The following blog post is based on a sermon I delivered to Tri-Saints Lutheran Parish on the occasion of Ash Wednesday 2015.

“Then I turned to the Lord God, to seek an answer by prayer and

supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.”  (Daniel 9:3 NRSV)

At the beginning of this season of Lent, which is, by nature, a confessional season, I have a confession to make.  I don’t like having dirty hands.  I mean this literally, not figuratively.  I am willing to work hard, to pitch in where needed, to “get my hands dirty.”  However, I was not the kind of kid who liked finger painting.  Or the kind of youth who preferred to mix cookie dough by hand when a perfectly good mixer was available.  In fact, I even remember a time when I helped my dad to change a flat tire on our van, and we went immediately afterwards to the service station, not to get the tire fixed, but to ask them if we could use some of their special soap to clean off our hands.

I have gotten better about this over the years.  I have realized that hands do wash, and paint wears off, and it’s not the end of the world if my hands are less than clean; but I still don’t like it.  That’s why one of my liturgically least favorite things to do in the entire church year is to prepare ashes for the Imposition of Ashes on Ash Wednesday.  Now, I know that I could order ashes pre-mixed to the exactly correct consistency for optimum use.  They could arrive in a neat little container, and I would hardly have to get my hands dirty at all.  But that’s not how it’s supposed to be done.  And so I do it the “right” way.

Each year, I take the palm branches from the previous year’s Palm Sunday and burn them.  They are plenty dried out, and I have a special pot just for this purpose.  I find a place shielded from the wind, put the palms in the pot, and set them on fire.  Once the fire subsides, I crush and mash them (a dirty process), removing any unburned stems until they turn to a fine powder. The next day, I mix those ashes in a small glass bowl with some baby oil.  You can do it with a spoon or a fork, but you still have to test them on skin to see if they are mixed properly.  Because ashes are able to take in a lot of baby oil, this process of mixing and testing takes pretty much all day, and by the time that the Ash Wednesday service rolls around, I have ashes embedded under my nails and around them, no matter how many times I wash my hands.  Then, at the service, after marking nearly a hundred people and telling them “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,”  my fingers are so covered in ashes that they stick with my for at least the rest of the week, and sometimes longer.

Given all of this, and my dislike for having dirty hands, you can imagine that I wasn’t looking forward to mixing the ashes for this week’s service.  However, it was as I started mixing them yesterday morning that I had an “Aha!” moment.  Lent is messy.  It is not just a call to the discipline of my head or my heart, but a call to use my hands to get dirty on behalf of God in this world.

In the Ash Wednesday service, we are exhorted to give alms, pray, and fast during the season of Lent.  It occurs to me that all of these things require the work of our hands.  We are asked to take our hands, which use our money for the things we want or need or feel we have earned, and open them to share with those who are truly poor and in need.  We are asked to use our hands, which work hard in our daily lives, or are used for idle purposes in our down time, and clasp them in prayer.  We are asked to use our hands to restrain ourselves through fasting, whether that’s one hand keeping the other out of the cookie jar, or from purchasing that magazine, or turning of the radio dial when we have committed ourselves to silence.

When we think of it this way, Lent cannot possibly be just a head decision or a heart feeling, it requires the work of the hands that God gave us to use them for God’s purpose, on behalf of others, our relationship with God, and ourselves.  So this year, I think I will bless my dirty hands, rather than waiting impatiently for the ashes to wear off.  I will use this reminder as an opportunity to be reminded to give, and pray, and fast.  I am not a tattoo person, but I have decided to wear the cross, not in ashes on my forehead, but on my hand in permanent marker for the duration of the season.  When it washes off, I will have occasion to prayerfully be marked, again and again, until the feast of Easter.

My prayer for you this Lent?  That your hands will get dirty this Lent.  That God will open your hands in giving, and clasp them in prayer, and use them to restrain you when necessary.  May God make us faithful, and he is faithful, to the cross and beyond.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

Mark 9:2-9 (New Revised Standard Version)

²Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, ³and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. ⁴And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. ⁵Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. ⁷Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him!” ⁸Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
⁹As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Book of Faith Devotional Questions:

1. What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?

2. What delights me in this text?

3. What stories or memories does this text stir up in me?

4. What is God up to in this text?

This reading is the gospel reading for Transfiguration of Our Lord Sunday, the final Sunday after the Epiphany and before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.  The season after Epiphany begins with Baptism of Our Lord Sunday.  I mention this because they make perfect bookends for the season; one helps to make sense of the other.

