Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

You all are religious people, right? I mean, you are in church on a Wednesday night. And you are here to have ashes put on your head and begin 40 days, well 46 if you count Sundays, of prayer and fasting. That sounds religious to me.

Jesus was talking to religious people like us when he said the things we read a minuet ago. He was speaking with his disciples. These were the people who had dropped their nets and left their lucrative tax collecting businesses to follow Jesus. So as religious people we need to take Jesus' words to heart.

Now there is nothing wrong with religious people. I mean some religious people are OK. But then there are others. I mean some religious people are just plain phony.

It is the real ones that are OK. They are genuine in their religion. They are just being true to themselves.

The others are just putting on a show. Sometimes it is for themselves. But most of the time it is for others.

So what is the secret to being real and religious? I am not talking about being real religious. You can be real religious and still be phony. I am talking about being real - and - religious.

I think that is what Jesus is talking about with his disciples. It is a matter of motivation. Are you being religious to make others think you are religious, or are you being religious to be closer to your Father in heaven.

Lent is all about being religious. But if you are not real at the same time it will be a waste of 46 days. You can be real religious and fast twice a week and read through your whole Bible in the next 46 days. But it will do you no good if you are not real as well as being religious.

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Today is Ash Wednesday. We all ate too much last night at the pancake supper, but now we are ready to starts the fast. It is traditional that on this day Christians begin a 40 day long time of preparing to celebrate the resurrection at Easter. Part of the preparation is prayer and fasting and just plain doing a bunch of religious stuff. Sounds great doesn't it. I mean preachers like me are always telling people they ought to do religious stuff like pray and read the bible and go to church and fast and help the needy and downtrodden.

But there is a danger here. It is the danger that we will be doing it all to the wrong audience. There is the danger that we will do all the religious things so that others will look at us and see how pious we are. There is the danger that we will tell everybody what we are giving up for lent so that people will know what good people we are. "I am going to give us eating and sleeping and breathing for the next 40 days and I will spend all the extra time a save reading the Bible and give all the extra money I save to feed the poor." (hold up applause sign) In other words we will be doing it for the applause of people instead of for getting closer to God.

Back in Jesus day there were some people like that. They were the religious leaders. They felt they needed to set an example so they wanted people see them so that they would devote themselves to God as well. But they forgot who they real audience was and they began praying and fasting so that other people would applaud them.

Jesus explained why this is such a danger. If you live your life, whether religious or not, for people's applause that is all you will get. And the applause of people is fleeting. But if we pray and otherwise devote ourselves to God then we gain something much greater. We gain a closer relationship with the one who made us. We are able to better understand and honor the one who loved us enough to die for us.

It's like the show "Let's Make A Deal." For those who may be too young to remember this was game show and the host would at random pick someone out of the audience and give them something. Then they would offer them deals. He would offer to trade them the $100 they were just given for the content of the box on the stage. The thing is there could be anything in that box from a brand new car to an outhouse.

Imagine you are on the "Lent Make a Deal Show." Get it "Lent"? You have forty days in your hand right there. You can trade the 40 days for the cubic zirconium diamond ring on our hostesses hand or you can trade it for what is behind the curtain. The curtain is a large velvet curtain with gold letter across it which say "GOD." You can spend the next forty days on something that glitters but is passing. Or you can see what is behind the "GOD" curtain.

The danger is that if you devote yourself during lent for human applause that is all you will get. But if you devote yourself to God you will get a closer walk with God as a result. I think I want to see what's behind the curtain.

Psalm 51:1-17

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin."(Vs. 1-2) Psalm 51 is one of the most poignant of the psalms of confession. The Psalmist is pouring out their heart to God. This person has come to a realization that they are a sinner. So in prayer they turn to God for forgiveness. They have been found guilty in the court of the soul so they throw themselves on the mercy of the judge.

"But we are innocent" is the cry of the modern. Unlike this ancient song writer we are beyond any sense of sin. Ask a modern person what the basic human condition is that the last word the would use is "sin." They may say "angst" or "isolation."

