Surrender (Ash Wednesday)
Ash Wednesday
Fr. Tim Nunez
May my spoken word be true to God’s written word and bring us all closer to the living word, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
This morning Meg and I got pictures of our 2-year-old granddaughter wishing us a happy Valentines Day and Ash Wednesday. It seems an odd juxtaposition, but perhaps we can find where they intersect.
The prophet Joel said on the Day of the Lord, “Like blackness spread upon the mountains, a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come,” That put me in mind of something more recent; it seems a recurring theme.
The common, brief explanation for the start of World War I goes something like, Bosnian terrorists assassinated Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, which triggered responses from Germany, Russia and France, then Belgium and England. I’ve even heard it said that the limited communications available in 1914 - letters by courier - played a part in it.
But it was far more complicated than that. Of course it was. Life is always far more complicated than that. The nations as we know them today formed over a long time. There were several regions that had long been in dispute. The region in between northeast Germany and Russia, where Poland is today, was one. The Austria-Hungary empire, which was physically bigger than its close ally Germany at the time, sought to control the Balkan peninsula (where Bulgaria, Romania Serbia and Montenegro are) but Russia regarded itself as the protector of those Slavic peoples. The Alsace between Germany and France was and is populated by people of German and French origin, and had been disputed and fought over repeatedly.
Those tensions had built up at various points over the centuries. France and Russia formed an alliance that if either was attacked the other would declare war on Germany. France also persuaded the United Kingdom to align with them in case of war. And although the UK has no border with Germany, they controlled the oceans and could seal off all German ports, as well as provide land troops.
Altogether those alliances were meant to hold Germany in check. But Germany saw those agreements as encircling them, and the encirclement as a dire threat. So they made plans to overcome it. War did come. It lasted over four years and was horrific. Its aftermath led directly to the Second World War and all of its horrific costs.
This isn’t a history lesson, but I find those circumstances offer a helpful analogy to our current circumstances. I’m not talking about the territorial disputes that are in terrible conflict or looming conflict in our world today, although those are important. I’m talking about the condition of our hearts, minds and even our spirits. I’m talking about the state of people generally, and I hope this will be helpful for us as individuals.
Who can say there is nothing wrong? When we make an honest assessment of our lives, things may be reasonably peaceful at the moment, but we are also ever on the verge of real trouble. No matter how careful we are about our diets, there will come a time when food fails us. No matter how diligently we exercise our bodies will eventually fail us. No matter how much we read and learn, no matter how smart and wise we might become, our brains will eventually grow cold.
We should fight for every inch of ground on every front for our health as long and as hard as we can. Life is a precious gift. Even though we know we cannot ultimately win, we plan for it, work at it and do our best, right?
But there’s another problem. Our efforts to survive and thrive, to push against those frontiers, tend to lead us to sin. The desire for love gets twisted into lust. Nutrition gets twisted into gluttony – and not just in amounts that we eat but idolizing food. Prudence in saving and preparing for hard times leads to greed and selfishness. Our need for rest fades into sloth. We want to control things or the people around us and lack of control is the most common seed wrath and anger. We see what others have, or we see their highlight reels on social media, leading us to envy and covet what they have.
And if you think you’ve got all of that (and more) under control, then pride is waiting for you.
We are encircled completely. Psalm 90:1-6 captures it beautifully:
Lord, you have been our refuge *
from one generation to another.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or the land and the earth were born, *
from age to age you are God.
You turn us back to the dust and say, *
"Go back, O child of earth."
For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday
when it is past *
and like a watch in the night.
You sweep us away like a dream; *
we fade away suddenly like the grass.
In the morning it is green and flourishes; *
in the evening it is dried up and withered.
We are encircled, surrounded on all sides, 360 degrees, by sin and death. We may try to avoid it, to distract ourselves from it, to snatch moments and seasons of pleasure, or we may try to anesthetize ourselves from it. There is no escape except by the grace of God. Jesus came to reconcile us to him. To do that, we must yield all that we are, all that we have and all that we love to him. We must yield it sincerely, from our hearts, without pretext or show.
He alone can and will lift us from this snare. We have only to turn our hearts sincerely and as completely as we can to him, and trust him to forgive and redeem our faults and failures. Let us rend our hearts, not our garments, lay down our arms and yield the disputed territories that he might deliver us into his love. That is where Ash Wednesday leads, and where it reconciles with Valentines Day. In love.
AMEN