Ash Weds 2022

You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.

Blessed is the Lord who forgives all our sin.

His mercy and doing persons for us.

The Lord be with you.

Let us pray.

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made, and forgive the sins of all who are penitent.

Create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our feelings of wretchedness, may obtain of you the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

God spake these words and said, I am the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Thou shalt have none other gods but me.

Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth.

Thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them.

Lord have mercy of peace, and thine heart speed us all.

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

Lord, have mercy upon us, and in hearts to keep this law.

Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.

Lord, have mercy upon us, and keep this law.

Honor thy father and thy mother.

Thou shalt do no murder.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Lord have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Thou shalt not covet.

Please be seated.

Blow the trumpet in Zion, sound the alarm on my holy mountain.

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming.

It is near a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness.

Like blackness spread upon the mountains, a great and powerful army comes.

Their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come.

Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.

Rend your hearts and not your clothing.

Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishment.

Who knows whether he will not turn and relent and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the aged, gather the children, even infants at the breast.

Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her canopy.

Between the vestibule and the altar, let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep.

Let them say, Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations.

Why should it be said among the people that where is their God?

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people.

The psalm for today is Psalm 103.

We will read responsibly at the half verse.

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

The Lord will not always accuse us, nor may angry forever.

The Lord has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so is the Lord's mercy great upon the God of fear.

As far as the east is from the West, so far as the Lord removed our sins from us.

As a parent cares for their children, so do the Lord cares for the God of fear.

For our sake, he made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.

For he says, At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation, I have helped you.

See, now is the acceptable time.

See, now is the day of salvation.

We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry.

But as servants of God, we have commended ourselves in every way, through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonment, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger, by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of the Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech and the power of God, with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left, in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute.

We are treated as imposters and yet are true, as unknown and yet are well known, as dying and see, we are alive, as punished and yet not killed, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making many rich, as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people.

So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others.

Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.

But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you.

Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others.

Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.

But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you.

Whenever you fast, do not look dismal like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting.

Truly I tell you, they've received their reward.

But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others, but by your father who is in secret.

And your father who sees in secret will reward you.

Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break in and steal.

Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The gospel of the Lord.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Please be seated.

Well, I hope you're catching the irony that we just read this passage about practicing our piety before others, and we're about to practice our piety before others with some ashes on our forehead.

And I wonder if it's okay to contrast how I think this is an acceptable practice of piety, because if you notice in the readings, what we hear is beware of practicing your piety in order to be seen by others.

So that you can be looked up to, so that you can show them how you are transcending the ladder of holiness and meritocracy in the kingdom of God with all of your good works.

Beware of practicing your piety so you can show God how much you love God by how miserable you make yourself and everybody else.

Beware.

And I want to tell you, if we are seeking to curry God's favor with our misery, it is an unholy lent.

The criterion Jesus offers us as we think through this is not about death.

We are here mindful that we will die.

A holy Lent is about whether or not we share life, not death.

So, if you have chosen to give up some food for Lent, like chocolate or wine, and you're going to be miserable and unpleasant to be around, your priest encourages something different.

Because that will not be holy.

Jesus talks about people who are dismal, and you know that's rather different from when we have a goal.

When I have a goal, like a couple of years ago, I decided I was gonna run a marathon, took a long time.

I lost a couple toenails, I had to see an orthopedic doctor.

It was actually rather joyful because that's where I had set my heart, and heart's the right word, because in the Hebrew Bible, your heart is the center of your will, not your emotions.

I had set my will on running the marathon.

And anytime I got injured, it actually took away from my joy because even these 20-mile runs in 90-degree heat with 90-degree humidity were joyful because I had a goal.

And it was joyful to pursue.

I was not running to punish myself, I was running to enjoy myself, and this I suggest to you is a key to a holy Lent.

God is not glorified in our punishment.

God is glorified in our pursuing goals that will bring life to us and one another.

Maybe you need to give up Lent for Lent.

I don't know.

Back to the ashes.

It's a shame it's 6 p.m.

and more people can't see your ashes.

Because before they were TVs and radios, this was like the only way to be an advertisement.

To be able to say, what's that on your head?

God has more joy than I'm living into, and I want to do something about it.

