Scripture: Joel 2:1-2,12-17
Keith Dove, pastoral resident
Ash Wednesday is the day that begins our season of Lent. For most of us though, it probably feels like last year’s Lent never ended. We have done our share of lamenting, but today we are supposed to start it all over again.
Over the past year, we have become all too familiar with the knowledge that we are dust and to dust we return. We have wrestled with those words and our mortality for almost a year now. And we have been constantly reminded that God is God, and we are not. It may feel like we’ve been sitting in the day of darkness and gloom that Joel writes about for quite some time. We’ve seen our sins on full display this year as the injustices and inequality of our society came to the forefront in our time of crisis.
But Joel calls the people not to turn away, to look at all the devastation around them. As we look around, we wonder with Joel if God will forgive us. We wonder if the injustice we see around us is too big to tackle. We wonder if the mourning of this pandemic will ever end. But the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. God is always calling us back and welcoming us home.
Today we return to God, rending our hearts in repentance. And today we recommit to the work of enacting earth as it is in heaven. The good news is that God is already active in this work, and God never asks us to do anything alone. God promises to be with us always. In this Lenten season, know that God is with you wherever you might find yourself. We may be apart during this time, but God is with us. Wherever we are, the Lord is already in that place.
prayer
God of mercy and abounding love, you call us to repent of our sin and to work for justice. Come beside us as we begin our Lenten journey. Create in us new hearts and fill them with your Holy Spirit, so that we may receive your grace and share your love. Remind us that surely you are in this place, wherever we may be. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, your son, our Lord. Amen.
