An Ash Wednesday Prayer and Reflection (adapted from the Ash Wednesday Service at Wilkesboro UMC 3/1/2017)

Opening Prayer:

(adapted from the prayer “Ash Wednesday” by Laurence Hull Stookey, © The United Methodist Publishing House, 1989)

O God, maker of every thing and judge of all that you have made,

We come today remembering our creation.

From the dust of the earth we were made and

We came with the purpose of love and of belonging.

We come today remembering that we were all too soon

Banished from the dust of Eden,

For disobedience and sin had dulled the shine of our created purpose.

Our life now marred by death.

From dust we came and to dust we would return

We come today remembering the altars of sacrifice,

The fires that consumed the sacrificial lambs and cattle,

All in an attempt to make us one with you again.

From the depth of sin,

We long for the ash of those fires to cleanse us and make us new.

We come remembering the dusty stable from which your son emerged,

The ultimate sacrifice to bring us back to you.

He walked the dusty roads bearing witness to your love

And on the mountain of Calvary he was nailed to a cross and died.

We come today remembering that our Christ,

locked within a tomb of dust for 3 days,

Rose and once again walked this earth

Giving witness to your love as he declared

Grace and mercy to all who sin

That we too may rise from the dust of death

And into the glory of eternal life.

From the dust of the earth you have formed us and from the dust of death you would raise us up.

By the redemptive power of the cross, create in us clean hearts and put within us a new spirit, that we may repent of our sins and lead lives worthy of your calling; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.  

Ash Wednesday Reflection:

Ash Wednesday begins our season of Lent: a time of reflection and repentance; a time to cleanse away all that stands between us and our God. It is a time to sacrifice and be washed clean.

For many of us we probably consider ashes as nothing more than a by-product of fire – a waste to be thrown out or scattered. In the bible, however, ashes have an important role in the redemption of God’s people. The sacrificial system that Israel used to cleanse their sins required the burning of animals upon the altar. Naturally this produced ashes which were set aside and used to cleanse those who were unclean. In the stories of the prophets we hear of ashes being used as a symbol of lament, grief, regret, sorrow and pain. Of course, we do not need a sacrificial system any longer because of what Christ did for us on the cross, but that does not take away our need for ashes.

I did a Google search for the use of ashes and came across an interesting article listing 10 common uses for ashes. Four uses stood out to me: De-skunk pets; Control Algae, Make Soap, and Shine Silver

Everyone knows there is nothing worse than the smell of a skunk – it repels us and keeps us from getting close to the offending odor. I can’t help but imagine, as I contemplate the ashes, that our sin has that same stench to God. Our sin repels holiness, the stink of our disobedience cannot be pleasing to God but the ashes of repentance de-skunk our lives and bring us close to God once more.

We live in the south and we know all too well the result of water that is stagnant and un-moving. In the heat of the summer the stagnant water grows algae. Algae can be very damaging and dangerous. It can be poisonous to livestock and humans, deadly to fish, and it can prevent photosynthesis and thus kill native plants and animals. Ash can be used to cleanse the water of Algae. When our souls become stagnant, when the living water of Christ gets dammed up behind self-constructed walls and isn’t allowed to move and flow in our lives, the green algae of sin invades. We can no longer breath in the Holy Spirit. The SON can no longer get through and produce spiritual growth. God is chocked out of our lives. But the ashes of repentance clear away the destructive sin so that the life spring of Christ can flow in our lives again.

Ashes mixed with water creates lye which is used to make soap. Soap cleanses and washes clean. None of us would think of going to a special event or meeting a special person without first taking a bath and washing away the dirt. We want to look our best. Likewise, we cannot dream of coming close to our God still wearing the dirt of our sin. Ashes cleanse us and wash away all that was in order to free us for all that can be.

There are few things more beautiful than the shine of pure silver, and yet, given time and exposure to the elements silver will tarnish. The vibrant glow dulls and what once was beautiful becomes ugly and unusable. Ashes are used to remove tarnish and make silver shine again. We are created to belong to God, to be shining reflections of God in the world, yet given time and exposure to sin our shine is dulled. Our created beauty fades under a sheen of self-damage. But the ashes of repentance can renew that shine, it can take away the damage of the past and restore a shine for the future.

The season of Lent invites you to be cleansed of the smelly, stagnant, dirty, tarnished places of your soul. Receive the ashes of true repentance and begin the 40 day journey of becoming a perfumed, cascading, refreshing, shining, child of the living Christ.

