WEBVTT 00:00:04.339 --> 00:00:07.160 Hey guys, we could probably wait another 15 or 00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:09.019 20 minutes waiting for them to finish. You guys 00:00:09.019 --> 00:00:12.539 mind if I go ahead and start? Okay, then let 00:00:12.539 --> 00:00:17.300 us begin. In fear, but also in hope, we will 00:00:17.300 --> 00:00:19.780 depart from here with ashes on our foreheads. 00:00:20.339 --> 00:00:23.679 The planet is dying in our hands. People turn 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:25.440 to each other for food and strength, only to 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:28.660 be shoved away. Each day we deal in death, yet 00:00:28.660 --> 00:00:32.619 we pretend we're not. We're good people. So let's 00:00:32.619 --> 00:00:35.899 take these 40 days to look hard at our so -called 00:00:35.899 --> 00:00:40.000 goodness, see what it covers up. Then we will 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:42.659 join together in taking up the cross, living 00:00:42.659 --> 00:00:44.719 in the world as it is, for there is only one 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:47.619 earth. And as far as we know, only one human 00:00:47.619 --> 00:00:51.679 race. That as Christians, we might start using 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:54.259 our hands, our feet, our money, our time and 00:00:54.259 --> 00:00:57.060 energy for the good of the poor. Let us pray 00:00:57.060 --> 00:01:00.740 to the Lord. That citizens everywhere will realize 00:01:00.740 --> 00:01:03.619 that care for their neighbor consisted more than 00:01:03.619 --> 00:01:06.319 the mere giving of money. May we pray to the 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:11.420 Lord. For all of us here, that we will be honest 00:01:11.420 --> 00:01:16.680 enough to admit what those things are we're selfish 00:01:16.680 --> 00:01:19.840 about. And what we can do to remedy our lack 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:24.620 of love. Let us pray to the Lord. Let's pray. 00:01:25.949 --> 00:01:28.569 Most holy and merciful God, we confess to you 00:01:28.569 --> 00:01:30.510 and to one another, to the whole communion of 00:01:30.510 --> 00:01:33.650 saints in heaven on earth, that we have sinned 00:01:33.650 --> 00:01:36.150 by our own fault in thought and word and deed, 00:01:36.230 --> 00:01:39.769 by what we have done, by what we have left undone. 00:01:40.870 --> 00:01:43.109 We have not loved you with all of our heart and 00:01:43.109 --> 00:01:46.129 mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors 00:01:46.129 --> 00:01:49.909 as ourselves. We have not forgiven others as 00:01:49.909 --> 00:01:54.049 we have been forgiven. So we confess to you, 00:01:54.090 --> 00:01:57.829 O God, all of our past unfaithfulness, the pride, 00:01:57.950 --> 00:02:01.650 the hypocrisy, and the impatience of our lives. 00:02:02.650 --> 00:02:05.609 For all false judgments, for charitable thoughts, 00:02:05.810 --> 00:02:07.810 uncharitable thoughts towards our neighbors, 00:02:07.969 --> 00:02:10.770 for our prejudice and contempt towards those 00:02:10.770 --> 00:02:14.189 who might differ from us, for our waste and pollution 00:02:14.189 --> 00:02:16.830 of your creation and our lack of concern for 00:02:16.830 --> 00:02:20.229 those who might come after us, accept our repentance, 00:02:20.430 --> 00:02:25.960 O God. Restore us and let your anger depart from 00:02:25.960 --> 00:02:30.599 us. Favorably hear from us, O God, for your mercy 00:02:30.599 --> 00:02:37.120 truly is great. Amen. So, my little homily and 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:39.620 then we'll do the imposition of the ashes. Noah, 00:02:39.659 --> 00:02:41.840 I have to always just ask, could you help with 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:47.460 holding communion tonight? Thanks. So. You're 00:02:47.460 --> 00:02:49.919 driving down your local highway and it is in 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:52.479 the dead of winter and you see a patch of ice 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:56.139 coming up. You grip the wheel and you think back 00:02:56.139 --> 00:02:59.419 to driver's ed and whatever Mr. What's -his -name 00:02:59.419 --> 00:03:02.900 taught you about curve negotiation and threshold 00:03:02.900 --> 00:03:07.460 braking. You hit the ice and go into a slight 00:03:07.460 --> 00:03:11.360 spin. Okay. Do you hit the brakes or do you not 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:13.620 hit the brakes? Do you turn the wheel in the 00:03:13.620 --> 00:03:17.520 direction of the skid or... in counter direction. 