2021.02.17 Rend Your Hearts

Rend Your Hearts

Joel 2:1–2 NASB

1 Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the Lord is coming; Surely it is near, 2 A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a great and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it To the years of many generations.

Joel 2:12–17 NASB

12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; 13 And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil. 14 Who knows whether He will not turn and relent And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a drink offering For the Lord your God? 15 Blow a trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, 16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out of his room And the bride out of her bridal chamber. 17 Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers, Weep between the porch and the altar, And let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord, And do not make Your inheritance a reproach, A byword among the nations. Why should they among the peoples say, ‘Where is their God?’ ”

start at “We beg...”

2 Corinthians 5:20b–6:10 NASB

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 1 And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain— 2 for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”— 3 giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, 4 but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, 5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, 6 in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, 7 in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, 8 by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; 9 as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, 10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.

Matthew 6:1–6 NASB

1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. 2 “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3 “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 5 “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Matthew 6:16–21 NASB

16 “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 17 “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face 18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

We begin with a prophetic reading from Joel:

Day of the Lord…

Darkness and gloom

Clouds and thick darkness

Never been anything like it, nor will there be again…

So, Joel calls us to “rend your heart and not your garments”

Rending garments is an old Jewish sign:

Mourning (Gen. 37:34; Lev. 10:6; 21:10; 1Sam 4:12; 2Sam 3:31)

Repentance (Gen. 37:29; Josh 7:6; 2Chron 34:27; Joel 2:13)

Response to the rejection of God’s plan (Num. 14:6)

Blasphemy (Mat. 26:65; Mark 14:63; Acts 14:14)

So why is that meaningful for Ash Wednesday, why do we read Joel 2 every Ash Wednesday?

Today begins the season of Lent, and Lent is a time of mourning and repentance.

Joel warns his nation to not allow God to be just another god among the landscape.

In the reading from 2 Corinthians, Paul tells us to “be reconciled to God.” He tells us the “acceptable time” is now, and today is the “day of salvation”!

Both of them are telling us to prepare ourselves for God’s coming (return). Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6, that external works of penance have no value in themselves. They only serve to draw attention to us, instead of indicating an internal change. We must relate them to real penitence ... our conversion to God.

One of those outward signs is fasting. Jesus says, “When you fast, do not put on a gloomy face…”

His phrasing confirms that we are expected to fast, and Lent is one of those times.

Fasting is a discipline! Disciplines are a part of our faith tradition because disciplines teach us obedience. Discipline trains us for faithful responses to God.

Tradition of giving things up for Lent:

Fasting!

Sugar – caffeine – alcohol – smoking

Typically something we should do without in the first place.

What would you REALLY miss?

Try to think of something that would do you good, but would be difficult for you … good place to start

This year, I will fast social media and shaving. Shaving may seem like an odd choice, but when my hair starts growing on my head it drives me nuts. As much as I dislike shaving my head, I dislike having to deal with hair even more!

So my outward sacrifices are social media and shaving.

Another outward sign of conversion is ashes. Why ashes?

Byproduct of burning something away.

The “left overs” after fire passes

Waste after the heat and light are gone

Symbolic of death (“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust”)

Ashes are only good for one use:

Basically trash except…

Soil treatment (gardening) to help growth happen

And so we place ashes on our foreheads to remind us:

Dust to dust

Repentance

Symbolic of our death to self

Forehead is a mark of ownership – according to Revelation

We are Christ's - he died so that we might live.

These may be just a few ashes but they mean a lot.

We are nothing but dust and ashes apart from God.

We repent and mourn for our sin

Our sin has tarnished the glory of God that resides within us

As we repent, we are forgiven and marked as His own

We are preparing the soil of our hearts for new spiritual growth through Lent and Easter

So as you come forward tonight to receive the sign of the cross, rend your hearts. Tear your heart and repent.

Repent and accept the grace and forgiveness that marks you as a redeemed child of God.

“Repent and believe the Gospel” Amen.

The Lord be with you!

AND ALSO WITH YOU.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth, and to dust we shall return.

Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence,

so that we may remember that only by your gracious gift

are we given everlasting life;

the everlasting life which we celebrate with bread and cup.

Make these earthly produce be for us the Body and Blood of Christ.

Provide grace through our celebration, and let that grace empower us to be the Body of Christ in the world.

Make us one with you, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Explain stickers/tattoos & Communion procession. Remind of social distancing guidelines.