February 14, 2018 (Ash Wednesday) – Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Closer to God
Ash Wednesday – February 14, 2018
First Lutheran Church – Winnipeg, MB
We almost never include the reading from Joel assigned for Ash Wednesday.
We usually hear from Isaiah instead, who assures us we will be “restorers of streets to live in,”
which is oh so appropriate for Discount Lutheran Church at Sargent and Victor.
Joel usually seems very judgy to me with its strong imagery of locusts devouring the land
and leaving devastation in its wake and its assurance that
“the day of the Lord is coming” so you had better repent of your sins. . . .
Only. . . here’s the thing.
I don’t think the word sin or sins appears in the entire book.
In fact, I never noticed until this year that God never once blames the people for the predicament
they are in.
A natural disaster of epic proportions has taken place and may get worse and yet . . .
the prophet never blames the people for the catastrophe that has befallen them.
Yes: in Joel’s world God is ultimately in charge of everything and so ultimately is in control
of every phenomena in the natural world.
The hopefulness of that world view is that if God is finally in charge of everything,
then God can do something about the predicament the people are in.
Joel advises them: re-turn to God, stay close to God – that’s your best bet.
Do the traditional things that keep you close to God: prayer and fasting.
Prayer keeps the lines of communication open with God,
prayer nurtures your relationship with God,
prayer is simply speaking to and listening for God.
Fasting reminds you of your dependence on God, that God will provide for you,
and leaves you with more to share with your neighbour who also is in great need.
You can fast from those things that are keeping you from remaining close to God.
And his word to the priests is: pray for your people.
Nowhere does Joel advise the priests to point out the people’s sins,
but simply to intercede for them.
And far from characterizing God as angry or punishing, Joel beautifully names God for us:
Gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love.
We really don’t know why calamity has overtaken the people.
But the one thing we do know is that God wants the people to stay very close to the Divine
throughout the whole ordeal – because who knows? With God, things can change.
The other day Carolyn and I were talking about the ashes we use on Ash Wednesday.
And we were wondering why they are made from last Palm Sunday’s palm leaves.
I have no idea, and I’m not sure anyone does.
The ashes seem clear enough to me: they are signs of our mortality and fragility.
They remind us that life is a gift from God and that is it precious and short and that
every breath and every heartbeat should be treasured and valued.
They remind us that life is very fragile, and that every single human life is fragile.
They remind us this about ourselves – and about the person sitting next to us.
Every person we encounter is fragile and so we are to relate to one another tenderly, graciously.
Yes: we are dust.
But . . . we are in fact the same dust the stars are made of, made to shine with light.
We are dust – but what dust!
Dust with consciousness, dust capable of bearing light, dust capable of giving love and
receiving love.
We are Magic dust. Star dust.
But why dust made from last year’s palm leaves?
I suppose it reminds us of that fragility of life.
It reminds us how quickly things can turn,
from celebration on Palm Sunday to grief on Good Friday.
And it reminds us, I think, that God is right in the midst of both.
We all have our good moments and our good days when we feel we are fulfilling our purpose to
be blessing.
But we also all have our bad days, when we feel as if we are alienated from God,
alienated from purpose, alienated from the people around us.
Maybe we feel like a plague of locusts is eating up all our resources and that the end is near.
But that is just when we need to be reminded to stick close to God through such times.
That is when we need to be reminded that Jesus was there.
That Jesus knows what it is like to go from the palms of Palm Sunday to
the ashes of Good Friday.
That is when we need to remember that the ashes are just as beloved as the palms
That is when we need to be reminded that the place of death can once again be the place of life.
It is what Joel is reminding the people.
Don’t give up hope.
God is very gracious and God’s defining characteristic is love and mercy.
This looks like the end – but it is not.
This looks like the place of death, but it is not.
Stick close to God, for with God the place of death can become the place of life.
Our ashes can rise from the tomb and bear life and healing and meaning and purpose again.
It was not the end for the people of Israel, it was not the end for Jesus –
and it is not the end for you.
So on this Ash Wednesday there is great good news for us when so many of us know
personally and socially and culturally exactly what it is like to go from palms to ashes.
Our response is to stick close to God – pray and fast.
Call out to God and intercede for your neighbours in need – it will give you compassion for them
and motivate you to work for justice and peace,
and you will become useful dust once more.
Fast and be reminded of God’s generosity and goodness,
fast from that which is keeping you from recognizing God’s graciousness and mercy,
fast and identify with the hungry poor, and that too will
fill you with compassion and motivate you to work for justice and mercy.
And then the place of death has a chance to become a place of life.
God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
May this Lent be a time to re-turn to this God, and to stick close to this God,
by praying and fasting from anything that keeps you far from God.
So together, let us say, “Amen.”
Pastor Michael Kurtz
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