Restoring sight to the blind

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As Jesus and his disciples were walking through the temple area, they saw a man who had been blind since birth.  Their question to Jesus was, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?  Whose fault is it that he is blind?”  

Look around you in this world today.  Maybe it’s human instinct to find fault.  Maybe it’s a coping mechanism to keep the unknown at arms length.  Whenever anything goes wrong, people start looking for someone to blame.  They want to fix the fault with something or someone tangible – accessible to them.  Not God – that’s too esoteric – maybe not satisfying because you can’t take God to court.  But more than that, if it is God’s doing, then we have no control and most people don’t like feeling helpless.  

As my field work for seminary, Bishop Payne sent me to Rockdale, Texas as the lay vicar of a little mission church with about 30 members.  Some of these parishioners had some very interesting and varied ideas about theology – that is, about God and those things dealing with God.  This Gospel lesson came up in one of our discussions and Meg took exception to this lesson.  She was very incensed that God would cause someone to be born blind just so that God himself could be glorified.  

February 11th is the day set aside by Holy Women, Holy Men to remember Fannie Crosby.  Fannie is remembered as a prolific songwriter, who from about 1860 to 1910 wrote the words to over 8000 hymns.  The most famous one is: 

Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine,

oh what a fore taste of glory divine.  

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,  

Born of his spirit, washed in his blood.   

This is my story, this is my song.

Praising my savior all the day long.

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my savior all the day long.

The thing about Fannie, is that she was blind; not from birth, but from the incompetence of an ‘unschooled doctor’ who treated her for an infection when she was about 6 weeks old.  If anyone had a right to be angry over their condition, she did.  But she was not angry and she didn’t complain.  Besides writing hymns, Fannie was also a teacher and lecturer who traveled around the country.  When asked if she would like to have her sight, she replied “no.”  She was afraid that the beauty of the world would distract her from praising God for all he had done for her.

So back to our lesson:  Here we are with a man who has been blind from birth.  In the age and culture that Jesus lived, blindness and other maladies were considered to be judgments from God – the result of sin.  

Since that time, I’ve given a lot of thought to Meg’s complaint.  What I understand is that we are all born, in whatever state we are born in, so that the glory of God can be shown forth in us.  As human beings, we are born in the image of God, and in that image, we show forth the glory of God, if we allow him to work in us and through us.  Fannie allowed God to work in her, and his glory was shown forth in marvelous ways.

 As with so many stories in John’s gospel, there are two dimensions to this story.  The physical blindness is a symbol of the spiritual blindness that many people experience.  The man is blind, both physically and spiritually.  When he receives his sight, he tells everyone that Jesus opened his eyes.  

The Pharisees, although they can see, refuse to acknowledge that God is working through Jesus or through the man who was blind.  They remain spiritually blind.  This upsets their world for a person who was born blind (that is in a state of sin), to receive their sight.  You can read that as being cleansed from their sin. This is really outside their experience so the Pharisees say that Jesus is a sinner.  The man answers, “I don’t know if he’s a sinner.  One thing I do know, I was blind, now I see.”  I can almost hear the sarcasm when he says, “You don’t know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes?”       

We cannot always control what happens to us – and we can’t always find someone to blame.  There is an email that has gone around periodically – it speaks to our lesson today.

  

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat. 

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. 

A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?" 



The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.  I wrote: 'Today is a beautiful day; but I cannot see it.'  Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply stated the fact.  The second sign reminded people how fortunate they were to have their sight. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective? 

 Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.



It ended with this statement, “Faith is not about everything turning out OK; Faith is about being OK no matter how things turn out.”  Fannie Crosby was OK with her condition.  She made the most of her life regardless of her physical blindness because she had spiritual sight.  There is something healing about being content with those things in our life that we cannot change.  

The man in our Gospel did not ask to be healed – he did not demonstrate great faith to effect his healing.  He accepted his life as it was, and God blessed him so that he could learn faith through what he experienced.  I ask you to consider where God has touched you, so that your faith might be increased, and God’s glory seen in your life? 

Encounter with a stranger.

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Jesus is traveling – remember last week he met with Nicodemus in Jerusalem.  Now he’s headed back home to the Galilee area.  We see in the midst of this journey, a chance encounter.  Most Jews would travel the Jordan River Valley so that they could stay out of Samaria.  But that's the hot route and the longer route.   Jesus chooses to go through the hill country of Samaria - more direct and much cooler in the warm Judean climate.  There he comes across the city of Sychar near where Jacob’s well was located.  That's the first thing we notice. 