00:03:18.300 --> 00:03:21.199 Doesn't matter. By now, your end of the guardrail 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:23.919 in the front of your car looks like overcooked 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:29.400 rigatoni. Maybe, maybe it wasn't your driving. 00:03:29.780 --> 00:03:33.300 Those new expensive snow tires failed to grip 00:03:33.300 --> 00:03:35.699 the road as much as they were supposed to. Maybe, 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:39.759 maybe if your cell phone hadn't rang. Why didn't 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:42.719 the highway crews get some sand or some magnesium 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:44.979 chloride on these roads like they're supposed 00:03:44.979 --> 00:03:50.960 to? And you know what's coming next. The insurance 00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:56.740 company is going to hang you out to dry. So when 00:03:56.740 --> 00:03:59.340 you go to your mailbox a few weeks later, you're 00:03:59.340 --> 00:04:02.699 expecting a letter of extortion from your insurance 00:04:02.699 --> 00:04:06.120 company. When you open it, you're expecting there's 00:04:06.120 --> 00:04:08.599 going to be a hefty increase to your premiums. 00:04:08.990 --> 00:04:14.449 sound familiar son only there's not the letter 00:04:14.449 --> 00:04:18.149 inexplicably says something like gee sorry you 00:04:18.149 --> 00:04:21.050 had an accident well they do happen no worries 00:04:21.050 --> 00:04:23.990 though we're going to keep your premium just 00:04:23.990 --> 00:04:28.829 the same just be more careful next time good 00:04:28.829 --> 00:04:33.990 news you bet that's exactly what some insurance 00:04:33.990 --> 00:04:36.709 agencies are doing these days it's called accident 00:04:37.589 --> 00:04:40.410 And it's one of the hottest marketing tools in 00:04:40.410 --> 00:04:42.410 the insurance industry today. If you have a new 00:04:42.410 --> 00:04:47.569 policy, a clean driving record, for any at -fault 00:04:47.569 --> 00:04:50.410 accident, meaning that it's your fault you hit 00:04:50.410 --> 00:04:54.850 someone or something, that fender bender might 00:04:54.850 --> 00:04:57.170 not cost you a big hit on your insurance bill. 00:04:57.189 --> 00:05:00.209 As far as they're concerned, it never happened. 00:05:01.290 --> 00:05:06.459 At least this once. do happen out there on the 00:05:06.459 --> 00:05:11.540 road. And the assurance of insurance is absolutely 00:05:11.540 --> 00:05:16.279 a good thing. It's a relief to get forgiveness 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:22.100 when we probably don't deserve it. If a big impersonal 00:05:22.100 --> 00:05:26.120 insurance company can offer us grace, imagine 00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:28.699 what kind of grace God might offer us if we have 00:05:28.699 --> 00:05:34.959 a moral crash. And what if that crash wasn't 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:42.720 an accident. What happens to us spiritually when 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:46.519 our failure to stay on the road God has set for 00:05:46.519 --> 00:05:50.339 us isn't an accident but an actual at -fault 00:05:50.339 --> 00:05:55.259 transgression? What kind of forgiveness can we 00:05:55.259 --> 00:06:00.579 expect then? A classic biblical case can be found 00:06:00.579 --> 00:06:04.540 in 2 Samuel chapter 11. When King David viewed 00:06:04.540 --> 00:06:07.819 Bathsheba bathing on a rooftop, the impending 00:06:07.819 --> 00:06:11.379 collision of an adulterous affair afterwards 