Lenten Perspective: Separation and Reconciliation

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Separation and Reconciliation

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Colossians 1:19-20 (NRSV)

You invite us in
Doesn't matter who we've been
Your arms are open wide
Pulling us to Your side

From "You Invite Me In" by Meredith Andrews

In the Gospel of Luke, we read that one day, while a crowd has gathered around Jesus to listen to Him teach, a group of religious leaders, specifically Pharisees and religious scholars, start criticizing Him, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."  Jesus overhears them, so He starts telling them parables.¹

First Jesus tells a parable about a shepherd who has one hundred sheep in his care.  One day, one of the sheep goes missing, so the shepherd leaves the other ninety-nine to search for the missing one.  When he finds the sheep, he brings it back home and invites his friends to celebrate.  Jesus explains that "there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."  Jesus then tells a parable about a woman who has ten coins.  One day, she notices that one of her coins is missing, so she starts cleaning her house in search of it.  Once she finds her lost coin, she calls her friends over to celebrate with her.  Jesus explains that "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."²

Jesus is trying to drive home the truth that, when people turn from destructive ways, God celebrates.

In Jesus' day, the Pharisees are concerned with separation.  In fact, the word Pharisee means "separated one."  The Pharisees seek holiness through strict adherence to the Law of their religion and separation from anything sinful.³  Naturally, they would never associate with tax collectors, prostitutes, and anyone else they deem "sinners," and they are appalled that someone like Jesus would associate with them.

Jesus, on the other hand, is a "friend of sinners" because He is concerned not with separation but with reconciliation.  While the Pharisees want to separate themselves from people who are seemingly separated from God, Jesus wants to invite such people to be reconciled to God.  Yes, the "sinners" need to change their ways, but they also need to know that God desires reconciliation with them.  This is the truth that Jesus' parables convey.  In the same way that the shepherd was not content to have only ninety-nine of his one hundred sheep, and in the same way that the woman was not content to have only nine of her ten coins, God is not content to have only the upstanding religious folk.  God wants the so-called "sinners" as well.

Jesus goes on to tell a parable about a father who has two sons.  One day, the younger son asks his father for his inheritance, and afterward he leaves home and squanders it all.  Inevitably he finds himself in a state of need, so he decides to go home, apologize to his father, and ask him if he can be hired as a servant.  When he arrives at home, his father runs out to meet him, embraces him, and throws him a welcome home party.  When the older son learns that his brother has returned home and that his father has thrown him a party, he becomes indignant.  The father finds him and begs him to join the party.⁴

While all three parables are about the "sinners" who are turning to Jesus, this third parable is also about the Pharisees, who are evidently represented by the embittered older brother.  Jesus seems to be saying to them, "Your heavenly Father celebrates the return of your wayward brothers and sisters.  Now when are you going to get over your need to set yourselves apart from them and join the party?"

Theologian Paul Tillich suggested that "sin is separation."  In his words, "To be in the state of sin is to be in the state of separation.  And separation is threefold: there is separation among individual lives, separation of a man from himself, and separation of all men from the Ground of Being [God]."⁵  If sin is indeed separation, then the solution to the problem of sin would be reconciliation - reconciliation with one another, reconciliation with oneself, and reconciliaiton with God.  The Pharisees of Jesus' day are not bad for wanting to separate themselves from anything sinful, but, by separating themselves from people who are being reconciled to God, they run the risk of separating themselves from God.  Jesus wants them to celebrate other people's reconciliation with God as much as He does.

An early Christian hymn tells us that "in [Christ] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell" and that "through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things."⁶  The apostle Paul, a former Pharisee, suggests in one of his letters that he and his associates have been called into a "ministry of reconciliation," and he urges his readers to "be reconciled to God."⁷  This ministry was started by Jesus himself.

The season of Lent is a time for repentance.  Repentance is a change of one's heart and mind that results in a change in the way one lives.  As we repent of the things that come between ourselves and God, may we also repent of the things that come between ourselves and other people, realizing that God wants reconciliation with all of us.


Notes:

1. Luke 15:1-3 (NRSV)
2. Luke 15:4-10 (NRSV)
3. Wikipedia: "Pharisees"
4. Luke 15:11-32
5. https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/quotes/quotations/view/14150/spiritual-quotation
6. Colossians 1:19-20 (NRSV)
7. 2 Corinthians 5:18, 20 (NRSV)

The Return of the Prodigal Son was painted by Pompeo Batoni in 1773.

Lenten Perspective: Ash Wednesday Reminders

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Ash Wednesday Reminders

By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread
until you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.

Genesis 3:19 (NRSV)

Turn me around, pick me up
Undo what I've become
Bring me back to the place
Of forgiveness and grace
I need You, I need Your help
I can't do this myself
You're the only one
Who can undo what I've become

From "Undo" by Rush of Fools

At the beginning of 2021, I realized that the Scripture passages prescribed for New Year's Day by the Revised Common Lectionary,¹ the three-year cycle of readings used by many churches, were the same for all three years.  I read all four of them and considered what reminders they might offer us at the beginning of a new year.  Recently I realized that the same is true regarding the passages for Ash Wednesday, so I thought I might consider what reminders these four readings might offer us at the beginning of the season of introspection and penitence we know as Lent.