An Invitation to Shine (Sermon based upon Matthew 17:1-9)

Have you ever thought you had something all figured out only to find out later you didn’t? Such was the world of the disciples who first began to follow Jesus. Faithful Jews, they had been taught the ways of God: the laws, the prophetic words, and the promise of a coming Messiah. They thought they had it all figured out…until they met Jesus.

“Who do they say I am?” Jesus asks. Various answers come pouring in but it is Peter who takes the coveted prize of Jesus’ approval when he answers, “You are the Messiah, son of the Living God.” Jesus is so pleased he declares Peter the foundation upon which the church will be built. I bet Peter was proud but he fell off his self-imposed pedestal quite quickly, for no sooner than he had climbed up and settled down Jesus began to teach that he was going to go to Jerusalem where he would suffer greatly and die at the hands of those who would reject him. In an amazingly audacious act Peter pulls Jesus aside and scolds him for making such claims.

(Matthew 16:13-20)

A suffering Messiah? A dead savior? This was not like anything Peter had been taught so he tried to set Jesus straight. His reward this time? He was called Satan and pushed aside.

We all know how that feels, to think we know something only to find out later we didn’t know anything. It makes you question everything. It leaves you confused, fearful, and unsettled. Such was the state of Peter’s heart when today’s lesson picks up …

1 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." 8 And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."  (Matthew 17:1-9, NRSV)

I remember the first time I went repelling with my husband. We were practicing high-level rescue off the 4^th floor roof of a fire-training tower. I had practiced all the elements – tying the knots, laying out the rope system, fashioning a harness – I could do it all. Then came the moment I had to actually repel. I had to actually hang my body over the edge of a 4-story building and trust ropes, knots, and my belay person to get me safely to the ground. Now, I don’t like heights and I didn’t like this one bit but I had to do it to get my certification. So, I made it over the edge but then comes that moment when you have to lay back and trust your equipment to keep you from falling. I made it one step, then I made it two steps, then I realized if I went for the third step I would be at the point of no return – and that is when I began to panic. I looked up into the loving eyes of my husband and said, “I can’t do it. I’m coming back up.” And I will never forget what he did next….he moved to the edge of the roof and I saw one leg come over the edge and I thought, “He is so amazing, he is going to go down with me and make sure I’m ok.” It took me a second to realize the rest of him was not coming over the edge – just his foot – just a big ol boot - which was promptly placed on my forehead as I heard him say, “You aren’t coming back up” and he pushed me to take the third step. It is amazing we are soon celebrating 27 years of marriage considering all the bad things I said about him that day.

Fear, uncertainty, distrust; call it what you will, it can cause us to want to shelter in place where we think things are safe or at least more controllable than moving forward. We tend to want to stay on the roof where we think we have it all figured out.

We can see this all around us, even within The United Methodist Church. We are falling right in line with the rest of the world into the traps of division and polarization. We are being taught to fear and distrust brothers and sisters because we think we have to characterize our fellow believers in the same categories the world insists upon: We must be conservative or liberal, fundamentalist or progressive. We not only use these labels but we allow the labels to become the wall that divides us. If you are “that” you are wrong and I don’t trust anything about you. If you are “that” I am uncertain we have anything in common. If you are “that” then you must now be my enemy. When we do this we allow our fears, uncertainty, and distrust to stifle us from moving forward.

Peter was confident in what he thought he knew. Peter was hanging off the roof, confident of his skill, sure of his knots and systems, trusting all was going to be just fine. Then Jesus arrived with a boot to the forehead and began to unravel some of Peter’s theological knots by challenging everything Peter thought he knew about God’s work through the Messiah.

It was quite a bruising fall. I am sure that as Peter trudged up the mountain with Jesus six days later he was still nursing his wounds but I bet he was also shaken to the core with new uncertainty and fear. Did he really know what was going on? Had he been wrong to trust Jesus? Was he now following some crazy man on a suicide mission?

Once he got to the top of that mountain and looked upon the shining face of Jesus, when he saw the vision of Moses and Elijah there, Peter knew he had not been wrong about who Jesus was. Peter is so excited to be back on sure footing again he wanted to just stay right there. Let’s build condos and move in! If we stay here I don’t have to deal with that suffering Messiah confusion.

Isn’t this always our temptation when faced with a transfiguring and transforming truth that challenges our previously held convictions? We don’t want to admit that our certainties about God just might not be certainties after all. We are much more comfortable settling down right where we feel we know what is going on. Here’s the thing though – Jesus didn’t let Peter stay in that place – and like it or not, if we yield ourselves to Jesus, he won’t let us stay there either.

Yes, we get uncomfortable when we are faced with differing theologies but there are ways to help us find the confidence we need to step out of the shadows of what we have always known and into the shining radiance of a living, breathing experience with God that seeks to shine a new light of understanding. The key, I believe, is in the three phrases uttered upon that mountain.

