Getting Heaven Into Us

Ashes.

Sorrow. Mourning. Humility.

A celebration that something is going to die in us.

A desire to get heaven into us.

Lent.

 

We are awesome creations, full of dignity and value, a unity of body and soul, basking in harmony and freedom, having the power to know and love… but we are damaged. Our mind is clouded and our wills are weak. We suffer and die. We push each other away. God seems remote.

Wounded perfection.

We can’t be tinkered with, we can’t send away for new parts, duct tape and chewing gum are no help. Self medication makes things worse. We need to be saved.

In swoops Jesus wearing the rough cross for a cape, suffering and dying are his power, resurrection is his glory, he is our teacher, our guide, our God.

In the beginning heaven and earth overlapped in a harmony called Eden. Sundered by sin heaven and earth still wanted to intersect, that’s how things were meant to be. The Temple became a place of temporary overlap, a brief respite in a sin weary world until the true connection would arrive. And there is Christ, the fullness of that much desired intersection. Christ, the permanent and true intersection of heaven and earth, calls us to the overlap to be filled with heaven, to overflow with Christ. But there’s still…

Sin.

God doesn’t want us to be foul sinners wearing pretty Jesus costumes. He doesn’t want tarted up turds. He wants little Christs. He offers us all the gifts we need…

Love. Grace. Holy Spirit. Freedom. Sacraments. Church. Love.

The gifts have been freely given…

Respond.

Seek purity, holiness, righteousness, harmony, justice, knowledge, morality…

Eternity with God.

God isn’t some nice old guy with a long beard or a raging Zeus with thunder bolts in hand. But God is God, due all respect and honor and love and yes… fear. Dare we waltz into heaven hanging onto our sins yet hiding in our Jesus costume?

He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. ¹³ Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ ¹⁴ Many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Christs parable reminds us we are meant to come appropriately prepared, that we are to pursue virtues, seek to die to our vices, to allow the Holy Spirit to show in our lives. Yes, yes of course, no matter how holy we may become the effects of sin will  always be gnawing at us in this life. No of course we don’t earn heaven. But we are called to a moral life.

“The moral life requires grace.”

The moral life begins with loving God so it begins with a relationship. A moral life fosters relationships, preserves them even. Love is the foundation of a moral life but we need rules and laws to show us HOW love can be done in this world. Sure, love is enough in heaven but in this life we NEED moral guidance. Love without moral direction is sentimental and at the mercy of feelings. Love involves sacrifice… facing tough moral choices.

This is what Lent is all about.

Easter is coming: Christ resurrected, the intersection of heaven and earth, the place of overlap. We need to be prepared! We need to seek a change of direction and not just “give up chocolate.” Life is not a slow deterioration but a Christ guided development. We don’t want to wait to start this development, we want to get started now.

Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Ash Wednesday reminds us our time is limited, it reminds us we are completely dependent on God and our moment is now. Lent then is a gift, a chance to cooperate with the Holy Spirit, a chance to allow heaven to blossom in our lives.

May our whole life be a celebration of Lent lived in the glory of Easter!

Living Dust

Hope Lutheran Church, Eagle

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the season of Lent. Lent is the forty days we travel with Jesus to Jerusalem where he is tried and executed. This is a season of preparation for our Lord’s death and resurrection. That empty tomb we rediscover on Easter is what defines Christianity and gives believers hope. And it all begins with a little ash cross placed on our foreheads with the words:

You are dust and to dust you shall return but for the hope of Jesus.

The message was based on Ephesians 5:28-32 and reminded us the church is a mysterious living thing. For anything to live you need to invest some effort into its care and feeding. We do that by investing ourselves in each other just as Christ gave his all for us. But we also need care ourselves; someone to help us on our faith journey. No one person, however, is so complete as to give us everything we need. This shows us how much we need a whole community of people with different gifts investing in us. Church then becomes an interconnected community that needs all its members pouring their God given gifts into each other so that everyone is prepared to share Christ with the world.

The beautiful thing about Christ’s bride the church is we all have the same need.  None of us can set ourselves above anyone else because we are all dust… living dust.

May you find a community of believers married to Christ that you can pour yourself into.  May you find there the spiritual nourishment you need to be God’s hands and feet in the world.