We have grown beyond the concept of sin, or have we just grown oblivious to it? Maybe in our "I'm OK You're OK" society we have lost touch with our human shortcomings. Or maybe not. Listen to these words from a contemporary song: "So let mercy come, And wash away, What I've done, I'll face myself, To cross out what I've become, Erase myself, And let go of what I've done, For what I've done, I'll start again, And whatever pain may come, Today this ends, I'm forgiving what I've done." Who do you think sings those words "Third Day," "Point of Grace," "Barlow Girl?" No, it's not any Christian group. It's "Linkin Park" a hard rock group. Even the secular world sometimes realizes like the psalmist that we need grace to forgive our sin.

Despite Linkin Park's epiphany, most of our world is still in denial about sin. Even when we do admit it, we do not know its true nature. But the psalmist did. "Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight." The psalmist is saying that he has only sinned against God? We usually think of sins against God as bowing to idols or maybe using the Lord's name as a curse word.

But the psalmist knows that all sin is against God. I can see how stealing or coveting is a sin against my neighbor but how is it a sin against God? On one level it is simply breaking God's commandments. But on a deeper level my neighbor was created in the image of God. If I do anything that is disrespectful to my neighbor I have shown disrespect to the image of God in them.

"What about victimless sins?" There is no such thing. Even if I simply eat too much or don't get enough sleep if I am acting disrespectfully to my own body I am sinning against the image of God in me.

So what hope do we have? The psalmist knew. "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions." We need forgiveness. Everyone from a psalmist 3,000 years again to "Linkin Park" knows that.

That is what the season of Lent is all about. Getting in touch with that part of us that needs to change. As Linkin Park's song says, "So let mercy come, And wash away, What I've done, I'll face myself, To cross out what I've become, Erase myself, And let go of what I've done."

One thing the psalmist makes clear. God is the only true source of that forgiveness. "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." So let us humble ourselves this lent and face ourselves so God can wash away what we have done!

2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10

"We entreat you ... be reconciled to God." Paul the Apostle knew all about being reconciled to God. He had persecuted the early church. He had sought to imprison all who believe in Jesus. He had even aided and abetted in the murder of Stephen the first Christian martyr.

But he had been reconciled to God. Jesus met him on the road to Damascus. Jesus came to Paul he didn't just wait for Paul to come to him. And Jesus confronted him and gave him an opportunity to repent and be reconciled to God.

And Paul was reconciled. He got right with God and then began serving God. Even to the point to ending up in prison he went where the spirit of God led him as a reconciled ambassador of God calling other to be reconciled.

People heard what he said. And many were reconciled to God. Pagan worshipping Greeks and those who though themselves holy by their own actions were reconciled. The people of Corinth listened and were reconciled to God.

They were reconciled and they preserved the writings of Paul and passed them on for other so that they could be reconciled. Eventually a man named Martin Luther, who lived in a time when the religious elite through themselves holy by their own deeds, read Paul's admonition to be reconciled. And he was reconciled and he led a movement to reconcile others.

Eventually a couple of brothers named John and Charles, who though themselves holy by their deeds heard Paul's call to be reconciled. There hearts were strangely warmed and they were reconciled. And they led a methodical movement to call others to be reconciled to God.

Eventually a man named Billy heard the call to be reconciled to God. He was reconciled to God and he called hundreds of thousands of others to be reconciled to God. And one day a boy named Alex was watching this Billy Graham on TV and he said that we need to be reconciled to God and he was.

Now I stand before you and I say "Be reconciled to God." Jesus died for your sins so that you can be forgiven. And having been forgiven you can know God and experience his presence in your daily life. Jesus who was sinless became sin so that we could know this wonderful and amazing gift of grace.

You might say to yourselves, "I am a good church going person this call to be reconciled is really just for those other people. May I remind you that Paul was a very religious person and so was Martin Luther and John and Charles Wesley. They all heeded the call to be reconciled. This is not just a call for all those "bad" people. It is a world for all of us, so be reconciled to God

But God did not save us so that we could just sit on our reconciliation. Paul, after he was reconciled, became and ambassador for Christ. He became a reconciled reconciler. So did Martin Luther and the Wesley brother and Billy Graham and me. So be reconciled to God. Then become a reconciler and take the Good News of reconciliation thorough Christ to a world that desperately needs to be reconciled with its Heavenly father.

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

"Accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative and latch on to the affirmative don't mess around with Mr. In between. Everybody now � " Lent can be so dreadfully boring. I mean who wants to mourn their sins for 40 days. Well actuary 46 if you don't take Sundays off. It just seems so morbid. Sometimes Lent seems to epitomize the worst in Christianity. It seems to focus on the negative.

And what up with this giving up something for lent. How negative can you get. Just once I would like to hear some say, "I am giving up fasting for Lent. For 46 days I will make it my mission to make sure that I don't miss a single meal. I will have desert with each meal - sometimes two - chocolate when possible. And I will drink coffee after each meal too - with sugar and cream!"

Shouldn't we do like the song says. Accentuate the positive. And eliminate all that negative stuff. So you know what I'm going to give up for Lent? Lent! I am going to give up Lent or Lent!

O.K., I guess I've gone too far, but here are a few things I will give up for Lent: First of all I will give up guilt. Guilt us such a negative thing. It feels bad to be guilty. So why not give it up. I am not talking about neurotic guilt you know the guilt people feel when they've done nothing wrong; that is a mental health issue. I'm talking about genuine guilt. The guilt one feels from hurting someone else. But to eliminate guilt I guess I will have to eliminate sin. So I need to seek not to sin for 46 days!

Second I will give up self-reliance. I can't do it all alone. And I shouldn't have to. I mean what is the use of having a savior if you can lean on him. So I am going to give up trusting in myself and lean of Jesus!

Next will give up spiritual disharmony. You know how you feel when you heart and spirit are all in disharmony. It is the opposite of the way you feel when you are at peace. I want peace in my life. everybody take a deep breath. Innnn Ouuut. I want to feel like that so I am going to give up disharmony for lent so that I can experience harmony.

I will also give up spiritual lostness and loneliness. There is nothing worse than the feeling of being lost and alone. And there is no need for it. I mean we have Jesus the light of the world. And he promised to be with us always. So for Lent I will give up being with out Jesus' presence and guidance. But to do that I guess I will need to pray and read the Bible more.

I guess if you look at it this way Lent is not such a negative thing after all. It is really about eliminating the negative from our lives so that we can accentuate the positive. Mourning our sins is about calling attention to them so that we can discard them, it is about improving our spiritual lives and seeking a closer walk with God.

If giving up chocolate or fasting one day a week or eating fish on Fridays helps you do that then more power to you. Don't enter into spiritual disciplines during Lent to be part of the crowd. Don't do it to make yourself look good to others. Observe Lent because you want to accentuate the positive influence of the Holy Spirit in your life. And eliminate the negative influence of sin!

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

We all know the Gospel according to Angelica Pickles. You do know who Angelica Pickles is, don't you? If you do not have both small children and cable you probably have never met her. Angelica Pickles is a character on the show Rugrats. Rugrats is a about a group of babies. Angelica is the oldest of the group. She's five. All the others are less than two and are only able to talk to each other.

Angelica is always making trouble for the Babies who she repeatedly calls dumb. Angelica makes up stories to mislead the babies and trick them into thinking untrue things simply for her own entertainment. For instance one time she convinced the babies that they would all become chickens because they had come down with the chicken pox. Angelica is often mean to the babies, but only when the grown-ups are not looking. When a grown-up is near she smiles and bats her eyes and tosses her blond pigtails and talks about how much she loves playing with the babies.

Angelica Pickles would have made a good scribe in Jesus' day. I say that because the religious leaders of Jesus' day seemed to live by the same philosophy as Angelica Pickles. They thought that the purpose of their good deeds was to get on the good side of the grown-ups. They paid alms and prayed and made sacrifices so that others would think good of them. Then when no one, or they thought no one, was looking, they would act differently.

Jesus warned his disciples against such false piety. He tells his followers not to call attention to their good deeds. When you give alms don't let your right hand know what you left hand is doing. When you pray don't make a show of it. When you fast do not make yourself look hungry but hide your hunger. Finally he says do not store up treasures on earth but in heaven.

The whole point is the motivation for our acts of charity and piety. Do we love the babies just so that the grown-ups can say how sweet we are? Or do we love our neighbor because God told us to? Do we smile and bat our eyes and say our prayers so that people can say "How religious she is?" Or do we do it out of reverence for God?

The point is: Where are we storing up treasure? Where are our hearts focused? Here, where things pass away? Or in heaven, where our treasures are eternal?

