What's That On Your Forehead?

There I sat jealous of the other kids, it seemed like all of them had it, but me. No matter where I looked, I could find a forehead with that big black mark. Growing up, this happened every Ash Wednesday, and I wanted to get ashes just like all the other kids. In elementary school those ashes meant that those kids got to leave school during the day (which I never got to do), they got to go to church and get ashes on their foreheads, come back to school and walk around with what I considered a badge of honor.

Don’t worry though, I still got ashes on Ash Wednesday. But since both of my parents were teachers, we always went to the service at night, which meant I never got to show off my big black cross. At the time, not only were those ashes super cool, but they are an outward sign that I was a Christian, and that was the really important part, right? Jesus wants us to spread his words and teachings, and what better way to do that than on Ash Wednesday, when everyone can see me sporting a big black cross on my forehead. I can’t be more obvious than that.

Wait a minute I am seeing a contradiction here. In the gospel reading that is exactly what Jesus warns us not to do. He says it blatantly, “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Alright, but does that really refer to what I wanted in elementary school. Let’s look at the piece of scripture in the context of the time. This piece of scripture is a part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. He is speaking to a group of primarily Jewish people about their own individual piety, or how they should each practice their devoutness to God.

The commentaries I read on this passage were quick to point out that Jesus was not being critical of the Jewish ideas of piety. What he was emphasizing was the intention behind performing those acts of piety. When Jesus states, “So when you give alms, do not sound the trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others.” Jesus wants his followers to understand what their intention should be in performing those acts of piety. If someone gives alms for the sake of being praised, that’s not the reason for practicing that piece of piety. Giving alms is supposed to be a way of becoming closer to God, not for being praised and rewarded by our peers.

Why did I want to get those ashes again? What was I centering my idea of getting ashes around?

During the book study on The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis, Lewis portrays this same idea in a young painter. While in Heaven, the painter is having a conversation with a Spirit about his pieces of art. The Spirit tries to help the painter remember the reason he started painting. Initially it was to share the pieces of heaven he witnessed around him. And the painter was successful artist because his paintings enabled others to see those glimpses of heaven. But now in Heaven, the painter doesn’t understand that idea. He believes that it was the painting was what people were impressed with and appreciated. Frustrated, the Spirit tries to make the painter understand what his paintings really meant to people, and says, “Light itself was your first love; you loved paint only as a means of telling about light.”

You loved paint only as a means of telling about light.

Lewis perfectly illustrates how and what we should be centering our lives on, the light. Which I took to mean the light of Christ. And this is exactly where I fall or get lost sometimes. The point of getting ashes on my forehead was not for me to boast about the classroom and to show off how pious I was or wasn’t. The point of practicing piety is to grow closer to God, to feel the love God has for us, which enables us to share that love with others.

Lent is not simply a time for giving up candy or Facebook for the sake of practicing obedience. It is an opportunity to strip away those distractions and practice forms of piety that bring us into a closer relationship with God. It is a time for us to reflect on how we share how much God loves us. And this is overwhelming sometimes, at least for me to truly comprehend. God loves us so much that he gave us his only son. Jesus was on Earth to show us how to share God’s love with others. And because of him, we can share that love through whatever means we feel conveys the light and the love God, just like the painter. Perhaps in elementary school, my intention for wearing a black cross on my forehead wasn’t the best way for me to share God’s love with others. Although the silver lining to that story is that God doesn’t condemn me for wanting to do that.

There is a particular line during the service today that reveals this good news, it says, “He pardons and absolves all those who truly repent, and with sincere hearts believe his holy Gospel”. Even though I got wrapped up in sporting a black cross on my forehead, God knows where our hearts are and if we get lost, will guide them back into the light.

That Kodak Moment Video

That Kodak Moment

For every major life event, rest assured my parents were there with a camera, ready to take a picture. Although because of technology today, taking a picture and sharing it instantly; it isn’t a big of deal. But when I was four or five it felt like taking a picture was truly a big deal. My parents were capturing every special moment, a memory we could keep forever. My family used a film canister camera, which meant we had to wait for the pictures to be developed. And when we finally received those new pictures, it was so exciting to go through them, and we did so ritualistically. We had to hold each picture only at the corners, ensuring not to smudge it. And we had to keep the pictures in the exact order we took them or else! My parents emphasized caring for the pictures because they knew that one day, I would want to show someone those pictures. So we took great care in handling them.

Today’s gospel reading is full of those precious picture taking moments for Jesus and his parents; it was Jesus’s presentation, which was a big deal in Jewish tradition. During our preaching group this past Monday, Father Tom explained that the presentation of Jesus actually consisted of three separate ceremonies, not just the one presentation ceremony, which is what I initially thought. In those times it was Jewish tradition that the mother wait 40 days after the birth of her child to be ritually cleansed. So the first ceremony was the ritual purification of Mary. The second ceremony, was the presentation the first born child to God. And finally third ceremony, was to dedicate the firstborn child into the Lord’s service; three ceremonies one day.

