2 Corinthians 5:14-21

“Getting Back to the Heart of the Matter’

“Ash Sunday” March 5, 2006

What I’m about to tell you, I’d kind of like to keep just between us, if you don’t mind. It is, well, it’s a little embarrassing. A couple of weeks ago I drove up to Akron to visit the church where one of my seminary students works. I had a good visit there, and started the drive home. I found my way back to I76 with no problems and after a while made the turn onto I71.

I’m a basketball fan and that particular afternoon the OSU-Northwestern game was on the radio. Not the game a few days ago where the Buckeyes clinched a share of the conference title, but the earlier game here in Columbus. It went back and forth several times. Northwestern got out to a 9 or 10 point lead right away. But in the second half Foster and Butler took over and OSU pulled to a comfortable lead. But then, in the last few minutes, OSU started turning the ball over and Northwestern made some shots, got within 2 points, as I recall. Finally Terence Dials stepped up and closed the game out with some huge rebounds, baskets and free throws.

Now, you might be wondering, what did this basketball game have to do with my embarrassing experience on the trip home from Akron? Well, so intent was I on listening to the game, that I got on 71 North instead of 71 South. So intent was I on listening to the game, that I did not even notice as I blew by the Turnpike and I480. So intent was I on listening to the game that the next thing I noticed was a sign that said, “Jacobs Field, Next Right.” Perhaps I have gone the wrong way. Like about an hour the wrong way. I wondered, "What am I going to do?” As though there were multiple options. No, you know, when you’ve been going the wrong way, even for a long time, there’s really only one thing to do: turn around and go back.

Now, a couple of thoughts about that. First, it’s not dead easy to get turned around on I71 in downtown Cleveland. I did it, but it wasn’t easy. And second, once I got the van headed toward Columbus, I wished that I could somehow magically transport myself back to where I originally got on 71, just pretend like I hadn’t driven all those miles the wrong way. But you know what, it doesn’t work that way—I had to drive every one of those miles again.

Here’s the thing: When you’ve been going the wrong direction, even for a long time, there’s really only one thing to do: turn around and go back.

And so begins the Lenten journey of repentance. When we’ve been living in the wrong direction, there’s really only one thing to do: turn around and go back.

This applies to entire nations as well as to individual sinners. I want to be careful here and not be divisive. So let me settle on an issue that has strong bipartisan support: the use of torture against terrorism suspects and other prisoners.

The evidence, though perhaps not absolutely conclusive, doesn’t look good. We’ve all seen the shocking photos from Abu Ghraib in Iraq, and it’s hard to believe all that went on without the knowledge of officers up the chain of command. Now the UN has determined that the US has used dogs, hoods, sleep deprivation, and forced feeding at Guantanamo in Cuba. The US won’t allow inspectors to visit unannounced and won’t allow them to talk to prisoners in private. You’ve got to wonder: Why not?

We need to step back from our fears, calm our anxieties, and get down to the heart of the matter: torturing people is wrong. It is against any conceivable American value. You don’t win the war if you become the enemy you abhor. So the Senate voted 90-9 late last year for John McCain’s amendment prohibiting cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of terrorism suspects. The House voted unofficial concurrence 308-122. This is not a partisan issue; a majority of both parties want us to state to the world that the US will not torture people. When a whole nation has been going in the wrong direction, there’s really only one thing to do: turn around and go back. It requires a sort of national repentance. And the Congress has taken some first steps in that direction.

When you’ve been going the wrong direction, there’s really only one thing to do: turn around and go back. This applies, certainly, to our relationship with God. Some people distance themselves from God through unbelief. TV, culture, secular life tend to nurture unbelief. Instead we need to feed our faith and starve our doubt.

Others distance themselves from God through sheer neglect. How many of your human relationships would persist if you communicated with people the way you communicate with God? There are practices that nurture our relationship with God—prayer, searching the scriptures, worship, caring for the needy, keeping Sabbath. The way many of us practice these things, God might well say, “What’s up? You don’t write, you don’t call.”

And of course we make God weep in all sorts of ways: by our neglect of the poor, by our self-righteousness and willingness to judge others, by our contentiousness and quarreling.

So, when you’ve been living in a direction that leads away from God, there’s really only one thing to do: turn around and go back. You see, some people think that salvation is a transaction, a moment in time. But salvation is about a relationship. It’s about being in love with the God who’s in love with you. And Lent is a time to get down to the heart of the matter—forgiveness, reconciliation, letting go of everything that keeps us apart from God.

And finally, of course, this applies to our relationships with other people. Many things keep us apart, unreconciled. Some of these things sound pretty unflattering: holding grudges, wanting revenge, stubbornness. But back behind these unflattering expressions are experiences common to all of us: grief, pain, fear, tears yet unwept.

The question isn’t, “Have you been hurt?” or “Have you hurt others?” or “Is there someone you feel cut off from?” The question is “What are you going to do about it?” And when?

If a relationship has gone in the wrong direction, the thing to do about it is to turn around and go the other way. Now, I know—it’s not easy to get turned around in downtown Cleveland, nor when your feelings have been hurt or you feel ashamed. And I know, you’d like to just magically jump back to the place you were it all went wrong in the first place. But of course it doesn’t work that way. There’s a lot of miles to drive before you can even get back to the starting point.

We’re going to be talking about this and working on this together for several weeks. I’m not asking you to say you’ve forgiven someone when you haven’t. I’m not asking you to do something rash or dangerous. But Lent is a time to get down to the heart of the matter: and, friends, it’s about forgiveness.