Adh Wendesday 2015

Ash Wednesday 2015 (Matthew 6:1-6;16-21)

“For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”

All people choose what we most want at the moment of choice.

Many religious people have traditionally identified sin as a problem of the will. Religious debates once focused on the supposed conflict between free will and determinism. Those debates have largely ended in the self-indulgence of sentimentality that defines modern Western religious discussion.

The assertion from modern theologians is that God would never exclude anyone from the Kingdom of Heaven for any reason therefore either everyone enters into Heaven or no one enters into Heaven. The latter assertion is a nod to secular agnosticism.

Jesus, as the co-eternal Son of God incarnate, has a very different perspective. Jesus looks at all people everywhere with the eyes of love. His arms are wide open. His invitation to receive the gift of grace is universal and unconditional.

Jesus also looks at all people everywhere with the eyes of truth. There can be no love apart from truth. There can be no truth apart from love.

The truth is that God the Father designed our species and each of us according to the pattern, plan and purpose of God the Son by the power and presence of God the Holy Spirit.

The truth is that the essential nature of God is love.

The truth is that when created beings embody love we hold that love by a real choice.

The truth is that humanity as a species chose to separate from love.

The evidence of that separation is the Biblical and historical record and the current events of our time.

The truth is that people want or demand the supposed gifts of God in the perceived attributes of God.

The truth is that when God reveals himself in Jesus Christ most people most of the time turn away, rebel or ignore Him.

The truth is that God’s love never waivers.

The truth is that our love has grown cold and self-absorbed through pride and self-will.

The truth is that we choose what our hearts most desire and value at the moment of choice.

The truth is that left alone to our own devices we choose to perpetuate separation from love today, tomorrow and forver.

The Good News of Jesus Christ is that He himself as the incarnate co-eternal Son of God has made it possible for us to make a different choice. Jesus offers us all a second chance, a third, fourth even  thousands of  choices in the course of our lives to make a real choice to say no to separation and yes to God.

We choose what we most desire at that moment of choice. We choose isolation as we remain in separation. We can make a different choice. We can choose Jesus.

To make that choice we must value that choice. Choosing Jesus doesn’t mean we are then perfect. Choosing Jesus doesn’t mean we now have a single set of values grounded in truth. Choosing Jesus means we have allowed ourselves to be found in the love of God by the personal presence of God.

From that place of reunification, God the Holy Spirit works with us gently, persistently and patiently to transform our desires so we can make wise choices.

We cannot just say no to sin. We can say yes to Jesus Christ as we allow ourselves to be found in Christ. As we make that choice, God the Holy Spirit will help us make other choices that build and strengthen our desire for universal unconditional love. In that life long process of transformation we will yield our particular sins to God to be transformed by love, in love and through love back into their original virtues.

Lenten repentance, self- discipline and acts of devotion are the means by which the Holy Spirit helps us make the real choice to live by grace through faith in universal unconditional love. That love is Jesus Christ.