Ash Wednesday, March 8, 2000
On this day we begin the season of Lent. It is
good to keep the season in perspective. Lent is first and foremost
about reconciliation. It is about being reconciled with God and
with each other. It is of utmost importance. It is a season when
deep questions are to be pondered and answered. It is not for
the weak or faint hearted. It is not to be attempted apart from
the grace of God.
Lent is a tithe of our time and energy. We take about one-tenth of the year and devote it to serious consideration about who we are, what we are about, where we are succeeding and where we are failing. And having looked at all this, perhaps feeling keenly our own weakness, perhaps acutely aware of our sinfulness, we are asked to turn and look at the Lord. And if we have the courage to look, Jesus' eyes will simply and softly say, "I love you."
On this day we hear about the Day of the Lord. A day of darkness and gloom. A fearsome day. But we also hear about [the Lord our God who] "is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and [who] relents from punishing." (Ps 103)
On this day we hear how tender is our God, like a father caring for his children. (Ps 103) We hear, too, that our God judges not by appearance—as the world might—but by the love we have in our hearts. (Mark) And even when that love falls short, even when our best efforts fall short, he will not deal with us according to our sins, but with his never failing, never exhausted, compassion and mercy. (Ps 103) If we have the courage to turn and look into God's eyes we will discover the depth and tenderness of his love.
After today we will hear how Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days. There in quiet and prayer and fasting he sought to answer what it meant to be Jesus. Who was he, what was he to become. In our forty day journey, beginning today, we are to ask ourselves the same questions. We are to ask these questions, as I say, within the grace and presence of God's compassion and mercy.
Our questions may sound something like these proposed by Frederick Buechner.
If you had to bet everything you have on whether there is a God or whether there isn't, which side would get your money and why?
When you look at your face in the mirror, what do you see in it that you most like and what do you see in it that you most deplore?
If you had only one last message to leave to the handful of people who are most important to you, what would it be in twenty-five words or less?
Of all the things you have done in your life, which is the one you would most like to undo? Which is the one that makes you happiest to remember?
Is there any person in the world, or any cause, that, if circumstances called for it, you would be willing to die for?
If this were the last day of your life, what would you do with it?
In the spirit of Lent, in the light of the readings we have just heard, Buechner suggests that
to hear yourself try to answer questions like these is to begin to hear something not only of who you are but of both what you are becoming and what you are failing to become. It can be a pretty depressing business in all, but if sackcloth and ashes are at the start of it, something like Easter may be at the end. (1)
This can all be summed up in a handful of words, a sermon given by an anonymous nine-year old girl. When speaking to Dr. Robert Cole who was doing research for his book The Spiritual Life of Children she wanted to set him straight on a few things; and I believe God wanted to illuminate our Lenten observances. Here is what she said:
When you're put here, it's for a reason. The Lord wants you to do something. If you don't know what, then you've got to try hard to find out what. It may take time. You may make mistakes. But if you pray, He'll lead you to your direction. He won't hand you a piece of paper with a map on it, no sir. He'll whisper something, and at first you may not even hear, but if you have trust in Him and you keep turning to Him, it will be all right. (2)
If sackcloth and ashes are at the start of it, have trust in Him, keep turning to Him, it will be all right, something like Easter will surely be at the end. Amen.
The Rev. Daniel Rondeau
drondeau@stmargarets.org
08 March 2000
(1) Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking (Harper & Row, 1973), pp. 74-75 quoted in Synthesis, February 16, 1994.
(2) The New York Times Book Review (Nov. 25, 1990), p. 29 quoted in Synthesis, February 13, 1991.