“Listen to him”

“Get up”

“Do not be afraid”

God tells the three disciples they are to “listen” to Jesus. Folks, this is essential for us as we seek to understand who God is and what God expects of us. We have to listen to Jesus. We do so by committing ourselves certainly to reading scripture and seeking encounters with God in worship but prayer is also an essential key. Starting January 1^st, United Methodists all across the nation have been committing themselves to praying for a way forward for our denomination. What we believe is that we can find unity and a path forward if we all trust that we are seeking to hear what God is saying and will act accordingly. “Listen to Jesus” means we have to push aside our own ideas and expectations, just like Peter did, and listen with open minds and hearts to what Jesus is trying to teach us. If Peter had his way there might never have been a cross of salvation and a resurrection of eternal life. Sometimes what we think we know can do more damage than good.

It strikes me as odd that when the disciples hear this command they fall to their knees in fear. Is listening to Jesus really that terrifying? It is when the things Jesus says challenge our own belief systems. Jesus understands this though. Jesus understands how hard it is to face truth when we have been so comfortable in our misunderstandings. So he gently touches his disciples and says, “Get up and do not be afraid.”

Hanging off the edge of a 4-story building, I thought Tim would be my savior. Instead he literally booted me into the place of my deepest fear. The thing is, Tim was confident in my safety. He had tied those knots himself; he had double-checked everything personally. He knew that I was going to be safe – even if I didn’t. Because he trusted in my future wellbeing he was able to thrust me into my fear instead of helping me avoid it.

When the disciples heard Jesus’ call for courage they looked up and saw all that was left was Jesus. Jesus himself alone, Matthew says. Except he wasn’t alone was he – he was with Peter, James and John – and together they walked down that mountain to face a world of suffering, rejection, division and pain…but they would not face uncertainty for in the shine of their Savior’s face they knew one truth above all others. God was with them, and brothers and sisters, God is with us as well.

On the website for the Pray our Way Forward initiative someone wrote: “If there is ever a place where we can be one, it’s in the space where we meet God.”

Let us enter that space together as we pray. I offer this prayer written by  colleague Rev. Amy Vaughan.

The Climb

O Lord,

Even as we struggle

And groan under this crust of frozen earth

Your steadfast love measures each step.

Lead us as we re‐imagine

Transformation

Balanced within

Unity,

New forms

Living in

Holy Places.

As we climb mountains,

And the air grows thin,

May we be reminded to listen with Our eyes and our hearts.

You are the rope that we grasp,

The solid footing on which we stand,

And the broad horizon we will see

When this veil of our own self‐made fog clears.

Lead us, again, as we,

Brother and sister,

Make our way,

Hand in hand

To see together

The way forward.

Tough Love (Sermon based upon Matthew 5:38-48)

This past week, we celebrated Valentine’s Day. This day has become of symbol of love filled with red hearts, candy, flowers and gifts. From the time we are little kids, we get in on the action by taking the “Be Mine” valentines to hand out to our classmates. I still remember getting excited about Valentine’s Day in elementary school because I would get that little slip of paper from the popular kids, who otherwise never gave me the time of day, and, for just a moment, I could feel wanted. “Be mine” – as a child that was all it took to give me hope. 

The invitation to belong – to be loved – is something we all strive for but as we get older we realize love is never as easy as we’d like to think. Jesus spent much of his time issuing an invitation to “be mine” as he sought to show us that we are loved and wanted by God. Jesus also taught us that love is essential to who we are as Christians…

We find our call to be love in scripture

            For God so loved the world…(John 3:16)

            1 Corinthians 13 Love is patient. Love is King. Love is not

boastful, envious or rude.

We find our call to be love in song

            “For they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our

love. Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”

(Our Faith We Sing 2223)

We find it in our missions and ministries

            We name our churches Love’s Chapel, or our missions

Agape Ministries

Love is supposed to be who we are so we must follow Jesus in such a way as to reflect the love of Jesus to the world around us. Jesus reminds us, however, in the Sermon on the Mount, that love is never as easy as we’d like to think.

Matthew 5:38 "You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; 40 and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; 41 and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. 42 Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. 43 "You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

I think we can all admit to the first question that pops into our head here…. “Is he serious?” Is Jesus truly serious about not retaliating when we are abused, assaulted, and oppressed? Maybe for just a moment, your mind flashed a picture of Jesus in Pilate’s courtyard. He is battered, bleeding, humiliated, and stands silently as false witness is given and he is condemned to die. Is Jesus serious about the kind of love he just preached? I think it is safe to say he is. He is serious enough to die on love's behalf. 

