After this sermon we will all be given the invitation to the observance of a holy Lent.
The holiness of the season is observed and maintained by six things: self examination and repentance (these two go together), by prayer, by fasting, by self denial and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.
And then here is the thing that catches my attention, the invitation concludes with the bidding to make “a right beginning of repentance” and that right beginning is only one thing, kneeling before the Lord in prayer.
Kneeling before the Lord is the right beginning of repentance.
We begin by turning toward God.
Repentance is about turning; usually we think of it and hear it used to mean turning away from something, but it really about much more than turning away, it is about turning toward someone, the Lord.
The right beginning of repentance.
Not so much turning away—as turning toward.
Not so much giving up—as taking on.
Not so much putting down—as picking up.
Not so much dropping—as adding.
Not so much pushing away– as reaching out.
Not so much abstaining—as sharing.
Not so much taking back – as giving.
So we are not just stopping hurtful actions that the harm the earth, or other people or ourselves or the divine presence that entwines creation.
Right repentance is about healing, restoring, caring for and honoring the earth, other people, ourselves and the incarnate Lord who holds all things together.
It is about revering and worshiping the Lord God and reverencing and venerating the God intended and God breathed goodness of all that is, seen and unseen.
We are putting down destruction and picking up construction, creating, making, building, praising.
The worst thing about sin is that it wastes what little time we have, time that could have been used differently.
It is not just the horrible things that we have done it is the wonderful thing that we could have done instead that are the true tragedy, the true loss, the greatest grief.
We bear the image of God. That means we are meant to create and build relationships of all kinds. Like in the last two sentences from the Isaiah reading, we are to be about the repairing of the breach and the restoration of streets to live in. Lent is about rolling up our sleeves and building something. It is about rebuilding, remaking recreating. Lent is about making.
Today we rub in our faces the ashes of all the relationships, all the building up, all the creating that we wasted, that could have been, but wasn’t, the ashes of precious, priceless, wasted time.
That is the power, prison and shame of sin. All that love that never happened.
But don’t stop there.
The right beginning of repentance begins with kneeling before the Lord, and unleashing the creative power of love to start over and make all things new.
It is never too late for a right beginning.