Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday

February 22, 2012

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church

The Rev. Valerie Ann Hart

Paul writes, “Now is the acceptable time.” Now!

And Joel the prophet, who like all the prophets that said God was unhappy with the way the Israelites were living, tells them that even now, if you turn around, even now, right now, if we change, repent, things could be different.

Now! That now is such a strong word, especially for those of us who are procrastinators. What it is saying is that now is the time. The paper you’ve been putting off writing is due now. The job you haven’t finished is due now.  The phone call you’ve been meaning to make needs to be done now. There is no time. It is right now! Because the truth is, that all we have is now.

For Ash Wednesday after my sermon I will bless ashes and put them on each person’s forehead. Each time I put them on I will say, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” I will do that with those who are older, with those who are in mid-life, and to the children who come forward.

It is a reminder that this body, in the not too distant future, will be dust. On Ash Wednesday I sometimes think about the people I have come to love here at St. Barnabas who are now dust in the memorial garden.

Remember that you are dust. Like the flowers in the field that are here today and dust tomorrow. It is sobering. It reminds us of our mortality. And the church every year has this service so that no one forgets, that everyone remembers, that all we really have is now. Some of us here may live 50, 60, 70 more years. Some may die in a year, some in a month, maybe some won’t make it through the night. None of us know.

All we have is now. And what are we to do now? Paul tells us that what we are to do now is to be reconciled to God - to be reconciled. Reconciliation means being in a right relationship. And relationship is really what sin is about. Sin is about not living in a right relationship. Not living in right relationship with God. Not living in right relationship with other people. Or not living in right relationship with yourself.

So tonight, at the beginning of Lent we are reminded that now is the time to get things right. Now is the time to reflect upon our relationships and see what needs to change. Who needs to be contacted? Do you have a brother or sister you haven’t spoken with who needs a call, or a neighbor that you had a fight with and you need to make up with?

Or perhaps you are not in right relationship with yourself. I have noticed that most of the time when people say that they are going to give something up for Lent the thing they are giving up for Lent is something they really should be giving up for the rest of their lives. Except of course chocolate.

You know, “I’m going to give up smoking for lent.” Good start! You are not in right relationship with yourself if you are hurting yourself. Now is the time to look at whether you are treating yourself the way you would want to treat others. If you are working too much, now is the time to reconsider. If you find yourself sitting around too much, now is the time to start walking. If you are ignoring feelings, now is the time to understand them and express them. If you find yourself in a situation that is not healthy for you, now is the time to love yourself and be in right relationship with you.

Now is time for reconciliation with God. The wonderful thing about reconciliation with God is that God longs for that relationship even more than you do. Remember the story of the prodigal son who takes half of his father’s estate and throws it all away and turns around and comes back. All he has to do is take a few steps toward home and his father is running to him. All we need to do is turn around a little bit toward God. Make a first step, a first effort to be reconciled to God, and God runs to meet us. Because of God’s mercy. That is what is talked about in the psalm and that we just read about in Joel, “Because God is a merciful God. Slow to anger and quick to forgive.”

I started out by talking about our mortality, and the service begins with ashes and the fact that we are mortal, at least our bodies are mortal. But the service ends with the Eucharist, with the Holy Communion, in which we remember that Christ died for us so that we will never die. That some part of us lives that is beyond the dust that makes up our bodies. We remember that in God’s mercy and God’s love, we are promised not just forgiveness but everlasting life.

Now, right now, is the right time to be reconciled to God and your neighbor and yourself.