Hey guys, we could probably wait another 15 or
20 minutes waiting for them to finish. You guys
mind if I go ahead and start? Okay, then let
us begin. In fear, but also in hope, we will
depart from here with ashes on our foreheads.
The planet is dying in our hands. People turn
to each other for food and strength, only to
be shoved away. Each day we deal in death, yet
we pretend we're not. We're good people. So let's
take these 40 days to look hard at our so -called
goodness, see what it covers up. Then we will
join together in taking up the cross, living
in the world as it is, for there is only one
earth. And as far as we know, only one human
race. That as Christians, we might start using
our hands, our feet, our money, our time and
energy for the good of the poor. Let us pray
to the Lord. That citizens everywhere will realize
that care for their neighbor consisted more than
the mere giving of money. May we pray to the
Lord. For all of us here, that we will be honest
enough to admit what those things are we're selfish
about. And what we can do to remedy our lack
of love. Let us pray to the Lord. Let's pray.
Most holy and merciful God, we confess to you
and to one another, to the whole communion of
saints in heaven on earth, that we have sinned
by our own fault in thought and word and deed,
by what we have done, by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with all of our heart and
mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors
as ourselves. We have not forgiven others as
we have been forgiven. So we confess to you,
O God, all of our past unfaithfulness, the pride,
the hypocrisy, and the impatience of our lives.
For all false judgments, for charitable thoughts,
uncharitable thoughts towards our neighbors,
for our prejudice and contempt towards those
who might differ from us, for our waste and pollution
of your creation and our lack of concern for
those who might come after us, accept our repentance,
O God. Restore us and let your anger depart from
us. Favorably hear from us, O God, for your mercy
truly is great. Amen. So, my little homily and
then we'll do the imposition of the ashes. Noah,
I have to always just ask, could you help with
holding communion tonight? Thanks. So. You're
driving down your local highway and it is in
the dead of winter and you see a patch of ice
coming up. You grip the wheel and you think back
to driver's ed and whatever Mr. What's -his -name
taught you about curve negotiation and threshold
braking. You hit the ice and go into a slight
spin. Okay. Do you hit the brakes or do you not
hit the brakes? Do you turn the wheel in the
direction of the skid or... in counter direction.
Doesn't matter. By now, your end of the guardrail
in the front of your car looks like overcooked
rigatoni. Maybe, maybe it wasn't your driving.
Those new expensive snow tires failed to grip
the road as much as they were supposed to. Maybe,
maybe if your cell phone hadn't rang. Why didn't
the highway crews get some sand or some magnesium
chloride on these roads like they're supposed
to? And you know what's coming next. The insurance
company is going to hang you out to dry. So when
you go to your mailbox a few weeks later, you're
expecting a letter of extortion from your insurance
company. When you open it, you're expecting there's
going to be a hefty increase to your premiums.
sound familiar son only there's not the letter
inexplicably says something like gee sorry you
had an accident well they do happen no worries
though we're going to keep your premium just
the same just be more careful next time good
news you bet that's exactly what some insurance
agencies are doing these days it's called accident
And it's one of the hottest marketing tools in
the insurance industry today. If you have a new
policy, a clean driving record, for any at -fault
accident, meaning that it's your fault you hit
someone or something, that fender bender might
not cost you a big hit on your insurance bill.
As far as they're concerned, it never happened.
At least this once. do happen out there on the
road. And the assurance of insurance is absolutely
a good thing. It's a relief to get forgiveness
when we probably don't deserve it. If a big impersonal
insurance company can offer us grace, imagine
what kind of grace God might offer us if we have
a moral crash. And what if that crash wasn't
an accident. What happens to us spiritually when
our failure to stay on the road God has set for
us isn't an accident but an actual at -fault
transgression? What kind of forgiveness can we
expect then? A classic biblical case can be found
in 2 Samuel chapter 11. When King David viewed
Bathsheba bathing on a rooftop, the impending
collision of an adulterous affair afterwards
was no mere moral fender bender. His deception,
attempted cover -up, and the de facto murder
of Bathsheba's husband Uriah are evidence that
David never ever touched his ethical or spiritual
breaks in the situation. His lust clouded his
vision to the point he swerved out of his lane
and head on into oncoming traffic, crashing in
the same way his spiritual ancestors, Adam and
Eve, had so many generations before. He preferred
to listen to his own voice rather than the voice
of God. It's popular in some circles these days
to see sin as merely a series of mistakes or
accidents biblically speaking however sin is
more often about a choice god provides the law
as a means of defining boundaries and we choose
whether or not to violate those boundaries at
our own risk but sin is not merely a legal violation
of divine law like speeding or running a red
light the reason that sin is so destructive is
that it breaks our relationship with God. And
broken relationships aren't fixed by simply filling
out the paperwork, paying the fine. When we fail
to maintain a right relationship with God, we
need nothing less than a complete new beginning.