We being Lent today. And in this time we do a lot of religious things. We pray and fast and read the Bible. But why?

Jesus warns us about doing things that look religious. If we do them for show, then we are Hypocrites. But if we do them for God, we have treasures in heaven.

So Jesus advises us to do our deeds in secret. Then only our father who knows all will see. And our reward will be from him alone.

Joel said "Blow a trumpet in Zion." When we think of a trumpet we think of an instrument that produces beautiful melodies. A lively vibrant sound. But the trumpets used back in Joel's were quite different. They were crude ram's horns hollowed out to make a loud sound.

I am sure the sound I produced from this french horn surprised you. That is the kind of trumpet call Joel was talking about. I was a loud brash sound designed as a warning alarm. These ram's horns were supposed to wake people from their sleep to defend the city from an invading army.

When Joel said "Blow a trumpet in Zion" he was not thinking of Chuck Mangeone or the "boogie woggie bugle boy of company B." Joel is calling for an alarm. It is a call to arms. It is a wake up call to a nation that is morally unconscious.

I've heard it said that freedom of speech does not give one the right to yell "fire!" in a crowded theatre. And I can see the logic there. If you yell for people might panic and get hurt trying to exit the room. You might scare someone.

But what if there is a fire? It would seem proper to warn the people about that fire. In surprise you might yell "fire!" You might even what to scare them a little so that they could save themselves.

It�s true that you would not want to produce panic lest someone be seriously injured. But under the circumstances a little fear would be appropriate. A little panic would be better than people burning up.

This fire in a theater image is an analogy for the situation we live in today. If you could imagine our society as a crowded theater. It�s full of people who are in a sense unconscious to their surroundings. They are sitting in darkness. And there is a fire. A fire of sin that threatens to burn people up in the fires of hell. Yes, you heard me right: "Hell fire" They are in danger of eternal death because they have not repented of their sin and turned to God.

So we Christians yell, "Fire!" But the people say, "Don't go around scaring people. Who are you to pass judgement? No need to cause undue fear in people. We are fine so just leave us alone!"

But God's word says "Sound an alarm." So we keep sounding the alarm. It's a kind of eternal fire alarm to warn people of the danger of sin. To tell them to put out the fires of hatred that threaten to consume them.

God's word says "Blow a trumpet," but God's Son said "Do not sound a trumpet." Do not sound a trumpet to call attention to your good works. If you do you will get the recognition and applause of others. But that will be the only good you get out of it.

God does call us to warn people about the eternal circumstances of their sin. But some people seem to enjoy doing that just a little too much. They find some kind of perverse pleasure from telling people they are sinners. I think that sometimes people point to other's faults in order to call attention to their own virtues or supposed virtues. Blowing a trumpet to make themselves look good.

It�s our job as Christians to warn the word of the danger of sin, or to yell "fire!" in a crowded room. But maybe we need to start in this room: the church. If we really believe that sin is a fire that threatens to consume us, we need to put the fire out here. And maybe we need to start in this room: our hearts. Maybe we need to uncrowd it of all the things we yearn after until only Christ is left.

That is what Lent is all about. Uncrowding our lives of the sins and desires that hinder our relationships with God. Repenting of our Sin so that we may be more humble tools in God's hands.

Today I blow a trumpet of warning. It is a call to arms to fight the Sin in our society. It is a warning to put out the fires of Sin in the church. But most importantly it is a call to repent of the sins in our own lives.

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Just a little ashes that's all it is. And what are ashes? They are the product of burning something away. They are what is left over after fire passes over or through something. They are the waste after the heat and light are gone.

I remember when I was growing up and we had a fire place. It was my job to take the ashes out. They were useless so we would dispose of them as just so much trash.

So why do we put this (for lack of a better word) garbage on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday? Where did this strange tradition come from and what does it mean? First of all these ashes are a reminder of who we are. The Bible tells us that we came from the dust and to the dust we shall return. The first human was molded out of dust of the earth by God and then God breathed life into that dust. Without the breath or Spirit of God we are just like these ashes: lifeless.

These ashes are also a sign of repentance. Lent is a time of mourning our sins. It is a time when we are called to repent and change our ways. In Bible times it was common for people who were mourning to dress in sackcloth and put ashes on their heads. Hence the expression, "Sack cloth and ashes."

