Ash Wednesday 2025
What is truth? This is the question that Pilate asks Jesus at the end of his trial. But that is on Good Friday, the end of our season of Lent. And yet it is a good question for today. Or rather the question for today is “Will you tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about yourself to God and to yourself.
It's so much easier to look at the faults and the failures of others. Somehow, we all have really good farsighted vision when it comes to seeing the log in our neighbor’s eye. I find that the further away from me “they” are, the better I can see clearly what their faults are – where they have fallen short. I can summon a pretty fiery righteous indignation over other people’s actions.
But tonight is not about fixing the world. It’s not even about fixing or even helping the neighbor. Tonight is about being truthful with yourself about yourself. In our Gospel today, Jesus warns against actions that are focused on “appearing” to be holy and pious in prayer, in spiritual practices and even in our giving. God sees through all of that… and is not impressed. After all – God knows your thoughts, actions and desires. And…. God love you anyway and wants a real relationship with you. God also wants you to be your best self.
And so I have a few questions for you to ponder as we take time to “take stock of ourselves and our relationship with God.” And as you think about these things – please do not compare yourself with someone else…. either to say… well I’m not as faithful of a pray-er as Jane but at least I’m not like Harry. God didn’t make you Jane or Harry. God made you with particular gifts and talents and challenges.
So try to be honest with yourself when you answer these questions about yourself – to yourself and God.
First – How is your relationship with God? Is there time in your life that you set aside as “God time?” Or, put another way, is there time – whether it’s five, 10, 20 minutes or an hour that you could set aside in the morning or at lunch or in the evening to listen to God
There are lots of ways to do this. Some of you may already have a daily routine that works for you. Great. But if not, or if you would like to try something new, we have a couple of options – an online Bible study, time with Vicar Karla on zoom, or a printed Lenten devotion or book. Or see me – I would love to help you find a good fit. A word of warning: Don’t try to do them all! This is a season… a time of 6 weeks. Choose one new thing to try. Otherwise, it can be overwhelming.
The second question I have for you is: how are you caring for yourself? Lent is a time to focus on growing your relationship with God – but that also means that it might be necessary to look at yourself and your habits. Ask yourself how you are spending your free time? What are you consuming? First think about what you eat and drink…do they make you feel well? Healthy? Or sluggish? How much sleep do you get? Do you spring up ready to go in the morning or do you wish you could roll over and go back to bed? What about the media you watch, what you read, what you take in? What are your days being consumed by?
Again, if there is something that you want to change, choose one thing. Six weeks is a great amount of time for an experiment in making choices that can bring you better health and also closer to God.
Engaging in any type of change can be challenging. It reminds me of when my husband and I first talked about moving, I said, “Sure. But first I want to go through all of the boxes in the basement, get everything organized and then we will be in a great position to move.” Except. I never went through the boxes. It was simply too much – so I never started. It was only after a developer built a huge house next door and we lost our “private backyard” that we called a realtor who told us exactly what we had to do – and gave us a deadline. And so, we did it. Box by box. Project by project.
The Israelites learned this the hard way. When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, they spent a long time in the wilderness. This wilderness time was a time to learn God’s way. The book of Deuteronomy – the book of the law – recounts the stories of how they learned to follow God – and the consequences for them when they did not follow God. Time after time, God is merciful and reminds them both of who they are, and that their best future, the way forward is to keep the covenant that God had made with them. This is nothing new. Through Moses, God reminds them:
“This command which I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you. It is not up in the sky… Nor is it across the sea….No, it is something very near to you already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14).
Friends in Christ, this is our task too. It is not too difficult for us, for Jesus has promised to walk with us on the way, on our journey.
And so, on this day, we take time to reflect, to take stock of our sins of commission – things that we have done that have hurt our relationship with God, with ourselves and with others. And we take time to reflect on our sins of omission, those things that we did not do. We tell the truth to ourself and to God about ourselves. And we are reminded: We are dust. And to dust we will return. But let me remind you that in spite of being dust – or maybe because we are made out of the dust of the earth by the living God, this God who knows the truth about you and loves you – not anyway but because you are God’s beloved child, God invites you and me to open our hands and our lives to receive the mercy and forgiveness that God yearns to give us. Amen.
March 5, 2025 + Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran + Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane