Ash Wednesday Devotion - Racial Equity Team

Submitted by the Rev. Barb Girard

1The spirit of the God is upon me
    because God has anointed me;
God has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
    to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and release to the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
    to comfort all who mourn,
3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, to display God’s glory.

Isaiah 61: 1-3

We begin this holy season of Lent among ashes. 

Ashes of lives lost to

Earthquakes in Syria and Turkey

10 mass shootings from February 17-19, 2023, and at least 72 more since January 1, 2023

Racially charged violence

Rising tension in Israel and Occupied Palestine

War in Ukraine

Ashes of lives and spirits battered by

Prejudice

Exclusion

Hate filled words

Injustice

Ashes of

Broken relationships

Shattered dreams

Lost jobs

Homelessness

Poverty

Death of loved ones

Take a moment to sit amongst these ashes.  Take a moment to sit covered by the ashes of your life.

Weep.  Grieve.  Pray.  Repent.

We begin this holy season of Lent amongst the ashes. 

Then we move with Jesus towards his passion.

I was blessed to discover The Last Week by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan in my late husband’s library.  My Lenten journey and understanding of the passion of Christ has been forever changed.  Throughout the book they play with the word “passion.”  Passion can mean a strong, barely controllable emotion for some object, person or concern.  Borg and Crossan say, “a person’s passion is what he or she is passionate about.”1  Then come these powerful words, “The first passion of Jesus was the kingdom of God, namely, to incarnate the justice of God by demanding for all a fair share of a world belonging to and ruled by the covenantal God of Israel.  It was that first passion for God’s  distributive justice that led inevitably to the second passion by Pilate’s punitive justice.”2

It is my understanding and belief, then, that Jesus lived his passion his whole life.  His ministry, teaching, and acts of compassion were all a part of his passion.  His passion led to his death.  I invite you to take time this Lent to reflect on Jesus’ passion- his life-giving love for the outcast, the poor, the captive and the oppressed. 

O God, in your divine mystery you embrace difference in unity, and you call your people to live in peace with all.  We pray for an end to racial and ethnic prejudice.  Free us from the dread of difference.  Free the church from constricting traditions.  Free our society from centuries of violence against the other.  Break down the walls that separate your people by color, culture, or religion.  Call us to repentance for our sins of racism and prejudice, known and unknown.  Transform discrimination into a passion for justice.  Guide us to nurture a society that embodied reconciliation and cooperation among all, for the sake of the one who embodies your love, Jesus Christ, Our Savior and Lord.  Amen. 3

1 Borg, Marcus J and Crossan, John Dominic;  The Last Week 

2Ibid

3All Creation Sings