Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Rez is a community where Jesus welcomes, shapes, and sends disciples for the good of our neighborhood. No matter where you are in life, this is a place for you.
Life Together In The Goodness Of God
You know, Ash Wednesday always gets my attention It feels like such a day of in-between And even though, you know, I have liturgical calendars And notebooks and preaching schedules and all that It always comes as a surprise It's a day that's so in-between It's of course in-between our usual Sunday routines And our usual ways of worship and praise It's a day when we say some familiar words of Bible and liturgy But we also say prayer words that sound strange and unfamiliar We even smudge our faces with ashes Ash Wednesday is the day when it is made very clear to us That we live in-between In-between having come into being When God breathed life into dust And knowing we will return to that dust And in-between we seek to figure out How to live the life God has given us Now on Ash Wednesday as the opening to Lent We try to figure it out And we use a sort of formula One might even say a mantra Fast, give alms, pray Fast, give alms, pray Fast, give alms, pray We've all heard it, right? And imprinting these words upon our hearts Can mean so many different things Probably the most common question asked of any Christian Who observes Lent is What are you giving up this year? And it's easy to say I'm giving up chocolate Cookies, ice cream, meat or perhaps something Like letting go of checking TikTok Not obsessing over the news Or not watching it, oh let's face it Binging certain programs and shows I've heard folks get creative and say I am giving up on anger I'm giving up feeling jealous Honestly, one year I gave up Always being angry at someone I really did not like And it was not a bad thing for me to do that There's a myriad of things we can cut out And their absence will probably make our lives better Healthier and perhaps even happier They are all appropriate And I am not going to discourage you To undertake any such practice But there's a challenge The thing is when we give up something Cut it out of our lives It leaves room for something else We may well become more aware Of a different kind of hunger A need, a longing And friends, both within ourselves And in the greater world There is an obvious hunger for justice A hunger for true righteousness For God's righteousness We see our siblings around the world In this country and in our own communities Suffer due to the crazy idea That some people are better than others Some people deserve more than others Belong more than others We see children living in fear And in hunger, with hunger Children afraid to go to school or to the park Because mom and dad or even they themselves Might be apprehended, detained Taking away from the ones they love Perhaps we can begin To use our hunger And fill it with longing for righteousness And taking steps for justice Those who are citizens of this country can vote We can contact those in power And demand that they take action We can join protests and marches That call for action We can go to our local public school And ask how we can help support children And parents Perhaps with groceries, supplies Or as companions walking with On the way to school, to stores To medical appointments Our local public library may offer ideas And may need help to serve the community Even better than they already do We do these things individually And we do them as the Rez family We each do it And we all do it In our fasting, may we hunger For justice Our Lenten practice might call us To give, to give alms To give something more, something extra You know, perhaps a check to a food pantry Support of a cause close to our hearts A couple of dollars to someone who asks And that's good Giving is a way for us to know that Blessing is not shaped by our material wealth And giving is a way for us to know That where we put our treasure There our hearts will be Also That's right Where we put our money, our treasure We also put our hearts Matthew tells us that Jesus teaches this Where we put our money We place the center of our lives There's a challenge in that And we're challenged to decide Where we want our hearts to be Where do we want our lives to be centered Today in this land We hear voices proclaim that Inequality is not so bad Always spoken by those who have much And want more We hear that confusion, violence, unrest A hungry, cold, shelterless person A mother with an empty cupboard A worker with nothing to show for hard work A child with a growling tummy Will not express such lies They come from those who have much And who want more Inequality and its consequences are bad Inequality is bad Period God has created us in God's own image All of us, each of us No matter the color of our skin, our income Our national origin or place of birth And the jobs or resources we may Or may not have And furthermore God has placed us In a creation that is enough That has enough Enough for each of us, enough for all of us We don't need to fight Over what we have so generously Been given Putting our treasure where we want our hearts to be Means to do some redistribution Of our resources Certainly as a country, but also in whatever way In whatever we as Rez can Certainly it may mean giving time Work And money Perhaps to El Buenza Maritano where so many Receive support and assistance in order to survive With some dignity and hope It may mean a check to the Central Texas Food Bank Or even volunteering to sort and help distribute food That goes to thousands Some of us are called to simply keep water Some healthy snacks and some clean socks in the front seat of our car And hand them out generously Sharing what we have Is a way to redistribute wealth So that more have enough and fewer have too much We do this individually And we do that as church Our Rez family May our giving of alms Before the making of peace And yes At the beginning of Lent we might say I'm going to pray more I'm going to go to church every Sunday I will read the Bible every morning and every night and in between It's a great time to practice saying grace For and after meals To thank God for health and food and family and friends For all the blessings of this life It's a time to pray for those who suffer Those who are pushed out Those who do not feel welcome or are welcome At our country's abundant table And there's a challenge It is the perfect time for us to Understand how much we have And to be grateful It is the time to pray for strength and courage To take part in changes In changing the things we know are wrong Strength and courage to change Things we know are wrong To pray for forgiveness For what we have not done We pray for injustice We pray for the things we see And we pray for the things we don't see And we pray for the things we do not want to see Seeing and recognizing Injustice and unrest takes courage And working for justice and peace Is hard work We pray for courage And strength individually And yes, as church As the Rez family May our prayer be the chant Of humble and grateful hearts Pray with me Merciful God, you called us forth From the dust of the earth You named us for Christ In the waters of baptism Look upon us as we enter these Forty days bearing the marks of ashes And bless our journey Through the desert of Lent To the font of rebirth May our fasting be hunger for justice Our arms a making of peace The prayer, the chant Of humble and grateful hearts All that we do and pray Is in the name of Jesus For in his cross You proclaim your love Forever and ever Amen