We need God's forgiveness. But first, we need
to be clear exactly what forgiveness means. In
their book, The Faces of Forgiveness, the authors
Leron Schultz and Stephen Sandage identify at
least three different ways we can define it.
One definition is forensic or legal forgiveness,
the kind that your insurance company wants to
give you or the kind that involves a debt being
erased. This kind of forgiveness is, as the authors
state, a transaction in which one party agrees
not to exact what the law requires. This kind
of forgiveness is situational, and it may be
limited, just like our insurance policies, to
one particular incident. Your insurance company
forgives your momentary lapse in ability to drive
a car and won't raise your rates. This time.
Back into your neighbor's car the next month,
and you'll see how far the whole 70 times 7 forgiveness
bit gets you with your insurance company. Second
definition of forgiveness connects it with a
therapeutic benefit. Forgiveness in this sense
is a process by which the offended party is motivated
to become less vengeful, avoidant. and more benevolent
towards the wrongdoer. Forgiveness, in this instance,
is about releasing the claim over the offender
and moving forward in a different direction.
This kind of forgiveness, like the legal kind,
is also limited. It also doesn't necessarily
bring any reconciliation nor restoration of a
broken relationship. That requires a whole different
level of forgiveness. that only God can offer.
One of the classic liturgical parts of Scripture
for Good Friday is Psalm 51. The reason why Psalm
51 is particularly salient at Ash Wednesday is
it's attributed to David after this affair with
Bathsheba. The heartfelt cry of the psalm certainly
reflects his heart in those days of failure.
He wasn't seeking a free pass for a mere mistake
that he had made, nor was he just wanting God
to withhold righteous anger and judgment while
the king and his God went their separate ways.
David was seeking nothing less than a restoration
of the most important relationship in his life.
He was seeking what these authors call redemptive
forgiveness. When David was confronted by the
prophet in 2 Samuel chapter 12, David comes to
a heartbreaking realization that his sin was
against the Lord. And this realization is echoed
in the 51st Psalm, which says, Against you and
you alone I have sinned and done what is evil
in your sight, so that you are justified in your
sentence and you are blameless when you pass
your judgment upon me. Your insurance company
has a long memory when it comes to your last
patch of ice. The psalmist asked God not only
to forget this one incident, but rather wipe
the whole slate clean. This is the difference
between the good hands people and the hands of
God. Because the insurance company does in fact
look at your driving record. Is it good or is
it bad? God, on the other hand, doesn't bother
to look at your record. You know why? Because
God already knows your driving record is bad.
That's why in verse 1 of the 51st Psalm, David
has his plea to blot out my transgressions. And
the repeated references to cleansing throughout
the Psalm are evident. of an assurance of God's
redemptive forgiveness that will extend far beyond
just that last sinful act. We have to recognize,
however, The purpose of God's forgiveness is
not simple absolution, waiting, just awaiting
for that next time that we're going to sin. No,
redemptive forgiveness is about clearing the
way for a new, renewed relationship to take place,
a relationship where the joy of God's salvation
wins out over the self -serving pleasures of
sin. We receive God's grace not as a license
to sin even more, just knowing that we'll be
forgiven, No, grace and forgiveness are about
transformation, about a willing spirit to change
a broken spirit that recognizes constant dependence
upon God. Redemptive forgiveness enables us to
move in a new direction where sin is not the
driver's seat of our lives. The beginning of
this Lenten season is the perfect time. to knock
out the dings and dents we've received as a result
of our reckless living. It's a time to humbly
place God in the driver's seat and to work on
the disciplines that we know will help us grow
in our relationship with God. It is a time for
confession, for repentance, for asking God to
redeem us. It is also the time to offer God's
redemptive forgiveness to others as we sing aloud
of God's deliverance in our own lives. God's
grace, unfortunately, like the insurance company,
is not a one -shot deal, but rather it's an offer
of a lifetime of salvation. Is there any better
news that can be better than that? Amen. Please
pray with me. Oh, God, bless these ashes, a symbol
of our shared commitment to walking in your ways.
We offer to you our hopes, our habits, our time.
We offer to you our very lives. Enter into each
person as a church that we might seek to live
out our commitments to you within this commitment
of faith. Amen. In Deuteronomy chapter 6, God
invites the people to take his words and bind
them on their hands and to mark them on their
foreheads, to write them on their doorposts and
gates. Tonight, we will mark our foreheads with
our shared commitments. This is a reminder to
us that we are marked by God, and that this is
an outward symbol representing the word of God
written on our hearts. The ashes also serve us
as a reminder of the frailty of our human existence.
They remind us that truly we were formed of dust,
and it is to dust we shall return. They're a
symbol of our connection to the earth that it,
like God, supports and sustains life. And it,
like God, will hold us in our death. The ashes
are a symbol of our death to self so that we
may be more fully alive in Christ and alive in
God. Therefore, at this point, we invite you
forward to receive the blessing of the ashes
and to partake in communion as we close the service
this evening.