Ash Wednesday

What follows is the text which I shared during Ash Wednesday worship this year. What came out of my mouth was not exactly what you see, and what came into the ears of the hearers was even more vastly different ... such is the nature of homilies/sermons, that G-d's Holy Spirit works in the space between speaking and hearing. 

***

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God,
      and from our Savior Jesus the Christ. Amen
 Today, in stark ways, we’re reminded of our mortality – ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
      As we collect ourselves together as community, we’re reminded that none of us,
            not one,
      will escape that return to dust.
 Those who are older,
            and those who are sick in significant ways
      will likely return to dust sooner than the young and healthy.
But even that’s not always the case –
      we all probably know of young and healthy people
            who well before they should have.
 The truth is that, no matter who we are,
      each of us even in this moment is approaching the ashes,
            the ‘ashes to ashes’ ashes,
                  and also the ashes here in worship
      and we approach ashes together –
            old and the young together;
            ill and the well together;
            parents and children together.
 The mark on our forehead, which we’ll receive in a few moments,
       serves as a stark reminder that the wages of sin is death –
            we are dust, and to dust we shall return.
      And at the same time,
            the dusty mark on our forehead that we’ll receive
                  traces the seal of the Holy Spirit,
                        which always is there on our forehead, ever a reminder of our baptism.
 So we approach the ashes today, and we approach our God,
            claiming the promise of our baptism;
 and we approach our God echoing the psalmist:
      Have mercy, O God,
            according to your steadfast love,
            your abundant mercy
      we know we transgress and trespass
            sin, and fall short of God’s glory
 Today we’ll approach this altar twice
      once, to be reminded of our mortality
            our sin, our brokenness and our need for God’s mercy
 and a second time to receive into our very bodies
      the promise of wholeness
            and of forgiveness & mercy
                  and of new life
 Blessings to you, and to all of us, as we enter this holy season.
      May we encounter God in new and surprising places and ways.
 In the name of Christ. Amen

excerpts from last night's homily

In the room where they gathered for the passover feast
a meal eaten in haste
reminding them of the freedom
to which God had led their ancestors
they are drawn into freedom once again
but it's not the freedom we in this country yearn for
it's not the freedom to live where you want
or to say whatever comes into your mind
it's not the freedom to denigrate one another in the public sphere
or the freedom to pursue personal satisfaction at the expense of our neighbor
it's not the freedom to satisfy every whim and desire
to the point of bankrupting ourselves and our children

it's a freedom that doesn't make any sense
it's a freedom that is born of service to neighbor
it's a freedom that we cannot understand until we experience it
and even then, we may not understand


the grace of freedom did not happen in the past
it did not happen on the cross
or from the empty tomb a couple days later
it's right now, here, today
in a meal of bread and wine
body and blood


God turns the world upside-down
and this week we enter into
God's upside-down world
a world of power made known in sacrifice
strength made known in weakness
life made known in death

Healing / Wholeness

healing
we search for healing
we think of
doctors
nurses
prescriptions
the gift of
the practice of
medicine -
vaccines and ultrasound
scans and surgeries -
grow out of the
God-given gift of
knowledge build on knowledge
genius informing experience
informing genius knowledge
of how to piece back together
body and mind

but sometimes,
healing doesn't come quickly enough
sometimes healing doesn't come on our schedule
sometimes doesn't come according to our plan

sometimes, the healing we want
never comes

unfortunately, in our life
we may never escape
a broken body

but in faith,
though we may never escape
our illness
- at least, as we seek escape through medicine

though we may never
escape illness
wholeness most certainly is possible
even while illness remains

wholeness,
and resultant
spiritual health,
are gift from G-d
G-d, who endured the shame of death
divine body broken, unhealed
G-d, who endured pain and death
in order that we would know
the wholeness of resurrection
the wholeness of new life
even now,
whether or not medicine is any help

though illness may remain
G-d gives wholeness
through divine
and unmerited
grace