Ash Wednesday Recap

In case you were unable to join us, here is a copy of the meditation from our Ash Wednesday Service and two song selections.  If you have 15-20 minutes, consider using this to center your thoughts and prayers for this first day of LENT.

Meditations on Psalm 139

All sin begins with a lie.

Eve, in the Garden, lied to herself.

She told a story that wasn’t true:

“You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden (true enough)

and you must not touch it. . .”

Eve told a lie – whether she meant to or not –

Eve believed something that wasn’t true.

Eve believed that God was harsh. She added to His prohibitions with her own.

So when she heard the serpent’s words:

“You will not certainly die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be

opened and you will be like God, knowing good from evil.”

She believed him.

She believed the lie told to her by Satan because it matched the lie she already believed.

            God is harsh.

God is petty and jealous for His own authority.

            God does not want what is best for you.

Adam, in the Garden, lied to God.

In his fear, he misused truth:

      “We are naked so we are hiding from you.”

What happened here, Adam?

“The woman YOU put here with me – SHE gave me the fruit and I ate it.”

What happened here, Eve?

      “The serpent lied to me. And I ate.”

Adam avoided truth – whether he meant to or not.

Adam was beginning to believe something that wasn’t true.

Adam believed that

God would not chose mercy.

God would love him better if God loved others less.

God would not care for him.  Adam would have to take care of himself.

All sin begins with a lie.

We tell lies about God:

      God is unjust

      God is stingy.

      God cannot help.

      God will not help.

      God does not love me.

We believe our lies and so we sin:

      God is unjust.          

I will seek my own retribution.

      God is stingy.           

I need to hustle and push others aside for my share.

      God cannot help.   

I worry. I own the troubles of the whole world.

      God will not help.   

I resent and scheme and grab hold of my own bootstraps.

      God does not love me.     

I will find meaning elsewhere - in success, financial security, sex, relationships, power, respect.

We tell lies about ourselves:

      I can’t do anything right.

      I am the center of the universe.

      It all depends on me.

      I am beyond forgiveness.

      I am practically perfect in every way.

We believe our lies and so we sin:

      I can’t do anything right.  

I despair. I give up. I punish myself.

      I am the center of the universe. 

I belittle, reject and dismiss anything/anyone inconvenient.

It all depends on me.        

I work frantically. I will not rest. I resent       anyone who does.

I am beyond forgiveness. 

I isolate myself from others.

I isolate myself from God.

I am practically perfect in every way.         

Ignoring all evidence to the contrary. I am selfish & arrogant. I don’t need God or anyone else.

On Ash Wednesday,

We are recruited to a season of repentance.

Repentance begins by searching out the lies beneath the sin.

                        To perceive it,

Grapple with it.

                        Root it out.

And the truth is – THE TRUTH IS –

      We are not in it alone.

      God will never stop telling us what is true.

For God knows our truth far better than we do.

“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;

You perceive my thoughts from afar.”

“You discern my going out and my lying down;

You are familiar with all my ways.”

“See if there is any offensive way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting.”

If All sin begins with a lie.

Let us pray with the psalmist:

      “Search me, God, and know my heart;

      Test me and know my anxious thoughts.”

All grace begins with truth.

“Dust you are. And to dust you shall return.”

A difficult word.  A harsh word.

A true word.

And it is grace to know this, make no mistake.

I am broken. I am sinful.

I have failed.

I cannot do it on my own.

Difficult words. Harsh words.

True words.

And it is grace to admit this, make no mistake.

On Ash Wednesday,

We are called upon to prepare for Easter’s Alleluias.

Preparation begins by finding grace in truth.

                        Recognizing it.

Owning it.

Believing it.

In the earliest church, the 40 days of Lent was a time of preparation for baptism. 

Converts awaiting the salvific truth revealed in the waters of baptism

Not only that are we dust and to dust we shall return but also:

We are liberated.

We are sealed with a promise.

We are family.

We are cleansed.

We are kept safe.

We have died and risen with Christ.

If All grace begins with truth,

Let us pray in concert with the Psalmist:

            The heights of the cosmos, the depths of the seas, the expanse of all creation

            God’s hand guides us, holding us fast.

            We are fearfully & wonderfully made.

            All our days are known to God.

            In death and in life, we belong to Jesus Christ.