Sacred Ground

Ashes to Go

Today is the first day of Lent 2013.  Another season of repentance and returning to the Lord has come.  And with that comes ashes.  Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.  The priest says this as the sign of the cross is made out of ashes on the forehead of those who desire to receive.  I went to Tulsa University Campus this morning to offer Ashes to Go.  This small liturgical movement started a couple of years ago in different places around the country.  The main idea:  bring this practice out to the people.  

I like the idea.  I like it because for those of us within liturgical traditions, much of what we find moving and beautiful is cloistered, within the walls of often intimidating physical structures.  I want to share a bit of that mystery and beauty with those who might never walk in.  I like it because it was out in the open, not in secret.  I was reminded by a friend who is outside of our tradition the absolute necessity for this.  The first time he saw the smudge of ashes on a forehead, he felt compelled to let the person know.  It led to an embarrassing moment for him and for the person with the smudged forehead.  

I was joined this morning by another priest, Blake Woods, from another Tulsa Episcopal Church.  I wore a purple cope over my cassock and surplice.  He wore alb and stole.  We stood near the library on campus and handed out fliers and offered ashes.  We had some takers.  

We also spoke to one or two who were searching for God in different ways.  One who didn't know much about Christianity, at all.  One who needed to find guidance and read our material before coming back to ask for ashes.  He said, "I am ready now."  Several others were glad to get their ashes on the spot.  And quite a number said they had plans to go that evening to get theirs at church.

Evangelism takes many forms.   Wearing a cope and  with frozen hands placing ashes on foreheads is just one way.  Finding the words to say and the courage to invite may seem daunting.  But, really, all we are doing is opening the door.  Starting a conversation.  What is this season of Lent all about, anyway?  Is it really just about giving up chocolate?  I think it can be so much more.  Easter is coming.  We celebrate Jesus who stretched out his arms upon the hard wood of the cross so that we all might come within the reach of his saving embrace.  How wide open are our arms?  How easily does the invitation to follow Jesus come to our lips?  

Lenten Discipline idea #1:  You have 40 days and 5 Sundays.  Invite someone to church for Easter.

Ashes to Go

Today is the first day of Lent 2013. �Another season of repentance and returning to the Lord has come. �And with that comes ashes. �Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. �The priest says this as the sign of the cross is made out of ashes on the forehead of those who desire to receive. �I went to Tulsa University Campus this morning to offer Ashes to Go. �This small liturgical movement started a couple of years ago in different places around the country. �The main idea: �bring this practice out to the people. �

I like the idea. �I like it because for those of us within liturgical traditions, much of what we find moving and beautiful is cloistered, within the walls of often intimidating physical structures. �I want to share a bit of that mystery and beauty with those who might never walk in. �I like it because it was out in the open, not in secret. �I was reminded by a friend who is outside of our tradition the absolute necessity for this. �The first time he saw the smudge of ashes on a forehead, he felt compelled to let the person know. �It led to an embarrassing moment for him and for the person with the smudged forehead. �

I was joined this morning by another priest, Blake Woods, from another Tulsa Episcopal Church. �I wore a purple cope over my cassock and surplice. �He wore alb and stole. �We stood near the library on campus and handed out fliers and offered ashes. �We had some takers. �

via trinitytulsa.typepad.com

Ashes to Go

Today is the first day of Lent 2013.  Another season of repentance and returning to the Lord has come.  And with that comes ashes.  Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.  The priest says this as the sign of the cross is made out of ashes on the forehead of those who desire to receive.  I went to Tulsa University Campus this morning to offer Ashes to Go.  This small liturgical movement started a couple of years ago in different places around the country.  The main idea:  bring this practice out to the people.  

I like the idea.  I like it because for those of us within liturgical traditions, much of what we find moving and beautiful is cloistered, within the walls of often intimidating physical structures.  I want to share a bit of that mystery and beauty with those who might never walk in.  I like it because it was out in the open, not in secret.  I was reminded by a friend who is outside of our tradition the absolute necessity for this.  The first time he saw the smudge of ashes on a forehead, he felt compelled to let the person know.  It led to an embarrassing moment for him and for the person with the smudged forehead.  

I was joined this morning by another priest, Blake Woods, from another Tulsa Episcopal Church.  I wore a purple cope over my cassock and surplice.  He wore alb and stole.  We stood near the library on campus and handed out fliers and offered ashes.  We had some takers.  

We also spoke to one or two who were searching for God in different ways.  One who didn't know much about Christianity, at all.  One who needed to find guidance and read our material before coming back to ask for ashes.  He said, "I am ready now."  Several others were glad to get their ashes on the spot.  And quite a number said they had plans to go that evening to get theirs at church.

Evangelism takes many forms.   Wearing a cope and  with frozen hands placing ashes on foreheads is just one way.  Finding the words to say and the courage to invite may seem daunting.  But, really, all we are doing is opening the door.  Starting a conversation.  What is this season of Lent all about, anyway?  Is it really just about giving up chocolate?  I think it can be so much more.  Easter is coming.  We celebrate Jesus who stretched out his arms upon the hard wood of the cross so that we all might come within the reach of his saving embrace.  How wide open are our arms?  How easily does the invitation to follow Jesus come to our lips?  

