PLEASE BE PATIENT . . .
GOD ISN'T FINISHED WITH ME YET
Joel 2: 12-18; 2 Corinthians 5:20 – 6:2; Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18
When I was in high school, I had a Latin teacher by the name of Dr. Leitner. He was steely-eyed, strict, condescending, and arrogant. I spent most of high school being terrified of him. But all that changed one day, when he came into class wearing a big button on his lapel. Forty-two years later, I don’t remember much of what he taught us about, except how to conjugate a few Latin verbs. But I do remember that button. It said: “Please be patient. God isn’t finished with me yet.”
Whether we realize it or not, today we proclaim that same message. We won’t do it with a button on a lapel…but with ashes on our brow. Receiving these ashes serves a number of purposes. First, it proclaims to the world that we are Catholic Christians. It tells others that we are preparing for Easter, embarking on this 40-day journey of fasting and prayer and almsgiving. And, significantly, it announces that the light of Christ burning within us is not as bright as it should be—it has been darkened by dust. We need to bring forth the light, to be ready for the great feast of Easter. But most of all, the ashes we wear announce to the world this plain fact: we’re sinners. They tell all who see us that we are beginning 40 days of prayer, and repentance, and sacrifice — that we are Catholic Christians seeking somehow to reconcile ourselves with God.
One of the things I love about our faith is that our God is a God of second chances, fresh starts, and new beginnings. In the Bible we read these epic tales of the incredible ways that God transformed people and their lives: Moses, Noah, Jonah, Jeremiah, David, Joseph, Mary, Peter, James, Matthew, Zacchaeus, Paul, Lydia, Mary Magdalene, the woman at the well, and so many others whose names we don’t know. Why not you and me? Why not now?
What’s happening in your life right now? What’s not working in your life? What great question are you grappling with in your heart? Do you need a fresh start too? Welcome to Lent!
These ashes say that we’re works in progress. They say: please be patient. God isn’t finished with me yet. He isn’t finished with any of us. That’s the great wonder and consolation of Lent.
I’ve been reading a lot on Facebook today about people giving something up for Lent. Several have said their Facebook “goodbyes,” because they’ll be giving up Facebook itself. Thousands (millions?) will be giving up chocolate, French fries, coffee, swearing, late-night snacks, food during the day, or some such thing.
But if you truly want to give up something, don’t just settle for chocolate or hamburgers or cheesecake – though right about now, I think, we’d all like to lose that weight we gained over Christmas. Go further. Go deeper. Try giving up something really hard, something that costs, not money, but something of yourself.
Give up cynicism. Or jealousy. Or backstabbing. Give up gossip. Give up regrets for choices you never made or paths your never took.
Give up fighting God’s will for you. Give up always forgetting that the most famous prayer in the world doesn’t include the phrase “MY will be done,” but “THY will be done.”
Give up whatever fear or anxiety is keeping you from going to confession, and just go. Give up being too busy to pray or being too worried to hope.
Because in giving up one of these things we acknowledge that God isn’t finished with us yet and that we’re open to cooperating with him towards becoming the finished product, the masterpiece, he calls us to be.
And so . . .
Here we are on this Ash Wednesday, such as we are . . .
Imperfect.
Confessing.
Repentant.
Hopeful.
Listening.
Here we are, such as we are. . .
Willing to be melted
And molded.
Wanting a newly created
Pure heart.
Here we are, such as we are . . .
Branded with a mark . . .
Christ’s unmistakable mark . . .
The sign of His cross.
The sign of His cross.
Our prayer, our hope, our deepest yearning is that He leads us . . .
That He walks with us these 40 days . . .
That He walks with us always.
And as we embark on that journey, and begin this 40 day adventure, remember one more thing. Be patient. With yourselves. And with everyone else. Because God isn’t finished with any of us yet.