The second thing that we note about this scene is the time: noon.  The sun would have been bearing down and very warm.  When we were in Jericho in May, it was 115 degrees in the shade, so although this would have been a cooler location, it would have still been very warm.  This was when most people stayed home out of the sun.  That’s why there was no one else at the well.  The disciples had gone into town to buy food leaving Jesus alone.  

Women who draw water do so in the early morning hours so that they will have fresh water all day long.  They would usually meet in the morning to visit and gossip while they filled their water jars.  This was as much a social gathering as it was a functional activity.  But this woman has come at noon – deliberately avoiding the other women.

When Jesus speaks to the woman, he is breaking two taboos.  He is speaking to a Samaritan – This woman is "the other" - an outcast both as a Samaritan and as a woman who's lifestyle was not approved by those around her.  No self respecting Jewish man would speak to a woman in public that he was not related to - but Jesus does. 

Jesus speaks to the woman – maybe from the shade of a tree – if there is a well, there would have been trees in the area.  He asks for a drink of water.  Innocent enough, a traveler would be wanting water and he obviously doesn’t have any way to draw water himself.  She is aware that he is breaking a taboo and challenges him on it – “How can you, a Jew, talk to me -  a woman, a Samaritan?”  

An interesting conversation ensues.  If you have been reading from the book, Living Well through Lent, it focuses on listening and on honing our listening skills as we talk to others, to truly hear what they have to say.  This is a really good example of listening - there is true communication, a give and take, listening and responding.  There are a lot a people out there in the world who just want someone to listen to them, to hear what they are actually trying to say.

As this conversation unfolds we find that this woman has some pride in where she lives.  This is Jacob's well and through it God has provided for the people of the town.  But we also find that she is ashamed, and embarrassed, to be seen by the other women in public.  She wants that living water so that she no longer has to come to the well.  Sometimes you really have to pay attention to these chance encounters – Christ encounters - those times when it seems more than a coincidence.  When we listen to the words being said, and we find God purpose behind them. 

Years ago, I had just come off a Cursillo weekend, so I was pretty in tune with the Spirit.  I took my car in to be serviced and went across the street to the pharmacy get some breakfast.  As I sat in the booth by myself, reading, a woman came up and asked if she could sit with me.  I was somewhat surprised – I didn’t know her – and there were only 2 other people in the place leaving plenty of free tables and booths.  I graciously said yes and she slid in an introduced herself.  I told her my name and she said, “Oh, I went to school with a Danny Doerr.”  I said that was my husband’s brother – and then things got a little weird.

She said, “He had an uncle, Sammy, about his age that died while we were in school.”  Now that’s the last thing I would have expected.  It was true, Sam is named for his uncle Sammy who dies before he was born.  All this had happened 40 years before – and I found it odd that of all the people who would have sat down with me that morning, this woman would know and remember all this.  

As our conversation unfolded, it became obvious that she was deeply disturbed by a family situation.  Without going into detail, it was something that I could relate to and speak confidently about.  I felt like I was able to instill hope into her situation.  I came away feeling that God had used me that morning, and that I had encountered Christ in a very real way.  

I'll be the first to admit that I'm human and I don't always listen as closely as I should and that's another reason this story speaks to me.  This morning, my reading from Jesus Always spoke to those times we fail to act or respond as Jesus would.  It said, "It's tempting to gloss over what you have done or failed to do.  You may not be overwhelmed by feelings of shame, but you feel restless and unsettled - mildly guilty.  Even at times like this, I continue to love you perfectly.  .  .  Remember I can make all things, including your failures, work together for good because you .  . are called according to my purpose.  .  .  Realizing how much I cherish you even when you're not living well deepens your relationship with me."  That is not unlike our story  and it describes this woman very well, and Jesus comes to her just as he comes to each of us.

Even though the woman has not responded kindly to his request for a drink, Jesus has offered her living water, which she more or less sneers at.  But he doesn’t turn away.  He knows the kind of life she had lived and is currently living.  He knows the pain and anguish she suffers from and so he says the words that will catch her attention.  "When you drink this water, you will never thirst again."  He wants to help her to overcome the things that restrict her - that hold her down.  