I want you to hear how I said that.

God has more joy for us than we are living into, and I intend to do something about it this year.

Now that's about the healthiest evangelism I can imagine.

God wants us to enjoy our lives more than we do.

And I want to join God in that.

So often we hear this passage that was read from our epistle, and we think, oh, be reconciled to God because God's mad at you.

And look, I want to correct that.

God is not mad, God's chasing us.

We're the stubborn ones.

Lent is where we say, you win.

We don't have to pursue God.

God is chasing us.

A holy Lint is where we say, God, you win, you have me.

When you hear this passage from Joel, it's a similar reminder to us.

It says, rend your heart, not your garments.

It doesn't mean break your heart.

It means take that stubborn will of yours and let it open up.

Don't worry, God is not interested in breaking you apart.

God is interested in breaking us open so that the light that God has put in us can come out and so that the light from other people can come in.

Sometimes we can't tell the difference in the moment between being broken open and being broken apart.

But I want to suggest to you that's the difference between Lent and a holy Lent.

When we break open to grace, sometimes we're scared to death God's going to break us apart.

But did you hear in the colic, you hate nothing you have made?

That's an old English way of saying you love everything you've made.

A holy lint is when we love everything God has made.

Starting here and there.

And people we don't like.

Now I want to share with you.

I love this thing, I found it in the clergy closet at Camp Allen.

Somebody was going to give it away.

I was glad to take it.

And it represents to us this duality, right?

The red we see on Palm Sunday.

And if you read the burning of the palms last night, I told you it's very possible some of the people who welcomed Jesus on Palm Sunday were really disappointed with him.

He did not meet their expectations.

Some of those self-same people could have been there on Friday saying, crucify him.

So we live in between.

And this is a reminder, we live in between.

You're going to hear words like, we're nothing but dust.

And that's partially correct.

The other part of us is God breathed life into the dust.

So the question is, are we going to breathe God's life out into the world, or are we going to breathe out dust?

This is the criterion for our holy land.

Now I want to share with you something that happened that was rather extraordinary.

First, let me tell you, if something's worth doing, it's worth doing poorly.

And this is good for us to remember.

And I was reminded with our school kids this morning that the reason we come to school, at least what we say, is so we can learn.

And you know when we guess and we get it wrong?

That's part of learning.

So the question is: do we need to beat ourselves up because we got it wrong, or do we dare say, God, I want to learn?

I called the bishop about three years ago, the bishop of Texas, and I said, Bishop, I've got some really important information.

I know you're gonna make a decision.

I just want to give you the insider's scoop because I've really been struggling with this thing.

And I went ahead and unloaded and I told him this.

And I thought he was gonna thank me, you know, for informing him to help him with his decision making.

And when I got done, he said, Hey, thanks for sharing that, Mike.

Now tell me, what'd you learn about yourself?

Um I'm not sure you heard what I said.

Should I start over?

Yeah, yeah, look, I heard all that, and thanks, and I'm gonna make my own decision on this, and that information's great.

But what I really know want to know is what did you learn about yourself?

And I actually can't forget that conversation because I think that's a holy Lent.

What are you gonna learn about yourself, this Lent?

What are you gonna learn from, and what are you gonna learn into?

God is glorified by life and by joy.

So I want to put before you whether it's Lent or it's Easter or Pentecost, and you find yourself picking up some cross for the Lord, and nobody is getting any life out of it, put it down.

You have my permission as your priest to put it down.

God is glorified in life.

Sometimes it takes discipline to have life.

We get that.

Just make sure somebody is getting life.

Somebody is getting life.

This thing in our head, it reminds me so often what we forget to do, particularly as Americans, we forget to say, I'm sorry, I've learned something.

Imagine how different political discourse would be if people said, You're right.

I was wrong about that.

But I learned from it.

We decided in the world that that's weakness, but I want to tell you it's righteous.

I was wrong.

And I've learned something.

And I pray you'll give me another chance.

That's the kind of piety that the world needs on public display.

I learned something since last year.

I learned something.

And the holy part of us coming together is you don't know what I'm doing.

I don't think you do.

I don't know what you're doing.

You may not be doing anything.

But I guarantee you, someone else in the room is doing something else this left.

