We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,

“At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything. (2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 NRSV)

***

“Be reconciled to God.”
Paul is speaking to the Church in Corinth.
It was a Church which fought him throughout
his ministry with them.
It was a Church which was split into so many
factions that none of them trusted the others,
and few of them trusted their founding Apostle,
Paul.

Paul's experience was a painful one.
His Churches in Corinth were falling to factions
and divisions and refused to accept his authority.
The power which sin maintained over them was great,
so great that they were willing to accept a man sleeping
with his father’s wife (i.e., his stepmother).

Thankfully, I do not have the problem
that Paul had with his Churches.
Thankfully, I do not have to face the trials and tribulations,
the accusations and nightmares,
from the people God has given me.
Oh, I have ... in the past ... had churches that wanted to run-me-out
on a rail,
but thankfully not here.

Paul's words are words which we must all hear, this morning,
as we begin the season of Lent. For, in truth,
we have all sinned against God, and
it is time to ask for forgiveness.

Paul said: 'See, now is the acceptable time;
see, now is the day of salvation!
We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way....”
and neither am I.
It’s time to repent.

Would you pray with me?

Gracious God, move among us this day so that we may always know that we are never alone; and speak to us so that we may always hear, understand, and remember -- give us your word by which you mold and shape our living; in Jesus Name we pray. Amen.

Why Lent?
Why do we need a time, set aside,
to focus upon the impending death of our Lord?
And Why Ash Wednesday?
You know why.

Bill Cosby, in all his comic wisdom,
once said that Children are not innocent little creatures,
they're brain damaged,
lying little monsters,
which want nothing other to get out of being punished.
Quite frankly, I think Bill Cosby was describing all of humanity,
not just little Children.
He was certainly describing me.

When I was a little boy,
I was precocious, curious,
somewhat vicious
just your normal,
everyday,
maniacal little boy,
who took great delight in frustrating his parents and getting away with murder.
Literally--murder.

Have ya'll ever wondered why I love my pets so much?
Have yall ever wondered why my cat, especially, means
so very much to me, and why animals in general
have a special place in my heart?

When I was 8 years old, way back a long time ago,
there was this black and white spotted cat
which roamed around our neighborhood.
He didn't belong to anybody,
but rather belonged to us all.
My friends and I liked to take pot-shots at the
cat with our bee-bee guns,
until, one day, we hit him.

Ryan, Scott, and I hit Booger in the rear end,
which effectivly incapacitated the cat and allowed us to catch him.
Ryan and Scott were two years older than I,
and had seen what other even older boys did to cat's when they caught them.
They told me to go get a metal trash can.
and I did.
They gave me a gas can, and told me to pour some gasoline into the trash can.
and I did.
They then threw the cat in the can, lit a match,
and threw it in after the cat.

Booger survived,
all scorched,
but the sin of torture which I committed,
has scorched me since that day,
my sin has followed and haunted me ever since.

Today, I love cats,
and Dogs, too,
in, quite frankly, a continual attempt to
seek forgiveness.

We are all sinners.
Anyone who is perfect may leave,
this is not for you today.
No one wants to get up?
Good.

We are all sinners.

Our sins may be known only by God, or by all,
it does not matter.
We are all Sinners.
But the Word of God
spoken through the Apostle Paul to his Churches in Corinth is spoken to us, today.

"Now is the acceptable time!” be reconciled to God.
The ashes which we will wear today,
ashes formed from our written sins,
will serve to remind us that we are, indeed, sinners,
desperately in-need of God's forgiveness.

This is how we begin Lent.
In Lent we are driven to see that Christ died because of our sins.
The question is often asked: “Who killed Jesus?”
The Jews,
The Romans,
The devil,

The message and realization that Lent drives home
is one which transcends all such questions
and provides only one possible answer to us:
“Who killed Jesus?”
We killed Jesus.
And the ashes serve to remind us of this painful truth.
They are like the sand which work crews throw on icy streets,
to provide traction in bad weather.
The ash slows our passage through lent,
causing to focus on Christ's death, and our role in it.

Because, unless we see Christ's death
unless we recognize our guilt in his crucifixion,
then Easter morning will mean nothing to us. This is Why we enter lent.
And this is why we smear ashes on our foreheads.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
--Amen