But they probably put the ashes on top of their heads. Why do we put a cross on the forehead? It is a sign that we are sealed for Christ. Often times when a baby is baptized the minister marks the child with the sign of the cross. The cross of ashes is also a reminder of the mark of the lamb in Revelation. In the book of revelation it tells of an angel marking the faithful before the tribulation. These faithful would then be protected. The mark was a mark of ownership.

It is also important that we use palm branches to make these ashes. The palms are a symbol of victory. So all our victories are but ashes before the glory of God.

These may be just a few ashes but they mean a lot. They are a symbol of our need for God. We are nothing but dust and ashes apart from God. They are also a symbol of our repentance and mourning. They are a way of showing on the outside what is happening on the inside. We are truly sorry and mournful for the evil and hurtful this we have done. Our trust in our own vain glories have tarnished the image of Christ in us.

Yet in the midst of our repentance we are forgiven and marked as Christ's own. The very burning away of our sin by the fire of God's love makes us God's own. And as God's own we are stamped and certified as children of God through the cross.

So as you come today to have the sign of the cross placed on your foreheads rend your hearts. Repent of those vain glories. And accept the grace and forgiveness that marks you as a redeemed child of God.

"Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." "From dust and ashes you came and to dust and ashes you shall return." The Bible tells us in Genesis that God formed us out of the dust of the earth and breathed life into what he had formed. Did you know that the Hebrew word for human, "adam," is based on the Hebrew word for red? Some think this is actually an allusion to red clay. Red clay is very prevalent here so that stuff that you get on your shoes and that stains your carpets is actually your kin.

Some people think this image of God forming the first "adam" out of clay to be mainly poetic. But science has demonstrated how accurate it actually is. You all know that the human body is mostly water. Remove the water and we are just a pile of chemicals. This pile of chemicals, because of its iron content would probably be red just like the iron rich clay in our yards. Chemically we are not that much different from the clay beneath our feet.

But there is more to this dust and ashes stuff than just our chemical composition. The fact that we are merely over-glorified clay has a spiritual significance. It reminds us that we are dependant upon God. Without God's breath or spirit (they are both the same word in Hebrew) we are nothing.

The problem is we forget this fact: that we are merely ashes and dust; that we are kin to the dust. We imagine ourselves to be more than we are. We deny our dependence upon God. We delude ourselves into thinking we are masters of our own destiny.

That is why we need to repent of our pride. That is why the prophet Joel calls us to repentance. That is what Ash Wednesday is all about. Remembering what we really are.

And what are we? We are dust and ashes made alive only by God's Spirit. We are arrogant and sinful little creatures who fail to give God due credit. We are disobedient children in need of our Father's help.

But be warned. God wants us to rend our hearts and not just our clothes. Our repentance is not for outward show. It should be an inward turning from evil.

Jesus warns his disciples not to make a show of their piety. Don't blow a trumpet to call attention to your charity. Hide it instead so that God alone sees it. That way the only benefit you get from it is the satisfaction of doing God's will and the blessing of God that comes with it. When you fast don't make it known to everyone or their fleeting admiration will be all you get out of it.

In a moment I will ask you to come forward to have ashes placed on your forehead. Don't let these ashes be just an outward symbol with no inner significance. Rend your heart and take to heart the significance of our need for God. Later this evening someone might sees the ashes on your forehead and ask you about it. Don't think yourself better than them. Because if you take that ash cross seriously, then you will remember that we are all the same: just lifeless dust in need of the breath of God.

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Humanity is sinful. It has been said that this is the one scientifically verifiable doctrine of the Christian faith. A person would have to deny most of history to say that people are not sinful. History is laced with wars and killing. And between the wars someone is constantly persecuting someone else. A person would also have to ignore the daily news. Killing and stealing and unfaithfulness - the list of sins is as thick as the morning paper!

It occurred to me that if the sinfulness of humanity could be verified scientifically; if it is possible to quantify and qualify the sinfulness of the human race sufficiently to support the hypothesis that humanity is sinful, then one could scientifically address the problem of sin.

So let's see if we can do that?