Our mind may still reel for a way out. After all, we are not the Messiah so surely he isn’t calling us to do the same. He can’t really be calling us to be run over by the world, give away all our possessions and be seen as weak? Well, it is kind of a yes and no answer. No, he doesn’t expect us to be weak, run over, and passive. Yes, he does expect us to love in ways that are radically different than what the world teaches.

See, I don’t think Jesus intends for us to take this teaching literally; he doesn’t expect us to go around naked, abused, and penniless. He does, however, want us to take love serious in terms of how we respond to a world that is always out to serve self rather than other.

Let’s look at it this way…

“The first 10 amendments to the Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. Written by James Madison in response to calls from several states for greater constitutional protection for individual liberties, the Bill of Rights lists specific prohibitions on governmental power.” (Bill of Rights)

As Americans, we understand and highly value our rights as citizens of this nation. So, let’s step back to look at the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel had laws that we could say served as a version of a bill of rights. The glaring difference being that Moses, not Madison, declared these laws on God’s bequest. Nevertheless, there were laws that were set in place that established a person’s rights and placed limits on their ability to exceed those rights in ways that were unjust.

For example: You had the right to retaliate against someone for harming you. “You have heard it said an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” The limitation being if someone caused you to lose an eye you weren’t allowed to then take both their eyes or their life, you could only take one eye. Equality.

You had the right to seek justice. You could certainly take someone to court and demand payment for a wrong.

You had the right to a limitation of government interference. This of course was not a law from Moses but it was a law in effect during Jesus’ life. For example, a Roman-occupying soldier had the right to demand of any citizen that they carry the soldiers heavy equipment for them as a service. The law, however, limited that service to no more than one mile. In that way the citizen couldn’t be enslaved or abused.

Jesus has laid out for his disciples examples of the “rights” afforded to them by the law. Then he drops the bombshell of the toughest love requirements we can imagine: Give up those rights for the sake of love.

You have the right to retaliate a slap in the face, I say, give up that right and turn the other cheek.

You have a right to limitations on justice and not lose everything in court but I say, offer everything anyway.

You have a right to limit what you do for others, but I say, go the extra mile for those who seek to control you.

On the surface this loves doesn’t sound so attractive does it? It sounds like it is calling us to be weak, but look again.

In truth, what Jesus is asking of his disciples is a radical, confident boldness that defies anything the world has ever seen. What he is actually saying is stand tall and confident as Children of God who live under the authority of God, an authority that exceeds all authority of man or government.

Let’s look at it this way…

Jesus specifies a slap to the right cheek is not to be retaliated, but instead we offer the left check as well. If you are facing someone and intend to strike them most of us would be hitting the person’s left cheek. The only way to strike the right cheek is to backhand them, which is not intended to injure but to demean or insult. Someone who thinks they have authority and power over you would strike you this way. Jesus says, however, to turn the left cheek to them as if to say, “Go ahead and hit me but hit me like an equal.”

                       

If someone wants to take you to court and take what is yours say, “Take it all, I don’t need anything beyond what my God provides.”

If someone says they have the authority to force you to walk a mile? Say, “I will walk on my own terms, let’s walk two.”

Is Jesus calling us to be rebels? In a way, but his is also teaching us about loving resistance to abuses of power. How do we know this? He says so in verses 43-44: "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,’”

Loving resistance that benefits the very enemy we are standing up to. Wow. How radically brilliant! Lest we be tempted to say, “but Jesus doesn’t get our enemy today…or Jesus doesn’t understand how undeserving my enemy is.” Well, let’s stop and remember that we don’t really deserve Jesus’ love and grace either but he loves us enough to bless us with both no matter how hard hearted we are.

Look what Jesus says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.”

Here is another hard teaching but hear it anyway – Jesus loves your enemy as much as he loves you. Fact. He said it. If we are to love as our Christ we too must love our enemy as much as we love our self.

Jesus says, be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. This is our last bit of teaching, and this is important: Perfect doesn’t mean without blemish or mistake or fault. It is too easy to dismiss the call to “perfection” by saying no one can be perfect but Jesus. So, we must remember Jesus spoke a different language and sometimes meanings are lost in translation.

The word for “perfect” in the Greek language of the Gospels is telos and it means: to reach your intended outcome. I love how Dr. David Lose explains it, “The telos of an archers arrow is to reach its target…the telos of a peach tree is to bear a peach. What Jesus is saying is, be who God created you to be. Be the person for whom Christ died. Be Christ’s love for all the world, neighbors and enemies alike.”

The invitation to love is beautiful but as Jesus shows us, it is a lot tougher than we’d like to think.