Yet Even Now: Returning to God’s Mercy

For we remember tonight that we are dust, fragile and finite. But we also remember that we are dust breathed upon by your spirit, marked by the cross of Christ, held in a love stronger than death. So receive us, oh, God. Receive our confessions. Receive our heart's longing, receive our lives, and by your grace, lead us through this wilderness season until we stand in the light of resurrection and joy, hearts renewed, hands ready for service, and lives aligned with your kingdom. [00:47:24] (42 seconds)  #DustAndGrace

And it says, yet even now that's the best part of it. Yet even now, says the lord, return to me with all your hearts. Yet, even now, not after you clean yourself up, not after you fix all your bad habits, not after you prove something to the church or to God or or to somebody else, yet even now. [00:21:41] (35 seconds)  #EvenNowReturn

Works of mercy then are not optional add ons to the spiritual life. They are evidence that your faith is authentic. Feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, advocating for justice, giving generously, and offering presents to the lonely and imprisoned. Wesley said famously that there is no holiness outside of social holiness. [00:32:23] (31 seconds)  #MercyIsFaith

John Wesley believed that repentance and renewal were not one time events, but things that happen again and again throughout life. They were rhythms of grace. He taught that God gives us the means of grace, Practices that open our lives to transformation by the spirit of God. [00:29:28] (25 seconds)  #RhythmsOfGrace

And so tonight, we hear the trumpet not as a threat, but as grace, an awakening, a call for us to return to the God who loves us and has a home for us and with us. This Lent, may we return with our whole hearts through prayer and scripture and fasting and mercy and worship and sacraments and justice. [00:38:51] (29 seconds)  #ReturnThisLent

It's not too late for each and every one of us to begin again. It's not too late to pray again. It's not too late to forgive someone. It's not too late to mend a broken relationship. It's not too late to serve the cause of the needy. It's not too late to trust that love is stronger than death. [00:37:59] (26 seconds)  #NeverTooLateToBegin

And that's not meant to diminish us. It's meant to ground us in reality. We are finite, we are fragile, and we are mortal. But the ashes are placed in the shape of a cross, and that means something. Even our mortality is marked by love. Even our repentance is covered in grace. [00:36:20] (34 seconds)  #MortalityMarkedByLove

So Lent invites us into these practices not because God is withholding love until we do something, But because we often need help remembering that love never left. Love, the love of God never left us, not once. Wesley was equally clear when he says, you cannot return to God without turning toward your neighbor. [00:31:42] (40 seconds)  #LoveNeverLeft