Ash Wednesday Sermon 2013

How many of you have ever been in a play? I’ve not been in one personally, but I do quite enjoy going to see them. What I love to watch and see, as each character comes out on the stage, is the intricate makeup and costumes that help to convey who this character is to the audience. My grandmother used to be involved in different productions in our community and it always astounded me at how long it took to put layer, upon layer of makeup on the faces of even the most ordinary looking character. When the play was over, there backstage in the dressing room, she would wipe off layers and layers makeup that had transformed her into the character she played for what seemed like forever. I mean seriously, it seemed like it took the better part of a half hour for her to strip her face of the layers of makeup she had so diligently applied and begin to resemble the woman I knew to be my grandma.

Even if you’ve never been in a play, or never put on a mask to become a character, I would guess that every day when you walk out the door to face the world, you “get into character”. I remember when I graduated college and was preparing to interview with some of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the country, my mom told me she was taking me shopping because, “I had to look the part”. When I think back on it, at seven in the morning, I woke up with my wavy hair out of control and not a stitch of makeup on my face. By ten o’clock, when I left to meet with principle scientists for a job, I was impeccably dressed in an Ann Taylor suit, shiny new pumps, tasteful pearls handed down from my great-grandmother, flawless makeup and hair…I was transformed into the woman these people would be impressed by. Though I can’t remember it well, I imagine, knowing myself, that when I got home I kicked off the pumps, peeled the suit jacket off and let my hair down to become “plain old regular Jenny” I was when I first awoke that morning. How many of you do the same thing, in one way or another, every day?

So, what in the world does this all have to do with Ash Wednesday? What does this mean for me as a child of God entering in to the sacred time of Lent?

When we think of Ash Wednesday and Lent, I believe we think far too often, “What should I give up?”…maybe you eat too much candy, or drink too much soda, or maybe you want to cut down on being negative…all good and noble things to give up….Or maybe this sacred season means “What terrible sin have I committed that I need to atone for?”, “how can I be a better human being”…all admirable things to think of.

But, I don’t believe that’s it. You see, because God loved us so much, Jesus has already atoned for whatever sins you and I have committed. To be honest, Lent is actually asking far more of us than “what have I done wrong?” or “how can I be better?” What we are called to do is to think about stripping ourselves of those layers we’ve put on to please ourselves and the world. What we are called to do is to reflect on just who God created us to be….and that, my friends, is not an easy or comfortable task.

You know, I love the kids of this congregation! I love to see them and talk to them and to have them ask their crazy questions during children’s sermons. They are such a gift to us. And you know why I love them so much? Why do we all love our children so much? I think it’s because they are genuinely being who they are. When they come up for the children’s sermon every week, they are each one unique: some are precocious, some are shy, some are funny, and some can’t sit still…some are very serious and astute…

What I love so much is that there is rarely a time in my life when, good, bad or indifferent, there sitting in front of me is a group of human beings who are being honest and genuine about who they really are. They haven’t accumulated any layers…they haven’t been touched by the expectations of the world around them…they are exactly the people God made them to be and they aren’t afraid to show it!

So what is Lent all about? Lent is about stripping ourselves of the things that cloud who God made us to be. Lent is about praying and meditating on what God has done for us and how we feel called to change. Lent is about being honest with ourselves. It’s about looking back at what we don’t like and looking forward to what we can become. Lent is about knowing that God sees through all our stuff and God hopes we can too. It’s about a God who knows us and a God that sent Jesus into the world to walk the road of suffering and pain so that we might have the hope of new life. It’s about stripping that old stuff away and rising to new life in Jesus.

Wow, that sounds great, right? Not easy to do, though.

You know, I shared with you that I have taken on many “characters” in my thirty-three years. But do you know what I want hope to find during this sacred time? I don’t care about the makeup (I’m a girly girl and I like it!)…what I want to do is feel peace with the person God made me to be. So, if I’m being honest, stripping myself  of the worldly means letting go of past hurts, being genuine about giving love without worry of rejection, to forgive people that hurt me, letting God take lead in my life and knowing, no matter how crazy things might seem, that I am the person God made me to be. No matter where that may lead me, no matter what people might think, no matter my own apprehensions…I want be the person God made me to be the day I opened my eyes on this earth. And I desperately need God to do all those things and to be that person.

So, I challenge you today: When you come to the rail to receive the imposition of ashes, don’t think of how bad you are, or how unworthy you are, or even how much chocolate you want to eat that you just promised you were going to give up…replace it with this thought instead:

Close your eyes and think of a picture of yourself as a baby, or a toddler or a child. Remind yourself that God loved you for who you are without any mask or layers or pretense from the day God made you and you were born. No matter what layers you've accumulated because of the pressures of this world, God sees you for who you really are and God wants you to be that person. And leave this place, with the cross of Christ on your head, remembering that no matter whom you are, no matter what you’ve done, no matter who you’ve been….this Lent, as we take the journey to the cross, we can let our old selves die and we can rise anew in the light of Christ Jesus. No costume, or makeup, or fronts or pretenses are required… AMEN

It's been a few years...

Thought I might share the fruits of my labor during my "J" term class which required I start this blog...here is the sermon that came from said class (which was written over two years ago and one of my very first sermons)...