On Baptism of Our Lord Sunday, we celebrate the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.  In the Gospel of Mark, he is baptized by John and then, just as he is coming up out of the water, he sees the Spirit like a dove and hears the voice saying, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11b) Before he does anything, at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus is reminded by God himself of the love God bears for him.  He begins with these words of encouragement, and carries them through his ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing on earth.

On Transfiguration of Our Lord Sunday, we are near the end of Jesus’ earthy ministry.  He has called his disciples, and they have followed him as he preached, taught, healed, and worked miracles.  They have a front-row seat to witness Jesus’ power on earth.  And yet, it is still just a glimpse.  Then, near the end of the road which is leading to the cross, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John with him for a mountaintop experience.  They get to see Jesus transfigured, as he really is.  They get to witness his conversation with two other heavy hitters: Moses and Elijah, who served as prophets, miracle-workers, and followers of God in their own rite.  And then comes the big finale:  heaven descends and they hear a voice:  “This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him!”  Do these words sound familiar?  Jesus hears them at the beginning, and the disciples hear them near the end.  They get to see and hear for themselves; Jesus really is who they think he is, God’s own Son, beloved, powerful, and willing to sacrifice everything for the world that he loves.  They are ordered to keep silent until after he was raised from the dead, but we know that they certainly shared this story after the fact (we are, after all, able to read all about it, right?)

What difference does it make to you that Jesus is God’s Son?  That he is the Beloved?  That he died for you and the whole world?  That he was raised so that we, too, might inherit the Kingdom of God and take our place at the table at the feast that never ends?  All the difference in the world, right?

As we end the season of Epiphany and begin the season of Lent this month, I challenge you to ponder these questions.  Who is Jesus?  Why does he make a difference in my life?  Who am I because of him?  You might want to try Praying in Color:  http://prayingincolor.com/examples   You might want to journal about these questions.  Or, for those contemplative pray-ers among you, perhaps you could pick a difference name for God each week or each day and say a breath prayer:  https://gravitycenter.com/practice/breath-prayer/

Whatever you choose, I am praying that you, beloved Children of God, may grow closer in your relationship the Beloved, our Lord Jesus in these seasons of light fading into darkness.

In Christ,

Pastor Breen Marie Sipes

I Samuel 3:1-20 (New Revised Standard Version)

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. The word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.

     ²At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; ³the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. ⁴Then the LORD called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” ⁵and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. ⁶The LORD called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” ⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸The LORD called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy. ⁹Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

     ¹⁰Now the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” ¹¹Then the LORD said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. ¹²On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. ¹³For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. ¹⁴Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”

     ¹⁵Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. ¹⁶But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” ¹⁷Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” ¹⁸So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him.”

     ¹⁹As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. ²⁰And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the LORD.

Book of Faith Devotional Questions: 

What scares, confuses or challenges me in this text?

What delights me in this text?

What stories or memories does this text stir up in me?

What is God up to in this text?

 

This is one of my favorite call stories from the Bible.  It involves two things which I think really bear a distinction:  hearing and listening.  Samuel hears God calling four different times.  During the first three times, he hears God, but isn’t listening.  He mistakes the voice of the Lord for his master, Eli.  It is only with Eli’s help and discernment that he speaks the most important words of the passage; “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”  Then, he listens to a message that he would rather not repeat because it is going to hurt Eli, to whom he is close.  Again, it takes Eli’s help for Samuel to truly listen to what the Lord is saying, and to pass it on.

I think that we all sometimes have trouble listening.  We hear the words, or the tone, and, although our ears are processing the sound, our brains refuse to make sense of it.  Or we are inattentive and hear, but don’t take the time to absorb the full meaning of the words.

What happens when we don’t listen?  In my experience, misunderstanding and hurt feelings can result.  When my husband is trying to tell me something, and I only listen with half an ear, I am not honoring the relationship between the two of us.  I care about him and therefore I care about his words.  It is important that I both hear and listen and respond.

What happens when we listen to God?  I believe that God is calling to us all the time.  Sometimes, we hear and mistake God’s voice for something else, and in mistaking, miss the boat.  Other times, our minds and lives are too busy to truly listen, and we miss the boat.  But sometimes, in those holy times when we are prepared to say, “Speak, Lord, for you servant is listening,” we are called by God into his amazing work, using the gifts and talents he has given us to spread his love in our lives, in our homes, in our communities, and in our world.