She latches on to this – she comes at noon to draw water, because she wants to avoid the other women, those who sneer at her, and whisper about her behind upraised hands.  They don’t approve of her lifestyle and if they speak at all, they make snide comments to her.  She would rather not have to come to the well at all.  Her response is, “Sir, where can I get this water so I don’t have to keep coming to this well?”

Her physical thirst is a symbol of the spiritual thirst.  So now he takes the conversation to a new level, “Go call your husband."  And she replies, “I have no husband.”  She tells the truth about her marital status – not about her living conditions.  But Jesus sees right through it.  God knows the truth about us, we might as will admit those things that we do wrong.  It doesn't do any good to try to hide or cover up those mistakes, errors, or sins in our life.  They cannot be hidden from God.  Now that she is being honest, they can get somewhere in this newly born relationship.  

Notice that Jesus does not treat her as if he consider himself above her in any way - he actually treats her as an equal.  He never condemns her - he simply states the facts of her life.  He meets her where she is in life.  He doesn't tell her that she is going to hell, or that she has to change.  He simply listens as she complains about being forced to come for water in the middle of the day and He listens as she talks about not having a conventional marital relationship.

She begins to see that this man is truly different - he makes her feel different.  He makes her feel better than she has felt for a very long time.  By his very presence and conversation, she begins to see that her life is worth living and she, as a person, does have value.  She asks him if he is the Messiah and he reveals himself to her.  "I am the Messiah.  I am the one who saves."

Jesus meets us where we are - anywhere we are - in any state of sin - or any state of grace.  Jesus comes to us and offers to make our life better.  We don't have to go searching for him - he's right here with us.  When we meet Jesus - he always takes what he finds in our life and he elevates it - to become all that it can be - so that we can become all that we can be. He gives us new life and new reasons for living.

Our view of Jesus here is a living witness to the way we are being asked to treat people we meet who are different from us - not as beneath us, or unworthy, nor as sub-human, but as equals.

This woman responds to grace by going into the town (the same town that has rejected and ostracized her) and she brings the people back - to meet Jesus themselves - to see and understand for themselves - just how gracious God is.  The story ends with - " Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony...  "he stayed two days.  And because of his words many more became believers. "  

In our lesson from Romans, Paul tells us, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  He didn’t wait for us to repent and be forgiven.  He didn’t wait until we changed our ways or were good enough, or without sin.  He did it, knowing that his love and action on our behalf would be a beacon to gather us into his fold to redeem us.

Let us pray:  O precious Jesus, open our ears to hear the cry of those who are hurting, and help us to graciously invite them into the fold by being a living witness to your caring mercy.  Amen.

Into the light

listen to original sermon

Listen to the sermon - it is somewhat different from the printed version.

Have you ever noticed the headlines of the papers like National Enquirer, Weekly World News, and The Sun?  I enjoy reading them standing in line at the check-out counter in the grocery stores.  Nothing is sacred and from the hottest Hollywood stars to politicians, no one is immune.  A few of years ago, even Newsweek ran a headline that sounded more like the National Enquirer.  It read “Cheney’s Secret World.”  More recently you might have read, "The Anatomy of Trump's Falsehoods."  They will print anything that sounds sensational.

I wonder what would have been said if they had the equivalent in the day of Jesus – maybe a “Jewish Enquirer” or "The Jerusalem Rag."  Wouldn’t they have had a field day with this meeting between Nicodemus and Jesus?  It might have been billed as “Nicodemus’ Secret Meeting with the renegade preacher from Galilee.” .  

The really hard thing is this day and age is that people want to make things sound as sensational as possible.  They want to get the dirt on people - because dirt sells!  But our lesson is about coming out of the darkness into the light.  This conversation is something of a puzzle that has to be put together.  We might actually need a guide, or translator to tell us what’s going on.  

It is night – and that’s significant.  We are in the gospel of John - so going back to the 5th verse of chapter 1, we hear “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”  And do we ever get an example of that is this lesson.  Nicodemus comes under the cover of darkness – he is in the dark, and Jesus is the light shining into that darkness.  So this seems like a strange and disjointed conversation.  And to make it even worse, some of the words Jesus uses have more than one meaning.  And inevitably Nicodemus picks the wrong meaning to focus on.  

