If you happened to be in church in Zambia, or on the street in the capital lusaka and someone came over to you, you would be more than likely be greeted with the word … Mulishani to which your automatic reply without fail would be bueno Mulishani?
This equates to the english How are you … to which the reply is normally without thinking I'm fine thank you … how are you.
Today we come together as we begin lent, a time in the churches year when we are focused inward, a time when we stop and take stock, a time when we ask what do we need to do to make changes. A time when we focus on God and our relationship with him. A time when we ask ourselves how are you?
The Ash Wednesday service has grown to become one of the most profound and penitential of the Church's calendar. It is a time when we can stop and think about our lives to date and how we can serve God better.
In church we use words and symbols which mean more than they would first appear and you can dig down deeper and deeper to get to the core of the meaning. Within the celebration of Ash wednesday itself there are layers of meaning.
For some the start of lent is about giving up chocolate, of watching less tv, of denying yourself some of the luxuries of
life.
For others it is no smoking day – when they make a commitment to life without cigarettes – and that is great
However if we dig deeper – Ash Wednesday has been a day which has echoes of passages throughout the Bible, passages which we might hear in other circumstances.
For example in Genesis we read you are dust, and to dust you shall return. A sure echo of the funeral services.
Elsewhere in scripture when things were not going well – the king of a nation would call a fast and the people would wear sackcloth and put ashes on their face to show repentance and their lowly humble state before God.
It is a day of penitence, of being lowly before God but it is also a day when we can be confident in the assurance of forgiveness of sin proclaimed in the Good News of Christ.
In a world of Busyness, in the midst of everyday life, of full diaries, of family concerns Ash wednesday stands as a signpost in the middle of a week – It is a different service from the normal communion service ...asking us a very normal question – to which we are all expert at giving an answer to … it is a very simple question … how are you?
I'm fine thank you … or if we are feeling good on a
particular day we may give a bit of enthusiasm and say … I'm great!
As the driving comes along one thing I have learnt as you are coming up to a junction which has a STOP sign. One cannot simply slow down a little, look both ways and go on. You have to actually stop, change into first gear look both ways and go if its safe to do so.Today – Let us Stop for a moment, let us ponder the question … “How are you?”
How are you really … beneath the shell (which we all have) … how are you? … in your relationship with God … how are you getting on with Bible study? …. how is your prayer life? … how are you? … are there things which you would love to get rid of, habits, things you know that really need cut out, things you would like to add to your life. As you stop here today at this junction at this service, are you willing to change direction, or keep going.
This season of Lent gives us the space, the time and even the excuse to do things differently, to look inside, to get priorities re-organised. It is not about looking around for people more holy, people on the street who are putting on a show of their piety- the gospel reading this morning will not permit that.
But rather what it does say is that what happens in the secret, in the quiet place, behind your front door is what God is interested in. It is about the relationship you have with God after church is just as important than what happens in the public arena.
I am continually struck by the image of the iceberg – the tip of the iceberg shows only a small percentage of what is going on - 50% to 99% is underneath the waterline. Lent allows us the space to sort out what is happening in our spiritual lives, in our relationship with God – that which is hidden from view. What needs sorted?
As we come to think about the things we have done and the things left undone, shortly we will come to the prayer of penitence … before we get there I would love to read that for you
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The fantastic news, the promise of God is that last line of this prayer … he will lead us from darkness to walk as children of Light.
Prayer, Bible Study, journalling, taking a quiet time, spending time with God are all part of the Christian Discipleship, of living for him, of living life to the full – there is absolutely nothing better. This Ash Wednesday the question I would like to leave you as we Stop today is very
simple … How are you? Really?
And as with other things in life do not be afraid to ask for help or advice from those you know are living as Christian disciples – Nobody is an expert on these things we are all learning together but we can share what has worked for us.
How are you really?
Amen
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