During this month, all three of our churches will have annual meetings.  This is a time to listen to one another, to seek to understand one another, and to discern where God is leading us in this new year.  My prayer is that each of us will come to these meetings with open minds and hearts, with hearing and listening ears, and a willingness to follow where God is leading us.  Speak, Lord, for your servants are listening.

In Christ,

Pastor Breen Marie Sipes

John 1:1-14 (New Revised Standard Version)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?

 

What delights me in this text?

 

What stories or memories of light or darkness do I remember?

 

What is God up to, or of whom is God speaking in this text?

This text is the one that we always read when we light the candles on Christmas Eve toward the end of the service.  The ushers dim this lights, the musicians begin “Silent Night,” and the acolytes light their candles from the Christ Candle at the center of the Advent wreath and carefully make their way down the steps, spreading the lights from just a few tiny points to an entire congregation filled with light.  It is a sensory experience; the sound of every voice raised in words that everyone knows, the smell of wax, the warmth of the heat from so many little lights, and the visual impact of the one made many, of a weak light made stronger and stronger as it spreads across the congregation.

And then, into that experience, there comes a pause.  A moment of silence and anticipation before the pastor continues with more words, ancient words; “In the beginning was the Word…”  Words that might be so familiar to you that you mouth them along with the pastor, a silent “Amen” to the speaking of those words out loud, again, one more time.  Then comes another pause, and the music swells, and we finish “Silent Night” together.  My favorite moment comes next.  I have returned from the middle of the congregation back to the front, and I get to look out at all of the candlelit faces, full of joy, and peace, and anticipation (and a few terrified parents praying that their children won’t set us all on fire J), and I get to speak other words; Go in peace, your Light has come.  The people respond, “Thanks be to God!” and are sent into a darkened world to bring light wherever God is sending them next.

As we prepare for this night, I invite you to invite the light of Christ into your preparations.  Light candles.  Tell stories.  Set aside time for joy, and peace, and anticipation.  Acknowledge the darkness of this world, and cling to the Light of Christ, the source of our life, and light, and being.  If you need more assistance keeping Advent, visit our “Taking Worship Home” website at tri-saintsworship.weebly.com May the Light of Christ come to you, during this blessed season and always.

In Christ,

Pastor Breen

Luke 17:11-19 (New Revised Standard Version)

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

¹¹On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, ¹³they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. ¹⁵Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. ¹⁶He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? ¹⁸Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?

What delights me in this text?

What stories or memories does this text stir up in me?

What is God up to in this text?

This story above is the appointed gospel of the Day of Thanksgiving this year.  We know that we are supposed to be thankful all year long, but it is nice to have a holiday to look forward to expressing our thanks and praise, to God, to our families and friends, to our community and world.  I have seen many exercises lately to try to increase thankfulness, including a “30 Days of Thankfulness Challenge.”  I have been happy to see so many of my friends express their thanks and praise, especially when they mention me as someone to be thankful for.  For some, this idea of being thankful for 30 days straight might be a challenge; this year I want to challenge you even a little bit more.  Begin your season of thankfulness with a blank sheet of paper and a little bit of time.  Write something like “I give thanks for….” at the top of the sheet.  Then, on your first day of thankfulness, write down everything you are thankful for.  Be specific.  Write until you can’t find anything else to be thankful for today.  Then, on the next day, review your list, and add one more thing.  Keep going, on the same sheet, every day until Thanksgiving.  Encourage your whole family to get in on it, gather all these things in prayer on Thanksgiving, and finish it off with a great big AMEN!  Then, as we enter the often hectic season before Christmas, post it somewhere prominent, so you can remember those things for which you give thanks even when your life seems a little too thankless.  As it says in Psalm 118:29 “O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”  May God’s blessings stir up in you an attitude of thankfulness, now and always.

In Christ,

Pastor Breen Marie Sipes

p.s. An extra bonus!  Here is a Thanksgiving prayer that you can use with your family this Thanksgiving, if you wish…

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Lord of all, we thank you for all of the blessings which you

have given us, which we name before you now…(take turns

sharing).  Help us to recognize all of the blessings you have

showered upon us, and to use them and ourselves for your

glory, now and always.  Amen.