Now we know that to overcome a negative charge we need a positive charge. If and ion is negatively charged there needs to be a discharge of electricity to make it neutral again. That is what happens when lightning strikes. The electricity that has built up in the atmosphere discharges violently and makes the atmosphere neutral again. In the same way we need a discharge of the negative spiritual energy of sin. That is what confession is all about. It is about letting out the negative energy of sin.

But that is not enough to just let sin out. We need more. We need to be turned in the other direction. Sin is not a static state it is a dynamic one. We are headed in the direction of Sin and have inertia to deal with. Inertia says that a body in motion tends to stay in motion. So we need to stop humanity's present motion toward sin. To stop we need a force that is equal to the force of our sin. We need a force of good to impact our lives and stop our acceleration into sin.

But just stopping us is only the beginning. That force must be great enough to get us going in the other direction; toward righteousness. It has to be able to push us up the moral incline against the force of the gravity of sin. So the force of good that impacts our lives must be a force whose goodness is far beyond our wickedness.

That is where Jesus comes in. Paul said, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew not sin so that we might become the righteousness of God." God sent Jesus to counteract the force of sin in our lives. And as bad as we were, Jesus' goodness was so much greater that he was able, not only to stop our slide into sin, but to push us toward the righteousness of God. Paul also said, "As we work together with him we urge you not to accept the grace of God in vain."

I have used the analogy of science to speak about the problem of sin in our lives. The real solution is not scientific. It is spiritual. We must open our hearts and, working with God, push the sin out. Then we must let Christ in to dwell in us.

That is what Ash Wednesday is all about. It is a time to confess our sins, to cleans our hearts, and to reassert the presence of Christ in our lives. Like Paul I admonish you not to accept the grace of God in vain. Instead accept it in earnest and dedicate yourselves to live the grace of God.

top of this page

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Today I want to share with you a story called "One Act."