00:06:11.379 --> 00:06:17.339 was no mere moral fender bender. His deception, 00:06:17.540 --> 00:06:22.139 attempted cover -up, and the de facto murder 00:06:22.139 --> 00:06:26.879 of Bathsheba's husband Uriah are evidence that 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:30.860 David never ever touched his ethical or spiritual 00:06:30.860 --> 00:06:34.959 breaks in the situation. His lust clouded his 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:37.160 vision to the point he swerved out of his lane 00:06:37.160 --> 00:06:41.339 and head on into oncoming traffic, crashing in 00:06:41.339 --> 00:06:45.160 the same way his spiritual ancestors, Adam and 00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:51.800 Eve, had so many generations before. He preferred 00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:55.000 to listen to his own voice rather than the voice 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:59.240 of God. It's popular in some circles these days 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:02.540 to see sin as merely a series of mistakes or 00:07:02.540 --> 00:07:06.819 accidents biblically speaking however sin is 00:07:06.819 --> 00:07:11.519 more often about a choice god provides the law 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:14.540 as a means of defining boundaries and we choose 00:07:14.540 --> 00:07:19.600 whether or not to violate those boundaries at 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:24.540 our own risk but sin is not merely a legal violation 00:07:24.540 --> 00:07:27.759 of divine law like speeding or running a red 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:30.870 light the reason that sin is so destructive is 00:07:30.870 --> 00:07:34.350 that it breaks our relationship with God. And 00:07:34.350 --> 00:07:38.269 broken relationships aren't fixed by simply filling 00:07:38.269 --> 00:07:42.990 out the paperwork, paying the fine. When we fail 00:07:42.990 --> 00:07:45.370 to maintain a right relationship with God, we 00:07:45.370 --> 00:07:49.110 need nothing less than a complete new beginning. 00:07:50.170 --> 00:07:55.959 We need God's forgiveness. But first, we need 00:07:55.959 --> 00:08:00.259 to be clear exactly what forgiveness means. In 00:08:00.259 --> 00:08:02.459 their book, The Faces of Forgiveness, the authors 00:08:02.459 --> 00:08:06.220 Leron Schultz and Stephen Sandage identify at 00:08:06.220 --> 00:08:09.819 least three different ways we can define it. 00:08:09.879 --> 00:08:12.980 One definition is forensic or legal forgiveness, 00:08:13.240 --> 00:08:15.740 the kind that your insurance company wants to 00:08:15.740 --> 00:08:18.879 give you or the kind that involves a debt being 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:22.860 erased. This kind of forgiveness is, as the authors 00:08:22.860 --> 00:08:26.019 state, a transaction in which one party agrees 00:08:26.019 --> 00:08:31.120 not to exact what the law requires. This kind 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:35.320 of forgiveness is situational, and it may be 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:38.279 limited, just like our insurance policies, to 00:08:38.279 --> 00:08:43.279 one particular incident. Your insurance company 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:46.100 forgives your momentary lapse in ability to drive 00:08:46.100 --> 00:08:50.220 a car and won't raise your rates. This time. 00:08:51.899 --> 00:08:54.059 Back into your neighbor's car the next month, 00:08:54.179 --> 00:08:58.860 and you'll see how far the whole 70 times 7 forgiveness 00:08:58.860 --> 00:09:03.600 bit gets you with your insurance company. Second 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:06.120 definition of forgiveness connects it with a 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:10.120 therapeutic benefit. Forgiveness in this sense 00:09:10.120 --> 00:09:12.840 is a process by which the offended party is motivated 00:09:12.840 --> 00:09:18.309 to become less vengeful, avoidant. and more benevolent 00:09:18.309 --> 00:09:22.590 towards the wrongdoer. Forgiveness, in this instance, 00:09:22.649 --> 00:09:25.929 is about releasing the claim over the offender 00:09:25.929 --> 00:09:28.350 and moving forward in a different direction. 