Apologetix

I don’t want to come across as snarky.  Really I don’t.  I’m even trying to turn away from my sarcastic habits--trying my best to give it up for Lent, but I find a fast of not eating to be easier than a fast of not being sarcastic (blame it on too many seasons of Seinfeld, I guess.)

I became aware of this story courtesy of Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, but found the following news story to be easier to link to: http://newsok.com/episcopalians-take-it-to-the-streets-for-ash-wednesday/article/3651812

Again, I don’t want to be snarky, but...

Where in the Bible do we find worship and convenience going hand in hand?  I seem to remember Jesus saying “let anyone who wants to follow me (come after me) take up your cross, daily, and follow me” (Daniel’s paraphrase of a passage from Luke’s gospel.)

Look, to all of you out there chasing down your sheep, making yourselves available to ash the members of the flock who are “too busy” to come to worship...you’re not helping.  I know that you have great intentions.  But you’re not helping.

I’m sorry.  

Actually, I’m not sorry.  You’re not helping.  You’re making it worse for those of us who actually believe and teach that being a disciple of Jesus has a cost associated with it.  And by “us” I mean you.  

Why are you chasing down people in the street to give them ashes on Ash Wednesday?  Because they can’t be bothered to attend. 

Why can’t they be bothered to attend?  Because you’re willing to chase them down.  It’s not the Church coming to the people.  It’s the Church helping it’s sheep stay lost and wandering and misdirected and under prioritized.  

The Ash Wednesday liturgy (worship service) is about saying, in one form or another, “Time out!  Stop the rat race for a few moments, ponder the things that are really important: grace, mortality, grace....grace.  It’s about slowing down and checking our priorities; looking for things in our lives we have made into Idols and turning away from the little gods to be embraced by the Redeeming God.

Ash Wednesday helps us step into the season of Lent, which is a season of slowing down and paying attention to God, and my humble opinion is that to chase down people who are “too busy” to attend isn’t doing them any favors.

I know you’re intentions are pure.  But the thing is this isn’t about taking the Church to those who don’t have access to the church.  We aren’t talking about shut-ins, or homebound members, or soldiers in Afghanistan, or Sailors in the middle of the ocean.  We’re talking about folks who think they are “too busy”, who think their jobs are “too important”, or that worship isn’t important enough to say, “Hey Bob, I’m gonna be late today because I need to be at worship.  It’s Ash Wednesday.”  We’re talking about folks who need to pause and hear, really hear, “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

I know your love for them.  I know that you want to bring them back.  I know how many people in our world need to words like this:

“The sorrow of God lies in our fear of Him, our fear of life, and our fear of ourselves. He anguishes over our self-absorptions and self-sufficiency. Richard Foster wrote, ‘Today the heart of God is an open wound of love. He aches over our distance and preoccupation. He mourns that we do not draw near to him. He grieves that we have forgotten him. He weeps over our obsession with muchness and manyness. He longs for our presence.’” (Richard Foster quoted in Abba’s Child by Brennan Manning.)

Understand this my fellow clergy folks, I love you and I love your passion, but if we want to help our flocks move from sitting in our stadiums and cheering about the things Jesus does to being on the field with him and slugging out life down by hard fought down, then we have to stop making the life of following Jesus so convenient, we cannot become enablers.  Make them take the time out that this season calls for; make them choose the One they and their house will serve.