When Mary and Joseph arrived at the temple for Jesus’s presentation ceremonies they met an older man named Simeon, who was to perform the ceremonies. He was described as “righteous and devout” individual, but there was something else unique about Simeon. Through the Holy Spirit, God made a promise with Simeon that he would see the Messiah before his death. So when Simeon held Jesus, he knew that God’s promise was fulfilled, and he could die in peace, we understand this when Simeon says, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation” To me this is an impressive display of pure faith. He was an older man, who could have just given up, become cynical, and dwell on the idea that God wouldn’t provide. Instead he simply had faith. He had faith that the Lord would provide. After Simeon’s revelation, he describes Jesus as, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel” emphasizing to Mary and Joseph the miracle Jesus will be in the lives of others. At this point, if Mary and Joseph were carrying a camera, this would be a picture perfect moment.

After the ceremonies were performed in the temple, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus walk out of the temple and pass Anna a prophet. From the reading, don’t know much, be we can understand that she was definitely an older woman. In one of the commentaries, it said she could have been around 100 years old. Even in her old age, Anna was dedicated to worship, and had a strong faith in God. So when she came across Jesus and his parents, she understood how significant Jesus was. There in front of her was the Messiah. Perhaps because of her age, she couldn’t walk around to spread the word, but she didn’t let that stop her. She simply spread the word just by talking to others about Jesus. If there was a picture taken at this moment, I imagine it would be Anna taking a picture of Jesus, so she could share it with everyone.

Today, there are lots of people that encompass both a pure devotion to faith like Simeon and a willingness to spread the word of God like Anna, but a particular person that pops into my mind this week is Shirley Cummings. When I first met Shirley, she told me about her faith journey and how she first began to attend services at Church of the Holy Spirit. Then she immediately switched to telling me about all of her children and grandchildren. Each of them having a special place in her heart. I could feel how devoted she was to her faith and family simply listening to her. Although Shirley has passed on, her devotion to God and love of others hasn’t stopped. It has been passed onward to her children and grandchildren. And I find this incredible, no matter how old or young, the love of God can be passed on.

God’s grace may always be within us, but we can learn to develop a deeper understanding of faith by listening to those who are wiser and have more experience with faith. Simeon, Anna, and Shirley were all prime examples of strong faith, and through their willingness to share their faith, they help develop everyone else’s.

Another great part about pictures is their ability to help reminisce about memories. By turning the pictures into a scrap book, putting them in a photo album, and even framing them and hanging them up. By sharing our memories with others, we learn more about who we are and others; ensuring that those precious memories stay close to our hearts.

What is Priceless?

Camels: $500. Gold: $150. Frankincense: $100. Myrrh $200. Finding the Son of God, priceless. There are some things money can’t buy, but for everything else, well you know the rest of the commercial. For the wise men in the Gospel, I don’t know what their true expenses were, but they knew there were going to be expenses during their journey. A journey where they would follow a star to find the Son of God. It sounds a little bizarre, follow a star and find the son of God. What made God choose wise men to follow a star to find Jesus? Would God instruct anybody to follow a star to find Jesus? Was it all a coincidence?

So what made the wise men so special? When reading a commentary about this particular passage, I learned that wise men, were also referred to as Magi. The word Magi stood for several things during that time. It was a Persian priestly caste, it was short for the word magicians, and finally Magi also referred to individuals who were astrologers. And as astrologers they had the gift to read the stars. This was what made them wise. Since they understood the science of the stars, they had the skills to map out a journey simply using the night sky, they could follow a star to find the new born king. This was their God given gift

Prepared to begin their journey, they were first summoned by King Herod. And they were summon by the King because he was frightened. His understanding was apparently, “a child has been born king of the Jews”, a king to rule over all kings, which meant he wasn’t going to be King much longer. To prevent this new King from taking his throne, he called together all the scribes and all chief priests to understand exactly what he was up against. And from the gospel reading it says they explained what the prophet had written, “‘[from Bethlehem] shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” This meant King Herod needed to find that child and do all in his power to prevent him from being King. And since these wise men from the East were on a journey to find this new born king, he would use them to find the child and stop him from becoming King.

He ordered the wise men, to send back the location of the child, and then Herod himself could stop the child from becoming King. Brilliant plan, but what King Herod didn’t know was that the wise men weren’t going to follow his orders, they were warned in a dream not to.

So to answer the initial question, was it simply a coincidence? I don’t think so. The ability to understand the stars was a God given gift. God reached out to the wise men, to use skills that were particular to them, and they were able to find the son of God. Yes, it was a challenge to use the stars as a map, but God gave the wise men those skills. Most importantly, the wise men weren’t following the word of King Herod, they were following God’s instructions.

What does this look like for us today? How do we better listen to God to learn what are gifts are? And most importantly, who are we following? We, like the wise men, are on a journey. A journey to serve God by loving each other and to use the gifts God gave us to serve others. To understand what are gifts are, I think we must understand how we best serve others. For the wise men it was being able to read the stars, for those that are teachers it’s teaching, for those that are consolers it’s consoling, and for those that are doctors it’s treating illnesses. Ultimately, this shows us that God meets us where we are. God meets us where we are. God gives each of us gifts to serve others, but when we listen and follow God’s instructions we can perform wondrous ministries.