00:09:28.669 --> 00:09:31.730 This kind of forgiveness, like the legal kind, 00:09:31.950 --> 00:09:36.149 is also limited. It also doesn't necessarily 00:09:36.149 --> 00:09:39.870 bring any reconciliation nor restoration of a 00:09:39.870 --> 00:09:42.990 broken relationship. That requires a whole different 00:09:42.990 --> 00:09:47.669 level of forgiveness. that only God can offer. 00:09:48.610 --> 00:09:53.830 One of the classic liturgical parts of Scripture 00:09:53.830 --> 00:09:58.929 for Good Friday is Psalm 51. The reason why Psalm 00:09:58.929 --> 00:10:04.929 51 is particularly salient at Ash Wednesday is 00:10:04.929 --> 00:10:08.250 it's attributed to David after this affair with 00:10:08.250 --> 00:10:11.730 Bathsheba. The heartfelt cry of the psalm certainly 00:10:11.730 --> 00:10:15.490 reflects his heart in those days of failure. 00:10:16.570 --> 00:10:20.450 He wasn't seeking a free pass for a mere mistake 00:10:20.450 --> 00:10:23.230 that he had made, nor was he just wanting God 00:10:23.230 --> 00:10:25.909 to withhold righteous anger and judgment while 00:10:25.909 --> 00:10:29.210 the king and his God went their separate ways. 00:10:29.309 --> 00:10:32.549 David was seeking nothing less than a restoration 00:10:32.549 --> 00:10:35.370 of the most important relationship in his life. 00:10:35.429 --> 00:10:39.610 He was seeking what these authors call redemptive 00:10:39.610 --> 00:10:44.000 forgiveness. When David was confronted by the 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:46.879 prophet in 2 Samuel chapter 12, David comes to 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:50.419 a heartbreaking realization that his sin was 00:10:50.419 --> 00:10:54.100 against the Lord. And this realization is echoed 00:10:54.100 --> 00:10:57.120 in the 51st Psalm, which says, Against you and 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:01.179 you alone I have sinned and done what is evil 00:11:01.179 --> 00:11:04.559 in your sight, so that you are justified in your 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:07.820 sentence and you are blameless when you pass 00:11:07.820 --> 00:11:13.330 your judgment upon me. Your insurance company 00:11:13.330 --> 00:11:15.870 has a long memory when it comes to your last 00:11:15.870 --> 00:11:19.929 patch of ice. The psalmist asked God not only 00:11:19.929 --> 00:11:23.330 to forget this one incident, but rather wipe 00:11:23.330 --> 00:11:26.769 the whole slate clean. This is the difference 00:11:26.769 --> 00:11:30.090 between the good hands people and the hands of 00:11:30.090 --> 00:11:34.230 God. Because the insurance company does in fact 00:11:34.230 --> 00:11:37.590 look at your driving record. Is it good or is 00:11:37.590 --> 00:11:39.929 it bad? God, on the other hand, doesn't bother 00:11:39.929 --> 00:11:41.789 to look at your record. You know why? Because 00:11:41.789 --> 00:11:44.990 God already knows your driving record is bad. 00:11:46.490 --> 00:11:51.090 That's why in verse 1 of the 51st Psalm, David 00:11:51.090 --> 00:11:56.389 has his plea to blot out my transgressions. And 00:11:56.389 --> 00:12:00.629 the repeated references to cleansing throughout 00:12:00.629 --> 00:12:04.220 the Psalm are evident. of an assurance of God's 00:12:04.220 --> 00:12:07.679 redemptive forgiveness that will extend far beyond 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:13.200 just that last sinful act. We have to recognize, 00:12:13.379 --> 00:12:16.860 however, The purpose of God's forgiveness is 00:12:16.860 --> 00:12:20.399 not simple absolution, waiting, just awaiting 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:23.279 for that next time that we're going to sin. No, 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:25.580 redemptive forgiveness is about clearing the 00:12:25.580 --> 00:12:29.440 way for a new, renewed relationship to take place, 00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:32.019 a relationship where the joy of God's salvation 00:12:32.019 --> 00:12:36.600 