"We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God…For "God 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!" (2 Corinthians 5:20b & 6:1-2)
Paul was speaking to a difficult church in Corinth, a church that needed reconciliation, much as the churches have needed reconciliation down through the centuries and as does the church today. However, one can expect that Paul believed the end time to be near. The need for reconciliation was based in the coming of the Kingdom in all of its fullness and the fear of judgment. I would suggest to you this day that, though that might also be true today, the more important issue is that God wants us to live happy, healthy lives today, not just prepare for the second coming. Our God of love is aching for relationship with each of us…right now, this very day! God waits for us with eager anticipation.
The words of our rite today call us to the "observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance, by prayer, fasting and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word." To this end ashes are imposed on our heads with the words: "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return." It has been said that ashes are not a sacrament of death, but that we are reminded of death so that we might live! The stuff of the old creation is marked on our foreheads as a sign of the new creation; a sign that we are a part of God's human story. (copied) They are a promise of life, of blessedness and call us to relinquish our radical self-reliance to total reliance upon God. We are called from sorrow to joy, from being closed to being open and vulnerable, and we are called to do so now, not at some future date.
This process involves a radical, private and honest self-evaluation. We examine our false gods…those bits of self-deception, lies, pride, greed, need for public approval and power, and our private secrets. It is a time to ask what we treasure and, if it is not of God, to exorcise it from our lives.
We are called to examine where and who we are. We are called to look at where we are going and what we are becoming. In so doing we again ask ourselves, is this of God or of the world. When we honestly repent our separation from God, from ourselves and our neighbors we turn around and, as my friend, The Rev. Dean Henry has said, "return home to God and return home to ourselves." (copied) That return will give us hope and joy that the world can never give. It will give us new life and new depth to all of our relationships. We dare not wait, for we have the rest of our lives before us!
"Yet, even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. (Joel 2:12-13)

Welcome home! AMEN