As we approach the season of Lent, I am always reminded that this season does not get the attention of Advent and Christmas. But the core of the Good News is contained in the time of Jesus’ journey to the cross and his journey from the grave. How appropriate that we begin with Ash Wednesday ….. which is about our ability to stand before our Creator and humbly confess our human nature…..that we are all fallen humans who can only be restored to full humanity by one called Jesus. It is a moment of humility. It is a moment of admitting I have dirt on my face and I no longer choose to hide it. I confess it before the one who can make me clean again. In Luke 18, we read the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector who came to pray. It is a good story to read to prepare ourselves for Lent. Sometimes I need to see myself in the mirror of the Pharisee, as one who comes before God bringing my goodness, my decency, my church attendance, my charitable giving records. I thank God that I am able to do these things and am blinded to how needy I am in simply learning about God. So full of myself, I cannot come empty before God. The dirt on my forehead is well covered with makeup. I am making God happier with me everyday…I am so good.
Then there is the tax collector. “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.” Someone has described the Recovery worshiper as contrasting the Sunday morning worshiper in this way. The typical Sunday morning worshiper is coming as a good person seeking to become better. The Recovery worshiper is saying, “I am dead and I want to be brought back to life.” That is a generalization, but the point is that those times when we are empty, we recognize the power of God. We do not bring our “accomplished goodness” to show God. We are seeking the incredibly grace-filled power and love of a good God. We do not come casually but realize the gravity of our condition and the only One who can heal that condition.
Ash Wednesday is an incredible time of placing ourselves empty before God, allowing the dirt of ash to be placed on our forehead in the shape of a cross. What a statement of God’s power in my dirty and broken life.
We invite you to have dinner in Asbury Hall between 5:30 and 6:15pm. (Reservations are helpful if you do not usually eat there on Wednesdays and a donation of $4.00 is suggested.) There will be an Ash Wednesday worship at 6:30 on March 6 in both the Sanctuary and in Asbury Hall. The styles of worship will follow that which is usual in each space: traditional in the sanctuary and modern/contemporary in Asbury.
Want to give more attention to prayer, the native language of the Christ-follower, during Lent? Find two or three persons willing to meet with you and read a bit of Scripture and pray. Maybe it is at work, or at the gym, or in your home, or over coffee at one of the many places in Maryville for such connecting. I will certainly join you if you ask.
May Lent be a time when we connect with God in new ways, when we connect with each other in Christlike service and conversation, when we allow God to use us to connect new people to Jesus and to 1st United Methodist.
Brenda
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