, more forgiveness. How about taking on the challenge of examining our spiritual side, getting closer to God, deepening our faith? Because ultimately our ability to be kinder, gentler, more loving, more forgiving, and more generous is largely dependent on the grace of God and the power of God working in our lives.

It’s akin to the challenging promises we make in our Baptismal Covenant. When we promise to love our neighbor as ourselves and to strive for justice and peace and respect the dignity of every human being, we say “I will, with God’s help,” because it’s not easy, we can’t do it on our own.

Our Old Testament Lesson from Joel calls us to return to God, and the Epistle reminds us to be reconciled to God. In the incredible busy-ness of our lives, we tend to separate ourselves from God, to forget about God, to walk away from God. Lent is a great opportunity to be intentional about getting back to God, which is all that the word “repent” means.

Lent reminds us to turn around, to reconnect with God. The ashes we will receive this day are a visible reminder not just of our mortality but also that we are connected with a God who loves us, forgives us, cleanses us, and wants to be with us, always.

So what might you do this Lent to get more fully connected to God, and be empowered to be more kind, loving, forgiving and generous? We have a banquet, a Lenten feast for you to explore.

First, I implore you to come to church every Sunday this Lent. Worship and the love and support of your fellow Christians are where it all begins.

I particularly urge you to come to this Sunday’s adult program at 9:45. Michelle will be sharing a treasure chest of wonderful resources that you can use at home, at any time of day or night, and not just during Lent but throughout the year. And I hope you will come every Sunday for the rest of this program we are calling “Taste and See: A Spiritual Sampler.” Michelle and Garrett will be providing a potpourri of spiritual tools and resources for you to experience, such as Ignatian prayer, Taize worship, and centering prayer.

Our Wednesday evening program called “Transforming Questions” will be another great opportunity to connect with God and deepen our faith. For the five Wednesday evenings during Lent starting a week from tonight, and picking up again after Easter, we will explore the fundamental issues of our faith as Christians and Episcopalians. Do you ever wonder if it’s okay to have doubts? Or who is Jesus, and why did Jesus have to die? Does God answer prayer?

Why do bad things happen? We are all on a journey, we all have questions, come and learn together.

We also have a special opportunity for Lenten almsgiving. We have all been moved by the plight of millions of refugees streaming out of Syria seeking safe harbor in Europe and elsewhere.

In addition to your usual generous giving to St. Paul’s, I invite you to consider giving to the Syrian Refugee fund of Episcopal Relief and Development this Lent.

We have so many choices during this season of Lent, all spelled out in our announcements and website. You can’t do it all, of course. But as you contemplate how to connect more closely to God, what to give up or take on, how to live a life filled with joy, love, forgiveness, and generosity, start with the basics: worship, and learning more about God.

On Sunday I began my sermon with a quote from Joan Chittister, a feisty Roman Catholic nun full of wisdom and grace. Today I end with her. As you contemplate observing a holy Lent and re-connecting with God, I invite you to ponder Joan’s words:

“Lent is a call to weep for what we could have been and are not. Lent is the grace to grieve for what we should have done and have not. Lent is the opportunity to change what we ought to change but have not. Lent is not about penance. Lent is about becoming, doing and changing whatever it is that is blocking the fullness of life in us right now. Lent is a summons to live life anew.”

Amen.