That they have made a holy commitment of some sort.

It's not going to solve the conflict in the Ukraine.

It's not.

But we say this, and it's true, that we can do more together.

I don't know how to solve the conflict in the Ukraine.

I know how to donate my blood.

I do that.

Is it going to the Ukraine?

I don't know.

Is it giving life to somebody?

I know.

There were times in my life I couldn't give blood.

There were times in my life I liked writing letters to Congress people.

This is not that time.

I do the blood thing instead.

We don't all have to have the same piety.

That's actually the beauty of it.

We follow our joy, we follow God's call, and we do it together.

We're assured of complementarity and that we're going somewhere together.

And when enough of us do it, we do solve the problem in the Ukraine.

Don't you see?

We do.

We live in between now and then.

So some of us might say, I'm giving up coffee at Starbucks once a week, and I'll send my money to Episcopal Relief and Development.

Will that solve the problem, your coffee?

No.

But we can do more together.

Will that help?

Absolutely.

The question is not what you're giving up.

The question is who's getting life out of it?

Know that you're not traveling alone.

Know that you're not traveling alone because there's at least one other person in this room walking the road of faith with you.

And we can indeed do more together.

And here's the best promise God can do more than we can ask or imagine.

So whether you get an A plus in Lent or an F, we have full assurance that God's not going to love you anymore at the end.

And that God can do more than we can ask or imagine, even with just our intentions.

And don't you see that's why we worship God?

Because that's what grace is.

It's greater than us.

So I pray for our holy land as we travel this road together.

Dear people of God, the first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's Passion and Resurrection, and it became the custom of the church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting.

This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for holy baptism.

It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sin, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness and restored to the fellowship of the church.

Thereby the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the gospel of our Savior, and of the need that all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the church, to the observance of a holy lent, by self-examination and repentance, by prayer, fasting, and self-denial, and by reading and meditating on God's holy word.

And to make a right beginning of repentance and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord as you're able, or sit or stand as your piety guides you, our Maker and Redeemer.

Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth.

Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, that we may remember that it is only by your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Amen.

I will come to you, or I can come to the aisle as you feel comfortable.

Kathy's gonna read us Psalm 51.

We'll join her responsibly when you're back to your seat.

So no worries if you miss part of the reading because you're coming up for ashes.

Cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions and my sins are ever before me.

Against you only have I sinned.

And so you are justified when you speak and operate in your judgment.

Indeed, I have been wicked from my birth, a sinner from my mother.

For behold, you look for truth deep within me.

Purge me from my sin, and I shall be pure.

Make me hear of joy and gladness.

Hide your face from my sins.

For the beauty and wonder of your creation in earth and sky and sea.

We thank you, Lord, for all that is gracious in the lives of women and men revealing the image of Christ.

We thank you, Lord, for our daily food and drink, our homes and families and our friends.

We thank you, Lord, for minds to think and hearts to love and hands to serve.

We thank you, O Lord, for health and strength to work and the leisure to rest and play.

We thank you, Lord, for the brave and courageous who are patient in suffering and faithful in adversity.

We thank you, Lord, for all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice.

We thank you, Lord, for the communion of saints in all times and places.

We thank you, Lord.

Above all, we give you thanks for the great mercies and promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

To Him be praise and glory.

With you, O Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.

Amen.

Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who desires not the death of sinners, but rather that they may turn from their wickedness and live, has given power and commandment to ministers to declare and pronounce to God's people, being penitent, the absolution and remission of their sin.

God pardons and absolves all those who truly repent and with sincere hearts believe the Holy Gospel.

Therefore, we beseech God to grant us true repentance in the Holy Spirit, that those things may please God which we do on this day, and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure and holy, so that at the last we may come to eternal joy.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

I will no longer wound myself with thoughts and questions that have surrounded me like thorns.

That is a penance you do not ask of me.

You have made my soul for your peace and your silence.

Amen.

In the assurance of God chasting to reconcile us, I invite you to stand.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

Good evening, and thank you for worshiping with us at St.

Thomas.

Before we receive uh nourishment for a holy lent from God's table, uh, I just want to remind you of a couple of announcements.

This coming Saturday is our mobile fresh food distribution here in our parking lot at 7.45 in the morning.

