| "Rend" Your Heart - article by Joel Hempel It’s not a word we use much in the twenty-first century. The Old Testament lesson for Ash Wednesday was from the Book of Joel, chapter 2, and included this verse: Yet even now, declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart . . . rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love . . . (verse 13). A businessman whose unethical practices were widely known once told Mark Twain of the pilgrimage he hoped to make someday. “Before I die,” he said, “I will climb Mount Sinai and read the Ten Commandments aloud at the top.” Twain was not impressed. “I have a better idea,” he responded. “You could stay at home in Boston and keep them.”* The challenge with which Joel (the Prophet) confronts us is the need for honesty, openness, and sincerity in our confession of sins and repentance. Confession of sins without the sincere commitment to repent from them is not confession at all. It is only mouthing words printed in the bulletin or reciting the “same old” prayer in private. What is our intention this Lent and for the rest of our lives? In college, I took a course in Philosophy. The one thing I remember from the professor’s lectures is this quote from Immanuel Kant: “The only thing that is good in itself is the good which we will, and the success or the failure of the good which we will does not alter the fact that it is still good.” Hmm! Is Kant right? God would say, No! Good intentions are honorable, but they are not enough. Actual results matter. Repentance matters. Turning around and away from sinful thoughts, feelings, and behavior matters! Rend your hearts! The word for “rend” in Hebrew means to tear or rip. When it comes to confessing our sins, we are to do to our hearts what our ancestors did to their clothes when grieving: Rip open our hearts before God! Rending the heart is painful because it is an honest recognition, owning, and bearing of our secret and not-so-secret sins before God. To rend our heart is to own our failure to serve God faithfully, and to confess the countless ways we sin out of omission. As Pastor Scott noted in his Ash Wednesday message, such thorough openness in confession is only possible when we slow down and take the time to reflect on our lives, behavior, and inclination to hide. Taking the time to reflect on ourselves, where we need to repent, and then actually repenting is God-pleasing and rewarding. God will forgive us, pour out his mercy upon us, and send his Holy Spirit to lead us in paths of righteousness (Psalm 23:3). For additional study, see Psalm 32:1-5, 8-11, and 1 John 1:5-10. *Illustration from the online source preceptaustin.org. | 