"A Clean Heart"
(Psalm 51:1-17)

The Psalm for Ash Wednesday is the Fifty-first Psalm, the song of penitence written by King David after he was confronted for taking the life of Uriah, one of his most loyal soldiers, and utterly destroying the life of Bathsheba, Uriah's wife.²  I suspect that a younger David would have never thought that he would ever be capable of doing anything so cruel and selfish.  I also suspect that, once he was forced to face his crimes, he found himself shocked by his own actions.

David, now realizing that his sinfulness runs deeper than he previously thought, confesses, "Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me."³  With a greater understanding of the darkness lurking deep within him, he prays to God, "You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart."⁴  He asks God to cleanse him of his sin, praying, "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin."⁵  Realizing that he needs to be transformed at the deepest levels, he prays, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me."⁶

Sometimes, like David, we don't know what is lurking deep within us until something brings it to the surface, and sometimes, like David, we don't know what we're capable of doing until we've already done it.  The Fifty-first Psalm reminds us that our sinfulness runs deeper than we realize, that we need God to reveal what is hidden within us, and that we need God to cleanse us and transform us at our deepest levels.


"Return" and "Be Reconciled to God"
(Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 and 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10)

The other Old Testament reading for Ash Wednesday is taken from the Book of Joel, in which the titular prophet proclaims, "Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing."⁷  Joel is speaking amid a national emergency which would have been understood to be punishment from God for the sins of the people.  The prophet calls on the people to return to God "with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning,"⁸ wondering, "Who knows whether he will not turn and relent...?"⁹

Similarly, in the Epistle reading for Ash Wednesday, the apostle Paul, speaking "on behalf of Christ," urges his readers in Corinth to "be reconciled to God."¹⁰  Reminding his readers of God's own work of reconciliation in Jesus Christ, he writes, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."¹¹  Paul goes on to proclaim to his readers, "See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!"¹²

Sometimes there are things in our lives that are not as they should be, straining our relationship with God.  The words of the prophet Joel and the apostle Paul challenge us to set such things right and assure us that, no matter how far from home we have strayed, God is always ready to welcome us back.


"Practicing Your Piety"
(Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21)

The Gospel reading for Ash Wednesday is excerpted from the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus says, "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."¹³  Regarding charitable giving, He says, "Whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you...  But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing..."¹⁴  Regarding prayer, He says, "Whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret..."¹⁵  Regarding fasting, He says, "Whenever you fast, do not look dismal...  But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face..."¹⁶

Repeatedly, Jesus tells us not to be like "the hypocrites" who want their acts of piety to be seen by others.¹⁷  The word hypocrite is derived from the Greek word hupokritēs which describes an actor,¹⁸ one whose profession is to play a part for an audience.  Jesus suggests that hypocrites are rewarded for their acts of piety when they are seen as pious by others.  He urges us to practice our piety discretely so that it is seen by God alone and to let God be the one to reward us for it.  Repeatedly He says, "Your Father who sees in secret will reward you."¹⁹

The Sermon on the Mount reminds us that, when we do something solely to be noticed by others, we miss out on what God wants to accomplish in us through the experience.


So what do these four passages remind us about the season of Lent?  The words of King David in the Fifty-first Psalm remind us that Lent is a time to look within ourselves and to allow God to reveal to us what we have tried not to see.  The words of the prophet Joel and the apostle Paul remind us that Lent is a time to set right the things in our lives that are separating us from God.  The words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount remind us that Lent is a time to quietly practice our piety so that we may focus on our relationship with God.

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For more thoughts about what the Fifty-first Psalm teaches us about our sinfulness, see my 2016 Lenten Perspective "A Clean Heart."

For more thoughts about what the Sermon on the Mount teaches us about practicing our piety, see my 2014 sermon "A Brighter, Zestier World."


Notes:

1. The Revised Common Lectionary can be found here: https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu
2. 2 Samuel 11:1-12:14
3. Psalm 51:5 (NRSV)
4. Psalm 51:6 (NRSV)
5. Psalm 51:2 (NRSV)
6. Psalm 51:10 (NRSV)
7. Joel 2:13 (NRSV)
8. Joel 2:12 (NRSV)
9. Joel 2:14 (NRSV)
10. 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NRSV)
11. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NRSV)
12. 2 Corinthians 6:2 (NRSV)
13. Matthew 6:1 (NRSV)
14. Matthew 6:2-3 (NRSV)
15. Matthew 6:6 (NRSV)
16. Matthew 6:16-17 (NRSV)
17. Matthew 6:2, 5, 16
18. Wiktionary: "Hypocrite"
19. Matthew 6:3-4, 6, 17-18

The photograph of the imposition of ashes was provided royalty-free by pxfuel.com.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.