It is the beginning of a new year, which means for us it is the beginning of another journey to live out God’s mission for us. If we listen and serve God through our individual gifts we can begin to serve others better and love more. It’s won’t always easy, and there will be expenses along the way, but how bad can they really be? Reading the bible: $0, praying: $0, listening and loving others: $0. Serving God through our gifts: priceless.

Good Grief!

As he walks away, he doesn’t quite believe her. He questions will she hold it this time? Charlie Brown decides to try and kick the football anyway. He begins running full speed at Lucy, who is holding the football, and just as he swings his leg to kick, Lucy pulls the football away. Thus, Charlie Brown flips into the air, and lands flat on his back.

Good grief, not again.

And there is Lucy standing over Charlie Brown shaking her head saying, you shouldn’t have trusted me Charlie Brown. This is the standard football gag seen in the comic strip, Peanuts by Charles Shultz.

I think we have all felt like Charlie Brown once or twice, at least I have. It’s a classic conundrum, we go out on a limb anxious for what the future could hold, and end up disappointed and hurting ourselves. And lying on our backs we ask ourselves, why did I just do that, why did I take the chance? GOOD GRIEF! And then we say, it would have been easier to just stay the status quo, and go about my business as usual. As long as I stick to the rules, I will get by.

I imagine those same thoughts going through Joseph’s mind in the gospel. Joseph was considered a righteous man, which meant he led a life of morality and followed all the rules. He didn’t like interrupt the status quo.

But, now his is confronted with a dilemma. Mary, his wife, was pregnant. But he knew the baby wasn’t his, which meant one thing she had committed adultery, and adultery was not tolerated by anyone.

To better understand this part of the gospel, I did a little research on marriage in the Jewish culture. In those days, marriage, was a little more complex compared to today. It was actually a two-stage process.

Stage one, began when the kids came of age for marriage. For girls that was like 12 – 14, and for boys it was around 16 -18. But the children really didn’t have much say in who they married. It was more of an arranged marriage, where one household offer would offer a deal to the other household. If the offerings pleased both families, then the kids entered into the second stage of marriage.

This was the legally binding part of the arrangement between the couple, and it would be about a year before a marriage ceremony was actually performed. And during that time, the couple called each other husband and wife to signify their legal relationship. Since marriage was a legal arrangement, the only legal way out of it was to get a divorce. And in those times there were two types of divorce, public or private.

If the divorce was public, the girl was shamed in front of the entire village, which ensured no real chance of marriage ever again. If the divorce was private, only two or three people were witnesses to the divorce, and the couple would split and go about their lives separately, still having the potential for marriage again.

Knowing this information, when I read the gospel again, it shed a completely different light on Joseph. So let’s start again with the line, “she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit”, and here I picture Joseph shouting, just like Charlie Brown, “GOOD GRIEF”. He believed Mary was going to stay true to him, they were legally bound to each other. How could she have done this to him?

Then read the next line, “Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly”. Joseph knew he had to divorce Mary, it was the law if someone committed adultery. But he choose to show compassion for her by wanting to have private divorce.

That way, Mary would still have a chance for life after the divorce. By showing mercy to Mary, Joseph reflected his trust in God’s word to love one another no matter what. Joseph being a righteous man, could have easily thrown her to the wolves. But he believed in God’s word, and trusted that showing mercy was what God was calling him to do. Then while Joseph was sleeping on his decision, an angel appeared to him in a dream, and said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins". Joseph wakes up and probably proclaims, “GOOD GRIEF!” He can’t divorce Mary now, she hasn’t committed adultery at all, but what would other people think. They will whisper behind his back, “Joseph, he used to be a righteous man, but he married that Mary girl. And that baby she had, it wasn’t even his!” Where will he find the strength to endure the public ridicule? By putting his trust in God’s word, Joseph finds his strength in God! Joseph risked his reputation, but through his faith he had the strength to endure.

He knew that God was asking him to be a part of something amazing. He helped bring Jesus Christ into this world, all by putting his trust in God. What if Joseph didn’t trust God? I think we can say, he would have missed quite the opportunity. Like Joseph, what if we made decisions by putting our trust in God? What risks would we be more willing to take? What amazing feats could we accomplish? Picture what this would look like for you. I think it’s different for everyone.

Maybe, it’s getting involved in a new ministry, or becoming the leader of a ministry we are already a part of. Perhaps, it’s simply striking up a conversation with someone else about God. Listening and trusting in God, what are the opportunities we have outside these walls?

GOOD GRIEF, everyone one of us has the ability to accomplish something amazing. By keeping our trust in God, it allows us to take that risk we weren’t so willing to take before. And the good news is God is holding the football, as we prepare to kick. Unlike Lucy, God isn’t going to pull the ball away. God will hold it, until we are ready to kick.

Virtual Advent Calendar: Day 11

"For nothing will be impossible with God. 'Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.' Then the angel departed from her." -Luke 1: 37 - 38

Virtual Advent Calendar: Day 10

“It is not life that’s complicated, it’s the struggle to guide and control life.” - C.S. Lewis