ASH WEDNESDAY SERMON
Ash Wednesday is a bit like a reminder phone call.
The alarm going off for an early wakeup call,
or the mark on the calendar or diary indicating that something important is coming soon
and we need to prepare for it.
Ash Wednesday is the start of us preparing for Easter.
We take time out tonight
not just for fellowship with each other.
But to begin remembering why we need Easter!!
Why we need Jesus Christ,
to act on our behalf,
to die for us.
Of course we should be doing this every day.
Which can be helped by daily devotions and bible studies.
However it often slips to the back of our mind.
And we think and act as if other things are more important in our lives.
Do you know how to do a quick check on what is important to you?
Have a look at where you spend your time and your money.
Look at your credit card statements, your check books, your diaries, your calendars.
So beginning today and throughout Lent we go on a journey,
a trip with Jesus.
This will be a trip that we will experience in worship tonight, and also in the daily walk’s with God that appear in the Bulletin and in the Lenten Bible Studies.
It will be a trip that will eventually lead us with Jesus to the cross.
Lead us to Jesus’ death and then lead also to His resurrection.
The event that makes a huge difference for me and you.
As we journey with Jesus beginning tonight and continuing in our Lenten Bible Studies,
we will have a chance to know him better
and we will also get to know a bit more about ourselves and who we can be.
Like any good trip, with other people, we will be connecting more closely to Jesus and how he relates to us.
The Apostle Paul is one of those who had a committed relationship to Jesus.
Some years after Jesus’ death and resurrection the Apostle Paul described some of the characteristics of a Christian, when he outlined the fruit of the Spirit.
These are characteristics that to a greater or lesser degree, appear in our lives, as a result of each of us being touched and influenced by the Holy Spirit.
Listen to God’s word to us from Galatians 5, reading from verse 22.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Now these fruits are also evident as we go on the Lenten journey with Jesus.
You see these fruits,
were not something developed in a committee or a meeting.
These fruits come directly from God.
They are how God relates to each of us.
The fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are the way God wants the world to know Him.
So Jesus is the perfect example of how such fruits can be seen in all Christians.
Tonight we begin with the fruit of gentleness.
Being gentle is not a characteristic many people, especially leaders like to be known for.
Often we think of a gentle person as someone weak, someone too timid.
Occasionally you hear that if someone is to make a good leader they will need to toughen up.
But we follow a gentle leader.
A leader who has achieved much for us.
A leader who stood up to the devil,
to temptation,
to injustice.
We fellow Jesus,
who has a reputation for being gentle,
especially to people in need.
Charles Wesley even wrote a hymn that begins,
Gentle Jesus, meek and mild…look upon this little child.
And with His disciples Jesus displays this gentleness.
Listen to John 1:1-17….
13 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.
2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
10 Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
In this event even though he was the leader,
Even though,
as verse 3 says, everything was under his power.
Jesus still acted as a gentle servant to each of the disciples
He didn’t say right o you fellas,
I am your leader,
I am about to be killed for you,
so serve me.
Bring me the wine, wash my feet.
No He removed the soil,
the dirt from the disciple’s feet.
Gently washing and drying his disciple’s feet.
Not only this but when Peter has a go at him,
more or less saying, “Hey Jesus you are doing the wrong thing, You shouldn’t be washing our feet…we should be washing yours.”
Jesus replies firmly but gently.
He explains why his actions were necessary.
And he does the same for each of us.
He is gentle with every person.
Most of us have experienced the gentleness of Jesus
There maybe times when we get a vigorous cleansing.
But most of the time,
for most people
the gentle breeze of Jesus has a longer term effect.
A gentle cleansing that occurs over time as we live as Christians,
listening to Him, being part of His community.
And as we travel with Jesus throughout our lives we continue to experience his gentleness.
Think about how gentle Jesus has been with you!!
His gentleness when he says to you, “come to me all who are burdened and I will give you rest.”
His gentleness in the way he forgives us our sins.
And this is where our concept of gentleness comes from.
As a Christian community and as individual Christians we are called to replicate the kind of gentleness Jesus gives us.
A gentleness which is welcoming and caring,
but firm.
Not so we can say how good we are,
but Jesus wants us to recognise it is important how he treated people.
And as can be seen in many letters the Apostle Paul wrote to the early Christian communities,
how we treat people is also important.
In Philippians 4:5 we hear: “Let your gentleness be evident to all”
If we are going to truly bring Jesus Christ to others,
like Jesus, we remain firm to what is important.
We remain firm to the gospel, to the truth.
And we display this to all those around us in a gentle and kind manner.
So this Ash Wednesday you are invited to
begin a journey with Jesus,
by listening to Him,
and looking at how he relates to the disciples and us.
Then asking God in prayer, to help us as a community and as individuals to take this fruit of gentleness wherever we are.
Remember this is what repentance is.
It is turning to God,
asking him for help to be who he wants us to be,
to be people who share His power,
in a way that is under His control .
To be God’s gentle people in this world.
Amen