So here we go, reading between the lines so to speak:  what Nicodemus said was, “We know you are from God because of the signs you do.  No one can do those kinds of things without God’s blessing.”  Now this sounds like a nice compliment and - it was, but there is motive behind the statement.  Nicodemus may very well want to know how he too can do the kinds of signs that Jesus is doing.  

Jesus answers the unspoken question – “how can I do these things?  How can I have God with me?”  Jesus tells him, “unless you are born ‘anothen,’ you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”  Now the word anothen is slippery – it means different things – it means “again” but it also means “anew” or “from above.”  

So what Jesus is really saying is “In order to do the things I do, you must be able to see the Kingdom of God.  And to see the kingdom of God, you must be born “anothen”  -  “anew,” “from above.”  But Nicodemus hears ‘born again,’ and he questions, “How can I climb back into Mom’s womb and be born again?\

So Jesus tries again, “You have to be born of water and the Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God…”  What Jesus meant was “Everyone who lives is born of flesh – but that’s not enough to enter the Kingdom of God.  If you want to enter the kingdom of God, you have to be born of the Spirit also… the Spirit of God.”  (Our soul has to find that spirit/soul connection with God.)

Nicodemus still seems to be clueless - and about that time, a wind blew through the dusty street and Jesus latched onto the image.  The word he uses is “pneuma.”  It can mean wind, or spirit, or breath.  He says, “The wind blows where it will, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.  It’s the same thing with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Now what Jesus is talking about in this comparison is the effect of the wind – you can’t see the wind itself, but you can see the effect of the wind.  You can tell if it is a strong wind, or a gentle breeze and you can tell what direction it is blowing.  You see the effects, but not the wind itself.  It’s the same thing with the Spirit – you can see the effects of the Spirit, but not the Spirit itself.  "If you are born of the Spirit, everyone around you will be able to tell it.  You will do the things I do." Jesus tells him.

And Nicodemus is beginning to get a glimmer of the truth and he asks, “How can this be?”  He wants to know how he can get this spirit, how he can be seen as one who walks with the spirit.  And Jesus chides him, “Are you a teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?”  Jesus is telling him that the way to this spirit is through the teachings of Israel.  He’s telling Nicodemus to live into the word of God, into the meaning behind the words.  

He’s telling Nicodemus to see God in the world around him and in the people he meets.  He’s telling Nicodemus to allow God to lift him up and be in his heart – to believe as he’s never believed before.  He tells Nicodemus that if he doesn’t believe earthly things, he will never be able to believe heavenly things.  

We don’t know how Nicodemus reacted to this in the beginning.  We don’t see Nicodemus again until the 7th chapter.  At that time, he stands up for Jesus against the Sanhedrin – he doesn’t win, but at least he attempts to reason with them.  He is coming out of the darkness and venturing into the light.  

At the end of the Gospel of John, in the 19th chapter, Nicodemus comes fully into the light – along with Joseph of Arimathea to order to claim the body of Jesus to bury it.  By that time, he has grown into the fullness of his relationship with Jesus and with God.  For Nicodemus, like so many of us, growing into the fullness of God didn't happen overnight - it was a gradual growth.  But in the end, he has discovered what it means to be born of Spirit as well as flesh.

Jesus invites us into relationship with himself and with God.  He invites us to listen to what the Spirit is telling us and to come out of our own darkness and into his light.  Those who see him lifted up on the cross know the great love of God for all people.  They know that God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that if we believe in him, we will not perish, but have eternal life.  John 3:16. -  probably the best known verse in the Bible.  But I think the next verse is even more profound:  God sent his only Son, not to judge the world, but to save it through his own actions. 

Let us pray:  Lord, open my eyes to see God's hand at work in the world around me.  Open my ears to hear the Spirit moving all around me.  Open my heart to see where God is calling me to be a light to someone in need of saving grace.  Send us out to be a witness to your place in our life and in our church.  Amen.

 

Lead us not into temptation...

Our lessons today really talk a lot about temptation and sin.  It’s not a popular topic of conversation these days but it is what was happening in our lessons today.  Let's look at the circumstances of Jesus' testing.  He goes out into the wilderness - some translations say desert.  First of all, why is it call the wilderness - or desert?  Because it is deserted - it is a place where very little grows and very few live.  It is a place were you are alone - with little to eat or to shelter you from the heat.  