wins out over the self -serving pleasures of 00:12:36.600 --> 00:12:40.480 sin. We receive God's grace not as a license 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:43.419 to sin even more, just knowing that we'll be 00:12:43.419 --> 00:12:46.379 forgiven, No, grace and forgiveness are about 00:12:46.379 --> 00:12:50.179 transformation, about a willing spirit to change 00:12:50.179 --> 00:12:54.399 a broken spirit that recognizes constant dependence 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:58.840 upon God. Redemptive forgiveness enables us to 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:03.200 move in a new direction where sin is not the 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:07.419 driver's seat of our lives. The beginning of 00:13:07.419 --> 00:13:11.750 this Lenten season is the perfect time. to knock 00:13:11.750 --> 00:13:14.350 out the dings and dents we've received as a result 00:13:14.350 --> 00:13:17.409 of our reckless living. It's a time to humbly 00:13:17.409 --> 00:13:20.450 place God in the driver's seat and to work on 00:13:20.450 --> 00:13:22.850 the disciplines that we know will help us grow 00:13:22.850 --> 00:13:26.529 in our relationship with God. It is a time for 00:13:26.529 --> 00:13:30.529 confession, for repentance, for asking God to 00:13:30.529 --> 00:13:34.029 redeem us. It is also the time to offer God's 00:13:34.029 --> 00:13:36.929 redemptive forgiveness to others as we sing aloud 00:13:36.929 --> 00:13:42.379 of God's deliverance in our own lives. God's 00:13:42.379 --> 00:13:46.080 grace, unfortunately, like the insurance company, 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:50.299 is not a one -shot deal, but rather it's an offer 00:13:50.299 --> 00:13:53.940 of a lifetime of salvation. Is there any better 00:13:53.940 --> 00:14:01.240 news that can be better than that? Amen. Please 00:14:01.240 --> 00:14:05.519 pray with me. Oh, God, bless these ashes, a symbol 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:07.460 of our shared commitment to walking in your ways. 00:14:08.460 --> 00:14:10.779 We offer to you our hopes, our habits, our time. 00:14:10.860 --> 00:14:14.120 We offer to you our very lives. Enter into each 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:17.080 person as a church that we might seek to live 00:14:17.080 --> 00:14:19.539 out our commitments to you within this commitment 00:14:19.539 --> 00:14:24.480 of faith. Amen. In Deuteronomy chapter 6, God 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:32.360 invites the people to take his words and bind 00:14:32.360 --> 00:14:34.559 them on their hands and to mark them on their 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:36.720 foreheads, to write them on their doorposts and 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:40.179 gates. Tonight, we will mark our foreheads with 00:14:40.179 --> 00:14:42.899 our shared commitments. This is a reminder to 00:14:42.899 --> 00:14:46.299 us that we are marked by God, and that this is 00:14:46.299 --> 00:14:49.799 an outward symbol representing the word of God 00:14:49.799 --> 00:14:54.000 written on our hearts. The ashes also serve us 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:57.019 as a reminder of the frailty of our human existence. 00:14:58.039 --> 00:15:01.940 They remind us that truly we were formed of dust, 00:15:02.059 --> 00:15:07.080 and it is to dust we shall return. They're a 00:15:07.080 --> 00:15:10.879 symbol of our connection to the earth that it, 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:14.240 like God, supports and sustains life. And it, 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:19.659 like God, will hold us in our death. The ashes 00:15:19.659 --> 00:15:22.460 are a symbol of our death to self so that we 00:15:22.460 --> 00:15:25.820 may be more fully alive in Christ and alive in 00:15:25.820 --> 00:15:30.100 God. Therefore, at this point, we invite you 00:15:30.100 --> 00:15:31.980 forward to receive the blessing of the ashes 00:15:31.980 --> 00:15:35.139 and to partake in communion as we close the service 00:15:35.139 --> 00:15:35.620 this evening.