Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 Psalm 51 2 Cor 5:20-6:10 Matt 6:1-6, 16-21
Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.
Return to the Lord.
Today we begin our journey into lent, knowing it takes through the wilderness, among the hosannas of the ride into Jerusalem, and to the passion and pain of the cross. We know what lies ahead, but there are 40 days in which to get there. How will we use this time?
Return to me with all your heart, God says, with fasting, weeping and mourning. Return to the Lord.
So my questions this Lent, are:
- Where is your heart currently?
- Where do you need to go, to retrieve the pieces of your heart that are not with God?
- How will you search for those pieces to bring them back?
- And how will you hand them over to God?
Return to me with all your heart, God says. All of it.
What will help, this lent, for you to discover where you have left your heart? If you aren’t sure where all the pieces of your heart are, check the end of this gospel passage – where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Check where your treasure lies, and there you will find your heart.
So before you give up chocolate or wine or social media this Lent, consider ‘how will my lack of these things help my heart return to God’? Will not doing these things make me love God more??’ And if it will, then it is the perfect Lenten discipline. The perfect way of fasting. If it wont bring your heart back to God then you might reconsider…
A while ago, I gave up drinking – it was stealing too much from me and not giving me any of the things it promised. Giving it up was a good thing – it has great benefits. I sleep better, my anxiety is reduced, my heart rate is improved, my mind is clearer, I have more time and more money available, I’ve even dropped a few kilos. All these things are good. But God is not so intent on good, as much as holy. Giving up drinking is good, but what I do with that extra time and clearer mind and increased money and energy – what I do with that has the potential to become holy. Especially if I use it to bring my wandering heart back to God.
And, truthfully, if I want to reclaim the distracted and straying parts of my heart, and return them to God, that is not found in the absence of wine; it is found in what I do in its place. Reclaiming my heart for God happens when I choose to spend more time with the God I’ve chosen to follow all my life, and who I gave my whole heart to back in the beginning.
Giving up something is ok, but only if, in its place, something holy begins. And Lent is a gift of time and space to do that; to try one new thing that will return your heart more fully to God.
In the church we begin Lent with receiving the sign of the cross on our foreheads, in Ash.
This is an ancient tradition, where ash is a symbol of mourning; where we mourn for all the ways we have failed God and failed one another; a moment to turn from all our failings and purposefully face the direction of the cross: literally realign ourself with the cross – it is right there, on our heads, right in front of us, and we are immediately placed right behind it, back where we belong.
On Ash Wednesday, we commit all over again to walk the way of Christ, together, as we try to return to God, with all of our heart, drawn by God’s grace and mercy and steadfast love.
Return to me with all your heart God says. Not because God is possessive and angry. Not because God doesn’t want us to love other people and other things.
Return to me with ALL your heart God says, because that is the best and safest place for our hearts to be. It is an invitation of love, on God’s part – as always. Because when our hearts are fully with God we can love outrageously and fiercely and boldly. When our hearts are fully with God our friends and neighbours and community will benefit most fully.
Returning to God, with all our hearts takes work and commitment. It takes dedication and doesn’t happen accidentally, but it is the absolute best thing for us, and for those around us. It will transform our lives and our church and our community. It will change the world.
Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping and with mourning.
Return to the Lord your God, for God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.
So, my questions for this Lent, again, are:
- Where is your heart currently?
- Where do you need to go, to retrieve the pieces of your heart that are not with God?
- How will you search for those pieces to bring them back?
- And how will you hand them over to God?
Return to me with all your heart, God says. All of it.
May this signing, with ash and oil, mark a significant moment in your returning. Amen.