"Mom there's one thing I don't understand." Her green eyes flashed and the dimple on the right cheek quivered the way it always did when she was pondering another of the life questions that other girls her age rarely contemplated. "Must you have the answer before you get to school," her mother replied as she fastened her seat belt, "we need to get to school before your class leaves for the park today." "The Sunday School teacher said," the little voice persisted in asking, "that a person can live a bad life and go to heaven because she turns to God at the end. Is that true?" Her mother was no theologian but she answered, "I don't understand how one act can change a whole life, but I guess it's true."
He was awakened by the wind from the passing mini van. Mark looked around. Okay, he had slept on the bus stop bench again. He looked for the street names: 34th and West. Now that he knew where he was what time was it? Mark looked at his watch. It was nothing fancy, but he had found it in the garbage. Someone had thrown it out with a brand new battery in it. All it had needed was to have its contacts cleaned. It told the time and date. It also glowed in the dark, which was nice. Mark had rescued it from the dump. He admired his prized possession as he looked for the time: 8:15. Mark had 15 minutes to get to the mission three blocks away if he wanted to get breakfast.
"... Your life is worth nothin' without Jeesuss," the preacher shouted as he pounded the makeshift podium that masqueraded as a pulpit. Mark could stomach the oatmeal and dry toast, but the preaching left something to be desired. Yet, the preacher's words made him think. What was his life worth? Here he was almost 60 and his prized possession was a $20 watch discarded by someone else. No family, no career. His only accomplishment was a first hand knowledge of all the missions and handouts in town.
As Mark cleaned out the crumbs from the bottom of his bowl he thought about his itinerary for the day. Today he had to go to the free clinic. His health was bad but once it had been good. Back in the good old days when he was a strong swimmer.
"Come on! You can make it. You can't expect to be a life saver if you swim like that." Mark's young face looked up from the water, "I took a whole 10 seconds off my time from last week." The coach glared back in disbelief; "You're still too slow! You're never gonna amount to anything are you Markus?" Mark jumped out of the water; "Start the watch again." The coach barely had time to clear it before Mark dove back into the water and attacked every stroke like it was his last. He found the water like a wounded animal. Wounded by the words "You'll never amount to anything." It stuck like a barb in his side. Breathe 2, 3, 4 breathe 2, 3, 4. He hit the side and looked up at the coach. "How'd I do?" "Like I said, you'll never amount to anything Markus."
Mark looked down. His oatmeal was cold. "You'll never amount to anything Markus." The words still hurt just as it had that day decades ago. He didn't remember the meets or the medals or even the time he did make lifeguard, just the words. He had better get to the clinic before the line gets too long.
Cardiac something. What was it the doctor said? Anyway, it meant his heart. Something might be wrong with his heart. At his age what else could it be? Mark thought about the examination and the talk of future appointments. The leaves in the park were turning. It was fall in the park and it was the fall of his life. And what had he done. Nothing, nothing and nothing. The words came back to him as a thousand times before like cold of water when you first jump in, "You'll never amount to anything Markus."
Mark's thoughts were halted by the sound of children screaming. He had noticed the class from the neighborhood school before but now the tone of their screams suddenly changed. A small child was thrashing about in the water in the middle of the pond under the footbridge as other children pointed and screamed. At that moment something that had been burned into Mark's subconscious came to life. Without thinking, he shed his coat and ran for the water. At the edge his shoes left him. Ancient training seared into his nervous system and dormant for years sprang to life. He swam like he was 17 again. He could hear the voice. "Come on Marcus your never be a life saver if you can't swim faster." When he got to the bridge the girl had gone under. Mark dove and dove again finally after what seemed like an eternity under the dark waves of the pond he came up. She was small but she was all dead weight. With one arm he held her and with the other he swam and swam the shore seemed a mile away but he swam. At the shore he pulled her up on the shore. She wasn't breathing! Her dark green eyes still open glared blankly heavenward. All that and she was dead. A sharp pain hit Mark's shoulder. Then he remembered. "Turn the head and clear the mouth. Tilt the neck to open the pathway. In small children cover the mouth and nose and blow until the chest rises. Allow enough time for the chest to fall then blow again. After five blows check the pulse." She had a pulse but no breath. Again he blew and again and again. The pain hit his shoulder again. He could feel his heart pounding. "Breathe 2, 3, 4, 5. Breathe 2, 3, 4, 5," he said to himself as he strove to bring breath back to her body. Finally she gagged and coughed and breathed. Mark hadn't noticed but a group of people had gathered. They all cheered. The ambulance arrived and the EMS technicians took over.
Mark sat down on a nearby bench. As people patted his back and the EMS men checked out the girl. One turned to Mark. "You're a life saver all right. How long was she out?" "Oh, it seemed like forever, but I guess it was a minute or two." The pain in his shoulder got sharper and Mark flinched." "Sir, are you all right?" the technician asked. "Yeah, why?" "You look pale." The technician grabbed Mark's arm and took his pulse. Then he turned to the other technician. "Tom, call in another unit now! We have another situation." Then he turned back to Mark. "When did the pain in your shoulder start." At that Mark collapsed. They did CPR. They shocked him. But that was that.
The wind from the passing transport blew the falling leaves around and an old woman polished the brass plate on the statue. Her thoughts were interrupted by a small voice. "Mark-us S-m-i-th. Who was he?" The old woman's green eyes flashed and the dimple on her cheek jumped as she smiled. "He's a hero," she said in a rough voice. "Was he a general or an astronaut or somethin'" the small voice queried. "No he was a homeless man." "Then what'd he do?" "He saved a life." "That's all! And they built this statue of him? He didn't cure cancer or discover a new world?" "No, he did nothing, but save one life. My life." The old woman looked into the little boy's eyes. "Always remember and don't ever forget son. One act can change a person. One act, one good courageous act changed him from a bum to a hero." "I don't think I understand" the little inquisitor replied. "That's O.K. It took me a long time to understand too. When I was your age I couldn't understand how just one choice, one act, can change who a person is. But I believe it now."

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "We entreat you on behalf of Christ, to be reconciled to God." Paul was calling the Corinthians to repentance. It was a small thing to say, "I leave the old and turn to God." But by that one small action we open ourselves up to the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

I the story "One Act" Mark was someone who had done nothing his whole life but one act changed who he was. That act was a metaphor for the act of repentance: turning to God. It was one thing, but it was not easy yet that one act changed Mark.

Turn to God! Paul said "now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation." Some may think this message out of place. After all most people who would take the time to attend an Ash Wednesday service are already dedicated Christians. But there is always room for growth. And one act of repentance can open your heart up to the sanctifying grace of God.