Lenten Discipline idea #1:  You have 40 days and 5 Sundays.  Invite someone to church for Easter.

Another Monday in Lent, March 19, 2012

This morning it is foggy in Silverhill, AL.  The mist seems to reach from the ground up.  I love mornings like this.  All around us is the seen and unseen, the common and the mysterious.  It reminds me of our walk in life with God.  Sometimes our understanding and sense of God is so clear.  We get it.   God is walking with us, answering our prayers, ordering our world.  I am not saying that God isn't doing this all the time.  However, there are those periods in our relationship with God when it seems like God is more like that fog:  mysterious, obscure, more unseen than seen. 

I love to walk through the foggy streets and feel the mist gently on my face.  It is like a promise and a prayer.  It is like the tangible touch of God's love.  That fog also makes us pay closer attention - it is easier to get lost and stumble.  However, the mist always gives way to sunshine.  We will not remain it the land of unknowing forever.  Our job now is to keep moving forward - whether or not we feel we are walking through a veil or if we can see clearly.  We simply keep moving, trusting God to guide and push us in the right direction.   At some point,  the things that are hidden from our sight and understanding will be made clear.  Just not everything.  Just not right now. 

Take some time today to pray.  Thank God for the times of clarity.  Pray that God gives you the faith to walk with God even in the fog.

Meditation for the third Thursday of Lent, March 15, 2012

"Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." -Jesus Jesus and his disciples wanted a break. Just time enough to eat their lunch. So, they pull away and go to a deserted place. This did not work out so well for them. The people who wanted to see and hear Jesus figured out where they were going and got there ahead of them. So much for lunch!

I think this happened to Jesus and the disciples on a regular basis. The people were starving for spiritual food and they knew that Jesus was the source of that nourishment. Sometimes we have to deny ourselves for the sake of others. Jesus and his disciples ministered to the crowd, fed them, taught them, and then were able to pull away and rest.

But, when our own needs are delayed, we can't put them off indefinitely. Our bodies need rest and food. Our spirits need to be renewed and revived. You can't get water out of an empty well! We all need discernment to recognize when we should pull away and rest. The pressures and demands of the world won't go away while we have a time of prayer or eat our lunch! And, we will be better able to answer those demands when we have something to offer.

I love that Jesus kept that time as a priority. He withdrew to pray. He sat down and ate with friends. He took naps! Take time today to withdraw to the desert - to pray, to rest, to eat. Do so without a guilty conscience. You will be better fit to meet the demands of the people around you and be a better example to the world as well.

Meditation for the third Wednesday in Lent, March 14, 2012

Israel said, "Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I must go and see him before I die."  Genesis 45:28

Israel, otherwise know as Jacob, had been in mourning for years.  He had thought his son Joseph was dead.  If you remember the story, Jacob had a lot of children.  He also had four wives and his favorite wife had only one son.  (Later on, she had another.)  Her son was Jacob's favorite.  Joseph was a dreamer of dreams.  He was different and his older brothers resented him.  The resented him so much that they sold him into slavery in Egypt and lied to their father, telling him Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.

Such a shadow was cast over the family because of these lies!  I wonder at the guilt that must have laid on the hearts of Joseph's brothers as they watched their father struggle under the burden of grief.  True, Joseph was the favorite and they did not get the same attention from thier father.  However, Joseph with them, being an annoyingly precocious little brother, was a million times better than the toll their lie took out on them.  

Many of us carry regrets and guilt in our hearts.  Things we have said or done that has unintentionally (or intentionally) harmed people around us.  Sometimes that guilt so ways us down that we feel we will never escape from under it.  I wonder if Joseph's brothers felt that kind of guilt.  The beauty of the story is that there is redemption.  Even when they were not seeking forgiveness and reconciliation, they found it.  And, Jacob had his joy restored to him as well.  I think that must have been a tense conversation - oh, by the way Dad, Joseph really is alive.  But there is no condemnation from Jacob.  His heart was so over-whelmed by love that there was no room for anger.  I like to think of this as a picture of God.  God is ever full of love and forgiveness, even when the most grevious sins are committed.  God's heart is so full of steadfast love that God's heart has no room for anger and wrath.

Were it so with us.

 

Meditation for the Third Tuesday in Lent, March 13, 2012

An angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it." So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.                 Acts 8:26-39

 

I really appreciate this passage of scripture for many reasons.  I love the fact that the Ethiopian was reading Scripture and God was already at work in him.  I think we often assume that we have to do all the work when it comes to talking to people about God.  When we feel that nudge to go and speak to someone, it is not as if we are making cold calls.  God's Spirit has gone before us preparing the way.  

I also love this passage because it shows how much we need each other in our journey with God.  How, indeed, can anyone understand Scripture without someone who has already traveled that road to show the way?  Philip follows the nudge of the Spirit and the Ethiopian gains understanding.  The pieces fall into place and he is baptized.

