In order for a team to be successful it has got to tolerate differences. A team is strong when different people work together to share their gifts. However, a team is weak when it’s members attack those who are different. This is called the scape-goat phenomenon. When a team suffers loss and hardship it is tempted to blame the problem on someone who is perceived to be different and a problem maker. But when somebody is made to be the scapegoat and mobbed, the team preserves unity and conformity at the expense of losing a greater set of strengths. The team experiences only a temporary cohesion in its rejection of the scapegoat. In the long run the team is weakened, because it cannot overcome existing or new challenges without a broad array of capabilities.
The only way out of the scapegoat phenomenon is to change the behavior of the group. Instead of looking for someone that is the problem, who is different, who nobody likes, each person in the team must learn to stop and look in the mirror. That is what Ash Wednesday is all about. You are invited to consider the uncomfortable reality that perhaps all of your problems are not somebody else’s fault, but your own. As Jimmy Buffet sings, “It’s my own damn fault.”
So let me show you how this works. As your pastor I have failed you. I have not set an example as I should have. I have tried too hard to depend on my own righteousness and not enough on God’s righteousness. Today I publicly repent. I confess that I am a sinner. I am 100% dependent on God’s mercy and forgiveness.
When I was an intern pastor in Sierra Vista, Arizona I was under the supervision of Pastor Mark Perry. Pastor Perry was a great pastor who taught me so much. But of all the things he did, I have to say that he really excelled at Lent! I remember him sharing a resource with different ideas of Lenten disciplines. It wasn’t the regular list of giving up chocolate or gum. There were things I had never heard before. The one that captured my attention was secret keeping. Keeping a secret as a Lenten disci pline was something I had never thought of before. The idea comes right out of the gospel reading from Matthew chapter 6.
Jesus encourages his disciples to practice their piety in secret. If you give money, do it in secret. If you pray, pray in secret. If you fast, keep it a secret, cover it up, so that nobody knows what you are doing. Jesus compares all of these good works to saving money or storing up treasure. If we do good deeds so that other people see us, then we will be disappointed when those people we were trying to impress are no longer with us. People often fall from prominence and importance. It can leave you feeling disappointed and let down. They key is to not perform your good works for other people, who are bound to disappoint, but to God who can always be counted on. In other words don’t do good deeds to gain social status, do it only for God.
When you dedicate your life to God you will never be disappointed.
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
So, be reconciled to God!
Jesus became sin for a sinner like you!
In Jesus you become righteous
Do not accept the grace of God in vain.
God will listen to you
God will help you.
Now is the time;
now is the day of salvation!
There is no obstacle in your way
So Be a servant of God
Give everything to God:
Give your: endurance, afflictions, hardships, calamities,
beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger to God
God will give you power and strength in both your right hand and your left hand
God will give you: purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit,
genuine love, and truthful speech
You will have honor when you are dishonored
When you have a bad reputation, good will give you a good reputation
When you are treated as an impostor, God will show that you true;
When you are unknown, and will make you well known;
When you are dying, God will make you alive;
Even if you are punished, you will not be killed;
Nobody can crush your soul
Even when you are sorrowful, God will always give you something to rejoice about;
When you are poor, God will make you and everyone rich;
When you have nothing, In God you will possess everything.
Amen! Amen! Amen!
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