Christ is Risen, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia! We proclaimed it last week and we do today, the culmination of our Lenten fasts and reflection, the celebration of our victorious Savior Jesus the Christ. How amazing Easter Sunday is every year! Each year, I don’t know about you, but I feel overwhelmed with excitement and joy; walking in to the sanctuary to see the Easter flowers, seeing the white and gold covered alter,  the jubilant hymns and Alleluia choruses I’d missed so much. The congregation is brimming with excitement; you can feel it as we break out in the opening hymn. Then of course there are gatherings with our families, Easter egg hunts and  baskets for the children…it’s a time of pure rejoicing. The hope and renewal we find on Easter are actually palpable.

 It’s always a letdown when a day or two later, we’re snapped back to reality, back to work, or school; back to the everyday life. The disciples in today’s Gospel are too snapped back to reality. They have lost their Lord, not yet aware of his Resurrection, and in fear and grief, knowing they too could be persecuted for being Jesus’ followers, and they are holed up, locked in a house. Inside this safe house is where Jesus comes to them, imparting on them peace and showing them he indeed lives…what pure joy they must have surely felt.  So the other disciples go to Thomas, who was not in the house with them and tell him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." 

Yes, indeed this is the same Gospel of John we hear every year at the same time: second Sunday of Easter and our friend Thomas always pays us a visit: doubting Thomas, as most of us affectionately known him. I remember being a kid in Sunday school learning about Thomas and I remember the lesson I learned: whatever you do…don’t be like him! No doubting allowed, not if you want to call yourself a good disciple of Jesus, a good Christian, a person of faith!

As I reflected on the text and in my seminary studies, I wanted to take a closer look at who Thomas was…I mean, I feel bad for him. He followed Jesus for three years and was an early church evangelist: this can’t be the only legacy he left from his discipleship

Today’s gospel reading isn’t the first time we’ve met Thomas in the Gospel of John. Thomas is first and foremost, you see, a realist. For instance, in the 14th chapter of John’s Gospel, when Jesus says mysteriously, "I go to prepare a place for you.... You know the way to the place where I am going," it is Thomas who replies truthfully, "Lord, we don't know where you are going; how can we know then the way?" (14:5). He’s asking a REAL question, one that I may not have said but would probably be thinking. And in the 11th chapter, when Jesus speaks of going back to Judea, Thomas knows that for Jesus to return to Jerusalem is to go to his death. Thomas was no fool, he’s a very logical and intelligent person. He counted the costs before making a decision. Nevertheless, it is he who bravely urges the others to follow Jesus: "Let us go also, that we may die with him" Thomas, is labeled “doubting” at his greatest test of faith. Yet, he was willing to go to Jerusalem and die with his Lord… he just couldn’t believe that Jesus had risen from the dead.

After the capture, trial and crucifixion of Jesus, Thomas is snapped back into reality also. After three years of following Jesus, putting his faith in Jesus as Lord, believing him to be the Son of God, his faith in Jesus’ words and works…and now Jesus is gone, he can no longer see him, speak to him, or sit at his feet… and the reality of the world around him has set in.

Aren’t we today, on this 2^nd Sunday of Easter in a similar place? We have read the Gospels throughout the year, we know and believe what Jesus proclaimed, in his teachings and miracles; we grieved with heavy hearts during Holy Week, knowing that our Lord was going to face persecution and death to save US and celebrated Easter Sunday, of His victory over death, fulfilling his promise. And now, like Thomas, we are back to reality.  We leave here and go into our lives where we are faced with hard choices, loss, grief, joys and sorrows. We know we need to rely on our faith, but who here among us when lost or confused has never in their mind started to wonder if they have been abandoned by our Lord, asked God for just ONE sign…and that’s where that bad word, the one we heard about in Sunday school starts creeping back into to our minds, the one we have framed Thomas with…DOUBT.

Jesus comes to the disciples again, this time showing himself to Thomas. Jesus does not rebuke him for his doubt, but instead gives him peace. Jesus’ appearance to Thomas reminds us that doubts do not disqualify us from discipleship. Jesus says to Thomas and to us, “Do not doubt, but believe.” “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.

The theologian Tillich once said that doubt isn’t the opposite of faith; rather it is an element of faith. He says that if we don’t have any doubts, we’re either kidding ourselves or asleep. He characterizes doubts as “the ants in the pants” of faith—they keep it awake and moving! Doubts do not disqualify us from discipleship, in fact it keeps us moving forward, looking for answers, curious to know more and continually finding our way back to the truth we find in Jesus and our hope in His Resurrection.

Maybe today it’s even harder for us than it was on Thomas. It’s difficult to take things on faith  alone because we are so good at finding tangible - or at least scientific - proof for so many things. All of us stay in good health based on studies about vaccinations, diet and exercise by expert scientists, we lock our windows at night because studies have proven we’ll be safer that way, we even get our entertainment by watching shows debunking so called truths, like Myth Busters and History Decoded. We can prove so much with our God-given minds; Thomas sure seemed to have a keen one. But perhaps, instead of trying to beat those terrible doubting thoughts out of our heads, we can use the gift we have been given in our minds by continuing to ask the hard questions, to be curious and alert; letting those “ants in the pants” keep us moving forward…down that long road that is our journey of faith. Then in our times our doubting and confusion we can say with hearts full of hope, assurance and joy: I know he IS Risen, I know he lives, He IS…Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.