Okay, the third reason I love this passage:  The Ethiopian was outside the general understanding of who belonged to the family of God.  He wasn't a descendent of Abraham.  But God raises up people where God wills.  It is not for us to stand in the way of God's call on each person.  But, it is our call, to go where the Spirit is leading us.  A word or two from us may help someone else see the grace of God and be drawn in to the family.  

Pay attention to where you may be led and do not be afraid!  God is already there.

 

Meditation for the Third Monday in Lent, March 12, 2012

Jesus called his disciples and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."           Mark 10:42-45

 This might be the first example of a truly countercultural movement that has persisted for 2000 years.  The term counter-culture is used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a subgroup within a culture, that runs counter to those of the social mainstream of the day - or the cultural equivalent of political opposition.  Human nature hasn't changed much over the centuries.  There will always be those who desire to dominate others.  If you Google "tyrant" or "dictator" of the 21st century, you will find an oppressive number of entries.  

Jesus calls us to a different way of being.  We are not called to be conquerors of other people or make them slaves to us in any way - to our ideas, our financial empires, our need for personal aggrandizement.  We are to be servants, instead.  This goes directly against our culture of greed and domination.  Being a servant doesn't come easily to all of us.  We think of servants as being low on the order of society.  How can God lift up those who are in lowly positions to be those who hold honor in the Kingdom of God?  What is it about servants that make them so desired by God?

Good servants necessarily think more of others than of themselves.   Or maybe, they have an understanding of themselves that better fits with reality.  A humble, loving heart.  That is what God desires.

Meditation for the Third Saturday in Lent, March 10, 2012

Rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil. 

Joel 2:13

 It was the habit of those religious types in the Old Testament when caught in their own wrong doing or on behalf of others,  to do an outward showing of remorse.  They would tear their clothes, put on sackcloth, place ashes on the heads.  The actually rending was forceful - tearing a garment into pieces.  The problem lay in the fact that the remorse was not inward as well.  Remorse was only a layer of clothing deep, if you will.

God wants us to be genuine.  If we are truly sorry, our hearts should be filled with regret.  Rending your heart would be equivalent to allowing your heart to be broken, either for something you have done or on behalf of others.  The leadership of the people of the Hebrews would rend their garments when the people had gone astray - they did this in hopes that God's wrath would not fall on their people.  On the other hand, if your heart is not truly remorseful, don't pretend that it is.

There is this wonderful promise in this.  God is slow to anger.  This is a good thing.  Humans do so much to each other that makes me, a mere mortal, angry.  If it were up to any of us, we might go around afflicting those who have angered us with boils, plagues, lightning strikes, and whatever else comes to mind.  I am very glad God is so patient.  I cannot even begin to imagine the number of lightning bolts I might have had to duck.

God's love is steadfast.  I love this.  God's love is like a rock that never wears away.  We cannot diminish the love of God!  It is not a little pebble either - God is ABOUNDING in steadfast love.  That means there is a whole lot of love for everyone.  If we want to walk with God, we need to imitate God in this way - be authentic, be patient and slow to anger, and be filled with love.

 

 

Meditation for Wednesday after the 2nd Sunday in Lent, March 7, 2012

God the King of saints, you strengthened your servants Perpetua and Felicitas and their companions to make a good confession, staunchly resisting, for the cause of Christ, the claims of human affection, and encouraging one another in their time of trial: Grant that we who cherish their blessed memory may share their pure and steadfast faith, and win with them the palm of victory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today we remember Perpetua and her companions who were put to death in Carthage in 202 AD.  Perpetua was a young mother, who had recently become a Christian.  At that time, it was illegal to be Christian and was punishable by death.  Her family, especially her father, wanted her to renounce her faith for the sake of her family and her newborn baby.  Perpetua clung to her faith.  She and her companions comforted and encouraged each other in prison.  She had visions of God as the final victor.  She went courageously to her death in the arena, set upon by wild beasts.

I both admire and am apalled by her story.  I admire Perpetua's fire for God.  She was steadfast visionary - for her, Jesus came first, no question.  I am apalled that again and again in the history of humanity, we have put to death those who believe differently from the majority.  What is it that is so threatening to people to have others who have different theology than themselves?  When you look at the history of the Jewish people, there have been few periods in their history that they were free from persecution.  Muslims, Jews, Christians, just about any faith, - all have faced persecution and intolerance.  I do understand the desire to win people over to what you believe.  Especially if you feel that the person would have great benefits from believing as you do.  However, Jesus was more into serving and loving people into the Kingdom of God.  He wasn't in favor of killing those who disagreed or ostracizing them or shaming them. 

I have to believe that the Holy Spirit of God works within the hearts of people with or without our permission.  God blesses whom God blesses - and that is not up to us.  What is up to us - allowing the Holy Spirit to change our own hearts, to love God and our neighbor, hold fast to our own faith in God, and to work for justice for all people.