Room for Wonder

Ash Wednesday Sermon

• Audio Transcript

  [00:00:00] I pray that God's word is spoken and that God's word is heard. Amen. Please be seated.

  
  Well, you know, my favorite gospel is the gospel we're reading that night or that morning, right? And, and it's, it's true tonight as well. I love this passage from Matthew's gospel, not only because of its liturgical irony that we're all about to disfigure our faces with ashes as a mark of the beginning of our fast, which just always is a puzzling moment, right, as we hear this, this story. But I love actually how it begins and I, I appreciate the, um, re translation that the NRSV UE has made. A more recent, uh, version of the NRSV has made an important correction. [00:01:00] And the passage we've been hearing for lo these many years is beware of practicing your piety before others.

  
  But actually, instead of piety, a more accurate translation would be righteousness. And why that matters it's in part because of where this passage comes from. We are in Matthew's Gospel. We are at the beginning of the sixth chapter of Matthew's Gospel. Which means we're still at the early part of, anyone want to guess, what big piece of Matthew's Gospel might we be part of?
  Those of you who were here earlier today.

  
  Yeah, the Sermon on the Mount. Exactly right. And the Sermon on the Mount, that includes the Beatitudes, one of which is, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Right? Same word. Same word. So just moments ago, [00:02:00] this audience heard Jesus say, "Blessed are you who hunger and thirst for righteousness."

  
  And then, we will hear him say, "But, beware of practicing your righteousness before others." In fact, what he's warning them against is self righteousness, right? We, we tend to sort of skip the righteousness and assume it's all self righteousness. And no, it's, it's not. Righteousness is this beautiful intention of seeking alignment with the heart of God.

  
  And you, who chose to come out, the evening of Valentine's Day. You at home who are watching the evening of Valentine's Day. Bless you for seeking to align your heart with the heart of God. I now have a special place in my heart for all of you who came out on Valentine's evening or are watching at home and praying with [00:03:00] us on Valentine's evening. Aka Ash Wednesday.

  
  But this, this righteousness that we're called to pursue is such grace. This idea of aligning our very hearts with God. And I want to encourage us to engage this Lent and this this intention of aligning our hearts with God this year, especially with a sense of wonder. Of wonder, not of of, um, beating ourselves up for not being more perfect, or struggling with our Lenten disciplines, or not having chosen the right one, or what have you.

  
  But with actually a sense of wonder. Of wonder. Because this is our God. We prayed and sang together, although without notes, um, in the psalm. This is our [00:04:00] God who is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness. This is our God. This is our God who, as far as the east is from the west, has removed our sin from us.

  
  Sin, our separation from God, right? That is what sin is. For he himself knows whereof we are made. God remembers that we are but dust. God remembers Can we just spend the next 40 days in awe and wonder that the God who made us out of dust and yes, eventually that same dust we will return to that God wants to be in alignment with us, that God wants us to align our hearts with God's heart.
  Can we just spend the next 40 days, just for the next [00:05:00] 40 days with a sense of wonder about that incredible gift. Now, yes, it's important for us to make a reckoning of our brokenness, the places where we fall short. And believe me, friends, we're going to do the litany of penitence in a few minutes. And boy, on Sunday morning, if you come.

  
  Or Saturday night at five, Sunday morning at eight, we are going to do the great litany and we're not going to leave anything out. You'll have a chance to confess all the things. Fine, it's important to do that, but then can we shift to wonder? In, despite all of those things that we have done, we wish we hadn't, and all those places we've fallen short, that God loves us so much.

  
  God would seek to, to make possible our aligning our hearts with God by coming here in Jesus. Can we wonder and be in awe? And I hope, I hope that whatever you've [00:06:00] chosen for your Lenten discipline this year, that it might facilitate that wonder. I know some of you have been probably planning your Lenten disciplines for weeks, and some of you might have thought about him driving over tonight.

  
  Maybe you're thinking right now is a good time and that's okay. That's okay. But whatever you choose, my prayer is that it will encourage this sense of wonder and that it will help facilitate your aligning your heart with the heart of God.

  
  And if you find after 10 days of Lent or so that your Lenten discipline just isn't doing that? I hereby give you permission to set it aside. It may have served its purpose for the first 10 days of Lent and done that very well. Maybe it did its job for those first 10 [00:07:00] days, but now it's time for something else. You can let that go if it is becoming an obstacle, right? You hear that word in Corinthians and this letter to the Corinthians where Paul says we are putting no obstacle in anyone's way.

  
  Well, let's not put an obstacle in the way of our hearts finding their way to God and alignment with God and oneness with God. So if you need to stop doing one thing and do something else for the next 30 days of Lent that is all right. If it's getting in the way, let it go. Whether it's something you're giving up, or something you're taking on, or a book you're going to read every day.

  
  Or, maybe you've decided this is the year you're gonna just do it. You're gonna start therapy, and you're gonna explore what kind of healing you might find in that kind of care.

  Whatever your discipline is, I hope it brings you closer to the heart of God. [00:08:00] And I hope it gives you a sense of wonder and delight, even.
  As spare as the season can be, there is so much room for wonder, and that, my friends, is my prayer for us all.