We'll be done by about 9.30.

You don't need to sign up.

You can just show up if you're interested in serving.

And this Saturday is also our annual spring clean.

So we'll have an opportunity to do some good stewardship on our grounds and be served lunch by our holy smokers.

Lastly, I just commend to you, because I encountered it again today.

This is part of what it is to be a priest sometimes.

Uh this Sunday at 9.15, I'm hosting a workshop on Zoom that talks about planning your funeral.

Because the truth is we are all going to die.

And planning your funeral is the greatest gift you can give your family.

I'm young and I have a funeral plan because my wife would have no idea what to do with me.

I commend this to you if you have not done it or if you haven't revisited.

I'll make my case.

I'll walk you through how you can do it, but it'll be at 9.15.

We'll be done by 10.

This is a way of practicing holy living.

So if you don't have the link or would like it, please let me know.

Walk in love.

As Christ first loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God.

All things come of you, O Lord.

This is the table not of the church, but of God.

It is to be ready for those who seek relationship with God, so come and make this journey.

You who have much faith and you who have little, you who have been here often, and you who have not been in a long time or ever before, you who have tried to follow, and you who have lost your way.

Come and make this journey not because I invite you.

God invites.

It is God's desire that we gather here.

The Lord be with you.

And with us.

Lift up your hearts.

Lift us.

Let us give thanks unto our Lord God.

It is very meet right in our bound in duty that we should at all times and in all places.

Give thanks unto thee, O Lord, Holy Father Almighty, everlasting God.

You bid your people cleanse their hearts and prepare with joy for the Paschal feast, that fervent in prayer and in works of mercy, they may come to the true joy of reconciliation with you.

And therefore, with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious name, evermore praising thee and saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory.

Glory be to thee, O Lord most high.

Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, and eyes.

All glory be to thee, O Lord our God, for that thou didst create heaven and earth, and didst make us in thine own image.

And of thy tender mercy didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to take our nature upon him, and to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption.

He made there a full and perfect sacrifice for the whole world, and did institute, and in his holy gospel command us to continue, a perpetual memory of that, his precious death and sacrifice, until his coming again.

For in the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus took bread.

And when he had given thanks to thee, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat.

This is my body which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

Likewise, after supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, and when he'd given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink this, all of you.

This is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for all for the remission of sin.

Do this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me.

Wherefore, O Lord and Heavenly Father, we thy people do celebrate and make, with these thy holy gifts, which we now offer unto thee, the memorial thy son hath commanded us to make, having in remembrance his blessed passion and precious death, his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension, and looking for his coming again with power and great glory.

And we must humbly beseech thee, O merciful Father, to hear us, and with thy word and Holy Spirit to bless and sanctify these gifts of bread and wine, that they may be unto us the body and blood of thy dearly beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

And we earnestly desire thy fatherly goodness to accept this, our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, whereby we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies.

Grant, we beseech thee that all who partake of this holy communion may worthily receive the most precious body and blood of thy Son Jesus Christ, and be filled with thy grace and heavenly benediction.

And also that we and all thy whole church may be made one body with Him, that He may dwell in us and we in Him, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

By whom and with whom and in whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honor and glory be unto thee, O Father Almighty, world without end.

Amen.

And now, as our Savior Christ hath taught us, we are bold to pray.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.

Amen.

Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us.

Therefore, let us keep the feast.

These are the gifts of God.

For you, the gifts from God.

Behold who you are and become what you receive.

I'm going to invite you today to the rail, either kneeling or standing as you feel comfortable, or I will make the journey to your seat.

Let's pray together.

Almighty and ever-living God, we most heartily thank thee that thou dost feed us in these holy mysteries with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of thy Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, and thus deter us thereby of thy favor and goodness towards us, and that we are the remembers incorporate in the mystical body of thy son, the blessed company of all faithful people, and are also heirs to the hope of thy everlasting kingdom.

We humbly beseech thee, O Heavenly Father, so to assist us with thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honor and glory, world without end.

Amen.

Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world.

All things break.

And all things can be mended.

Not with time, as they say, but with intention.

So go.

Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally.

The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.

And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be with you this day and remain with you always.

Amen.