And Jesus fasted for 40 days - living off what little the land could provide - no contact with other people - utterly alone.  And at the end of those 40 days comes the temptation.  Jesus is hungry; he's lonely; he's in a physically and emotionally weakened condition.  This is one of the circumstances in life when we are most susceptible to temptation.   When we are strong and among our true friends, we can fight off temptation.  It doesn't control us.  

So Jesus is in a weakened condition - both physically and spiritually and the devil comes... -  this is a stumbling block for many people - the devil - some translations say Satan - other meanings used for the Greek word diabolos are false accuser, and slanderer.   Next our lesson calls him tempter - which is also translated enticer, tester.  

I once had a parishioner ask me if Satan was real.  Our catechism in the back of the prayer book never mentions Satan - it talks about human nature, rebelling against God, and sin, which it defines as seeking our own will over the will of God.  So I followed the catechismal party line and rather than talking about the person of Satan, I talked about the reality of evil in the world - and the need for people to personify that reality.  

But even at that, some people don't want to admit the reality of evil in the world today.  That's why you hear people say things like, he's just misguided, or she showed poor judgment, or they made a mistake, or they're just going through a dark period.  Any euphemism to keep us from having to confront the concept of evil and sin.

But there is evil in the world - people want to believe that it doesn't exist, but if evil doesn't exist, how do you explain things like 9/11, a parent who can kill his or her children, human trafficking, and all the other really evil things in this world that we don't want to face.  

Several years ago there was a show called Joan of Arcadia about a teenage girl who talked to God.  It was a great show because it dared to talk about realities of life and ways of facing those realities.  One episode had a discussion between two characters concerning evil.  Joan's mother was taking catechism from a former Roman Catholic nun turned surfer.  They were talking about Joan's father's boss - and the word evil is brought up by the nun.  Joan's mother said, "Evil's so ugly and foreign..."  The nun replied, "Evil is charming and beautiful - it asks for one small compromise after another until it whittles you down.  It makes you doubt yourself, and it functions best when no one believes in it."

You know, Satan is called the deceiver - and not without reason.  He lures us into a false sense of security weaving a tale of deception.  The three temptations of Jesus are an example of that kind of deception.

In the first temptation, the devil comes to Jesus with a temptation that doesn't seem so outlandish. "You are hungry.  You are the Son of God.  (the word translated "if" can also be translated "since" - Satan is not questioning Jesus' sonship, he is affirming it with a suggestion that Jesus make use of that relationship - to prove it.)  You don't have to be hungry.  You can do something about it.  Turn these stones into bread and satisfy your hunger." 

This is more than a temptation to satisfy the desires of the flesh.  It is a temptation to deny our need for God.  Nothing wrong with a little bread, but consider this difference - God gave the children of Israel manna from heaven - a free gift - they didn't have to do anything - it fell from the sky and they just picked it up.  But Satan is asking Jesus to take matters in his own hands - not wait for God's gift, but to make the bread himself - to be self-sufficient - not to rely on God's promise.  It's subtle - it looks like taking care of a necessity, when the issue is actually much deeper - putting himself in the place of God, denying even the need of God.

Next we find that Satan has taken Jesus up on the temple - and once again tempts him - "You are the Son of God.  You can do whatever you want.  Scripture says that God will send his angels to take care of you.  Go ahead - throw yourself off the temple - you won't get hurt." Jesus has already shown in the first temptation that he will rely on God, that Jesus will trust God to take care of him.  Since Jesus understands that, Satan is trying to encourage Jesus to 'call the shots' on how - and when - God is going to take care of him - it's actually an attempt to make Jesus seize control by forcing God's hand. 

And finally Satan takes Jesus up on a high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world.  And he tells Jesus, "Fall down and worship me and all this will be yours."  Well, okay - we know Jesus is a king - king of the Jews, light of the world, prince of peace - what's wrong with taking up his throne now and then he can dictate what he's trying to teach to the people.  They'd have to obey him and surely he could have spread his message much faster.  

That would have been an attractive compromise that might look good on the surface - but what a difference it is from what God offers.  What Satan was offering was for Jesus to be king over an imperfect earthly world.  What God offered was for Jesus to be king over the redeemed kingdom of heaven.  A kingdom he would redeem himself.  Remember Wednesday's lessons - do we want our reward to be for a limited time here on earth, or in heaven for all of eternity?  Delayed gratification has its benefits.  Had Jesus chosen the earthly kingdom, then we would not be sitting here right now and we would not have the option of resting in heaven with Jesus at the end of time.  

God has planned for us something greater than we could ever imagine for ourselves.  But like Jesus, we have to be willing to wait on God's plan, in God's time.  But the evil that permeates this world would convince us that what we can gain through our own efforts in this place, at this time, is the goal we should aim for.  That we should settle for something less than God's plan for our lives.  The darkness that people talk about is what Satan uses to obscure God's plan by injecting his own end objective - that of drawing us away from the love of God - away from the help of God's saving grace.  Jesus is the light of the world - and he does shine out in the darkness - and in his light, Satan - evil - call it what you will - cannot hide.  After all we can't see heaven, we can't prove its existence.  It's a matter of faith.

So I suggest that, yes, we are tested - after all, there is a reason we pray, "Lead us not into temptation - but deliver us from evil."  We are led into temptation every day.  Temptation comes in all sizes and shapes.  Temptation 

to keep the extra change the clerk gives us

to fudge on our taxes

to tell a small untruth that might help us get ahead at work

to listen or pass on gossip about a neighbor or co-worker

to cut off that driver who’s trying to get ahead of the line

        to glance at your neighbor's paper when you don't know the answer to that test question.

And even though we are led into temptation - please remember that temptation itself is not sin.  Everyone experiences temptation.  The trick is to learn what is temptation for us, to recognize it for what it is so that we can avoid it, to turn away.  Sin (or evil) only comes when we succumb to that temptation - when we choose to act less than Godly in any given situation.    

Let us pray:  Almighty God, whose blessed Son, Jesus, was led into the desert to be tempted by Satan:  come quickly to help us who are surrounded by many temptations; and as you know the weaknesses of each of us, help us to find the strength to say "no" to every temptation. through Jesus Christ our Lord who overcame temptation, and died and rose again that we might be redeemed in this life and find eternal salvation.  Amen.

Invitation to a holy Lent

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In our first lesson today, Joel is calling the people back to the Lord; encouraging a time of fasting, prayer and repentance.   We too are being called to re-examine our own commitment to God.

Our Christian heritage comes out of the Jewish culture, and their culture and identity is wrapped around their God.  Jewish piety is communal in nature – their future is affected by the actions of the group.  They succeed or fail as a group.  For Jews, piety means giving alms, praying and fasting.  

Joel calls us to fast and weep and mourn – to rend our hearts and not our clothing.  For a Jew to tear his clothing was a demonstration of great emotional turmoil – heart rending anguish – over something that has happened or over something they have done - sometimes an acknowledgement of guilt.

Christians have a tendency to be more individualistic in their approach to God and to piety.  Although the Anglican ideal is that we are saved through the church – through the whole, we also understand that we each must take responsibility for our individual behavior.  I have often fallen into the trap of thinking that I’m not so bad – I do a lot of things right – I’m generally not mean to people.  Yet when measured against the holiness of God, I fall miserably short of the perfection of God, and my selfish nature often causes me to choose myself over others in the ordinary course of life.

Jesus believed in, and participated in communal or public prayer and worship as was and is fitting and right.  But at the same time he taught against ostentatious private prayer in public.  The examples he gives are that we are to give alms, to pray and to fast, but we are never to make a public show of these things.

We gather as a group to remember what God has done – to remember who we are – to remember who God is and why we care.  Our practice of piety should be based on his love and not thoughts of praise or reward.  God has committed himself to us and the sign of that commitment is the cross on which Jesus died.

In just a few minutes, you are going to come forward to be marked with the sign of the cross – a sign that we accept what Jesus did for us on the cross, and that we are members of his body here on earth.  The ashes are what is left over after fire passes over or through something – they are dead and lifeless – not much different from the dust of the earth.  But we also remember that God formed us out of the dust of the earth and it is God who breathed life into that dust to create humankind.  Without that breath of God, we are nothing – we do not exist. 

And so the ashes are placed on your head in the form of a cross – the cross that is the life giving symbol of God’s love for us.  The downstroke of the cross is an “I” representing me – all that is uniquely me – all my strengths and weaknesses – my talents and my sin.  It is all that I am and all that I stand for.  The cross bar is placed to remind us of Jesus with his outstretched arms.  It crosses out “me” and places Jesus between me and God’s punishment.  As a sign of our repentance, we are forgiven and marked as Christ’s own.  We each walk out of here bearing the cross of Jesus – the sign that we are his forever.  Amen.